Twilight Review

On November 21st at around... oh say... 12:20ish in the am. is when millions of adolescent women first swooned over Edward Cullen's dramatic slow-mo entrance into the Forks High cafeteria.

hold up...

okay... sorry i had to roll my eyes so much i had to stop typing...

My friend Kerry sat next to me, and when this scene hit the screen and when everyone with a vagina gasped and squealed at Ed's entrance, he turned to me and said "who the fuck is that?"

I first heard about the Twilight Universe this summer during Comic-con when it got a short preview of the upcoming movie. And I am gonna be completely honest, It looked like a movie i would wait to see on DVD. I would put it on my Netflix list, wait a month or so to cycle through, get it in the mail and say "oh yeah... i put this on the list," wait about a week before finally watching it just so i could send it back to get whatever was coming next.

After seeing it in theaters, I would have preferred that. At least then I could have played Warcraft while it was on.

So far, this is pretty harsh. Twilight was not a bad movie. it was good, but its not my type of movie. So why did I see this film at the midnight showing?

my girlfriend loves vampires...

I think she discovered Twilight around the same time I did. But where i shrugged it off, she breathed deep and inhaled the drug that is the Twilight fad. Before I knew it, she bought all four books and read them in two weeks. she watched all the trailers, clips and making-ofs that you could find on the web. she was all about it.

And the girls she works with didn't help either, they only fed the flames. When i could only say "that's cool" when she would bring it up, when she was at work they would all be like "blah blah twilight blah blah edward blah blah.." (cuz that's how silly girls talk)

I don't get the Vampire thing.. and I am not going to try to understand or describe it. But the South Park the other night seemed to portray it pretty well. If you haven't seen it, check it out here: http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1214/

Anyway, back to the movie review. I didn't know the story going into the movie, but apparently, it was pretty close to the book, minus small details like every book movie. It was a decent story, no hidden elements or twist, just straight forward girls meets guy in high school and falls in love. oh but he's a Vampire. That's pretty much the story. (my girlfriend will argue because i "didn't read the books") but i am not reviewing the books here.

Where the movie starts making me complain is where the special effects come in. The movie is not about special effects. Its not like Harry Potter where the movie's enticement is magic. the main theme in Twilight is Love (or whatever) So... i guess if they wanted to focus on the story and the love theme... i guess special effects is an area they could just give a once over... i guess.

but I went to school for this stuff and sometimes, the special effects make or break a movie. when i see Edward jump twenty five feet in the air I want to think "wow.. he's jumping pretty high" but what i thought was "wheres the wire?" When i see him put Bella on his back and climb a giant pine, i want to think "wow...he's climbing that tree pretty fast" but what i thought was "that had to be scary for the double to get hoisted up next to that tree while he makes a climbing motion with his hands and feet"

You loose so much of the reality when movies use wires because it looks like a guy on wire! I had to ask Kristen on the way home "do these vampires fly?" because that's what it looked like to me. instead of jumping, they looked like they were flying. and its because of those stupid wires.

Another special effect that looked silly was the blur motion on the Edward's fast running. I expect that from Smallville, but not from a major motion picture.

there was a non special effect that upset me too. it was a scene where one of the bad Vampires was deliberately leading a group of trackers away to fool them. To do this she stepped in a mound of dirt to leave her footprint. As if that wasn't cliche enough, the mound of dirt that she stepped in was literally that, a mound of top soil in a pretty perfect shape in the middle of a stone path. they must have been low on the budget at that point where they couldn't make a small environment that would hold a footprint, they could only use a shovel full of dirt. And it wasn't even dirt you dig up.. it was dirt you can buy...it didn't look right at all.

the movie as a whole was better then i thought it would be. there was a scene that i thought was the movie's strongest, and that the the baseball scene. The vampire family likes to play baseball but they have to do it during a thunderstorm because they hit the ball so hard and strong that it makes a loud crack they have to cover with thunder. it did have some crappy effects, but it was well shot and edited. (until the bad vampires showed up and they hissed at each other...)

If you're a fan of the books.. you've probably already seen the movie, But if you haven't, you will love this movie. If you like love stories and vampires, you will love this movie. But if not... just wait to put in on your Netflix list so you can play Warcraft while you watch.

Unamerican!?

I am getting very very frustrated with this bullshit that the Right shits out. They've been painting the Democratic Candidate as Unamerican, or Anti-American. And in doing so, they've painted me, and everyone else that has the same views, as Anti-American. and that really pisses me off.

It all started with Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's Former pastor. "listen to this guy, he just said 'God Damn America' that's Anti-American!" Now Pastor Wright is more radical then most, but when you watch the clip of his sermon in question, he was saying with all the innocent killings and the racial injustice, and will all the things that are morally wrong in America, why should God bless us?
but no.. the whole Clip is never played, just the 'God Damn America' part where it kinda sounds like Pastor Wright is calling on God to curse us.

check it out


this Clip speaks for itself. "God Damn America, for treating her citizens as less then human, God Damn America, as long as she acts like she is god and she is supreme."

The new thing for the McCain Campaign is tying up Obama with William Ayres. a "domestic terrorist." who has apparently had bombing targets like the pentagon. I will admit, I don't know much about William Ayres, and i am not going to do any research if i can help it. But here's what i think: I am sure if you were to ask Ayres for his reasons for bombing any government building, It would probably be because he didn't like the way things where being handled. Grant it, bombing to make my point wouldn't have been my first choice. It would have been a very radical and, of course criminal way of protesting. But remember, "one man's patriot is another man's terrorist."
Killing innocent people to make a point is inexcusable, and when that kind of things happens, it is a terrible tragedy. (just to clarify that i am not condoning bombing establishments)
Do you really think that Barack Obama was interested in this fella because he wanted to bomb things? I highly doubt it. The way i understand it, when Ayres was in his "Bombing phase" Obama was eight years old. And since then, Ayres has changed his ways and become more of an activist, and less of a terrorist. He's a professor right? so he's gotta be some kinda smart. (once again, although I am using the greatest source of information in the world, I still don't want to do any research.)

now because of all that you now have people like this:

i have to applaud McCain for sticking up for Obama like he did. that's the McCain I remember. But that's not the point, the point is these people! Ever since 9-11, anything that is middle eastern has become synonymous with terrorist to these people. First of all, what does being Arabian have to do with anything? And why can't an Arab be a decent family man? Second of all, Barack Obama is a Christan, (see clip one) but what does that have to do with anything? what if he was a Muslim? does his religion really matter? Shouldn't we be looking at his policies and his responses to the issues?

then this lady set me over the top:

(long clip sorry..)

she said it, Barack Obama is Anti-American and so are the Liberals in Congress. Michelle Bachman later retracted her comments saying "i made a mistake." You didn't make a mistake Congresswoman, you knew exactly what you were talking about, You think Liberals don't love this country as much as you do.

Last clip I promise

its becoming a running joke. "is that a serious question?" the Right is trying to scare voters using terms like 'Marxist' and 'Socialism.' Parts of our society are already Socialist: SOCIAL security, schools, police, the postal service. Are all those things bad things?

"If you want to change something about America, the Republicans say "well you hate America" no no no we love America and that's why we believe it could be better"
~Cenk Uygur

I better wear my flag lapel pin. I don't want to be called Anti-American.

McCain would be Better

I hate to say it. I mean, I really do. But if i was given the only choice of McCain and Bush, I would have to go for McCain. John McCain would run this country better then 'good ol' W.'

Lets be realistic though, it wouldn't be much better. at all.

the good thing about a hypothetical race between two GOP tickets is that it wouldn't exist, and Bush couldn't run again ever. (let me let that sink in for a second, Bush cannot run for president ever again! 72 more days, and we can wash our hands of that SOB.) While a McCain administration might be a step up from the current, An Obama Presidency would be 16 flights of stairs up.

the thing that scares me the most about McCain, is not McCain himself, but his terrible choice of a running mate, Sarah Palin. that is not a step up... not at all. it is a trip and fall off the roof for this country. Why would anyone who thinks Bush is failing at this government thing, Vote for another complete dumb ass again!? Oh but they are out there, you know they are.

there is a sect group of women (and men) called PUMA. (party unity my ass) I haven heard about PUMA since the DNC when Hilary Clinton made it clear that she was supporting Barack Obama. But this group hates Obama with a passion because Hilary did not get the nomination. Now, they won't say that is the reason, they'll say "he's a Muslim.." or some other bullshit. So now they are voting for McCain. (they were voting for McCain before his historical mistake of a VP choice)

But here's what gets me: you know there are women and others like the PUMA people, who where Hilary supporters who are now voting for McCain. These people CANNOT say they care about the issues or policies, they were only voting for Clinton because she is a women!

During the Obama Clinton battle, I was an Obama Supporter. Given the choice between the two of them, I would have picked Barack Obama. Nothing against Hillary, they were both superb candidates.
If the Primaries had gone a little differently, and Clinton was the Nominee, I would have no trouble at all giving her my support. Anyone of the Democratic candidates would have been better then that riff-raff over there.
So it amazes me, when a die hard Clinton supporter switches their vote to the other ticket because Hillary isn't the nominee.

I have been writing this over a couple days, and i think i lost my main point. Kinda just turned into some rambles. maybe i will pick it up another time.
This is also kind of an old issue.

BBC America is on

I am extremely bored. Now I am not saying BBC America is boring, not at all. I am just... Bored. The Gram Norton Show is on right now, and that show is good. Its not boring. far from it. I am just bored.

Its a weird bored. Its the kinda Bored when you feel like doing something but.. you don't want to do it. Does that make sense?

I don't even feel like playing World of Warcraft. I thought about it, I logged on, and i looked at my character screen, and just didn't feel like it. Its weird

i have diverted to writing... and i don't even feel like doing this... we'll see what comes out.

...i have just realized what i want to do. I think i will play my Wii. But the Gram Norton Show is almost over, and after that I'd like to watch the rerun of Primeval that i missed last week and this week. Luckily they play back to back at 11:00

(it just started)

I might play some Wii after this

If you have never heard of Primeval, I recommend it. well... i recommend it if you like Sci-fi shows about prehistoric creatures. the plot of the show centers around a team of scientists who track down these Anomalies which are gateways to other points in time. Usually something prehistoric comes through the anomaly and wreaks havoc and the team has to put it back. that's pretty much the gist... but there is some deeper plot lines woven in.

that's my Blog review... nothin special..

While I work

I have forty-five minutes until I leave this job for today and start my weekend. So I did what anyone would do while they are watching the clock count down: Started a Blog.

It has been a while since I did this, ( two years or so maybe?) my last blog was posted on Facebook about how I picked up a hitchhiker and wondered if he was going to kill me, or... kill his family or something. Its a long story and not the point of this entry.

In fact, I don't even know what the point of this entry is, other then to announce my Blog, "Banana Factory," and to see what a blog would look like using my current design template, and then maybe go back and forth to a couple different designs trying to decide which one I like better.

(someone just farted near my cubical... and its lingering... It wasn't me either. I'd tell you too.)

It will be interesting to see what I decide to talk about. Maybe politics? Maybe video games? Maybe movies or music I have seen recently? that's about all the topics I can think about right now. Everyone talks about politics though. while it is immensely interesting to me, I don't get a lot of it, and I don't think could talk about it for a page or however long the typical blog about politics is. and if someone argues my point, my most likely reaction would be "okay you're right."

(okay, that time it was me... see? I told you I'd tell you)

I am glad my first blog has two fart references.
So here's to blogs.