Thursday, July 24, 2008

Books: The Twilight series thus far




At the beginning of the summer, I was determined to read the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. My friend Pam knew about my obsession with vampires and vampire fiction and she insisted that I read these books. She made a particular point of telling me that I would enjoy the main vampire character Edward.

In July I had a four day break from Graduate school to visit my parents and I took the three existing Twilight books with me. I read them start to finish in four days with about twelve hours to spare.

Twilight itself spends a lot of time on setup. Meyer spends most of the book following Bella as she discovers the rules of the vampire mythology and exploring her surroundings. In fact Meyer spends so much time on character development, relationships, and Bella's surroundings that when the final conflict comes at the end of the book it feels rushed and like it is part of a completely different story. However, despite a few shortcomings I read through Twilight breathlessly almost skipping pages in my eagerness to find out more about the characters. The ending was adequite though it left me hungry for more.

Despite the fact that it was three o clock in the morning I immediately moved onto New Moon, and I devoured this one just as voraciously. While many of my friends were less impressed with New Moon I found it compelling and even more character driven than Twilight. Jacob's character is fully introduced in the second book and the book is the better for it. I was particularly impressed with Meyer's ability to not only convey emotion but to really make the reader feel along with Bella. Many people call Bella whiney, and I agree but in this book I was crying because she was so hurt I found myself hoping along with her and feeling her anxiety. I was particularly impressed because anyone who has been young and in love (unless you married your high school sweetheart) has that kind of pain rattling around somewhere in their scarred psyche. The pain Bella is feeling in New Moon is so real it made me wimper and cry right along with Bella. My major thought for this book was that Meyer has a real talent for bringing out the inner sixteen year old girl in all of us (even men).
Again, Meyer rushes her ending and the last 100 pages offer such emotional catharsis that I had trouble holding onto the important plot points that were presented.

I had to take a breather for a day and visit the Atlanta aquarium (a fun trip I recommend the Beluga Whales). However, after two days and 8 hours of sleep I was finally ready to tackle Eclipse. This book was one of my favorites, lacking the heart wrenching angst of New Moon, Eclipse did a wonderful job of showing a love triangle, developing the relationship between Bella and Edward and expanding our knowledge of the rest of the Cullen clan. Even Jacob got more development though most of the book I was shouting at him to just get over it and stop complaining already. Also, Eclipse seemed to break Meyer out of her pattern of rushing the ending. The plot for this one was built slowly (although most readers figured out some major points before Meyer revealed them) and developed thoughtfully. Edward and Bella are even more in love and Jacob become more bitter and snipish as the book goes on. While I enjoyed Alice in the other books she is simply delightful in Eclipse. Again I found myself disagreeing with the ending but for different reasons, the ending was not rushed and the action was easier to follow and made more sense. However, the place that Meyer chose to end the book seemed a wedding and a honeymoon too short. Ending where she did seemed cut off and left the reader hanging. Not that I wasn't hanging on her every word and wanting more when I was finished with Eclipse.

Now many people argue that Bella is a bad role model. And frankly, she's no Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But, to all of those people, I ask you " Do any of you remember being a 16 year old girl?" I know I was whiney, pathetic and insecure when I was sixteen, can any of you really look back and say any different? Sixteen year old girls can really relate to this character and the concept of waiting until you are in love or married to have sex is certainly one that could use to be offered to girls more often. Bella is a pain and she whines but we all love her and relate to her anyway. (at least in the first three books, Breaking Dawn to be discussed in a later post).

I highly recommend these books to teenagers and adults alike and I also recommend them to anyone who has caught the Buffy bug and wants more vampires ( Don't worry I have other recommendations for you that will come along later, just start with these for now)

Grades:

Twilight : B+ New Moon: A- Eclipse: A-

Friday, July 18, 2008

Movies: Hellboy II The Golden Army


Before seeing this movie I endeavored to avoid spoilers, reviews, and even ratings of the movie only indulging myself in the awesome ads that my friends sent my way. So it was with high expectation and a clean slate that I walked in to see this movie on Saturday July 12th.


The movie starts off feeling like you are going to get a reprisal of the fabulous, funny cult hit that was the original Hellboy dropping you into an already established world and cast of characters makes the reader feel like they are in for another roller coaster ride of weirdness with some funny along the way. Above all else this movie was gorgeous, Guillermo Del Torro definitely has a talent for making the fantastic beautiful, haunting, and disturbing.

However, while I love Ron Pearlman and would not have missed this movie for the world and while I recommend that people see it because of the visual stimulation, I was disappointed by the plot and general writing of the movie. In a summer of spectacular new properties ( Iron Man and Wall-E) and some really promising sequels (the eagerly awaited Dark Knight), Hellboy stands out in its attempt to make something wonderful on all fronts and succeeding only on one.


There are many wonderful plot ideas presented in this movie, so many in fact that there isn't enough time to properly introduce or resolve any of them. Also, while the first movie felt like it captured the essence of the comic and translated it to the screen this one feels almost campy in its humor and relation to the comic book and often just uses the fantastical elements that make this series so intriguing as an excuse for more visual affects.


Overall while this was a beautiful movie I don't think that it stands up to the legacy of the first movie and the comic. So while I hope that there is another movie, so that the franchise can be saved, I also hope that Mr. Del Torro gets a better screenwriter and flushes out his plot better before creating his visual affects.


Grade: C+