Twilight, the film - opinion poll

The film has been out for days (I won't see it for another month, probably...) and I keep hearing how great/terrible it was. To be honest, I'm more surious what do people think of it against their original expectations - was Edward as charming and arrogant as in the books? Was Bella as clumsy? Did the meadow scene take your breath away? Was Alice annoying?

Did the film meet your expectations?

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

What did you think of it?

Vampires - the bad or the good

Have you ever wondered how did it happen that vampires, the bad guys in many scary stories, they suddenly became the good guys?

In Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (1897) vampires are cruel and terrifying yet in the modern culture they're often the good guys.. like David Boreanaz in Buffy.. Was it right what Edward was saying? Vampires are perfect predators - they're pretty and fascinating, they draw us closer in order to attack when it is least expected…

So are they good or bad? What would you prefer them to be? Or shouldn't we assume at all that the world is black or white? Let's hope for grey and other colours..

New Moon - a discussion.

An opinion poll about The New Moon:

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Right, so what do you think?

I was absolutely mad when Edward left, I don't think I'll ever forgive him for that, even though a lot of good came out of that.. Jacob finally had a chance to create his fan club :P He's the loveliest and kindest person in the book but in my opinion he was brutally used by Bella and then abandoned like an old dog..

Abot Seth, I still have doubts, I wouldn't say I liked him, to me he was definately a negative character...

There were a few very interesting comments on the Quibblo site:

BellaVCullen: "New moon's a great book! for question 3 I have something to add. She was infact using jacob to fill in that empty space inside her. he made her feel better so i think because of that she was using him. and sam is weird but he's a positive character, in this book anyway. he helps save bella."

Disenchanted: "2 reasons that i didn't care that edward left:
1. he annoys me.
2. i knew he would come back so it didn't really matter
so yeah. i like jacob better, and those times with only him around were the best :)
TEAM JACOB!"


hinata1012008: "Team Jacob Whoop Whoop!!" Funny :D

New Moon - a quick review

A very quick summary of “New Moon”, please don’t read if you haven’t finished the book yet or it’ll spoil all the fun!

summary

It all starts with Bella’s birthday party, although it’s an event more exciting for Alice than anyone else. It all goes well until she cuts herself while unwrapping a gift; the smell of blood makes Jasper mental, there’s more blood and suddenly everyone but Carlisle is hungry. Bella survives but Edward falls into sort of a depression – he’s ashamed of what happened but mostly, he’s angry he keeps putting Bella in danger. The Cullens and the Hales leave Forks.

October. November. December. January.

Bella’s still in shock and deep depression after Edward left her in the forest. She slowly wakes up from her zombie state after Charlie threatens he’ll send her back to Renee. She also discovers wonderful Edward-sounding hallucinations in her mind whenever she does something reckless, which happens a lot when she’s with Jacob and their motorcycles. (Btw, don’t you think Bella’s simply using him?)

Another crucial twist to the story – Jacob, who was initially worried his best friends turn into a bully group, he joins them when he becomes a werewolf. They’re all nice, though.

Bella jumps off a cliff to hear Edward, Alice sees that and tells Rosalie; she tells Edward, he thinks Bella died, phones her but talks to Jacob, who doesn’t bother to clarify what happened; Edward wants to commit a suicide therefore goes to the mighty Volturi. Bella and Alice chase him to Italy to prevent him from stepping into the sunlight (that would piss the Volturi off). They arrive just in time but now they have to face the Italian clan. Some stressful talking takes place and eventually all three go back to Forks.

Bella puts her mortality into a vote and it all seems she’ll become a Cullen until this conversation happens:

Bella: I would want you to change me.
Edward: What would you be willing to trade for that?
Bella: Anything.
Edward: Five years?
(…)
Edward: All right. Forget time limits. If you want me to be the one –
then you’ll have to meet one condition.
Bella: Condition? What condition?
Edward: Marry me first.
Bella: … Okay. What’s the punch line?

(HAHAHA)

A very quick summary. :P

MY QUICK REVIEW

I would describe “Twilight” as innovative and funny, whereas “New Moon” was depressing and… even more surprising. I did love it because of the new werewolf vs vampire plot – Stephenie created a new fictional world which makes perfect sense and where everything fits! But on the other hand I hated it because Edward wasn’t there for most of the book and when he was there, he was such an ass!! All in all, I’d say “New Moon” is my least favourite of the series. (I like it anyway :P )

If you had any doubts for Bella’s feelings towards Edward – I did; I didn’t consider their love genuine enough – New Moon makes it all clear. She kept putting herself in danger just to hear Edward’s voice and she travelled all the way to Italy (in a cool bright yellow Porsche!) to save him and get him back. I knew what Stephenie meant behind all the “I have to be dreaming/dead in heaven” allegories but it never got to me… I hated Edward’s reaction in Volterra when Bella rescued him; he seemed stoned just like Bella was in her zombie state. Oh, Bella repeated the same “dreamy” reaction in her bedroom. I was unhappy again.

Another issue that annoyed me– Bella was clearly using Jacob, don’t you think? She felt good being around him, they even created a strange kind of relationship where both of them were happy but as soon as Edward came along, Bella simply dump him… That’s where the entire team Edward vs. team Jacob conflict came from – fans felt sorry for the sweet and caring Jacob. I’d definitely stand on Jacob’s site there…

I read this one negative review of New Moon (it’s going to be bad, very bad) and, oh, just read it yourself:

“(…) The series does not improve with subsequent books, either. In New Moon, Bella enters a self-described “zombie” state when Edward leaves her. In fact, the author oh-so-cleverly inserts blank pages with the months’ names as a poorly conceived plot device for showing the depths of her heroine’s pain and also to avoid having to write the “hard stuff.” Bella turns near-suicidal; she purposely puts herself in harm’s way-going so far as to jump off a cliff-to hear her lover’s imagined voice in her head. WHAT THE FUCK?!! (…)” (Blast magazine, 16/08/2008)

Exactly, what the fuck?! I liked the empty pages – that’s exactly what Bella felt like – empty. And how else was she supposed to feel?! That was one well infuriating review…

Oh, and I loved the book cover – a bleeding flower :]

site development

I updated and developed the site, hopefully there are no errors but if you encounter any problems, please let me know.

What do you think of the new look of it? :)

Robsession

I’ve read this very interesting article on “Robsession” recently. It’s written by Cilla Benjamin and it’s titled: "Robsession"- Are you a fan of Robert Pattinson or Edward Cullen?

It’s brilliant. Cilla, a big fan of Robert’s, compares the fictional Edward to the real-life Robert and asks who are the billions of fans crazy about – do they love the immortal Edward Cullen? or the talented Robert Pattison who looks hot as a vampire due to the special effects?

I honestly know nothing about Robert and his career – I watched “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” without realizing who played Cedric; I don’t want to question his acting skills because I simply don’t know him at all. Until I see him in action, I’ll stay quiet.

I know I’m not obsessed with Robert but I would love to put my hands on Edward and since Robert resembles my vision of the hot vampire so well, I could go with the Brit :P

What about you?

You can read the full article here. It’s got some good comments too ;)

Twilight, the film

The first premiere of “Twilight” the film is on the 21.11.2008 (I think all of the fan sites are now counting down!! :D ) and the first lucky countries to see it are USA, Canada, Italy, Sweden, France, Philippines and Thailand. I won’t see it until 2009!! :( :(

I won’t bore you with all the details who plays who, you can find it out on IMDb or even better on the Twilight Series Theories site - I really like the website and all of its content, although all the gossip about the actors’ private lives is just unnecessary.

Also, if you’d like to refresh your memory about all the characters I strongly recommend this site.

YouTube is filled with interviews with the cast, behind the scenes shots, variations of the official trailers, single scenes from the film, etc. There’s one 8-minutes long clip from a Film Festival in Rome, terrible quality but luckily has subtitles to help you make some sense of it:

I firstly found and added a clip with personal comments of some female fan, but the video was then deleted from YouTube. The girl included some thoughts of her own, for which I was very grateful - it was funnier to watch it with her comments and I absolutely agreed with all of them (although she did call Emmet Emmit :P ).

She talked about the great entrance scene by Alice and how stiff and uncomfortable Jasper looked – it’s difficult to disagree with any, they’re both amazing. Rosalie is truly a pain in the scene, Bella mentions becoming a meal (hahaha), and Edward is just Edward – shy, gentle, funny, perfect… If the entire film is just like that it’s going to be a hit!

About the actual trailers, I’m sure you’ve seen them plenty of time but let’s watch them again, just for safety.

It’s the best trailer ever! :D

I’m interested in your opinion in this matter; do you think people that haven’t read the books will enjoy the film? It seems to me that the film was tailored for the books fans only and any random person that goes to the cinema will think badly of the series…

What I’m trying to say is, there are many scenes missing, some scenes are altered and in the end, the film only resembles the books… I’ve seen too many disappointing attempts to bring a story from a book onto the big screen…

Whenever I look at this trailer, I am more and more worried:

It makes me think it’s another bad action-drama film for the less demanding part of the society… Someone will die, hearts will be broken, poor teenage hero has to make a very difficult decision. It seems cheesy and uninteresting! I’m mad they created such a bad trailer….

Discussion #1 - Bella, a vampire?

Do you think it’s reasonable of Bella to wish to become a vampire?



As I mentioned before, “Twilight” is an incredibly entertaining and original book that creates many questions; one of them raising the subject of the boundaries of love. How far would you go to prove your feelings? How much are you able to sacrifice for your loved one?
These are obviously only by-questions that lead to the main thread of the book – should Bella sacrifice her humanity to be with Edward?


That’s a tough one, I know.


On the one hand, she doesn’t even know what it is like to be a vampire; but on the other, if she’s sure Edward is the man she wants to spend her life with, then why not?! Eternity with such a hottie might repay all the pain of loosing her family and after all, isn’t it right that a family is given to you but you choose your friends?


But Bella doesn’t know if she would be strong enough to remain a vegetarian, what if she becomes a bloodsucking monster she despises as a human? She might change completely and loose everything Edward loves about her just now! She won’t blush, she might have a different scent, she will think differently, she might loose all her human reactions and the way she perceives the world… We know nothing what the Cullens were like before they became vampires; the transformation might have changed them completely!


And can you imagine the amount of pain Bella will cause Renee and Charlie when she dies to their world? Throughout the book she mentions it many times how much she worries about her mother because she’s so vulnerable… And Charlie is so happy to have Bella back… It’s really selfish of her to want it NOW!! Couldn’t she wait for a few years, she would be with Edward anyway…


Of course, it is easier said than done and the equation here is rather unfair… She found the perfect guy for her and it seems he was waiting for her for so many years… He’s different than other boys but other boys were of no interest to her, were they? Edward can’t change who he is but she can change herself… It is difficult for him to control his instincts and although he was doing well so long, one day he might easily slip. It seems that is the only solution, right?


Still, is it reasonable to make such a literally life changing decision so quickly?!

In Edward's head - "Midnight Sun"

As you’re browsing through this blog, I take it you’ve already read “Twilight” and you’re now eager for more and more information about this book and the rest of the series.

I experienced two mind-shaking events after the first book: Stephenie would write a twin book to “Twilight” called “Midnight Sun” and the wonderful love story was being made into a film!! (The film is obviously based on “Twilight” as the other book hasn’t been completed yet and we don’t know if it ever will be…)

MIDNIGHT SUN

“Midnight Sun” has the exact same plot as “Twilight” only just it’s said from Edward’s perspective.

"There is so much more to his side of the story than there is to Bella's in that first chapter. After all, Bella only knows that an incredibly gorgeous boy is looking at her funny. Meanwhile, Edward is suffering through one of the most momentous days of his very long life! First there's the shock and frustration of not being able to hear Bella's thoughts, then the wild, monstrous reaction to her scent, followed by the incredible expenditure of self-control that it takes to not kill her... His side of Bella's first day at Forks High School is a hundred times more exciting than her own".

That's from Stephenie’s website, obviously.


However impossible it might sound, it is even more charming than Bella’s version. I’m only kidding, it is perfectly rational since it is the hot vampire that gives you all the answers to Bella’s doubts and questions and explains what happens; it is destined to be top-notch!

The first 12 chapters are available to download from Stephenie’s website, only due to the kindness of her heart! The production of the book has been ceased until the further notice because some irresponsible and selfish friend of her had put the incomplete partial draft on the Internet!! Stephenie was infuriated, embarrassed and most of all disappointed for a long time but eventually allowed her most tenacious fans to read it too, officially on her website.
Unfortunately, we have to wait patiently until the full-length book is released…

But before that happens we are forced to wait for the premiere of

TWILIGHT, THE FILM!!!

Just look at that:


I'm watching it over and over again!

So, WHAT DO YOU THINK?! :D

Stephenie on Ellen 17/9/2008

Just a quick post for today.

I was looking through YouTube videos to find one that would show you best how great Stephenie is. (I actually didn’t even consider looking for it until my lovely friend suggested it, well, I suppose passions develop best when you share them with friends.)

This one comes from the Ellen’s Show:

It doesn’t give you a lot of information about the books but it’s a great sample of who Stephenie is. She could be your teenage neighbour, for Cullens’ sake! She’s so spontaneous and funny :P

I generally hate Ellen but she occasionally makes a good joke, like “This is a very long dream, you sleep a lot.” LOL

“A very thick book, very impressive” on the other hand was just stupid, what sort of comment is that? She obviously didn’t read it at all…

Twilight, the fun facts

Now it’s time for some fun facts about the book!! :)

Everything there is to know about the “Twilight” books is on Stephenie’s website.

(I’m obviously talking about Stephenie Meyer, the author of the books, if you were confused at any point, please let me know, I’ll have to work on you!).

I have to say, that’s the best fan site I’ve ever encountered. It’s co-hosted by Stephenie herself, it’s filled with fun facts about the book, including how it was created; it’s updated on the pretty much day-to-day basis, and in my humble opinion it’s not a website about the Twilight series, it goes alongside with it - You can’t read the books and not visit the site!

Now, my favourite facts about “Twilight”. :)

1. The idea for the book occurred to Stephenie in a dream, literally, she started creating the book when she was asleep.
Stephenie wrote the first draft on the 02/06/2003 right after she had woken up from the dream starring an average looking girl and a stunning hot vampire. That’s right, she wrote her dream down because she fell in love with a young and sexy vampire! (She’s a mum of three and she’s happily married :P )

2. Surprisingly, the middle of the book, the crucial scene in the meadow was the very scene pictured in Stephenie’s dream as well as the very beginning to the amazing series we love! Beginning with the meadow, Stephenie worked her way through until the very end of the book and afterwards, she wrote the beginning!! How crazy is that?!

3. She was so passionate about writing this book (and at this time she wouldn’t even consider the book being published, she wrote t for herself), she kept a notepad and a pen next to her bed so that she could write down all of her sudden ideas, even in the middle of a night, even in complete darkness. Now, that’s the spirit! Thank you Stephenie!!

4. Did you know Stephenie lives in Phoenix? :)

5. You probably noticed Bella likes to read, well so does Stephenie. She even graduated from English literature and if you’re interested in her literature taste you should visit her Amazon's website. It gives a list of books she recommends as absolute essentials.
I suggest reading Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen first, you’ll find an Edward in both of them. ;)

6. What would you say for Carol and Ronald instead Rosalie and Jasper? Yeah, that’s what I though.. Luckily Stephenie changed her mind in time.

7. Speaking of bad names, did you know that Twilight’s original name was “Forks”?

8. Oh, Forks does actually exist! And so does La Push reservation and the Quileutues! Spooky.. There are some beautiful pictures of the park on its website.

Actually, there exists a special website with the most important places from the book! You can take a a free tour of Forks here.

9. Before the magnificent book was published, Stephenie received many rejection letters from printing houses, and kept them! I would give so much to read them! :D I’m dying to know what exactly they say! “Sorry Mrs Meyer, I think your book is boring”, “Unfortunately Mrs Meyer, we don’t predict any interest in the story you’ve written.” ?! These people must have had so many sleepless nights…

10. The book cover presents an apple which symbolises the biblical forbidden fruit, the Snow White’s “one bite to fall into an eternal sleep yet not die”, or as Stephenie said, a choice.

There are many many more fascinating little things on the website, like a suggested soundtrack for the book, pictures of cars described in the book in case you’re a girl like me and anything more than a colour confuses you (I believe Bella’s quote was: “I don’t speak car and driver”); but the juiciest bit are the pages that were never used in the book! See here.

I do greatly recommend the website for further research ;)

Now, my personal research,

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR VAMPIRE NAME?

Twilight, the book

My personal review.

The saga begins when a “middle-aged” teenager, Bella, moves in the small town of Forks, I’d say somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Coming from a big and noisy Phoenix, she finds Forks too slow-paced, boring and quiet, especially since her arrival triggers a lot of excitement and puts her in a centre of attention. She hates all the sudden interest and in particular she doesn’t understand the adoration she gets from boys. Bella sees herself average-looking, shy and unnoticeable, and when she notices a group of gorgeous pale-skinned students, she cannot believe anyone would be interested in anyone but them. She pays attention to those five could-be-fashion-models more than anyone else in the school, which, obviously, makes their paths cross inevitably.


It’s interesting how differently Bella perceives the beautiful pack to anyone else in the school. According to Angela, Jessica, Mike and Eric the Cullens and the Hales are indeed incredibly attractive as well as smart and rich but they’re also self-absorbed freaks who hang out with no one outside their family and in general, are fairly boring. Bella’s first impression is way more flattering – she believes they’re truly fascinating! Her interest and unusually detailed perception isn’t beneficial for the Cullens who are trying to keep their profiles low. When Bella starts noticing some odd visual features and behaviours in Edward, the youngest looking and the only single of them, he attempts to keep her off the track from his family’s secret. But the harder he tries, the more he realizes he’s in fact in love with his stalker. Who would have thought, huh? It might have been fairly obvious from the beginning that those two will fall for each other but what I cared most was, how would Bella find out the Cullens were vampires and how could Bella’s and Edward’s love develop and survive? And most of all, would there be a happy ending?


I don’t have to say I enjoyed the book; I don’t even have to say how much I loved it since I devoted an entire blog to it. What I should concentrate on, though, is why I became a fan so quickly. There were a few major reasons.


Firstly, Stephenie Meyer broke so many traditional canons that “Twilight” isn’t just another book about vampires. Unlike Stoker’s Dracula, Edward can walk in the sunlight, he isn’t afraid of crosses, garlic or holy water; nor does he turn into a bat. All of it made reading so much easier and so much more eager – getting to know all the differences and learn about vampires in a context of a small town living was absolutely thrilling. Looking back I could have feared some Buffy flashbacks but Meyer’s vampires are more humanlike – they chose their path of being “vegetarians” rather than feeding on people, they want to fit in and live human lives, they’re far from being monsters!


Secondly, because I’m a little old fashioned myself, I loved it how mature the characters were, how Edward’s 1900’s upbringing influenced his language and his manners, and I absolutely loved the vampire names! Edward, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper, even Alice. The poor attempts of giving children unique names like Lemon, Honda, Suri, Brooklyn, or anything alike sound even more pathetic when compared to the Cullen names. I mean, who wouldn’t want to have a little baby boy Emmet?! :) If only he grew up to speak in Edward’s nonchalant manner, too… I often weakened in my knees when he talked to Bella. One of my favourite phrases is ‘Bella, you’re utterly absurd’, and there are many more, though they don’t sound as good when taken out of the context.


Finally, I fell for the unique love story. Falling in love with a vampire and being a vampire who falls in love with a human girl bring up so many new questions and possibilities! Your judgements aren’t biased on other romantic characters (although Bella makes several comparisons to literary lovers, Romeo and Juliet; for instance), the situation creates a carte blanche background for their romance. Will Edward be strong enough not to kill her? Will Bella become a vampire to spend the eternity with him? Will he let her? How does it feel to kiss a vampire? How does she smell to him?


There were a few other reasons too, like how funny the book is, to give an example! :P

Welcome to my blog :)

Hi everyone,

Let me introduce you to my recent obsession, the marvellous creation by Stephenie Meyer – the Twilight Saga.

This guide is dedicated to all of you who only just discovered the books and are bombarded with information about Twilight from all around. I’d like to take you step by step how Bella’s world has taken over my mind…

I firstly heard about the book from a very good friend of mine who simply said: “You HAVE TO read it.” I trust her literature taste so I tried it and immediately fell in love...