More thoughts on the New Moon movie trailer……

I’ve already watched the New Moon teaser trailer more times than I can count. I loved it! For me, it achieved Summit’s goal – it made me want to see the movie even more than I already did. Having watched it so many times, I’ve gone back to the book to compare them side-by-side, scene-by-scene.

We start with a sweeping view of the coastline, I assume in La Push. The first thing that struck me was the vivid colors. Look at that blue, blue ocean – gorgeous! The second thing I noticed was the contrast to Twilight. In Twilight, the sweeping landscape shots were usually of the forest, the tree-covered mountains, and occasionally the river. The contrast between the two sceneries is significant. During New Moon, Bella spends most of her time with Jacob, often in La Push. Twilight was all about Bella and Edward, with several scenes taking place in the forest (including a few deleted scenes). In the book, the forest always reminded Bella of Edward. The difference in the landscape footage not only shows us that New Moon will this be different from Twilight, but also represents Bella’s two sides – her Edward half, and her Jacob half.

From the coastline, we see Bella and Edward pulling up to Bella’s house in her truck. Again, I love the colors – even in a night scene, you can really see the red of Bella’s truck, the white of her house. And what a great job replicating the house! Cut to Bella and Edward standing in front of her truck. Edward has a sad, troubled look on his face, possibly indicating that this scene occurs after the birthday party at the Cullen house. Bella asks for a kiss for her birthday, and without saying a word, Edward gently places his hand on her cheek and slowly leans in. The trailer cuts to Bella and Edward mid-kiss, and I’m hoping we get to see the full kiss in the movie. It looks like it may be a nomination next year for Best Kiss. The way Bella asks for the kiss, raising her eyebrow, almost looking like she’s holding back tears, has me thinking Bella is already worried and wants to distract Edward for any torture he may be putting himself through.

How does that compare to the book? First of all, this scene takes place in Bella’s bedroom, of course, after Edward sneaks in without Charlie’s knowledge. In this passage, and the few preceding pages, Edward tries to be light-hearted but Bella knows he’s wallowing in sadness. Since the kiss takes place in front of the house in the trailer, I wonder if Edward will be staying over in the movie? Or if he will just go home?

Here’s the excerpt:
“Well, I was thinking, since it’s still my birthday, that I’d like you to kiss me again.”

“You’re greedy tonight.”

“Yes, I am—but please, don’t do anything you don’t want to do,” I added, piqued.

He laughed, and then sighed. “Heaven forbid that I should do anything I don’t want to do,” he said in a strangely desperate tone as he put his hand under my chin and pulled my face up to his.

The kiss began much the same as usual—Edward was as careful as ever, and my heart began to overreact like it always did. And then something seemed to change. Suddenly his lips became much more urgent, his free hand twisted into my hair and held my face securely to his. And, though my hands tangled in his hair, too, and though I was clearly beginning to cross his cautious lines, for once he didn’t stop me. His body was cold through the thin quilt, but I crushed myself against him eagerly. – New Moon, pg 51

As the scene fades out on their kiss, Bella says, “I love you”. It’s difficult to tell if this is part of the next scene, or from some other part of the movie. Regardless, to me, it looks like a shout-out to all the fans who wondered, “Why didn’t they say ‘I love you’ in Twilight?!” This would be a very good thing, I think, because it could mean that Chris Weitz and crew are taking the fans’ reactions and feedback from Twilight into consideration.

From the kiss scene, the trailer cuts to Bella and Edward standing in front of a large painting. I’m assuming this is Carlisle’s study and Edward is telling Bella about the Volturi – a scene from the book Twilight that was not included in the movie Twilight, even though it has significance in New Moon. Edward says, “You’re my only reason to stay…alive, if that’s what I am.” Without any context before this line, it’s hard to know exactly what Edward is referring to. I’m not even sure if that was one sentence, or two spliced together with editing. Edward could be questioning whether he’s really considered to be living, when he is undead. Or he could be comparing himself to the Volturi or the traditional vampire (ie a monster). Either way, this scene is most likely tying two scenes together – the scene from Twilight when Edward shows Bella the paintings, and the scene from New Moon when Edward and Bella are watching Romeo and Juliet and Edward tells Bella he considered suicide by means of the Volturi. It could even be tying in a third scene – Edward’s belief that he doesn’t have a soul, which becomes a recurring theme in the last three books.

Again, without context, it’s hard to figure out why Bella and Edward were in Carlisle’s study in the first place, and why they were talking about such cheerful topics when they were supposed to be having a party. It is an intimate scene: they are looking into each other’s eyes, her hand is on his chest, and he touches her arm. And yet, Edward has that sad and tortured look again. I wonder if Bella has brought up the “I want to be a vampire/I don’t want to get any older” issue again, which leads into this conversation.

Now Bella, Edward, and a very excited Alice are walking down the stairs to the birthday party. The other Cullens are waiting for them. There are candles and roses everywhere. A white cake with blue, green, and yellow stripes with Bella’s name on top. Esme hugs Bella tightly and says “Happy Birthday, Bella.” Bella comments on the cake and that none of them eat. Jasper is standing the farthest from Bella when Alice hands her the present (possibly Edward’s CD?). Bella cuts her finger opening the gift, and a drop of blood drops onto the carpet. Suddenly Jasper is running toward Bella. Edward pushes Bella into a table of roses and candles, and pushes Jasper across the room, in the opposite direction, sacrificing his piano. The scene fades out on a very upset Edward.

Here’s the (truncated) scene from the book:
Edward started laughing. He helped me out of the car, pulled me up the stairs, and was still laughing as he opened the door for me.

They were all waiting in the huge white living room; when I walked through the door, they greeted me with a loud chorus of “Happy birthday, Bella!” while I blushed and looked down. Alice, I assumed, had covered every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses.

There was a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward’s grand piano, holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents.

It was a hundred times worse than I’d imagined.

Edward, sensing my distress, wrapped an encouraging arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head.

Edward’s parents, Carlisle and Esme—impossibly youthful and lovely as ever—were the closest to the door. Esme hugged me carefully, her soft, caramel-colored hair brushing against my cheek as she kissed my forehead, and then Carlisle put his arm around my shoulders.

“Sorry about this, Bella,” he stage-whispered. “We couldn’t rein Alice in.”

Rosalie and Emmett stood behind them. Rosalie didn’t smile, but at least she didn’t glare. Emmett’s face was stretched into a huge grin. It had been months since I’d seen them; I’d forgotten how gloriously beautiful Rosalie was—it almost hurt to look at her. And had Emmett always been so… big.

Alice let go of Jasper’s hand and skipped forward, all her teeth sparkling in the bright light. Jasper smiled, too, but kept his distance. He leaned, long and blond, against the post at the foot of the stairs. During the days we’d had to spend cooped up together in Phoenix, I’d thought he’d gotten over his aversion to me. But he’d gone back to exactly how he’d acted before—avoiding me as much as possible—the moment he was free from that temporary obligation to protect me. I knew it wasn’t personal, just a precaution, and I tried not to be overly sensitive about it. Jasper had more trouble sticking to the Cullens’ diet than the rest of them; the scent of human blood was much harder for him to resist than the others—he hadn’t been trying as long.’

I took the little package, rolling my eyes at Edward while I stuck my finger under the edge of the paper and jerked it under the tape.

“Shoot,” I muttered when the paper sliced my finger; I pulled it out to examine the damage. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut.

It all happened very quickly then.

“No!” Edward roared.

He threw himself at me, flinging me back across the table. It fell, as I did, scattering the cake and the presents, the flowers and the plates. I landed in the mess of shattered crystal.

Jasper slammed into Edward, and the sound was like the crash of boulders in a rock slide.

There was another noise, a grisly snarling that seemed to be coming from deep in Jasper’s chest. Jasper tried to shove past Edward, snapping his teeth just inches from Edward’s face.

Emmett grabbed Jasper from behind in the next second, locking him into his massive steel grip, but Jasper struggled on, his wild, empty eyes focused only on me.

Beyond the shock, there was also pain. I’d tumbled down to the floor by the piano, with my arms thrown out instinctively to catch my fall, into the jagged shards of glass. Only now did I feel the searing, stinging pain that ran from my wrist to the crease inside my elbow.

Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm—into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires. – New Moon, pg 25-29

Some details are the same, some are changed. With the editing of the trailer, it’s difficult to tell how much of the birthday party scene is in the movie. Right off the bat, there is a difference: in the book Edward and Bella come in from driving from Bella’s house. Edward is laughing and in a good mood. In the trailer, they are walking downstairs and Edward is looking sad and troubled. Esme hugs Bella just like in the book. The present that Bella cuts herself on in the book is Edward’s CD. The size and shape of the present in the trailer suggests it could be the same one. The biggest difference is what happens when Bella cuts herself. In the book, Edward pushes Bella but only blocks Jasper, and Emmett holds Jasper from reaching Bella. Edward pushing Jasper across the room – destroying his own piano – is much more dramatic. Although blood is dripping down Bella’s arm in the trailer, I get the impression the cut itself is not as bad in the trailer as it was in the book. The rest of the Cullens don’t seem to be reacting to the blood, either.

How about the scenery? The living room in the book is described as white. Check. Pink candles everywhere? Candles, check. Pink, no. Hundreds of roses? Check. (Well, lots of flowers anyway. They may not be roses, however…) Pink birthday cake, plates, and silver-wrapped gifts on a table next to Edward’s piano? Well, no. There is a cake and there are gifts. I think it looks great anyway. In the book, this is the table that Edward pushes Bella into, but not in the trailer. I’m sure this shot required multiple takes. Can you imagine if they had to fix the table and have a new cake each time? Not very practical. The Cullens’ positions were not the same as the book. Since Bella and Edward entered from a different point than the book, this was necessary. However, notice Jasper hangs back just like in the book.

Now that we’ve seen all the Cullens, let’s talk about them. There aren’t many good shots of Emmett but he looks very much the same. Rosalie’s hair is different – more golden and less bleached. As we know, she’s wearing a wig for New Moon. Alice’s hair doesn’t stand out as much, making her look a little older than she did in Twilight. Jasper’s hair is totally different…and just plain weird in my opinion. But we don’t get a good look at it so I’m going to try to stay open minded. Esme’s hair is the same color, but straight and without the soft curls. I loved Esme’s hair in Twilight; I miss the curls. Carlisle’s hair is…fluffier. There’s really no other word to describe it. But somehow, it seems to suit him. Edward’s hair is shorter, but still messy and tousled, and maybe a little darker too, it’s hard to tell. I love it. The makeup looks one hundred times better, although except for when they are standing right next to Bella, it’s hard to tell the Cullens are pale. Edward, especially, looks pale compared to Bella, but not in a bad way. I’ll take this over the caked on makeup of Twilight any day. The Cullens’ clothes look great – more designer-label, more dressed up. But is that because they dressed up for the party or is that their everyday clothing for New Moon? Hard to tell in the small amount of footage we see of them. One detail that was the same – the Cullen Crest. Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie are definitely wearing theirs, so I’m assuming the rest are also.

So there are obvious changes to the Cullens (who, as vampires, shouldn’t change), and of course their house has changed because the filming location changed. I’m not too bothered by this, mostly because I want each movie of the series to be the best that it can be. I don’t want something done badly in one of the later movies simply because it was done for continuity’s sake.

The birthday party scene hasn’t even faded to black before we hear the lines of the next scene. It’s the scene we are all dreading: the break-up scene. (Unless, I suppose, you are Team Jacob. LOL!) Bella and Edward are standing in a forest that looks like it grew right out of the book. Bella says, “What happened with Jasper was nothing.” Edward responds, “Nothing compared to what could have happened. I promise to never put you through anything like this ever again. This is the last time you’ll ever see me.” Edward kisses Bella on the forehead before he leaves. Again due to the editing it’s impossible to know how much more there is to this scene, and whether Edward walks away or runs away like in the book. We also don’t know if Bella tries to follow him, getting lost in the process, or if she falls to the ground right at that spot. I wonder where this will take place. Is this the forest by the school where Bella told Edward she knew what he was? Is this near Charlie’s house, like it happened in the book? Will Sam Uley find her, like the book?

Another interesting note, Edward is wearing the same clothes throughout the trailer. Could it be that the morning after the party Edward takes Bella into the forest to leave her? Did he spend all night pacing, thinking and planning, without bothering to change?

Here is an excerpt from the book. What’s in the trailer is almost word-for-word. Including the kiss before he leaves.
“What happened with Jasper—that was nothing, Edward! Nothing!”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “It was exactly what was to be expected.”

“And I’ll make you a promise in return,” he said. “I promise that this will be the last time you’ll see me. I won’t come back. I won’t put you through anything like this again. You can go on with your life without any more interference from me. It will be as if I’d never existed.”

I thought he was reaching for me, too. But his cold hands locked around my wrists and pinned them to my sides. He leaned down, and pressed his lips very lightly to my forehead for the briefest instant. My eyes closed.

Finally, I tripped over something—it was black now, I had no idea what caught my foot—and I stayed down. I rolled onto my side, so that I could breathe, and curled up on the wet bracken.

As I lay there, I had a feeling that more time was passing than I realized. I couldn’t remember how long it had been since nightfall. Was it always so dark here at night? Surely, as a rule, some little bit of moonlight would filter down through the clouds, through the chinks in the canopy of trees, and find the ground.- New Moon, pg 69-74

From Bella laying on the ground in the forest, we hear Laurent’s voice before we see him, face to face with Bella in a dry, brown clearing. I am wondering where this takes place. Bella has her backpack, so perhaps near the school? Or was she hiking? The meadow had much less significance in the movie Twilight than the book, so I would not be surprised if the subplot of Bella and Jacob looking for the meadow was cut out completely. I could also a few scenes merged together: perhaps after school Bella drives to the Cullen house, runs into the surrounding forest and meets Laurent there?

The description of the meadow in the book:
It was the same place, of that I was instantly sure. I’d never seen another clearing so symmetrical. It was as perfectly round as if someone had intentionally created the flawless circle, tearing out the trees but leaving no evidence of that violence in the waving grass. To the east, I could hear the stream bubbling quietly.

The place wasn’t nearly so stunning without the sunlight, but it was still very beautiful and serene. It was the wrong season for wildflowers; the ground was thick with tall grass that swayed in the light breeze like – New Moon, pg 234

“How much could you mean to him if he left you here, unprotected? But I can’t help myself…You are so mouthwatering.” Laurent looks wilder: his eyes vivid red, his dreadlocks longer. Bella looks like hell – but she’s supposed to, since she’s depressed. This is one of the key scenes where Bella hears Edward’s voice. I’m sure they won’t leave that out of the movie. There is still a lot of post-production to be done on the movie, adding special effects and what-not. The effect of Edward appearing as a hallucination most likely has not been created yet, so they probably had to edit around that. But the gist of the scene is there: Bella’s life is threatened by Laurent, she is resigned to death, and just as Laurent is about to strike, he stops and is frightened away.

Here’s the excerpt from the book:
[Laurent says,] “So maybe her plan was flawed—apparently it wouldn’t be the revenge she imagined, since you must not mean very much to him if he left you here unprotected.”

A mischievous grin rearranged his features. “Well, you’ve caught me at a bad time, Bella. I didn’t come to this place on Victoria’s mission—I was hunting. I’m quite thirsty, and you do smell… simply mouthwatering.”

I tensed for the spring, my eyes squinting as I cringed away, and the sound of Edward’s furious roar echoed distantly in the back of my head. His name burst through all the walls I’d built to contain it. Edward, Edward, Edward. I was going to die. It shouldn’t matter if I thought of him now. Edward, I love you.

Through my narrowed eyes, I watched as Laurent paused in the act of inhaling and whipped his head abruptly to the left. I was afraid to look away from him, to follow his glance, though he hardly needed a distraction or any other trick to overpower me. I was too amazed to feel relief when he started slowly backing away from me.

“I don’t believe it,” he said, his voice so low that I barely heard it.-New Moon, pgs 240-242

At this point, there’s a lot of editing. The first time I watched the trailer, I thought that Jacob came running to save Bella from Laurent, and I was mad that this was the way Bella learned about Jacob. On further inspection, however, there are actually at least three scenes spliced together here.

We get a short glimpse of a shirtless Jacob standing up. From what scene is this? There is no context to determine this. I am certain this shot was included to show off the result of Taylor Lautner’s hard work and to make the fan girls squeal. (Yes that includes this 30-something Team Edward Twi-Mom.) This shot clearly takes place post-transformation, due to the short hair and pumped muscles, and the missing “Jacob smile”. My guess…maybe when Bella confronts Jacob after he’s ignored her but before she knows his secret?

The third scene has Jacob jumping off the porch at his house and running, Bella yelling “Jake, run!”, and Jake phasing as he jumps over Bella. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. The whole scene just gave me goosebumps. I have no idea what scene from the book this might be from. One thought might be when Paul and Jake fight as wolves, but why would Paul threaten Bella? Since Jake came running out of his house, he obviously wasn’t with Bella. Another possibility is that Bella had a run-in with Victoria. But could Jacob scare off Victoria before Victoria got to Bella? Bella could have run into one of the other wolves, before she knew about them, but they would have no reason to attack her, giving Jacob no reason to defend her. It’s also possible that there’s a fourth scene being squeezed in here – that Jacob running out of the house isn’t the same scene as him phasing – but I doubt it. I think whatever this scene is, it wasn’t in the book, or it was drastically changed from the book. And it begs the question: is this how Bella finds out about Jacob? It wouldn’t surprise me that this part of the story was changed. Bella’s foreshadowing nightmare about Jacob transforming into a wolf didn’t happen in the movie Twilight, nor did Jacob use the word “werewolves” in his scary stories (just that they were descended from wolves). In addition, having Jake phase mid-air while jumping over Bella is so much more dramatic and visual – works much better for a movie than the way it happened in the book.

The act of phasing itself? Amazing. Did I say that already? It was so instantaneous and fluid, Jacob was a human and then he was a wolf. If you manage to pause the trailer at just the right moment, you can see the point where the upper body is the wolf and the lower body is human. I loved the shredding of the clothes, it was perfect. I was shocked that we’d get to see a wolf and the phasing already. The CGI effect was perfect; really put the special effects of Twilight to shame.

Here is an excerpt from the book, when Bella sees Jacob transform:
Mid-stride, a long tremor shivered down Jacob’s spine. He leaped forward, diving headfirst into the empty air.

With another sharp tearing sound, Jacob exploded, too. He burst out of his skin—shreds of black and white cloth blasted up into the air. It happened so quickly that if I’d blinked, I’d have missed the entire transformation. One second it was Jacob diving into the air, and then it was the gigantic, russet brown wolf—so enormous that I couldn’t make sense of its mass somehow fitting inside Jacob—charging the crouched silver beast.- New Moon, pg 325

As for the wolf, that was the only part I was disappointed with. I hoped the wolves would be bigger, like described in the book. It’s possible the wolves will be that big, and that it’s just hard to tell in this scene because of the perspective, but I doubt it. The wolf just looked normal wolf-sized. I also expected Jake’s wolf form to be a darker, richer red, more like maroon. I didn’t like the white fur on the legs. But the sound effects and the movement of the wolf? Perfect!

Until I started reading passages in the book, I thought the trailer nailed everything nearly perfectly. After reading the passages in the book and comparing them to the trailer, the differences are obvious. But they don’t bother me. Books and movies are two completely different mediums and no book is going to translate directly into a movie. If the movies were an exact replica of Stephenie Meyer’s books, they would be boring movies. Eye candy galore, yes, but boring none-the-less. Can you imagine Twilight without the fight scene in the ballet studio? Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some things that shouldn’t be changed: key points of the story. Does it really make a difference if the cake is pink or not? Does Edward pushing Jasper change the story? No, but it raises the drama to the next level, which is what you need in a movie.

The teaser trailer definitely left me wanting more. November 20 feels so far away…

Talk Back to us….what do you think?

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Libby has submitted a rebuttal to today’s earlier Ta Talks Back Post – New Moon Trailer, First Thoughts. Enjoy:

I have to be honest here, I think people are too quick to point everything that’s “wrong” about it. It is a 2 minute- early adaptation of what is to come. I personally really like what they’ve done, I can tell you I was not impressed with Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight, I thought it was somewhat cheesy, sped through, lacked the real story, and focused too much on what was visibly entertaining. The book has such a huge fan base, it wouldn’t have mattered if it didn’t “look” as cool, as long as we got Bella and Edward’s story. But enough about Twilight… this is about New Moon.

Of course Jacob’s wolf didn’t look the way we pictured it… ummm it’s in our heads and everyone sees things differently. CGI can only go so far, did you honestly think that (if one even existed) a real-life wolf as big as the ones in Stephenie’s books was going to be it? I didn’t, I think it looked fine, in the 3 seconds we saw it. Jacob’s supposed to be taller blah blah blah yeah and Emmett’s jeep is supposed to be red and Rosalie’s car is a BMW not a Mercedes like it was in Twilight. That’s just the way things are, would you really have been happier if they replaced Taylor with someone who physically fit the part better… I think not. Give the kid a break, he has done an amazing job to get ready for the part, I’m sure if he could have made himself get taller he would have, but sadly that’s not possible (if it were I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have people complaining about being too short)
What little we saw of the Cullen house, yeah it’s different, but I didn’t like the house they used in Twilight. It was in no way shape or form remotely close to what the Cullen’s actually lived in. The scenery, no it’s not the same forest, but it’s a forest. Forests are always changing so again, no biggie to me. Remember the commentary and extras on Twilight where they said they had to add rain and clouds with special effects in post-production… well as far as I know they just finished filming so post-production either just started or is about to start soon, meaning they maybe didn’t have time to add that for the trailer.

Laurent, I love love love what they did with him. I think his makeup looks incredible (everyone’s makeup this time looks a million times better actually), his eyes stand out and look so menacing. Again, in that 30 second blip, I was impressed.

And finally, the acting. How (unless you are an actor yourself) in the world do you judge someones performance in 2 minutes? There was no emotion?! In that 2 minutes I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest, I felt the pain. Him kissing her forehead, her lying on the forest floor oh my goodness.

I thought it was incredible, and it’s only going to get better. Why do you say? Because that was just the tip of the iceberg. I’m confident that Chris and the rest of the cast and crew have put together the best adaption of New Moon there is. My only complaint is that he won’t be doing Eclipse as well, but that’s for another day.

Talk Back to us….what do you think?

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We’ve all watched it numerous times by now. So, what did you think about the first NEW MOON trailer? Here’s my opinion…:

Like all the breathless TWILIGHT fans in the universe, my heart stopped cold when ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT released the first 14 seconds of the NEW MOON trailer. The overhead shot of Forks, those familiar moody chords, that old red Chevy driving up to the front of Bella’s house – I was ready for NEW MOON excitement. And, then, when Bella asks Edward to kiss her – and he complies in that sultry, sexy way – my stopped heart began fluttering uncontrollably. It was an exciting 14 seconds, to be sure.

So what about the rest of the trailer that was unveiled at the MTV Movie Awards? Unfortunately, the excitement level and quality of the trailer didn’t match those first 14 seconds. There are several reasons why I feel this way and they run the gamut from acting to writing to directing.

Let’s start with the actors. The performances of Rob Pattison and Kristen Stewart are wooden, at best. I understand that the scenes selected for the trailer involve Edward breaking up with Bella and these are designed to be quiet moments. But, look at the trailer carefully and, in particular, listen to the line readings; they’re flat, with no hint of any emotion. When Bella is left alone in the forest, the love of her life having broken up with her, why isn’t there even a hint of a tear? Is there any pain streaking across her face? No. What about Edward? After he breaks up with Bella – the young woman he waited his whole life for – is there no visible heartache? We all know from reading the book that Edward is horribly conflicted by this decision. As we come to learn near the end of the book, Edward behaves benevolently by breaking up with Bella because he loves her so much and wants to keep her safe, yet he comes to the realization after the birthday dinner that he and his family only bring her danger. Does any of this internal conflict show? No.

Am I the only one who finds the birthday party sequence dull and stagy? Did you notice how each person in the Cullen clan is posed, standing at a particular place in the living room, with no emotion whatsoever on their faces? In the book, only Jasper is standing outside of the immediate family; all the rest are excited and happy to be celebrating Bella’s birthday and, as such, as clustered around her in an intimate circle. Also in this scene, Edward’s actions vary drastically from Meyer’s description in the book. In the book, he falls on Bella to protect her while Jasper lunges forward only to be held back by Emmett. This actually makes more sense as it keeps within Edward’s character to be Bella’s protector; to have him violently push Bella away and then even more violently push Jasper away may be the catalyst for a great-looking stunt but it doesn’t jibe with Edward’s character.

It’s obvious to all TWILIGHT fans that the locations in NEW MOON are different from those used in the first movie. The NEW MOON forest does not contain the same lush greenery of the TWILIGHT forest that Edward and Bella entered when she first admitted she knew his secret. And, the meadow used in the NEW MOON trailer is not at all recognizable as the place where the famous baseball matches were played by the Cullen clan because, well, the NEW MOON location is nothing more than an open field of dead grass. The Cullen home? The filmmakers didn’t even try to find a similar match. Gone is the sleek, modern design of the previous location, with its bright white interior, window walls of glass and forested exterior. This new location doesn’t have the same open floor plan or the same modern feel.

And, what’s with the lighting of these different locations? Gone is the moodiness provided by the ever-present Oregon cloud cover. Instead, the outdoor scenes are brightly lit, almost as if these places were filmed on an indoor sound stage that is dressed to look like the outdoors. None of the daytime outdoor scenes matched the mood of the first film and in fact are distracting in their brightness.

The transformation of Jacob from man to CGI wolf is pretty good and certainly believable. However, am I the only one who thinks Jacob the Wolf looks cartoonish? The movie wolf does not look anything like what Meyer describes in her book: “One second it was Jacob diving into the air, and then it was the gigantic, russet brown wolf – so enormous that I couldn’t make sense of its mass somehow fitting inside Jacob…” (325) The wolf in the trailer looks more like a fluffy pet rather than a menacing werewolf. It’s not “gigantic” nor is it “russet brown.” Hopefully, this is nothing more than a placeholder for the real Jacob Wolf.

If you watched Rob, Kristen and Taylor arrive on stage at the MTV Movie Awards to introduce the trailer, you could see that Taylor, who certainly has acquired the muscles necessary to portray Jacob, has not acquired the height. So, in Jacob’s moment in the trailer, it’s clear that Chris Weitz resorts to “cheating” his height via camera angle, shooting from down low and at an upward angle to make him look taller. It works in this short sequence – and Taylor does look awesome! – but, seeing an entire movie shot from this kind of angle will be tiresome.

As a confirmed Twilighter, I should stop with the negativity and fall in love with the trailer like everyone else out there in the Twiverse. Don’t get me wrong. I loved seeing it and have watched it dozens of times since it premiered. And, while I am a bit concerned by what I’ve seen, I also understand that it represents only two minutes of a two-hour movie. There’s lots of film in the editing room that probably works beautifully. And, of course I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a wonderful, successful movie that will match the wonderful, successful book.

But, to be honest, this trailer didn’t hit a nerve with me like the very first trailer for TWILIGHT did. This trailer doesn’t capture the mood of overwhelming sadness. It doesn’t convey the heartfelt emotions that hurtle beneath this story. It doesn’t grab my heart like the first TWILIGHT trailer did. When I first heard Bella ask Edward, “How long have you been 17?” and he responds with his now-famous line, “A while,” I could barely control my excitement, even after watching it 100+ times.

Yet, despite my lukewarm response to this trailer, am I excited about the movie? YES. Will I have my ticket in hand for the first show on November 10, 2009? YOU BET!

Am I on the right track? Or, should I be banished to Montepulciano, Italy, forever?

Talk Back to us….what do you think?

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TA fan Krysta writes about the bad boys of Twilight:

Whether you’re a team Edward, a team Jacob, or a team Switzerland, you love a bad boy.

Team Edward gals might want to disagree, but in your heart you know it’s true. Edward gives Bella everything she wants. He even leaves her in the effort of trying to do what’s best for her. He can’t resist any of her requests, no matter how ridiculous or dangerous, and he would rather suffer in silence and let her see another man, his mortal enemy (even if they are only friends with a hidden possibility of more) then tear her apart or deny her what she desires… However, despite the fact that he’s chivalrous, kind, gentle and a super loving man, he’s also a dangerous killer interested in drinking Bella’s blood and possesses the power to crush her in one move. He’s killed people before and has to fight himself to control his anger. He has horrible mood swings and Bella is almost always taken by surprise if he snaps at her or becomes angry. She can never tell when another mood swing is coming. Bella even feels threatened and scared of him at times because of the things he says and does. He is ‘the perfect man’, but he’s always a danger to be around, whether it be for circumstantial reasons (hanging out with vampires) or personal reasons (his thirst or strength overcoming his self control).

As for those Team Jacob gals, they know he’s dangerous! That’s one of their favorite parts about him. He loves Bella with all of his heart and can show her as much affection as she’s willing to take. He wants to give her what she desires and he even knows her better than she knows herself sometimes (simply because he pays such good attention to her every mood and expression). But he is bad… He lives for danger, loves any fight or challenge, no matter how dangerous, and has a hard time controlling his emotions. He hardly ever listens to Bella and he pretty much does whatever the heck he wants because he knows Bella will forgive him for his ‘bad boy’ ways. He forces himself upon Bella for kisses that she does not ask for or want and shows no remorse when she breaks her hand on his face for the incredulous act. He scolds her, calls her mean, and really lets her have it when he’s upset, even if it causes her to cry. Though he usually apologizes for his actions, he’s always doing something to irk Bella.

Both Edward and Jacob are dangerous, bad boys. If you love only one of them or you love them both, you love a bad boy! Danger, excitement, unpredictability and passion. That’s what these boys have to offer, and, admit it, you can’t get enough!

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TA fan Shannon talks about the things she loves about Edward Cullen:

Yes, Robert Pattinson is gorgeous, but before we knew him as the incarnation of our favorite vampire, there is another Edward that most of us loved first. An Edward that chuckles, wears turtlenecks and even drives a different type of Volvo.

In my opinion, book Edward is too light-hearted, but movie Edward comes off as too broody. Book Edward is quick to remind Bella time and again that she can and should leave him, and that he would completely understand. Movie Edward leaves me with the impression that he might have a problem with that. Ultimately, they are one and the same and both of them end up walking away from our heroine at the beginning of New Moon. Despite all this, we love them dearly, but why? What is it about this perpetually seventeen year-old vampire that has won the hearts of teens, mothers and grandmothers alike? Let’s take a look at some of (book and movie) Edward’s finer points:

1) He has impeccable manners. This boy knows how to use his words – and in a very gentlemanly fashion to boot. He knows how to open those doors too.

2) He’s not afraid to show his emotions. This might be due to the fact that he’s been emotionally dead inside for the past eighty years or so, but no matter. We like a guy that can show and tell us how he feels.

3) He’s protective. A lot of women today might feel threatened by a guy who tries to take care of her. I consider myself an independent woman too, but I like feeling secure and knowing that my Edward, um….excuse me, boyfriend, has got my back.

4) He loves his family. You can almost always trust a guy that’s tight with his family. Edward could feel resentful towards Carlisle for turning him, but instead he holds both Carlisle and Esme in very high esteem, considering them as parents. He even managed to welcome spoiled Rosalie into their coven over time. Not to mention that his relationship with Alice is downright cool. Their brother/sister-like banter cracks me up.

5) Okay, so he’s gorgeous. It’s certainly not the most appealing thing about him, but it doesn’t hurt, right?

So, what do you love about Edward Cullen?

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On the TA forum, there has been heated discussion about the New Moon movie trailer. TA forum member HollyJo123 weighs in:

Like the countless twi-hards I too was anxiously awaiting the release of the first New Moon trailer. I even missed most of my beloved Red Wings game because of it! So last night I sat with my laptop firmly across my lap and squealed when I saw it was on youtube! Let me just say I loved the trailer!! I got goosebumps the size of goose eggs!! Even my husband liked it and he really, really hates Twilight. I mean REALLY! So here I am all happy and excited only to have that bubble burst by reading the comments threads for the trailer.

I think it’s fair to say that most people agree with me that it was great! Super! Fantastic! But there are those who are not happy with it,
and there are those who absolutely hate it. It would be wrong of me to expect every single person out there to love the New Moon trailer as much as I do. But I find some of the comments very frustrating. So much so that I want to cyber yell…. you know ALL CAPS!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!! Let me just address the major issues that I have with the negative comments.

1: There is too much Edward and not enough Jacob….. What does this have to do with anything!! It’s 1 minute and 48 seconds!! What do you
want to happen? Edwards says “Ciao Bella” and then it’s all Jacob singing “If you want my body and you think I’m sexy” while showing off his 24 pack. My husband would hate it even more and it would be banned from the house!!

2: Bella/Kristen isn’t crying and hysterical in the breakup scene….If you reread the scene in the book you will find that Bella does not cry… at all. She keeps saying how she feels numb. The whole scene in the trailer was 15 seconds… you can’t include much in that.

3: The wolf looks to cartoony, cuddly, and small… I seriously don’t know what kind of dogs you people have but that’s not something I want
to cuddle with! I would rather snuggle up with a Cujo!! As for the size, we won’t be able to accurately judge that until we see a side by side comparison with something or someone else.

4: Why is Jake phasing in front of Bella?… Because that’s what he does… Chapter 14 page 325.. ’nuff said.

5: Why is Jake the only one fighting Laurent?…. They spliced the clips together to make it seem that way for effect.

6: It’s not like how I pictured it… It’s not going to be exactly how you pictured it because it’s someone else picturing it.

7: I’m disappointed he didn’t say (insert whatever) or I’m disappointed they didn’t show (insert whatever)… It’s a trailer!! If they added everything we want to see, it becomes a movie.

8: (insert here) scene needs to be way better…. They finished filming… moot point.

9: Where is Edwards pea coat? He should be dressed in more grays… Alice probably donated it to charity and bought him that gray shirt we saw from the first set pictures a while back. Happy! And I don’t think he would wear the pea coat to the party.

10: Jasper’s hair is awful…. I pretty much agree, but maybe they felt that was closer to the style from his time…. ??

11: Rob looks to old to pass for a 17 year old…. That’s because he’s 23! But hey if Gabrielle Carteris could play a high school student
when she was almost 30, Rob can surely play a 17 year old vampire. And for those who don’t remember Gabrielle played Andrea Zuckerman in the original 90210.

12: I miss the blue tint of the scenes… Go to Hot Topic, Claire’s, or Walmart and buy yourself some blue tinted sunglasses. Problem solved.

13: The staircase is wrong in the Cullen’s house, it’s supposed to be a spiral…. Does it really matter? Is it going to absolutely ruin the movie if the staircase isn’t how you pictured it?

I feel much better now.

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TA fan Karen talks about the hype that started with Twilight and now continues with New Moon.

As I write this on my computer. I never thought that I would be able to write this out and tell my opinion that I am going to tell you. I am one of the fans of Twilight since 2006 before all of the hype started when the movie came out last year. As we saw last year, lot’s of coverage of the Twilight movie, MTV Movie Blog had Twilight Tuesday last year and had coverage and also the fans that visited the sites were the cast was filming. Bring us updates on what happen inside the set and lot’s of pictures and videos. Now that the Twilight has been released on DVD the focus is now is New Moon. Now that I say that I don’t look for updates on New Moon everyday. Yes, I will admit that I really do watch for all behind the set and pictures that fan posted. As you know that they have reported to hire more security for the actors as the film the movie because the fans go and scout were they are going to film next in Vancouver. I am going to admit I was not surprised when I read this. As crazy as the fans are the cast and the people need to work on the movie. I still don’t get how people do it though. But hey this is my opinion and it might reverse what I am saying that, “ Fans give them a break, they are working hard for this movie.” I just say that don’t bother them and I am not saying don’t do it because it’s a bother. As I have read though all the articles that are posted. The actors didn’t mind but at least think about it, wouldn’t you want to peace once and a while.

Almost a year ago since Twilight was filming in Oregon and we started to get all of the footage of the filming by Catherine Hardwick who posted it on you tube or on the website. Now that the second film New Moon is starting to be filming. We starting to see that it’s not over yet as we get information of casting or getting pictures of the set as the stars get to film. People started to say that since twilight was over the hype will come down and be all over with even when new moon started. But as you see the hype is not over from were it started in the beginning of Twilight filming and now going into New Moon. The hype of the new movie has grown a lot and even fans are going to the set to see their favorite stars at the set. The one thing I am looking forward to is the Italy scene with the Volturi. Which I am still waiting on who is going to play them. This is what I am expecting that New Moon will grow bigger with the fans and following the other film Eclipse it will grow bigger every time.

So fans what do you say about what you expect for New Moon?

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