Book versus movie: Twilight

A kind soul gave me Twilight as a present (at my request), and I finished the thing a couple of days ago. Which is better, better being a relative term?

My movie review can be found here.
Excerpt:

I don't know if it's the actress or how Bella is written in the screenplay, but I didn't care much for her. She wasn't particularly likeable or engaging. Makes you wonder what others see in her.

The Pacific Northwest locales are lush and splendid despite the damp. Expected in a romance, there's a lot of cheese. I would have liked more action sequences and less "What is his problem?" scenes. The vampire baseball game was my favorite.

I guess I didn't get the relationship. It seemed rushed and random, but I suppose that's just a cue for me to read the book, which is what Agent99 is urging me to do.

In the book, Bella isn't helped. She's someone you want to grab by the shoulders and shake violently, like the scene in Airplane! where the stewardess is freaking out. Girls who orbit round their boyfriends are low on my list of liked people. She just has no personality. Oh Bella, every boy at your school asks you out, and you're bummed since Edward won't make you a bloodsucker, boo hoo hoo.

Edward's okay. He's hampered by Bella making salivating descriptions constantly. Yeah, I get it. He's hot and perfect. Girl, you a loser. Here's how it works: Bella and Edward meet up. She admires his chest. Then her heart goes pitter patter. It's the same thing again and again.

The other vampires are badass. Alice is my favorite as well as Rosalie the beeyotch. The baseball scene and out-of-control van scene work much better in the movie because Stephenie Meyer's descriptions could use more clarity sometimes. Action-scene-writer she ain't.

I don't think I could date someone who is basically a walking block of ice. Ugh. But if he's that hypnotic, I suppose I could suffer frostbite.

I feel bad. I kept blabbing about Twilight before I read it, getting others to read it, and I don't even love it. Mrs. Meyer, you owe me some millions as commission.

Advantage: Twilight the movie

If you're honest with yourself, you'll find this funny.

Defective Yeti reviews Twilight.

Bruce Willis was dead at the end of Sixth Sense

I wonder if it was ironic, discussing my first celebrity sighting while in the same venue as my second celebrity sighting. But Adrian Grenier does not make funny videos like The Lonely Island does. Catchy as it may be, the video for Britney Spears's "(You Drive Me) Crazy" doesn't quite count. My guy friend's girlfriend told me about this video. It makes me and Agent99 giggle.

No wonder those stairs reek

Last night I saw a vampire movie. But what truly frightened me was seeing a man peeing at the base of the subway entrance/exit stairs. Hey dude, stairs do not equal urinal! Nastiness.

In context

Recently I caved and purchased a text messaging plan. It's the cheapest one, basically $5 and 200 messages in/out. This has changed my life. I'm a text maniac, no longer fretting about friends sending me too many messages and instructing them to avoid texting me at all costs. A weight off my shoulders indeed. Pretty soon I'm going to be someone who goes over 200 texts a month, and that notion frightens me. For a folk who isn't the best telephone talker, texts are a godsend. Composing, writing, and editing are more my thing than babble coming out of my mouth. Still, I believe that texts should count as a minute of talk time as I have rollover minutes up the wazoo. I do wish I had a QWERTY keyboard, but with technology, I take baby steps.

In other news, my knee hurts for no memorable reason. It's the aging, alas!

Twilight my fire

Agent99 and I saw Twilight on Friday. For two different perspectives, she read the book beforehand while I refrained and went into the flick with no preconceived notions. All I knew was that it was about a human girl and a vampire who fall in lurve, high school style which means brooding and intense looks aplenty.

High school junior Bella is played by Kristen Stewart who I saw in Panic Room. I don't know if it's the actress or how Bella is written in the screenplay, but I didn't care much for her. She wasn't particularly likeable or engaging. Makes you wonder what others see in her.

The Pacific Northwest locales are lush and splendid despite the damp. Expected in a romance, there's a lot of cheese. I would have liked more action sequences and less "What is his problem?" scenes. The vampire baseball game was my favorite.

I guess I didn't get the relationship. It seemed rushed and random, but I suppose that's just a cue for me to read the book, which is what Agent99 is urging me to do. It'll be a while, as I'm currently number 563 out of 1555 on the library waiting list.

As you might have known, this review is mostly an excuse to post a picture of the smokin' hotness known as Robert Pattinson aka Cedric Diggory who plays the vampire Edward. Whatever problems Twilight has, he makes it all better. I'm not sure I understand this recent craze for vampires (first pirates, then zombies, now vamps), but if they all resemble Robert Pattinson, then I'm down.

World's greatest xmas gift?

In the spirit of the season, I think we ought to share our best xmas gift ideas. I'll start it off with an awesome book filled with even more gift ideas: 101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions. It's filled with ultra-fabulous inventions for improving every day life. Pictured here is an invention that would be practical, if attention-grabbing, for my allergies.

Like McAdams loves Gosling

I forgot to mention that today is my Canadian boyfriend (sorry Michael Cera) Ryan Gosling's birthday, happy birthday to him!

disco biscuits

I've had a bizarre, okay it's not so insane, craving for KFC biscuits. It all started at the tail end of last week and it's been going on since. That must mean that my body needs biscuits to continue plowing throw this cruel world. The conundrum is that there is no KFC within a reasonable distance of me. Oh, the humanity! There is a Popeye's relatively close by so I'll have to stop over there and satisfy these demands. Fried chicken fast food places have basically the same biscuits, right? Need some buttery crumbly goodness soon.

Rocking the vote

I'm excited about voting today! But I hope the line isn't Disney World ride-long.

I'll post this for my co-bloggers: Lorelai Gilmore herself, Lauren Graham, has been cast in the upcoming Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls. Never got into Gilmore Girls, but I'm sure Lauren Graham will do well in the role. Years ago I saw the movie version of Guys and Dolls with Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando and remembered liking it. Maybe I'll see this revival.

Halloween wrap-up

The big costume this year was The Joker from The Dark Knight. Too many of those. Though I will give props to the Jokers who wore nurse uniforms. There were a lot of the V for Vendetta masks, a bit unexpected for a movie which came out years ago. I spotted a few Obamas but not as many Sarah Palins as I had expected. Star Wars remains as popular as ever. And Mario Bros too. Hope everyone had a fun October 31!

HSM3

i went trick-or-treating tonight at the RAVE motion pictures. i saw HSM3 which was definitely a treat!! in one word...SWOON! zac efron can sing and dance for me ANYTIME!!!!!

No Stairway!?!? Denied!

I know it seems as though all I do is post YouTube videos and comment on them, but oh well. Agent007 mentioned a musical act to me by the name of Rodrigo y Gabriela and being out of the loop that I am, I had to Wikipedia them. That 007, she's so Euro.

I find it amusing that they're influenced by metal bands like Metallica and used to be in thrash metal groups and now are doing acoustic guitar music. From Mexico to Ireland!

Here's a neato cover of the Zep classic, "Stairway to Heaven" which I picked out especially for Agent99.

You can't screw up Alabama

Charles Barkley has confirmed he wants to be governor for our great home-state.

"Brown: Talk to me a little bit about your own political aspirations. You said in the past that you want to go back to Alabama. That is home for you.

Barkley: Alabama needs a lot of help...

Brown: So are you going to run for governor?

Barkley: I plan on it in 2014.

Brown: You are serious.

Barkley: I am, I can't screw up Alabama.

Brown: There is no place to go but up in your view?

Barkley: We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren't going anywhere."

I'd vote for him!

Pimples don't give you sprinkles.

Sunday morning of last weekend, I got temporarily sucked into the vortex that is Degrassi: The Next Generation. It was some marathon or something, and I am susceptible to Dawson's Creek-like shows though though I can get sucked out just as fast. With a huge cast and craziness aplenty, it's compelling enough. My high school experience seemed dull in comparison. Shootings, drug dealing, pregnancies, and more. Those Canucks!

The point is that a commercial came on for Clearasil and we loved it. Funny stuff. I haven't scored free ice cream by using Clearasil! Forget sprinkles though, ew gross.

Daylight comes and exposes Saturday's bruises and cold roses

I was looking forward to a quiet evening at home full of couch/TV time and lots of sleep until the phone rang. I was at school Thursday waiting for my 4:00 parent conference, and my friend called to let me know he'd scored free tickets to see Ryan Adams in Tuscalooser. Hell yes! I forgot all about my exhaustion, hurried as fast as I could through 4 parent conferences, rushed home, showered, and set out for an unforgettable evening with The Cardinals.

We left my house around 6:45 and arrived about 7:30 in dowtown Tuscaloosa. The venue was the BAMA Theatre this year. It is similar to the Alabama Theatre where he played last year. My friend and I stopped at a local bar for a brew before heading to the theatre. While at the bar we ran into an acquaintance of mine that was also attending the concert. We reminisced about last year's show and how Ryan got upset and left the stage early. We all hoped he wouldn't do that this year!

We left the bar to go to the theatre, and found our seats....9th row aisle!! They played for two and a half hours not including the 20 minute intermission. Both sets were FANTASTIC. He played new stuff from the new album, and plenty of hits from Easy Tiger and other former albums. He was downright jovial all night long, joking with the band and the audience. He even joked about how he used to be the guy onstage flicking everyone off, and instead sang a ditty to the douche in the front row that flicked him off. I really liked the smaller venue this year, and I LOVED the show. I hope he is in such a good mood next time I go see him play!! I heard the next evening in the ATL wasn't as fortunate as we were. He played for only an hour and the band took bows without RA. The setlist for the night can be found here! Enjoy!

I hope he sings "Music of the Night."

Playbill announced yesterday that Will Ferrell will be doing a solo show on Broadway in early 2009, from mid-January to mid-March. It'll be called You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush. But don't fret, it won't be all Bush, all the time; the show will be autobiographical and should have some impersonations. Agent99 will be pleased to know Robert Goulet will probably be included!

This post's title is a reference to Will Ferrell doing The Phantom of the Opera, a post I wrote almost exactly a year ago (10/18/07)! Ooh, spooky coincidence.

You eat apples, right? I produce Entourage.

In honor of my recent rare, exciting celebrity sighting (Andy Samberg and Bill Hader from Saturday Night Live), Agent99 sent us this sketch starring Mr. Samberg as Mark Wahlberg, chatting with barnyard folk.



It brings the funny. But apparently Mark Wahlberg doesn't feel the same way. Does this man have a sense of humor?

What's on your infinite playlist?

This is a follow-up post to this one.

I did end up seeing Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist this past weekend, mostly because there was nothing more appealing to go see. October is kind of a wasteland for films. Anyway, this flick scored a 72% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes which was promising as well.

While N&NIP was cute enough, I didn't think it was worth my $12. Quick plot outline: sensitive New Jersey boy Nick (Michael Cera) is tossed out like yesterday's garbage by air for brains Tris (Alexis Dziena). Nick's bandmates (Aaron Yoo and Rafi Gavron) drag him out to their show in Manhattan where Tris's "friends" Norah (Kat Dennings) and lush Caroline (Ari Graynor) are. Norah digs Nick but he's hung up on Tris. Hijinks ensue, the gang traipses all over Manhattan trying to find the Caroline on the loose and underground band Where's Fluffy's next show, love blooms.

One gross running gag gets moldy old as it's threaded through the whole movie. Michael Cera does his usual work here but he's overshadowed by Kat Dennings's Norah who looks like Anne Hathaway's kid sister. There's some big deal about how Norah isn't a babe compared to the evil ex but who's smoking crack? Norah's Babraham Lincoln compared to the Barbie-esque Mean Girl Tris.

The only two Asian-American male actors in Hollywood show up in Nick & Norah's, with Aaron Yoo from Disturbia playing Nick's bandmate. I thought that guy was in his early twenties, but he's older than me, pushing 30. Harold (John Cho) has a cameo.

Jonathan B. Wright is wasted here as "Beefy Guy." Soon he will have a role worthy of his talents.

Why are these kids scoring all these amazing parking spots in Manhattan? Um, no. There's a scene where Norah has to use the bathroom, and she chooses to use the Bowery Ballroom's facilities. It's funny because I was telling my friend a story about the Bowery Ballroom earlier...I think I used the same stall as Norah! Heh.

Pray for Mojo

Naturally when I first heard about this story, I immediately thought about two Simpsons episodes. One was when the kids were stranded on a deserted island, and Bart said they would soon have monkey butlers. The other was when Homer got a helper monkey named Mojo.

Macaques Yat-chan and Fuku-chan can be found at the Kayabukiya tavern north of Tokyo, bringing the clientèle hot towels and sake. In return, the customers hand out soybeans to the non-human servers.

I think macaques are a bit creepy, but I find the idea of monkey servers hilarious. I also love how Yat-chan and Fuku-chan wear clothes and are authorized to work by the government.