I squeezed more activity into my 6 hours of non-work, non-sleep time yesterday than I have on any other day. It was nice to feel like I actually got something done other than sit on the couch watching TV.
First, I stopped at Starbucks for an eggnog latte. (Priorities, you know.)
Then, I had to go to Kohl’s to exchange a thin sweater I got a couple weeks ago. I wore it for the first time yesterday – on console – and discovered at the very end of my shift that there was a defect in the stitching that left a small hole just below my shoulder. GREAT. Fortunately it wasn’t really noticeable while I was wearing it, and they still had the same sweaters on display and they let me exchange it without any trouble.
Then, I met up with my friend Katie to see an early afternoon showing of New Moon, aka “the Twilight movie.” She’s a teacher and the schools are off this week, so it worked out quite well for both of us (although the theater was actually fairly crowded, due to the afore-mentioned “kids out of school” thing). If you don’t want to read my movie review, you can just skip to the bottom this post.
Now, I have read the books. I totally agree with the criticisms that Edward is creepy and exhibits stalker-like and controlling behavior and find Bella rather whiny and annoying. Despite that, the books WERE entertaining and I enjoyed reading them.
But the movies? I’m sorry, but they are just BAD. They are going to make huge buckets of money, but that doesn’t mean they’re good. On the contrary, they take an entertaining story and suck the life out of it. They are not well directed. They are not well acted. The writing is cheesy, the scenes pulled out of some generic fantasy of what being in love is like. Bella and Edward, staring into each other’s eyes while lying in a field of wildflowers. Bella and Edward, staring at each other underwater as she is about to drown and a vision of him appears. Bella and Edward, dressed in flowy clothes and running in slow-mo through the forest.
And the actors? First of all, Robert Pattinson is not hot. In fact, I find him downright weird-looking, and the vampire makeup does him no favors. His Edward is sullen, dull, and mumbles monotonously. His eyes are always half-closed and he looks as if he could fall asleep at any moment, which is ironic considering he’s a vampire who doesn’t EVER sleep. Kristen Stewart’s Bella is similarly gloomy and morose, and she wears a perpetual look of having just smelled something unpleasant – eyes tightened, nose slightly scrunched, lips pursed. She, too, looks moments away from falling asleep at any given moment. They’re both boring. Their characters have zero charisma when they are together, in fact, they seem rather miserable, which makes it hard to really buy into the fact that they’re supposed to be madly, deeply, desperately, suicidally IN LOVE. After each of their scenes together, I found myself really wanting to just see someone SMILE.
The funny thing is that the supporting cast, for the most part, is great. I like all of the vampires except Edward, I like Bella’s dad, I like her school friends (who for some reason still talk to her despite the fact that she cares not one iota about them), I like the werewolf pack. And there’s Taylor Lautner’s Jacob. Jacob is the ONLY thing this movie has going for it. He’s funny, he’s articulate (although it doesn’t take much to appear articulate when compared to Edward and Bella), he’s interesting, he – gasp! – SMILES. A lot. Bella looks worlds happier around him, as if Kristen Stewart herself likes him as well. His scenes are by far the most redeeming thing about the movie.
So: hooray for Jacob. I liked him in the book, and I like him in the movie. If Bella’s got to be with one of the two, I will never understand why she picked Edward. I guess she’s just a glutton for punishment. I’m sure I’ll see the final two movies, and I’m sure Edward and Bella will remain similarly brooding. Oh well.
Anyway, after the movie, I went for a run that was a festival of suffering. It is hard to run when I’m exhausted. It’s not that I actually feel tired – because I usually don’t feel tired at all in the late afternoon, even with this weird schedule – but I know my body needs some rest if I want to have a decent run. I did manage 3.5 miles though, and was happy to get some exercise. It’s been two weeks since I did a long run and I need to move up to 8 miles, but I don’t think I can manage it until I’ve gotten more sleep.
Then, I got to see Jose for a whole half hour (on our 6-month anniversary, no less) before collapsing into bed at 6:00. I woke up at midnight for my 1:00 am shift, and Jose was still awake! My hours have shifted enough that I am getting up when normal people are going to bed. Scary.
