When I put together my fall movie preview earlier this year, I was in the mixed-to-positive camp on seeing New Moon, or as it is rather pretentiously and fully titled, The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
When it comes to all things Twilight (saga), I am neither a ferocious fan nor a virulent villain. I liked but did not love the first movie. It was solidly entertaining, energetically made and decently performed. I could not rave about the film, and I couldn't rant about it either.
I am of the wrong age and gender to be persuaded by the Twilight books. When I screened the movie last year, I received a little booklet which was basically the first chapter of the first novel. I found it fairly interesting but wasn't that moved either way. I was not inspired to read the novels, as I had been with the Harry Potter series.
While I don't think Twilight is a saga any more than I thought Michael Jackson was the King of Pop after the 1980s, I also don't think liking the series means the death of culture and intelligence as we know it. If you love Twilight, you go and have your fun. You're not the devil if you like it, I'm not the devil if I don't. I'm much more interested in seeing An Education and Preciouis, which both open in Dayton this weekend. I also might revisit one of the best films of the year, A Serious Man.
Still, the question remains: Should I see New Moon? Let's go to the reviews, shall we? (Yes, I know, reviews don't matter to most fans of this series, but they sure as hell matter to me, said Sir Critic.)
The excellent news for fans is that this sequel to 2008's Twilight is a durable, recognizably faithful movie adaptation of New Moon. - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly.
Hmm, OK.
Why does “New Moon” basically work, even with its grave
self-seriousness? A few reasons. Weitz lets the material breathe, and
his actors interact. The film does not try to eat you alive. - Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune.
Not bad. And I do like Chris Weitz as a director.
Carried by Kristen Stewart's compellingly dark performance, but also by helmer Chris Weitz's robust visuals.- Jordan Mintzer, Variety.
Nice. I do like Stewart quite a lot; she's the best thing about the first movie, even if she's done more interesting work elsewhere.
Constrained by the plot of the novel, the film keeps the two lovers
apart for quite a spell, robbing the project of the crazy-in-love
energy that made "Twilight," the first entry in the series, such a
guilty pleasure. - Kenneth Turan, LA Times.
Hrrrmf.
In the sequel, Weitz lays on a pop song and slow-motion during a
critical scene involving the sudden reappearance of a fearsome villain,
giving everything an MTV-slick, teen-friendly gloss and reminding you
this is just a movie -- a somewhat silly and hollow one.- Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald.
Oh dear.
The big tease turns into the long goodbye in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the juiceless, near bloodless sequel. - Manohla Dargis, New York Times.
Clever wordplay, but ouch!
The irony in this movie about vampires is that the only thing doing any sucking is the movie itself. - Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central.
DOUBLE ouch!
The movie gives the 'Twilight' fans exactly what they want but doesn't
offer too much for the rest of us. - Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times.
Oh, crud. I'm "the rest of us."
Twihards will be OMG, OMG, OMG. The rest of us? ROTFL.- Kevin Willamson, Jam! Movies.
ROTFL at the review but OMG at the prospect. And AGAIN with "the rest of us!"
The characters in this movie should be arrested for loitering with intent to moan. -Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.
My favorite critic. Yikes!
The cinematic equivalent of a Jonas Brothers concert. - Kevin Maher, Times Online.
AAAIEEEEE!!!
Editor's note: The film reviewer known in Sir Critic has mysteriously vanished only moments after writing this post. He was last seen running down the street babbling something about how he could have seen Shutter Island a second time by now, but NOOOoooo ....
Friday, November 20, 2009
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2 comments:
Was Sir Critic babbling "Cool as Ice is art?"
Hmmm - well - given that you aren't necessarily a fan of the series, I don't know that it will hold much magic for you. I went and I enjoyed it immensely, but I love the series - for what it is - it's no great movie - but it entertained me. I am "emotionally invested" in the characters, so I am probably easily entertained by them. I will say that - as much as I love it - there were a couple of things that bugged me. I didn't think the wolf effects were all that great - and - um- that's kind of important! Sometimes they looked like some kind of hairy boars with snouts or something - very weird and not even a little believable. I know the first one had a fairly small budget - but come ON. You had more to invest in this one! I would have also thought that they could invest in a better wig for Nikki Reed - dismal. And Edward seemed to get more pale - the lips more red - as Roger mentioned - I was having a "what the heck" moment. His attractiveness was lost. And I also agree with him on the moaning - lol - during one of the scenes between Bella & Edward, my 18 year old daughter turned to me and said, "What are those noises they are making? Who does that?" It actually turned it into a comic moment for us - tee hee! But it was still fun - and there was more than one point where we laughed out loud - I mean even ones where we were supposed to - ha!
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