Okay, so this movie is getting a lot of crap from, well, everyone. Personally, I really liked it!
I will preface all of this by saying that I have NOT seen the original cartoon. I will also tell you that my brother owns them and because of this movie, I now want to watch them! I expect them to be way better and more detailed than the movie, since there’s at least 20-something episodes per season. It’ll probably be like Harry Potter… I like the movies and the books, but in different ways and for different reasons. I’m excited to start watching the cartoon! I expected almost nothing from this, because of all the terrible reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised!
Yay:
- The casting. Absolutely loved it. Some of the peripheral characters were just “meh,” but the four pictured above were perfect in my eyes. I realllly loved the kid who played the Avatar and the guy who played Prince Zuko. They got me super excited to start watching the cartoon.
- I’ve heard gripes that they didn’t cast Asians like in the series, but you know what? I liked the diversity. Different types of people made everything more interesting to look at.
- Okay, forgive me for not knowing its name but… the flying thing that comes out of the bubble with Aang. It reminded me of the dragon in The Neverending Story! So cute! And the flying monkey too. I love cute, mystical animals.
- The costumes. Dude. I want to be a water bender. Not only am I a Cancer and have a water sign, but they get the best costumes and hair in the whole movie. Katara. Cool shoes, fuzzy jacket, awesome braided yet straight and loose hair. Sign me up!
- The story. Oh man, that world is so complicated and now I want to know everything! Don’t spoil it for me though!
- It’s superficial but… the glowing tattoo. Freaking cool.
- Also, I’d like to do random kung fu and have the elements bend to my will, kthanks.
- I hear Aang is much more childlike in the cartoon, but I really liked him being kind of burdened in the movie.
- Sequel now please!
Nay:
- It felt really rushed. Granted, it was hours of cartoons crammed into one movie, so yeah, I get it. I’m sure they could have done something differently though.
- The script was a litle sketchy at times. And by sketchy I mean, “I am going to tell you exactly what I am doing as I do it, leaving nothing to the imagination.” At times it was good, at times it was a bit too blunt. Did Melissa Rosenberg write it? It felt like it. Edit: M. Night Shyamalan wrote it. I’m not surprised. He should probably stick to directing.
- While I really liked it, I wish someone else had directed it. It could have been so much better than it was.
- 3D. Granted, I saw it regular because 3D makes me nauseous, but I just hate that things that don’t need to be 3D are getting released in it. Lame. James Cameron didn’t invent 3D, can we move on from this trend yet?
I’m sure that I’ll get flamed for hating Eclipseand loving The Last Airbender, but you know what? I don’t really care. I expected more from Eclipse and didn’t get it, and expected nothing from Airbender and came out being really fascinated by the cartoon series. I’m sure that once I see the cartoon I will find more faults with the movie, and that’s okay. I’m just excited to have found something new to watch!
Alright, I finally saw Eclipse. I say finally as if I should have seen it the second it came out, haha. Anyway. If you really loved the movie, you’re not going to love what I have to say. So, read if you feel like it.
I’m going to start off by saying that 1. I forget everything that happened in the book. I read it over a year ago and haven’t touched it since. 2. I wasn’t excited to see the movie at all. I’ve been feeling a bit overexposed within the Twilight world lately, so I just wasn’t ready and raring to go. No, I wasn’t determined to hate it. I was actually expecting to not be excited and then end up loving it, because twitter was going crazy with people screeching about how wonderful it was. I’m going to make this short, because the sooner I’m done with this movie, the better my life will be, haha! I might borrow points from my friends M & A, mostly because I agree with them. Girls, if I forget to credit what you said, just let me know!
The Good:
- Yes, it was better that Twilight and New Moon. That did not make it good.
- Billy Burke as Charlie was amazing. He does the whole awkward dad thing beautifully.
- Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria. She was leaps and bounds better than Rachelle. I’m not convinced Rachelle could have been as natural as Bryce in this.
- Xavier Whatshisname as Riley. First, those lips. Secondly, those eyes. Thirdly, he can kind of act. Like.
- Remember how I wanted New Moon to just be all Michael Sheen? Now I want Eclipse to be all Bryce and Xavier.
- The line, “I’m hotter than you.” Well played, Rosenberg, well played.
- The opening sequence. I knew what it would be because I read spoilers, and that was the one part where I can honestly say I was in awe and not disappointed one bit. It was fabulous.
- Anna Kendrick. Girlfriend can do no wrong.
The Bad:
- Michael Sheen was not in this movie. Obviously, I’m convinced he could have saved it.
- Carlisle’s accent. Here today, gone tomorrow. What’s the deal?!
- Jasper’s accent. Hi Jackson, you’re Southern. All you had to do was talk. And you still sounded weird.
- The acting. Kristen Stewart is getting better, but she’s not quite there yet. I don’t find Rob or Taylor particularly “hot,” so when you take that out of the equation, they’re pretty boring as actors. I actually almost fell asleep at one point when it was all, “angstangstbadactingangst.” A little girl (that I didn’t know) next to me poked me and asked me why I didn’t want to see Edward proposing. It was kind of priceless.
- People told me I was going to love the Jasper/Rosalie backstories. I did not. They were kinda lame. People were going nuts over the leaked photos so I thought they were going to be amazing. They were fine. I just wasn’t as wowed as I thought I would be.
- The makeup. Pale does not equal cakey. (Thanks M!)
- It felt really unnecessarily long. But maybe that was just because I was bored about halfway through. Did it feel long to anyone else?
- Can we just talk about why Bella was wearing old work clothes to a graduation party where everyone else was wearing nice dresses? Alice freakin’ flipped out in New Moon and made her wear a dress to a party that 7 people attended, but for a party attended by about 100, she lets Bella wear whatever she wants? Just throwing that out there.
- That proposal. Even for the King and Queen of Teen Angst… it was a bit too much.
- 90% of the cast seriously needs acting lessons. I’d be a lot more entertained if I actually believed these people as the characters.
- The end. Alright, Bella chose Edward. But all I heard her talking about was their life together and how they were going to tell Charlie and when can he make her a vampire again? I’m sorry, I thought she was supposed to choose Edward for the person he is, not the lifestyle he has.
The Ugly:
- Rosalie. First, why do her eyebrows never match her hair? Second, why did they make her Evita? Dislike!
- The wigs. I’m pretty sure Bella was wearing Jacob’s wig from the first movie. And since when does Alice have soccer mom hair?
- The special effects, as per usual. Summit, you’re making BANK. Please give the special effects people some more money.
- Dakota Fanning. She’s actually a great actress and I really like her, but she totally phoned this one in. Wasn’t buying it for a second.
- The engagement ring. I was scrolling through Letters to Twilight (the bestest snarkiest site ever) and someone suggested that Edward spray painted an armadillo silver. What they said.
Okay, so that’s it. I know I have a lot of bullet points under the good section, but look back and see how many of those are minor things, and how many major things pop up elsewhere. I should have trusted my gut in not being excited to see the movie, instead of thinking that becuase everyone else loved it, I would too. I should have saved my money and just rented it later. Oh well! Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
I wanted to see this movie when it came out in April, but somehow just couldn’t find the time. This past weekend I decided to just rent it and… I want to watch it all the time.
I’m in love with Adventureland.
I almost can’t find the words to tell you how much I am in love with this movie. I put it in the DVD player, expecting it to just be a cute coming-of-age story… and in some ways it is… but it is SO much more than that.
It’s not necessarily the best movie ever made… but something in it reached out and grabbed me. I can’t say that I’m complaining.
I really, really, REALLY related with Em. I’m not sleeping with a married man and eating pot cookies at an amusement park that I work for. My parents aren’t divorced and I don’t have a troubled home life. Yet I still related to her. She almost doesn’t want to be noticed, just wants to exist, but stands up for the people that deserve it. She asserts herself when she wants to, but is also wants to blend into the background. She makes mistakes, messes up and blames herself too harshly for them. I so identified with this… it’s what I do.
Add in that with the fact that Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are hysterical and you have a movie that I will love for a while.
I can only hope that my James won’t give up on me either.
I was having trouble expressing my love for this movie, so I’ve enlisted the help of Amanda. Click here to go to her blog, she’s fabulous. [A, if you direct me to some pictures of you, I will link you for real on the sidebar! S.] I twittered about Adventureland and she responded, so she’s pretty perfect to do a followup on what SHE thought. Which is pretty much in line with what I thought. Which is why I stole it from her.
“for me, it’s how they go about existing. they all have shit to deal with; don’t we all? i love em. i can relate to em. no, i’m not her, and i’m not living her life. but i understand wanting to blend in and stand out at the same time. i can understand blocking yourself off emotionally, because i have friends that do it, and i do too. i love james; i love that he wants something more out of life, and is willing to pursue it. right now, that need is almost an innate one for me. college sucks, but i will make it through. then what? get some hateful job i hate and live the life my parents have? no thank you. i love joel-so much. i love the line about henry melville, even though i hate melville and am an english major. ‘i hope someone spells my name wrong when i die too’ – awesome. i love the end. love.it.”
I love this movie. Amanda loves this movie. I’m going to watch it again when I get home. I have it rented for now, until Wednesday night, but I think I’m going to buy it as soon as I can. Adventureland is love.
