Twilight Hits Some High Sparkly Notes and Some Low Ones

Well, I saw Twilight this afternoon with my friend Heather. I think anyone seeing us would know we were at the Alamo Drafthouse to see Twilight. I was in my top hat and carrying my bat purse and Heather's bright pink hair makes her stand out. Add to it we're both Goth and there ya go.

So we settled into our seats and I ordered up an artichoke heart pizza and a diet Dr. Pepper as we waited for the movie to start. We chatted a bit and I told her how amazing Let The Right One In was. The food arrived and the previews started and we settled in.

Heather is a DIEHARD fan of the book and she had goosebumps as soon as the movie started. I thought the casting was wonderful and though the "ethnic" choices made to fill out the cast of humans was surprising, it was a nice relief from the novel. It made the Twilight world a better reflection of America, I thought.

I thought RPatt was lovely as Edward. Kristen Stewart was the perfect Bella. In fact, I thought all the vampire "kids" were wonderfully cast. I adored Jasper's persistent look of terror. It made Heather and I laugh.

So what was my big goosebumps, screaming like a little girl moment?

Dr. Carlisle Cullen.


Holy shit! When he walked into the ER, Heather and I screamed like teenagers at a Beatles concert. But we weren't the only ones. The entire audience gasped, cheered, and swooned. I literally got chills. Oh my gawd. Peter Facinelli is gorgeous as it is, but he was simply BEAUTIFUL as the "father" to Edward. Every time he was on the screen, we were swooning fools.

Sadly, the movie brought on the guffaws quite a bit. RPatt played his part beautifully. His pathos was intense. But it was like he was in a drama and everyone else was in an after school special. His dramatic reveal of his diamond skin brought on great laughter in the theater and I felt rather bad about that. He played it wonderfully, but it just came across as cheesy. The special effects mostly sucked, which killed his mystery. The hunters moved better than he did, but even they started to look like they were puppets on strings. A lot of the audience laughed at scenes I really wanted to get into and care about, but something would just stand out awkwardly and send everyone into laughter.

The worst of these scenes was when Carlisle told Edward to suck the venom out of Bella. Edward, obviously terrified of doing this and draining her dry, agonized in this moment. And his expression sent the audience into rollicking laughter.

So how did I feel about Twilight the movie? It was fun to see with a friend. There were definitely parts I really enjoyed. Other parts that had me wincing. I loved the casting across the board. The movie made me even consider reading the rest of the three books.

But it also suffered from really horrible special effects and really awkward editing.

I hope the next time around they have a better budget and Edward won't look like a puppet on strings when he performs his vampiric moves.

Oh, yeah. LOVED THE VAMPIRE BASEBALL.

Let The Right One In was far superior as a film, as a vampire tale, and as a beautiful, heart-wrenching love story. I would recommend Let The Right One in to anyone who loves vampires. Twilight is a movie to see with friends if you liked the book. Otherwise, wait for the DVD.