Twilight Insanity

I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to vampire stories, so I never jumped right on the bandwagon of the Twilight series, but after seeing some of the preview scenes, I became curious. This past week, I saw the first book on sale and decided to get it to see what all the hype was about. I get it, and I certainly get what all the tween girls are swooning about - Edward is dreamy in a very Jane Austen hero kind of way. I literally couldn't put the book down. Naturally, I went and got the rest of the series and proceeded to devour them in about another day and a half.

So due to my morbid curiousity and because I am a glutton for punishment, I joined the throngs of squealing teen girls at the theaters last night for the midnight showing. It was an experience. First, I just sat there and observed them all in their sweat pants/flip flops ensembles chit-chatting, texting, gossiping... and then I remembered why I never considered myself "one of the girls" at their age. But then the lights dimmed and suddenly they all quit playing catty games with one another and transformed into a seething mass of dreamy hormonal mega-fans. My first moment of hilarity was when the new Harry Potter preview opened to thunderous applause and squeals. The next was when Edward appears on screen for the first time, and the entire room swooned with numerous "OMIGODS", dog-ear-piercing sounds and gutteral moans of teen desire. It will truly be a different experience to watch this movie without the electric atmosphere these girls provide, but I must say it added to the movie for me, just as watching Yoda pull out his lightsaber for the first time in a roomful of Star Wars geeks, or watching Gandalf become the White Wizard while sitting next to the dude who was making his own chain mail IN THE THEATER before the movie started (and flirting with girls for what had to have been the first time in his life).

I've heard this movie likened to the fabulous John Hughes movies of the 80's, and while I wouldn't put it on the same comedic level at all, this movie has more than its fair share of angst, brooding, and longing looks as well as plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. It will never appeal to guys the way it does to girls, but it does have just enough action to not be in the same drippy romance department as The Notebook. The chemistry between the characters is undeniable. The writing deviates from the book in several ways, but basically stays true to the plotline. The dialogue has been updated a bit, with references to Google and MySpace, and the scenery is shot very well. This is going to be an instant classic for many who will remember the frenzy as a bonding time with other girls or a first crush. It isn't the best movie (who was expecting it to be?) but I loved it, and I'll see it again. You can't help yourself when surrounded by girly teenage love from all sides. I'm like, SO crushing on you right now, Edward!!