ssshhhhh...stop screaming

Last night I went to see the movie, Twilight.
I had read the book (so good I devoured it in one day), and I don't normally like the movie renditions of books I love, but my friend debs was going with a few girls from her work.
Too, on the news I had seen the popularity of the midnight showing, and wanted to ride the wave of enthusiasm.

Being able to buy tickets online is so convenient, but people were still lining up two hours prior to showtime.
We were some of the first to be seated, but chose the back rows with all the "old ladies" (wink).

The theatre was filled with screaming teenagers.
Well, more like screaming teenage girls.
They all seemed to know each other, and all seemed to have cell phones.
When the previews ended and the opening scene came into focus, the girl next to me, her long legs bent so her feet were on her seat, started excitedly exclaiming, "It's starting, it's starting, it's starting..."
The words "Twilight" came onto the screen, and screams erupted.
Debs (the mother of teenagers) made some comment about how nice it was to be surrounded by teenage joy, and I only half-heartedly joked, "I'm in Hell."
Another of the women we were with said it was more like good birth control. Ha!

Why were they screaming?
Uh, hellooo


I was disappointed in the movie.
First of all, why did they give Edward so much make-up?
Yeah, I know he's supposed to be white and dead and everything, but why the dark lipstick?
He looked like Edward Scissorhands more than Edward Cullen.
Too, I didn't like the hair swept up off his forehead.I envisioned bronze hair, wind swept (pretty much the way Robert Pattinson looks in real life)...not the way he looked in the movie at all.

And they cut out one of my favorite parts of the book, when Edward first decides he wants to be friends with Bella after all.
They're in the cafeteria, but Edward is not seated at the usual table with his family.
Bella scans the room, sees him, and wonders why he is seated alone.
Their eyes lock, and he motions her come hither with his index finger.
It's awesome sexual tension.
Why was that scene not considered?

Twilight is the essence of sexual tension.
The teenage girls long to experience it, and those of us who have still remember the flutter in our stomachs with anticipation.
Like debs said, it's the feeling you got when you walked out of class, and a boy was there waiting for you...it's that universal thrill, the excitement, the giddiness of falling in love.

Too much from the book was different.
Casting got it right with Jacob and Alice, but was so off with other characters--
Rosalie wasn't gorgeous enough nor young enough.
Carlisle wasn't gorgeous enough and his makeup was far too pale.

Too, the growling and snarling could have been so much more animalistic.
The director didn't even really play with that, and the lame attempts the actors made to snarl just didn't make any sense to me.
In this day and age, of animation and technological abilities, I don't understand why the director opted out of opportunities to utilize more special effects.
I realize it was important to keep the rating non-violent, but I don't think realistic threatening fangs would have sent it over the edge.
If anything, the movie was too dumb-downed.

Throughout, the audience kept talking, screaming, and shushing each other.
Cell phones were lighting up, with new texts and perhaps video ("look where I am!").
I got used to it.

Yes, I understand the book is labeled "Young Adult", and the target audience is 14-year-old girls, but I wish the movie had tried to capture more elements that any age group could appreciate.
I wish the overall effect weren't so sappy.
That being said, it will still be hugely successful, it's just that it could have been so much more.