Showing posts with label Breaking Dawn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breaking Dawn. Show all posts

Friday, November 2, 2012

Breaking Dawn Part 2: Worth the Wait?

Image from Breaking Dawn, Part 2

Yes, there are fewer than two weeks until the final film of the Twilight Saga is released.

And know what? After seeing Breaking Dawn Part 1, I'm not dying to see Part 2.

I admit--Twilight, the first movie of the series, was well-cast but had its cringe-worthy moments: the big vampire reveal was horribly written and acted, and Bella being saved by Edward in the dance studio is simply horrid--Rob looks like he's going to puke at any moment. And the vampire growling scene on the baseball field--laughable. The movie had its good parts, too--don't get me wrong. But they're rather few and far between.

By the time that New Moon came out, my daughter was a real fan, so we attended the midnight showing together, seeing Twilight as the first part of a midnight showing double feature (for the first time on the big screen). And I admit--New Moon was practically seamless. The only part that was laughable was Aro reading Alice's mind and seeing Edward and Bella, both as vampires, running through the forest. But Rob runs like a girl, and the whole thing still makes me snort with derision. But otherwise, the movie is amazing...and the soundtrack is even better than the first one.

And yes, we watched both Twilight and New Moon before seeing Eclipse as the third part of a triple feature, the other two playing earlier in the evening and the third installment at midnight. And Eclipse was nearly seamless as well. I can't think of any cringe-worthy elements except for Ron Howard's daughter not knowing how to growl like a vampire. (Yes, they should have kept the first Victoria!!) And again, a stellar soundtrack followed.

So it was with high hopes that we attended the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn Part 1--all by itself this time. Parts of it were great--the wedding was beautiful (but NOT the reception-ugh!! Those speeches made me squirm with embarrassment!! I don't care that making us totally embarrassed for B&E was the point. I hated it.). And Isle Esme was well done. But the talking wolves had me laughing right there in the theatre--and it's supposed to be one of the points of high drama as Jacob takes on his birthright in order to protect Bella. But, no, I was stifling giggles the entire scene. And Edward was played all wrong once they returned from Isle Esme--whether that's the directing or Rob himself, I felt that he was emotionally dead rather than emotionally a wreck. Bella becoming concentration-camp thin was amazingly well done, and parts were okay, but overall, I was not satisfied with the film. And my daughter refused to buy the soundtrack since it consisted of famous pop musicians rather than up-and-coming indie artists.

Images from Breaking Dawn, Part 2

So we're skipping the midnight madness associated with the fifth and final installment of the Twilight Saga. If she isn't working, I'll take my daughter to the Friday morning matinee (one of the advantages of home schooling: FIELD TRIP!) I know they changed the ending to a fight scene...or at least a partial fight while the book made Bella's shield the deciding factor in avoiding a Volturi vs. Cullens & their allies battle. I can understand that change because it would feel even more anticlimatic on film than it did in the book. So we'll see how Breaking Dawn Part 2 shapes up. And I'm not holding out for a terrific soundtrack, either.

So, any thoughts about the fifth and final film in the Twilight Saga?

Take care!!

~Cassandra :)
xxxooo

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Lotsa Stuff!!


Didn't you all LURVE the new Breaking Dawn Part II teaser trailer?? I declare, November cannot come too soon!! 


I'm also pleased to note that Evening Star passed 600,000 reads and Pinned but Fluttering 500,000 reads on Wattpad.com earlier this month!! Cool, eh? I just posted Chapter 37 of Pinned but Fluttering yesterday, and I hope to get the next chapter up very soon--Sunday or Monday. I hate leaving my readers dangling from a nasty cliffie, especially when I've rather developed a habit of doing so. But then, I haven't categorized this story on Wattpad as a "Thriller" for nothing...and in the Thriller category on Wattpad, Pinned but Fluttering is ranked #1! Yay!! 


But the BEST NEWS: I'M FREE!!!! Yes, I'm done homeschooling until late August, and I'm off work until July 1. I start a new position at the same company I've taught online classes with for the past decade, so I'm taking this week and next week to REST!!! And to write.... 


I have a couple of ideas for one-shots/short stories, plus I have that weird EPOV story I started over a year ago that I'd like to work on. (I posted the beginning of it earlier on my blog; here's the link if you're interested: "Two New One-Shots" ) It could actually tease out to a full-length fic, so I don't want to cut it too short. I'm still pondering that one.... 


I hope that this summer will be productive--a chance to really spread my wings and FLY with my writing!! I do want to eventually write some original fiction which would be really cool (and which my husband is encouraging me to do as it can actually make some $$). I am very much looking forward to the four-week fan fiction writing class I'll be teaching to students ages 13-18 on Brave Writer starting July 9. But I'll post more on that later.... :) 


So this summer will involve work and teaching for Brave Writer, but no homeschooling, no co-op teaching or grading, and probably little if any online grading. So out of my four jobs, I'll only have one going... ...which should give me plenty of time to WRITE!!!! As far as reading, I've been rather obsessed with the complete works of the following writers on FanFiction.net:


katinki
pattyrose
LadyGwynedd
ladylibre 


The latter only has one story, but it's terrific; the other three have loads of excellent stories to read, so do an author search on FanFiction.net to locate and enjoy their wonderful work!! 


Okay, it's nearly one in the morning and I'm driving up to Riverside and back tomorrow, so I'd better get to bed (where I am rereading AEGiggle's "The Wisdom Seekers," the only Twilight/Harry Potter crossover series I've found worth reading). 


 See you soon! 


~Cassandra :)