My friend Alison asked me on Twitter this morning what I thought of Breaking Dawn Part 1, and in the confines of 140 characters, this was my review"
"OMG It was good and so bad but so good but really bad but really so good!"
Pretty much sums it right up. If you’re a Twilight fan I think I can say without any doubt in my mind that you will love The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. You will love it so much even while you’re laughing at how ridiculously cheesy it is. But that’s part of the beauty of the movies, right – the cheesiness?! So yes, let’s all agree that the movies are pure cheese and move on with it, ok.
I went into the Breaking Dawn advance screening hosted by Boston Pizza Orleans Community Relations Manager, Leslie Scott, pretty much knowing what to expect – or so I thought. After all, I had seen the sneak peek trailer, the full trailer, numerous pictures from the set and I have read all the books – so I was pretty sure I wasn’t in for any surprises, yet surprised I was. This was, by far, the best Twilight movie yet. Yes I understand the last 2 movies were pretty bad :)
The first thing that struck me was how fast the movie progressed. From the opening scene we were instantly thrust into the story. First - the wedding. Not a lot of set up but right to the goods with some brief banter between Bella and Alice, Bella and Edward, and Edward and his brothers. Note – Jackson Rathbone’s Jasper has never looked better than in the brief scene where we see him hurrying Edward along for his ‘bachelor party’.
Then they cut right to the chase with Renee and Charlie arriving, Bella’s high school friends and the brief introduction to the Denali Vampires for the big day. The reveal of Bella’s dress was slow and methodical; making sure the audience took it all in. I hadn’t thought of it before, but her dress, of all things, was never leaked to the public, and the moviemakers made sure you saw it bit by bit, piece by piece, until they were ready to reveal the entire image to you. It made you feel like you were seeing her at the same time he was. It was awesome :)
So then they get married and the wedding is ethereal and gorgeous and the kind of wedding you would only see in a movie or described in a book. In other words the scene was perfect for what readers would have been expecting. After the wedding, we of course move along to the honeymoon which was breathtaking as well. The private island, the house on the private island, all of the imagery and scenery and being all about Bella and Edward – it was perfect.
Then there’s the pregnancy and the trip home – all of it happens fast. But you never feel like there’s anything left out. This is when you have to be really happy that they decided to make this book into 2 movies. Because we get it all – nothing is left out.
This was a different sort of Twilight movie – a more mature Twilight movie – which was fitting because in the book we saw Bella grow from a clutsy teenager to a married woman and mother. Bill Condon assumed the directors role for Breaking Dawn and allowed the characters and the movie to grow. It feels less like a movie for teenagers and more a movie for the masses.
My first observation when watching Breaking Dawn was how incredibly amazing Kristen Stewart looked. Honestly, she is stunning in the movie. I kept looking at Candace and remarking at just how beautiful she was. And that beauty only paled slightly to the hotness that was Robert Pattinson’s Edward (Candace is not a Team Edward fan so she made it a little hard to gush with). Honestly – the entire first half of the movie is all about Bella and Edward and I couldn’t get enough. The honeymoon scene – in the bedroom – with them doing it for the first time – with the headboard breaking and the pillows being ripped apart – seriously I died a little. I wanted more, but in true Twilight form they don’t give you more. It’s like you left the theatre with Twilight’s version of blue balls. And the entire Cullen clan looked so much better this movie too– except for Carlisle who still has the worst wig and makeup job in any movie ever.
The second thing I noticed was this movie was funny. And not just ironically funny – but genuinely, laugh out loud funny. The wedding reception was full of hilarious moments, from Charlie’s father of the bride speech to Jessica referring to Edward as ‘The Hair’. From Bella’s attempt to seduce Edward on their honeymoon to the reaction of Jacob when he learns Bella’s choice of names for her unborn child (finally they realize how stupid that name is!) – the movie was full of really funny moments that the first two movies were lacking.
Sadly, Taylor Lautner is still really, really bad in this movie. Like really bad. But he looks good, but he’s a really bad actor. And his bad is only overshadowed by how bad the rest of the Wolf Pack is. Because they are also really bad. And there’s one scene – that I won’t spoil for you but you’ll know it when you watch it – featuring the wolf pack in their wolf form – that will have you laughing out loud – and not in a good way. So bad.
So should you see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1?! If you’re a Twilight fan yes! You will love it and you will laugh at the sheer cheesiness of it all but you will be so happy at how true to the book it was. And at the end you will be so mad that you have to wait another year before part 2 hits theatres because the promise of a Vampire Bella is sooo good! Make sure you stick around after the credits roll for a surprise scene featuring the Volturi too. Michael Sheen is deliciously evil as Aro.
Scene and Heard
Confessions of a Pop Culture Mummy
Sigh. You knew this would happen, didn’t you? Lindsay Lohan, who last week was sentenced to 30 days in jail for probation violation, reported to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, CA last night at 8:48PM PST to begin serving that sentence. She was released less than 5 hours later. I’d say that 5 hours in jail beats 30 days of house arrest any day.
This happened after earlier in the week posing first for Playboy then crashing the after party for Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest movie ‘J Edgar’. No one is quite sure how she managed to even get past security for the party but she apparently made quite the scene telling anyone who would listen that she had to see ‘Leo’.
See, Lindsay still thinks she’s important. She’s delusional She still thinks that she can waltz into A-list parties and be welcomed, that she can still demand star treatment. She thinks that people will think her Playboy spread is ‘tasteful’ when people know really that she needed to make some money and taking her clothes off was her last resort since no one will hire her anymore. Lindsay lives in a world of denial where she thinks that she belongs on the A-list because she surrounds herself with people who are more interested in taking all that they can from her than they are with giving her all that she needs, and that includes feeding her ego to the point where she still thinks she’s a star.
Sadly one of those people happens to be her mother, who has not only denied Lindsay has had any sort of drug or alcohol problem for years, but is now trying to further capitalize off her daughter by writing a tell-all book about her troubles. Yup, good old ‘mom of the year’ Dina Lohan is shopping around a memoir which places the blame on everyone else for Lindsay’s issues – never on her. TMZ got ahold of Dina Lohan's book draft and in it she writes:
"I blamed her friends, her career and her handlers for an (sic) newfound lifestyle of partying excessively. Drinking, drugging and behaving irresponsibly became Lindsay's way of daily living--and it tore me up inside."
"How could I deny my daughter the chance of a lifetime? How could I hold Lindsay back from her dream of becoming an actress? So, I listened to others and sent my daughter to Hollywood with a few pieces of luggage and a chaperone."
Well, really – did Lindsay even stand a chance at a normal life?! Because who wouldn't send their child off to Hollywood to live in a hotel because they dreamt of being an actress?! If the moms of every kid who wanted to be famous did that, Hollywood would be overrun by tweens! This is the same mother who will insist that the naked shots of her 25 year old daughter, that she had to sell to a magazine to make money, are ‘tasteful’ not desperate at all.
But Lindsay is an adult now and she has to start taking her health and her future into her own hands, since the only person who really seems to care about her succeeding is the judge. I was really hoping Lindsay would spend some time in jail that maybe a few days by herself, away from her so called friends, would give her some time to reflect on the mess she made of her life. But sadly due to overcrowding she was released mere hours after she checked in. Meaning it won’t be long before Lindsay is once again behaving badly. She only has to serve 12 days of community service at the morgue and attend four psychotherapy sessions before December 14 to avoid any more jail time for now. I really hope that this doesn’t end tragically, but I’m not holding my breath.
Scene and Heard
Confessions of a Pop Culture Mummy
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