Oh, I saw it. Took the girlfriend a while back. She knows it's bad, but still enjoyed the books. (Well, except for Breaking Dawn.) I thought Eclipse was marginally better than New Moon, but still had some major story problems. At least the wolf special effects have improved.
I do have some questions. Apologies to anyone who hates Twilight and to guys who didn't see it with their significant other. (You can read my questions about New Moon here. Oh, and again: I haven't read the books.)
Why didn't the Volturi stop the bad vampires from feasting on tasty human blood? Considering that in New Moon the Volturi would have killed Edward for showing off his sparkly bare chest to a bunch of Italians (wow, that sounds weird out of context), don't they maybe want to put the kibosh on the rampant vampire killings in Seattle? If they're trying to frame the Cullens or set them up for a downfall, they're going about it in a pretty roundabout way. I mean, the vampire killings made the local news. What is their goal? Do they want a war with the humans? Or are they all about keeping the vampires secret? If that's the case, they're doing a pretty terrible job so far. At some point you have to wonder if vampire Dakota Fanning knows what she's doing.
If newborns are bloodthirsty killers, aren't the Cullens worried about Bella will go crazy and kill every single delicious human in the greater Forks, Washington area?
Wouldn't Bella have the same reaction to being bitten as the newborns? They don't seem to be all that worried. Also, I have a serious problem with the logic of a newly turned vampire--who would likely be terrified to find themselves suddenly craving human blood--being more powerful than one who has lived longer and honed his or her fighting skills. But, like much in Twilight, I guess I just have to go with that one.
So, again, why does Bella want to be a vampire?
Three movies in, and I still don't see the appeal of the vampire life. Clearly Jacob is the way to go here. The werewolves get to run through the woods, sit around campfires and hear stories from their wise elders, and even occasionally eat something. (As my girlfriend says, does Bella ever eat?) Okay, fine, she's in love with Edward. She could still be with him, get married, and not have to live forever with a neverending taste for blood. (Rosalie didn't make much of a case for eternal life.) If the Volturi show up, Bella could just pretend to be a vampire. She's already pale and mopey, so it shouldn't be all that hard.
Why does Robert Pattinson always look he just took a whiff of sour milk?
People give Kristen Stewart grief for her limited emotional range in the Twilight movies, so it's only fair that Pattinson gets called out as well. Seriously, the guy has two facial expressions: creepy stare and stinkface. Plus, Stewart showed off her acting chops in The Runaways and Adventureland. I'm starting to have doubts about Pattinson's post-Twilight career longevity.
Why are the movies so long??
Twilight was 122 minutes. New Moon clocked in at 130. Eclipse scaled it back to 124. Breaking Dawn will apparently be two movies, and assuming they're comparable lengths--say, two hours each--we're talking over 600 minutes of Kristen Stewart and Edward Pattinson staring at each other longingly with the occasional werewolf fight thrown in for good measure. There is just not enough plot so far to justify that length. And yet, I can imagine the movies leave out some stuff from the books. So why are they so long? I guess this is less of a question and more of a complaint.
Why isn't Anna Kendrick in more scenes?
Okay, she has a minor role, but she's also an Oscar-nominee, funny, and hot. If I were making these movies, she would have played Bella. Also, I'd hire a better screenwriter.
I do have some questions. Apologies to anyone who hates Twilight and to guys who didn't see it with their significant other. (You can read my questions about New Moon here. Oh, and again: I haven't read the books.)
Why didn't the Volturi stop the bad vampires from feasting on tasty human blood? Considering that in New Moon the Volturi would have killed Edward for showing off his sparkly bare chest to a bunch of Italians (wow, that sounds weird out of context), don't they maybe want to put the kibosh on the rampant vampire killings in Seattle? If they're trying to frame the Cullens or set them up for a downfall, they're going about it in a pretty roundabout way. I mean, the vampire killings made the local news. What is their goal? Do they want a war with the humans? Or are they all about keeping the vampires secret? If that's the case, they're doing a pretty terrible job so far. At some point you have to wonder if vampire Dakota Fanning knows what she's doing.
If newborns are bloodthirsty killers, aren't the Cullens worried about Bella will go crazy and kill every single delicious human in the greater Forks, Washington area?
Wouldn't Bella have the same reaction to being bitten as the newborns? They don't seem to be all that worried. Also, I have a serious problem with the logic of a newly turned vampire--who would likely be terrified to find themselves suddenly craving human blood--being more powerful than one who has lived longer and honed his or her fighting skills. But, like much in Twilight, I guess I just have to go with that one.
So, again, why does Bella want to be a vampire?
Three movies in, and I still don't see the appeal of the vampire life. Clearly Jacob is the way to go here. The werewolves get to run through the woods, sit around campfires and hear stories from their wise elders, and even occasionally eat something. (As my girlfriend says, does Bella ever eat?) Okay, fine, she's in love with Edward. She could still be with him, get married, and not have to live forever with a neverending taste for blood. (Rosalie didn't make much of a case for eternal life.) If the Volturi show up, Bella could just pretend to be a vampire. She's already pale and mopey, so it shouldn't be all that hard.
Why does Robert Pattinson always look he just took a whiff of sour milk?
People give Kristen Stewart grief for her limited emotional range in the Twilight movies, so it's only fair that Pattinson gets called out as well. Seriously, the guy has two facial expressions: creepy stare and stinkface. Plus, Stewart showed off her acting chops in The Runaways and Adventureland. I'm starting to have doubts about Pattinson's post-Twilight career longevity.
Why are the movies so long??
Twilight was 122 minutes. New Moon clocked in at 130. Eclipse scaled it back to 124. Breaking Dawn will apparently be two movies, and assuming they're comparable lengths--say, two hours each--we're talking over 600 minutes of Kristen Stewart and Edward Pattinson staring at each other longingly with the occasional werewolf fight thrown in for good measure. There is just not enough plot so far to justify that length. And yet, I can imagine the movies leave out some stuff from the books. So why are they so long? I guess this is less of a question and more of a complaint.
Why isn't Anna Kendrick in more scenes?
Okay, she has a minor role, but she's also an Oscar-nominee, funny, and hot. If I were making these movies, she would have played Bella. Also, I'd hire a better screenwriter.
I hate saying this, being a Twilight fan and all, but I think Robert makes those faces because it's expressly written in the screenplay. The screenwriter they got is horrible, so it's amazing to me that Eclipse itself wasn't as contrived, story-wise. But I concur with almost everything you say, especially that Eclipse is the better of the films. And don't even get me started on Breaking Dawn (what a horrible book, and making it into 2 films--ridiculous).
:-)
Hello!
1. In the book they describe it better. The Volutori didn't stop the newborns because the Voltori are threatened by the Cullen Clan, they are the biggest clan of talented vampires and they wanted to give the newborn vampire army a chance to bring them down. Which is why they showed up so late, they weren't expecting the Cullens to win.
2. In the books, they explained that they would take her away when they decide to transform her. They are waiting until she "goes away to college" so that it wont seem suspicious to her folks.
3. lol yes Bella is pale. But she wants to be a vampire to be with Edward. Jacob is a good choice but she just cares for the vampire better. Again, in the books, it majors on the difference between Edward and Bella and how much easier things would be if they were the same species, especially since Bella tends to get hurt alot.
4. I dont know. I personally think he wasnt the best actor for this part. Kristen Stewart however is pretty close to the book.
5. We fans want it :-)
6. Never thought of it.
Hope this helped!
Wow, yeah, the movie doesn't explain that stuff about the Volturi at all. They're just sort of there watching everything.
One more question: Edward can read minds? Did that come up on the first two movies? If so, I don't remember. If he can read minds, can't he see when Victoria is coming? And why didn't Alice know she was behind the vampires? Why are her visions so unreliable?
Yes, he can read minds. And as far as I know, he can't do "long distance" mind reading.
There's a loophole with Alice's powers, if you make snap decisions instead of planning ahead, she won't see what you're going to do. Though I don't know how Victoria's plan was going to work, as she was planning on making a snap decision.
Technically the new evil guy (Riley?) was behind the newborns.
You should ask your gf! Since she read the books :)
She's forgotten a lot of stuff in the books. She skimmed the last one since she was losing interest and it got crazy with all the half-vampire baby drama.
Yay! I asked this :) Know it's not typical a typical Guyspeak Q, but I love all your pop culture stuff. Also, as someone who has read the books, I do wonder how the films come across to someone who hasn't. I know they're crappy, but they are a guilty pleasure for me.
I'll try'n answer the Volturi part, based on my understanding from the book. The Volturi are threatened by the Cullen clan/coven. Given their special abilities and strong ties to each other (which blood-drinkers only seem to have with their mates) and the fact that a large group live together peacefully, they seem to be a cause of concern for the Volturi.
The Volturi are supposed to be the law-makers and keepers for vamps and if they were seen to move against a coven for no reason, it'd be far too aggressive and obvious a move. Presumably it would lead to vamp chaos (and you know we can't have that!). Aro (Michael Sheen) likes to collect talented vamps. You wouldn't know it, but they're supposed to be rare. Even though half the Cullen clan have special abilities... so the thinking there is he could collect Alice and Edward and maybe even Jasper, if he killed off the rest of the pesky Cullens.
The plan for turning Bella is to take her off somewhere deserted and wait for the red-eyed burning-thirst madness to pass. Edward would never cause her such distress as to let her kill anyone. He'll probably lock her up in a cage and start calling her "my presiousssss"...
The newborn bit is their physical strength overpowers an older vamp's but obviously strength would not be enough to beat an experienced vamp who can manage to avoid a newbie's bear hug.
As to why Bella wants to be a vamp, you got me. But then if you can lose your mind so completely over your first boyf who you went out with for 7 months.... it's probably a reasonable *cough* conclusion to come to. She has a major issue with the fact that she's already "older" than Edward and doesn't want to age more. If she's a vamp, all the other vamps will stop trying to eat her and if they want to kill her, it's not as easily done when she is also a vamp.
I too am totes team Jake. On one hand, you have the cold-as-stone guy who dumped your ass and left you. To be with him, you have to give up your family, friends and life. He has major jealousy and control issues. He can also be flexible with the truth, although it is "for your own good". Because you're not to be trusted to look after yourself.
On the other, you have the toasty warm guy who knows how to have fun. You don't have to give up anything to be with him and can have a normal life, with kids if you decide you want them when you're older than 18. The caramel skin and ridonculous abs are both perks :)
Anna Kendrick was so good in New Moon. Even better, when you realise her whole zombie-movie-rant was improvised.
All I can say, is I can't wait to hear what you make of Breaking Dawn. I don't understand how some MAJOR plot points are gonna work on-screen. Reckon it's gonna be bad. I have no idea how they are going to stretch two movies out of it, when a lot of people threw it down in frustration....
Apologies for the essay, but I hope it clarifies things slightly. And thanks for answering my Q :)
Glad to answer. Thanks for the info from the book. The only downside I can see to Jacob is that he's overprotective, but then so is Edward. I don't understand why everyone is so into Bella, but I guess you just have to accept that as fact.
Also, why can't she protect herself? She finally does something at the end of Eclipse, but otherwise she just hangs around while everyone protects her. She seems smart enough. It would be nice if they showed her coming up with plans and making decisions. She's not a great role model for young girls. Hermione Granger is a much stronger character.
woo for Hermione Granger! =) haha
They are both overprotective. Girl is good at getting herself into trouble and onto the menu for any passing vamps though.... Jake is overprotective, but in a less patronising and more honest way, which doesn't bother me as much as Edward, who keeps her out of her own loop, because he doesn't want to worry.
I don't understand Bella's appeal either. She's so blah and extremely normal. I do think that's why the books are so popular. Bella exists so that the readers can superimpose themselves into her role. She's ok at school, but nor especially smart. She gets on with her parents, but isn't especially close to them. She's not ugly, but she's not stunning either. So when girls read the stories, there's nothing to stop them assuming they too could have two sensitive, protective hotties battling for her affections. There is a reason that Teams Jake and Edward exist, but there is no Team Bella- the readers don't really care about her.
In the books, much is made of Bella's clumsiness and how she repeatedly needs saving from herself in that respect. I too was glad she did something in the end of the Eclipse movie, which she didn't do in the book. She did think about it. A lot.
Bella isn't a good role model. Buffy was so much stronger, in every sense. I love Hermione! There are so many times where the lads would be scuppered without her. She's so smart and works so hard. As the books went on, she got less annoying too and by the end of the series is likable! I'm gonna be gutted when the Harry Potter films are over :(
Yeah so as to why Bella wants to be a vampire, its because she's doesn't want to be old and gross and be going out with a "17-year-old."
Edward is very religious and believes that vampires have no soul, so they don't go to heaven and that's why he doesn't want to change her.
He says he'll love her forever but she doesn't want to be 60 and wrinkley, she wants to live with him like that forever.
I agree on the new screenwriter part the most. I saw the first one online, mostly because i refuse to pay for such a, awful film, and I thought the dialogue and all the unnecessarily lip biting from the girl who plays Bella ridiculous and irritating.
Is it just me, or does Bella radiate a deadpan, sub three digit IQ? I'm so disappointed in you, CG... L2 Anne Rice.
Is it just me, or does Bella radiate a deadpan, sub three digit IQ sort of demeanor? I'm disappointed, CG, so disappointed. L2 Anne Rice.