Wonderful and very atmospheric
Added 11/24/2009
I am not a fan of vampires, but when this film was recommended to me many times by friends I had to see it to find out what all the fuss was about. I am so glad that I did - it's one of the best films I've seen all year. The film has so much atmosphere and the chemistry between the two main characters is electric. The filming is so beautifully done and the soundtrack compliments it so much. The choice of cast was perfect, the production quality was amazing. The only thing I was unhappy about - the fact that it ended!
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So Low Budget it hurt..
Added 11/24/2009
I watched this with my tween sister who thinks Edward is so fantastic...and since I'd read all the books, I also wanted to check out the movie.
I was sadly disappointed.
The Harry Potter movies are obviously not made for any academic audience, but the world is believable. I feel like the movies have made a real world for the characters for me to watch, a word that meets my expectations (almost to the T) that the books gave me. I'm not exactly sure what to make of the Twilight movie. I'm pretty sure a group of high school kids got together and made this as a final project...
I understand that this movie had a very small budget, and I'm able to cut the special effects some slack (but sparkly...seriously? I'm sure there was a less gay way to do that...I mean, if I were Pattinson, and I'm a girl by the way, I would have been pretty pissed at how sparkly I was. DIAMONDS, NOT GLITTER!)
The acting was...atrocious. I've never heard of Kristen Stewart before, to be totally honest, so I have nothing else to compare her to. I've seen Pattinson in Goblet of Fire, obviously, and I thought he did pretty well in that, granted his on screen time with lines was next to nothing. I don't know if it was the low budget-ness or a bad acting coach, bad director or what happened here...but it definitely belonged in an independent film festival and not on the big screen (sorry to offend any independent film makers, because I've seen quite a few amazing independent films).
The dialogue felt forced most of the time...like the screen writer wrote part of it and didn't know how to fill in space so it was up to the actors to improv...about all the time.
And the make up? What did they do to Pattinson? I saw him in Goblet of Fire, and I about drooled all over myself. What the heck happened in this movie?! Was there too much make up? Was it cheap? Or is he just not right for this part? I saw him in a preview for another movie he's got coming out and he seemed like a good enough actor, and looked normal...so I must blame this movie for his performance in this. And no, I'm not saying Pattinson is the greatest thing since sliced bread, I'm not a 15 year old girl who nourishes a dream that I'll meet him some day.
I knew most of this going into the movie, though, so I can't say I was too upset by it. I don't see how it could have made new fans by it, I was certain it would be "Twi-hards" only that would fall for this movie, but I am wrong again. Oh, and New Moon broke records this week and is now the 3rd highest grossing film! Admittedly, it was better than Twilight, but they did not fix the sparkly vampire and the only thing that made me enjoy it was watching Taylor Lautner without a shirt for about 3/4 of it. Oh, and yes, I do secretly dream that he's about three years older and falls madly inlove with me someday ;)
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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I love Twilight!
Added 11/23/2009
The movie was just as good as the book! I loved the series and I just watched "New Moon" yesterday.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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An Honest, Neutral Review of Why "Twilight" is NOT a Good Film
Added 11/23/2009
The Twilight Saga is unavoidable in both film and book form. The books, which I've never read, were bestsellers and the recent release of "New Moon," the film is breaking records. Teenage girls are absolutely gaga for the star Robert Pattinson and it finally intrigued me enough to watch this film. I do have a slightly biased opinion as the entire premise of the film seemed ludicrous to me, but I found a glimmer of hope in the film's director Catherine Hardwicke, who was responsible for the very honest look at teenagers with the film "Thirteen."
What really surprised me about this film is that it doesn't have much of a plot. Kristen Stewart plays Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Arizona to Forks, Washington to stay with her father (Billy Burke). Bella inexplicably begins school moments after arriving in Forks and discovers The Cullen's, a group of mysterious foster kids from Alaska. Even more mysterious and intriguing, to her and the rest of the student body, is Edward Cullen (Pattinson), a quiet, pale, reserved 17-year-old. Bella starts to notice the Cullen's are more than just a little different and when Edward stops a van from running her over, she realizes that he may not even be human...99% of the world knows that he's a vampire, but not a vampire of the typical, blood-sucking variety. The Cullen's are "vegetarian" vampires who only snack on the blood of animals. There's a story here, obviously but nothing really happens in it.
Almost everything here is underwritten, characters and plot included. The characterization is particularly hollow and calling the characters "characters," is inaccurate; these are names with pretty faces attached to them. We're talking about a film here with an uneventful plot and characters completely void of depth. Twilight is supposed to be a supernatural love story geared towards a teenage demographic, but where's the emotion or poignancy that a love story needs in order to work as one? It's certainly not here. The dialogue in this movie is so melodramatic, I almost felt nauseous. The conversations between Bella and Edward are particularly embarrassing to watch. This does not sound like the "Romeo & Juliet" of the 21st Century, but the banter of two prepubescent children. A quick example; "Beautiful? This is the skin of a killer, Bella."
As for the performances, no one seems to be putting any effort into them. Pattinson looks uncomfortable and his facial expressions, as well as his delivery of the film's dialogue sound pain fully forced. I do believe Hardwicke is a talented director, but she made a lot of poor creative choices here starting with her decision to direct such a poorly written script in the first place. One of her most annoying directorial decisions was her overuse of the slow-motion to illustrate the anxiety of a character. I can say only one positive thing about the film's production value and that is the somber, gray color palette utilized by the film's cinematographer...It could've been really effective if the tone of the overall film had been altered. Anyone who doesn't agree with what I'm saying about the film's poor quality need look no further than the baseball scene. How horribly executed can a scene be? The acting, the dialogue, the choice of music, Pattinson's snarl, and the cinematography are so bad it's embarrassing. Finally, this scene has no relevance to the plot of the film. It's muddled, meandering filler slipped into the film as an excuse to bring the character's to a different conflict in the story. If I was not aware of the inescapable Twilight frenzy, I would swear this film was a direct-to-DVD release; no one with a knowledge or appreciation of American cinema would call Twilight a good movie.
Quite frankly, watching Twilight was like watching a high-school play written by a socially inept teenager. Obviously, my opinion isn't going to affect the success of the series. Twilight is one of those things that strikes some chord with young American audiences and has become a record-breaking smash success. I guarantee that Twilight will not remain a part of the American moviegoer's consciousness for any prolonged amount of time and just like hugely successful boy bands, this is a phase that will fade away in time.
Twilight left me shaking my head so many times in the two hours I was watching it. I was not fascinated, intrigued, or stimulated about anything going on in the film and the only way I can imagine someone being those things is if they were not educated. That last part is sarcasm, but quite honestly this is a film that people will look back on ten years from now and think "how did I possibly think that was any good."
GRADE: D
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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A total puzzle
Added 11/22/2009
Why people bought thousands of copies of the book? -- Hype.
Why someone made a movie based on it? -- A total puzzle.
There have been so many classic vampire movies starring world known actors. This one is a repeat, which just a few twists attempting to make it different (and they don't succeed, for the most part). Choosing unknown young actors is a plus, but it doesn't offset the repetitiveness of the subject.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Wonderful and very atmospheric
Added 11/24/2009
I am not a fan of vampires, but when this film was recommended to me many times by friends I had to see it to find out what all the fuss was about. I am so glad that I did - it's one of the best films I've seen all year. The film has so much atmosphere and the chemistry between the two main characters is electric. The filming is so beautifully done and the soundtrack compliments it so much. The choice of cast was perfect, the production quality was amazing. The only thing I was unhappy about - the fact that it ended!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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So Low Budget it hurt..
Added 11/24/2009
I watched this with my tween sister who thinks Edward is so fantastic...and since I'd read all the books, I also wanted to check out the movie.
I was sadly disappointed.
The Harry Potter movies are obviously not made for any academic audience, but the world is believable. I feel like the movies have made a real world for the characters for me to watch, a word that meets my expectations (almost to the T) that the books gave me. I'm not exactly sure what to make of the Twilight movie. I'm pretty sure a group of high school kids got together and made this as a final project...
I understand that this movie had a very small budget, and I'm able to cut the special effects some slack (but sparkly...seriously? I'm sure there was a less gay way to do that...I mean, if I were Pattinson, and I'm a girl by the way, I would have been pretty pissed at how sparkly I was. DIAMONDS, NOT GLITTER!)
The acting was...atrocious. I've never heard of Kristen Stewart before, to be totally honest, so I have nothing else to compare her to. I've seen Pattinson in Goblet of Fire, obviously, and I thought he did pretty well in that, granted his on screen time with lines was next to nothing. I don't know if it was the low budget-ness or a bad acting coach, bad director or what happened here...but it definitely belonged in an independent film festival and not on the big screen (sorry to offend any independent film makers, because I've seen quite a few amazing independent films).
The dialogue felt forced most of the time...like the screen writer wrote part of it and didn't know how to fill in space so it was up to the actors to improv...about all the time.
And the make up? What did they do to Pattinson? I saw him in Goblet of Fire, and I about drooled all over myself. What the heck happened in this movie?! Was there too much make up? Was it cheap? Or is he just not right for this part? I saw him in a preview for another movie he's got coming out and he seemed like a good enough actor, and looked normal...so I must blame this movie for his performance in this. And no, I'm not saying Pattinson is the greatest thing since sliced bread, I'm not a 15 year old girl who nourishes a dream that I'll meet him some day.
I knew most of this going into the movie, though, so I can't say I was too upset by it. I don't see how it could have made new fans by it, I was certain it would be "Twi-hards" only that would fall for this movie, but I am wrong again. Oh, and New Moon broke records this week and is now the 3rd highest grossing film! Admittedly, it was better than Twilight, but they did not fix the sparkly vampire and the only thing that made me enjoy it was watching Taylor Lautner without a shirt for about 3/4 of it. Oh, and yes, I do secretly dream that he's about three years older and falls madly inlove with me someday ;)
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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I love Twilight!
Added 11/23/2009
The movie was just as good as the book! I loved the series and I just watched "New Moon" yesterday.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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