Breaking Dawn 2 Midnight Release

As I write this, it's been about a week that Breaking Dawn pt. 2 has been on DVD.  I went to the midnight release party at Walmart.  It was nice.  They gave us cake, and the freebie was a set of mini posters from the previous films. Very nice... One of the nicest promo gifts.  In fact, I tweeted it, mentioning Walmart, and someone replied back.  I had my Breaking Dawn shirt and accessories. Yes, I fan-girl hard.

(Hey, I like blue.  What can I say?)

They also showed behind-the-scenes segments from the DVD. 

Mom was with me, and she snagged another set of posters for me. (she bought an extra DVD!)  She thought I could use them in my scrapbook, but I think I'll frame them in a collage frame.  In fact, I have a bunch of posters that need frames badly.  Sigh.  

I watched the DVD the next evening, and of course, it was good. I also preordered the Target DVD (it came with a fabric poster, and bonus features), and it arrived a few days later. 

So.... will this be my last "Twilight" post?  Maybe not.  But let me close it out with this: 

Thanks to the actors, filmmakers, and especially Stephenie, for giving us the chance to dream about forever.

Breaking Dawn Part 2

Today I went to go see Breaking Dawn Pt. 2. My theater had the Breaking Dawn-themed cups; they seemed to be given out at random, or maybe it's by week. I got the one with the Amazon coven.

I arrived there with plenty of time to spare; before the movie started I had to remind myself: "Do not get hyped up... Do not get hyped up," remembering what happened at part 1.

The first thing that surprised me was the opening credits; there haven't been opening credits since "Twilight." Red, white, and black letters against gray, snowy backdrops. I was dressed appropriately. My t-shirt (which I got from Cafe Press) matched, as well as my socks. But you didn't need to know that, did you? Lol.

After that, you just jump right in with Bella as she adjusts to her new vampire life. It didn't go quite as fast as pt. 1. Bella's more confident. We get some sweet moments with Edward, and see Renesmee grow up quickly. Emmett and Jacob provide the humor.

Then... We jump into the nitty-gritty, the meat of this part of the story. There's a slight condensing involving Bella and a minor character, but it works out. We move rather quickly into the confrontation.

Man. Do we jump into it. And get slapped upside our heads with it. The oxygen got sucked out of the room for a minute. Jaws dropped. Even though some part of you believes it'll be okay, there's still that one minute. After, you are just left going.... "Whoah." But, then again, it makes sense.

But... The ending does wrap things up nicely.

I liked aspects of it. And I liked it as a whole. But I need to see it again to appreciate it fully.

Sent from my iPad 2

3 Days to Go!

We've got three days to go!  Tomorrow night is the premiere.  Everybody keeps touting the surprise ending- even Taylor Lautner is.  As much as I would love to go the evening of the 15th, I shall have to go the next day.  Got my t-shirt ordered. :)

It's been fun living vicariously through all the FB and Twitter posts from the people at Fan Camp.

Thanks for Throwing a Wrench in My Theory

OK, remember a few postings ago how I gave my theory of how the ending to Breaking Dawn would go?

[Recap: Alice would come at the last minute to save the day.]

Wellll.... Summit released some new TV spots this week that kind of ran it askew.  In the clip they showed some more bits of the fight.  Which look really cool, by the way.  But in one scene you see that the Volturi have Alice at one point.

Hmmm... So let me reformulate my theory.  Yes, there is such a word.

The battle will be in two parts: One- Alice's "pre-vision," before everyone starts planning to fight and get everyone together, where we get snippets of it.  Two- The rest of the battle, longer, which is happening "for real."

The Twilight Saga Archive

Less than one month to go! Woohoo!

So... over the weekend I finally broke down and ordered "The Twilight Saga Archive".  Its' complete title is: "The Twilight Saga Complete Archive."  But that's kind of wordy.  Anyway, it was delivered on the afternoon of the 16th.  I was kind of worried because I thought it wouldn't be that good, until some Twihards got it last week or so, and started posting scans of a few pages, which piqued my curiosity.

The book is actually pretty good.  It's actually kind of heavy.  There are tons of great pictures covering all the films (including BD2), and a lot of behind the scenes stuff.  Even what you might consider spoilers.  What I found really interesting, in particular, were the facsimile call sheets, i.e., daily schedules.  (I'd like to find out what the abbreviations stand for.)  I was pretty surprised that they let some BD2 script pages in there.

While I was looking through the book, I found one itty-bitty error.  I forgot what page it's on, but there's a small picture of Carlisle prepping some blood for Bella from BD1.  The caption says it's animal blood.  Obviously it's not.

OK, Summit, send me my check.  

Just kidding.

It has also come to be known that there will be some surprise scene after/during the credits.  Some of us thought it might be this dance-off/prank that the actors did for the director.  But Summit said it won't.  Here's my theory: It'll be a fast-forward to Jacob and Renesmee's wedding.

Someone else's theory: A repeat of the Cullens coming to a new school, (inc. Bella) and someone asking, "Who are they?" like the first movie.

Well... we'll have to wait for November 16th.

Cookie Dough and More

Several days ago, I wanted to try this idea I'd pinned on Pinterest.  It's edible cookie dough, and you can use it for ice cream and stuff.  Basically it has no eggs, so you can eat it "raw."  So I tried it.  It was really easy to make.  Milk holds it together.  It was good enough.  I thought it tasted good.  When Mom tried it, she said that it was missing something.

She finally just said, "Make it into cookies."

Cynics.

You'll like it if you just have a sweet tooth.  Or one of those people who likes raw cookie dough.  

I got some of the Twilight magazines that are coming out for part 2.  The People and US Weekly issues are good.  I'm waiting for the Twilight Saga Archive to come out.

The Final Breaking Dawn Trailer

Last night was the VMAs.  The only reason I watched was to see a sneak peak of the *sniff* final trailer for Breaking Dawn 2 (aka BD2)- yes, the final trailer for Twilight ever. 

Taylor Swift's performance was cool.  She can totally do "Rocker Chick.".

But I digress.

A bunch of the Twilight cast members introduced the piece, which was about 75% of the actual trailer.  The full trailer appeared tonight on yahoo.com.

We got a ton of good stuff: Bella hunting, Renesmee, the other vampires and most of their powers, even the Volturi and the immortal child backstory.  And... what looks like a good fight.

You might know that there's no fight in the book.  At this point I don't really mind the idea of a fight. But this looks good.  Here's my theory of how the sequence will go down: the battle will come to a head, then Alice will step in at the last possible moment to save the day.

The only thing we haven't seen is Bella's power, which I'm really curious about.

But the trailer was really good. I want more.

Comic Con- Epilogue (Sort of)

So... I was slinking around on Ebay and got a couple of posters from someone who'd been to Comic-Con, and they finally came late last week.  Can't wait to frame them.

Books on the Horizon

Ha Ha. Horizon.  Breaking Dawn. Get it?

OK, moving on...

I was searching around on Amazon, and I typed in "Breaking Dawn."  I didn't get anything too spectacular.

Until I selected "Sort by Publication Date."

Now here's when things got interesting.

Amazon- Breaking Dawn

My guess is that it might be reissues of Breaking Dawn with a "Part 2" cover.  There's nothing yet on whether or not there will be a illustrated movie companion.  I hope there will be.  I'm sure there will.  After all, if there's a part one book, then there has to be a part two... .

PS: Let's just say I'm feeling a little better about getting "Mama Bear" Vampire Bella.  That's all.

A Note to the Comic-Con-Goer

Dear Comic-Con attendees,

 This note is addressed to you, but I'm mainly writing to my fellow Twihards who will once again be lucky enough to gather together in Hall H for the Breaking Dawn panel. For those of you who will have the presence of mind to film (ok, let's be real, straight- up bootlegging) the film clips which will be shown, pleassssee, do not get cold feet at the last minute and give us only audio.

 Seriously, whoever that was, you were driving us crazy last year for like a week. Or however long.


 Have fun, and relax. You'll be attending the last Twilight panel before the finale this November. Take in the significance. 


 And, in the words of Edward, 


 Be safe. 


 Sincerely, me. 


 PS: To the director- hope the film score you're now supervising in London will be as awesome as the first. ("Love, Death, Birth," anyone?)

Divergent, Fanfiction, and a Trailer

The other day I forgot my book at home when I was going to work with some time to kill.

[CHORUS: How could you forget your book??]

I know, I know.

So I was looking in the book section of said job, and this book caught my eye: "Divergent," by Veronica Roth.  I flipped through it a little, and it looked interesting.  I bought it.

My goodness, it is really good.  At first glance, it may seem like a Hunger Games rip-off, but I assure you, it's not.  It's like HG with a edge.  A very psychological edge.  And darker.  It is dystopian, so the two have that in common.  Very futuristic with a moral caste system.

It would make a really good movie.  I'm only half-way through it.

I'm not that much into fanfiction.  I've looked on some sites for Twilight fanfiction, and I did find one story in particular that I liked, but now I can't find it.  I guess I'll keep looking.  There was this book that someone, named Jean Rush, wrote called "First Light," about Renesmee, Bella and Edward's daughter.  I thought it was okay.  I didn't really like it when Nessie went with the Volturi, and I know a bunch of people didn't like the ending.  But, really, if you think about the Twilight series as a whole, it kind of makes sense.

Rush wrote a sequel to "First Light," called "First Light: Rising Sun."  It's told from Leah's perspective.  Leah isn't one of my favorite characters, but I thought I'd give it a try.  I actually liked it a lot more than I thought I would.  About halfway through it switches to Nessie's perspective.  And more of the central characters get to be involved in this one.  There was this one major plot twist that I left me wondering, "How on earth is this going to get worked out?"  But it does.

Speaking of Twilight, we got the first teaser last month for Breaking Dawn 2!! Yay!  It was really good, and it left me wanting more.

The Oscar Goes To...

Well, not hardly.

The MTV Movie Awards are in a couple of weeks.  And the only reason I'm writing about them is because a few movies that I like are up for some awards.  So here are the categories / movies I care about:

Best Movie:
The Help
The Hunger Games
Breaking Dawn


This is such a tough category.  I love these three movies.  The Help and HG just slightly edge out BD.  It's like a potato chip; I can't pick just one, since I love both of those.  But I guess I'm going to have to.

My Pick: Uggggghhhh. OK.  The Help.

Best Kiss:
Between The Hunger Games and Breaking Dawn


Breaking Dawn, during the wedding.  For reasons of nostalgia.  The "prom song" from Twilight is played.  It's a really nice sequence.  HG didn't really seal the deal for me because I didn't think it really counted. Yet.

Female Performance:


Jennifer Lawrence.  She played a great Katniss.

Male Performance:


Josh Hutcherson.  He was good as Peeta.

On-Screen Transformation:

I consider the term "transformation" as something that changes during a movie, like Cinderella, etc.  But Elizabeth Banks was good as Effie in HG.  I haven't seen "My Week with Marilyn," but it seems like Michelle played it well.  They both certainly looked their parts.

Gut-Wrenching Scene:

I was going to say Hilly's pie scene in The Help, but I saw the new Mission: Impossible film, and the Dubai hotel sequence kicks it out of the park.

Fight:

HG was nominated, but the garage fight in Mission: Impossible was pretty cool.

Cast:

Between "The Help" and "The Hunger Games," it's another hard choice.  I'm going with "The Help."  Again, I loved both movies, but it seems that HG had a lot of wonderful individual performances, while you see characters really interact in "The Help."  If that makes any sense at all.

Dirt Bag:  There really was no contest for me.  Bryce Howard as Hilly.

PS: The thing I spoke of last post is still coming.  It is.  Really.

The Odds Weren't in My Favor

OK, so for the last couple of days I had this idea to go see a movie by myself.  I had to walk about a mile and a-half to the theater, but I'd done it once before.  I knew it was doable.  I was going to see The Hunger Games again. 

My trip was delayed about a half hour or so because we'd had rain this morning.  I finally left and was about twenty minutes into my trek when I realized.... I'd dropped my phone.  Usually I have it tucked in "backwards" in my pocket- with the belt clip facing out and clipped on the pocket, but it must have worked its' way out because I'd had my shoulder bag on that side.  So I walked about a couple of "blocks", retracing my steps, and THANK GOD I found it about at the intersection close to where I'd started from.  Phew. 

About forty-five minutes later I got to the theater.  Had to wait another half an hour for the box office to open.  But it was okay.  I bring a book with me for such emergencies.  (Well, usually I bring a book with me everywhere I go, but anyway....)

So I asked for a ticket for the next showing: "Do you want one for one o'clock?" "No, that's okay." I didn't mind waiting because of said book. 

Went in the auditorium and waited.  Would this be a private showing? Groovy!  Alas, another person came in (smile). 

All right, here we go.... we had the previews (Breaking Dawn 2!).... intro, the reaping, meeting Cinna, the tribute parade, and the trainin--

Huh?  The projector and lights cut off.  The other occupant stood up and walked out.  After a minute, I did too. 

Other patrons were filing out into the lobby.  The power had gone out, and it seemed, so did that block.  A woman who must have been the manager, was busy giving out passes. 

Since I had no idea when the power would be back on, I just ended up walking back home.  Putting two and two together, it wouldn't have been a good idea to go to that earlier showing, because I would have been right in the middle of that movie during the outage. 

Oh well.  I'll try it again in another week.

Breaking Dawn- the DVD

So last Friday night Breaking Dawn arrived on DVD.  I couldn't go to my local Target because they weren't doing anything special. (Grrr.)  But I had a backup.  The whole event was pretty low-key, but nice.  I had to give credit to the employee who was hosting the little party; they were a very good sport.  We got Breaking Dawn cleaning cloths- those microfiber ones.  I won't be using mine. Ha ha.  There was a drawing for a gift card (no I wasn't the winner).  And there was cake and cupcakes.  Strangely, everyone was going for the cupcakes. 

After that, we all went to wait in line for about an hour and a half in the electronics department.  They were showing little featurettes on the Twilight Saga and Breaking Dawn.  I was about # 5 or 6.  With a half-hour or so before midnight, there were seventeen people in line.  By the time I got my DVD, there were over thirty.  You got a cute "souvenir" with it.  I went to Target later on and got their copy. 

And would you believe it- I did not watch it that night.  Seriously, I would have regretted it.  I watched it the next night.  The special features are great.  Can't wait 'til part 2. :)

Breaking Dawn- A Postscript

Since the 18th, Mom and I have been back to see Breaking Dawn once more.  I kind of didn't "enjoy" it the first time (as much as I thought I would), because I'd mentally hyped it up so much.  But going to see it a second time- it was much better.  It didn't seem quite as rushed. 

And, there was no flashback during the wedding-  it was during Bella's transformation.  (sorry.)

We don't have too much longer to wait to see it again, because it's supposed to come out on DVD mid-February.  With a longer version.  (Not quite so official... but here's where I got the info: Breaking Dawn Movie.org; they got their info from Hypable.com.)

Breaking Dawn: An Intimate Epic Film

 

Today Mom and I went to go see "Breaking Dawn." I'm giving my review with as much detail as possible (or as much as I can remember), so if you don't want any spoilers, just skip this.  If you don't care either way, keep reading.  

My first impression was that it was fast-paced, but not quite rushed, at the same time.  And, if you are not into Twilight, you will not get this.  Let's just get that straight right now.

The wedding scenes were very good.  It wasn't just a wedding straight through.  It was cut nicely.  Bella's dress was beautiful.  Yes, I was honestly starting to tear up.  (Mom was like, "Are you crying?")  The speeches were funny, and fit the characters giving them (honestly, they could have done without Jessica's).  The honeymoon was okay; not as flashback-needy as I thought it was going to be.  

The Twi-nostalgia is still here.  If you listen very carefully to the music, you'll notice "Bella's Lullaby" is woven through the whole film.  During the wedding you see flashbacks from the other films.  

There were some very slight plot changes from the book, which worked out okay by adequately tying ends up.  Irina, one of the Cullens' "cousins" is still mad at them for the wolves killing her friend (this takes place in New Moon, and *should* be explained in pt. 2).  This was actually pretty plausible.  (In the book Irina completely skips the wedding.)  The filmmakers also switch around some of the wolves' story elements.  This still works in favor for the movie.  The wolves' voice-over sequence was kept very short, so this was one time where the editing worked in the film's favor.  One scene that actually was really cool was the nightmare sequence, which was altered from the book.  But it still gets the point across, and visually it stands out the most.  Really well done.

(I still wish they'd included Rosalie's "dog food" sequence.  Oh well.  We wait for the DVD.)  

The birthing scene was more graphic than I thought it would be.  At one point I was like, ewww.  From interviews I had seen of the actors discussing this scene, it seemed to me like the effects weren't going to be that good (in terns of the baby), but they were.  

Imprinting- Just. Perfect.  Exactly how I thought it was going to be.  Maybe someone read my comment somewhere. 

The ending- It was also perfect- just what we wanted. (It's another light-filled scene.)  I was like, yay!  The thing Mom and I both agreed on was that it left us wanting to see part 2.  In two or three weeks we'd like to go see it again to get stuff that we might have missed.

The parts that I'd hoped would be good, were good.  I wish they'd slowed down just a smidge, but it would have been worse if the movie dragged on.  All in all, I'd give it a B+.

My Breaking Dawn Wish List

Back in June I made a list of what I wanted to see in "Breaking Dawn."  So, a couple of days before the film opens, I thought I'd share it with you. 

A great wedding- based on what we've seen in the trailers and pictures, it looks like we're going to get it.

The birthing scene- maybe it could be, stylistically, like a flashback/life-flashing thing.  (Like when Edward's taking the venom out in Twilight.)

Imprinting- Maybe it could be in the same tone, just for Jacob.  (Think: the sequence for "Armageddon" when Bruce Willis detonates the nuclear bomb.)

The last scene- Bella opens her eyes as a vampire, close up.  (Like "Avatar")

And, while we're at it, let's talk about Part II...

Bella- Please, please have her as the confident, "I-am-vampire-hear-me-roar" wife/mommy.  Although, when I think about it, she's not really that way in the book.  But oh well.  

Bella arm-wrestling Emmett.  From what I've heard, we're going to get this.  

A "rock music montage" during the fight-training sequences.  

Call me crazy, but I've always thought that The Band Perry song "If I Die Young" would be a good fit during the Volturi confrontation just when Bella's about to send Renesmee off.

And.... this is one of my "goodies" that I talked about.  I'm pretty proud of it.  My other idea just totally bombed.  I've got the lion charm (for Edward), the wolf (for Jacob), and the stone is for Bella. 

Six Days to Go

OK, folks!  We've got six days to go until "Breaking Dawn"! Yay!  We got a little tidbit from the director that we might not want to leave right after the movie's over [all together now: Ooooh!].  He's been really great about keeping the fans informed during the whole process with "teaser" pictures and stuff like that.  One of the fan sites [TwilightersAnonymous] even got to see it, and gave a little review.  She (the reviewer) didn't give too much away, and it made me more excited for the movie.

The soundtrack came out.  I love Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" and Bruno Mars' "It Will Rain".  I also loved the musical piece "Love Death Birth."  I have a thing about movie scores.  But that won't play on my computer.  Have to wait until the score's released next month.  

Getting my Twi-Goodies ready to go for the big day... I'll post pictures as soon as they're done.  And of course, I'll post my review. 

I do have one small gripe, though...  I've been to Hobby Lobby, been to Michael's... how come there isn't any Twilight scrapbooking stuff??

From One Virus to Another...

Today Mom and I saw two movies.  One was "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."  When I first heard about it, I was like, "Eh."  But then I heard how much dough it made, and saw the trailer, and thought it looked pretty good.

It was pretty good.  The special effects were neat, and the storyline was easy to follow.  It got me thinking as to how far primates can go with their intelligence.  I know the speaking thing was pretty off-the-mark, but still.... (And, no, there are no redwood forests on the other side of the Golden Gate!  They're at least 3 hours away!) The ending was left totally open for a sequel.  Do not leave the theater when the credits roll.  Which leads me to the second movie... (yes, the two are linked by this small but significant thread; those who have seen "Apes" know what I'm talking about.)

"Contagion."  It's part drama, part documentary (sort of).  The cinematography is good, and so is the acting.  What's good is that it doesn't go from start-to-finish.  It skips around.

[Disclosure warning] I am slightly germophobic, and probably for good reason.  I nearly had a panic attack while watching this movie.  I thought I was going to be sick (the *other* kind of sick).  But I enjoyed it, as much as one can watching this type of movie.  It's quite good.  Perhaps that's why it was good.  It's scary.  It's scary because it could happen.

And on a happier note, look what I found... :)

Trailers and Tacos and Movies, Oh My

This evening, we Twihards finally got what we'd been waiting for.

The official Breaking Dawn trailer.

Man, did they deliver.  It was pretty stinkin' cool.  Thank you, Bill Condon.

http://www.breakingdawn-themovie.com/

I'm even more excited now to see it.

Tonight was a late taco night.  Mom and I had crunchy tacos; they were good.  Hadn't had them for a while.  By the way, Walmart, kudos to the Marketside Guacamole in the produce section.  It's really good.

I picked up "X-Men: First Class." I'm not quite done with it.  I was a little worried as to how it would go, considering none of the original cast (Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, et al) is in it, but it's good.  I like it.

I'm kind of tired, considering it's close to one in the morning. Signing off.