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Reviews
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
Out of the first three, Eclipse is the lead favorite so far
Compared to the hilarious acting in New Moon, Eclipse finally brings us a much better plot line and also the creme de la creme scene near the end where Edward and Jacob have a 'talk' while Bella is sleeping. It's so cringe it is fantastic! The running gag that Jacob is always shirtless was a good snort too.
In all seriousness though, I'm guessing the author in the books gives us some vampire backstories because we finally have a few flashbacks with add depth to the characters, especially Jasper, Rosalie and the Quileute tribe. We finally find out why Rosalie has a stick up her backside towards Bella - she wishes she were human again and angry that Bella is willingly choosing the vampire life not realizing what she is throwing away.
I wished to see Alice and Emmetts's backstory, but I guess not. On a side note, the wigs in this film are terrible....just ignore them.
The best scene is the training up to the fight at the end and the fight itself.
After watching this movie I'm definitely Team Edward. Jacob we find out is a controlling male who KNOWS what's best for Bella vs Edward who makes dumb decision thinking it's in her best interest. But as Bella tells both guys, it's obvious neither of them trust her fully with the truth of things. End point it's clear that Jacob want to control Bella 'for her own good' and calls that love. He's already told Bella that guys in his tribe can get physically violent and he already forced a kiss on her showing that he has a lot of trouble controlling even himself and his emotion.
Edward on the other hand can control himself with Bella, at least in this movie, but he still doesn't trust her fully. At the end it's clear Bella is still very much a teenager (although just turned 18) and wants modern day relationships whereas Edward wants his 1900's style with courting, proper proposals, and sex definitely after marriage.
I heard the next in the series had 8 razzie awards for terrible everything and I look forward to it!
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Absolutely terrible, but in a good way.
Part 2 of the Twilight saga focuses on character development of Jacob and Bella without Edward aka act 2. There isn't really much going on in terms of plot, but rather a sea of the same type of emotions.
After an incident with a paper cut on Bella's birthday at the Cullins house, two of the family members cannot help their instincts regarding the smell of her blood. Edward claims they have to move towns immediately because people are questioning Carlisle's lack of aging, but we all know it's because of the incident.
Edward tells Bella he doesn't truly care about her, Bella knows it's a lie, we the audience know it's a lie, but it's for her protection. Bella enters a deep depression due to requited love and has a series of nightmares. This is the most believable part if you have teenagers yourself or think back to your own teen years after being rejected or dumped with emotions and hormones out of control.
Bella tries to get out of her depression and starts hanging out with her friends group again to include a night out. She feels the need to put herself in harms way and starts seeing illusions or manifestations of Edward telling her to turn back. She decides to start hanging with Jacob on the reservation and repair some motorbikes so she can get that adrenaline rush again.
While hanging with Bella, Jacob keeps getting 'friendzoned' and commenting that the other guys are in this weird almost cult because of their hair being cut and new tattoos. This part of the movie is painfully slow and drawn out.
Jacob isn't Bella's only contender. In addition Mike from school asks Bella out to a movie and she asks if everyone wants to come. It ends of just being Bella, Mike, and Jacob and I laughed at the uncomfortableness of her seated between the two guys who both want to hold her hand at the movie theater.
And FINALLY this is where the movie starts to pick up. After this LONG drawn out beginning, we see Victoria and Laureant are still hunting Bella and some GCI werewolves that I'm sure were great graphics in 2009, but not in the 2020's.
The movie starts to have some painfully slow scenes yet again with Jacob at the reservation to explain his transformation to a werewolf interspersed with some fast action.
Bella is STILL suicidal and wanting adrenaline and jumps off one of the cliffs into the water and is chased by Victoria in the water. She is saved by Jacob, but Alice with her visions only sees her jump off the cliff and believes she has died.
We come to find out that the werewolves block Alice's visions and the Cullins thought she was dead. This part of the movie must have cut something from the books and I wish they added more here rather than 15 minutes of Bella being depressed in the beginning or this long drawn out scenes with Jacob fixing bikes because all of a sudden it's 'we're in Italy to save Edward'. I actually went back a few scenes to ensure I didn't miss it and yeah, I didn't.
We get to meet the Volturi and Michael Sheen here is a gem. I can't say the same for the other Volturi, but Sheen here makes this entire exchange worthwhile and managed to remove whole swathes of cheesiness. A few good fight scenes occur. We find out Bella is someone 'very' special and immune to a lot of the vampires special abilities and they spare here on the condition she is 'turned'. The Volturi also treasure Edward and Alice's special abilities as well.
The eye rolling part of this moving is the ending. The love triangle isn't over. Jacob loves Bella, Bella also loves Jacob, but loves Edward more. Jacob tells Bella if she turns, the Cullins forfeit their truce with the werewolves setting us up for the next movie. Oh yeah, and Edward want to marry Bella and will turn her on that condition only. I rolled my eyes and threw the remote at that last part. I'm not sure it could have been directed or acted better given the source material they are dealing with.
Well, I look forward to seeing part 3 in this never-ending parade of cheesy teen romance. I had my fair share of really bad teen movies in the 90's, so this series fits in just perfectly for the next generation.
Twilight (2008)
You know, it's actually not that bad. The movie is actually aimed at teen girls instead of teen boys for once
I tried watching this movie years ago when it came about and didn't bother finishing it. But in an age where every single movie is aimed at teen boys and young men - movie after movie with action, bang and crash violence, modesty thrown out the window, fast chases and massive GCI and just as terrible, if not worse, plot lines, this movie is a decent break from all that.
Like a few other reviewers I went in with very low expectations. I got half-way through the book years ago and hated it. Issue there was I was an adult trying to read a novel aimed at teen girls and a romance novel at that. Now that I got young teens myself in the house and seeing what holds their attention and what they watch on tv or choose for movies, I gotta tell you there are top watched shows today with acting and plot lines way worse than this movie (I can think of a few Doctor Who episodes of late that went down this path).
A number of the actors in this movie ended up maturing and showing their true acting chops later on down the road, especially Robert Pattison with roles such as The Dauphin in the movie The King. Water for Elephants, and the recent The Batman movie. Anna Kendrick went on to be the perfect fit for the Pitch Perfect series and in Noelle (kids movie) and the voice in Trolls. Taylor Laurent went into tv shows. Kristin Stewart's acting over the years has remained the same and she's better off modeling for Chanel.
So yeah, the acting is rough and wooden at times and the plot is laughable, but it's all good fun. I spent my time screaming at the screen that Bella is an idiot, but a teenager in love will also do some stupid things. A number of things about Bella (the character) are briefly explored in the second movie and some not fully explained in later, such as why Edward cannot read her mind.
It's a stupid teen romance movie. I mean High School Musical was terrible in terms of plot and acting, but it was a hit with the younger crowd. I had terrible romance drama's from the 90's like 'She's All That' and the 'Prince and Me' with Julie Styles that I still like and are still cult classics - I mean we ALL know they are bad, but love to watch the movie anyway.
Father Brown: The Fire in the Sky (2017)
A bit of an eye roller, but good middle of the road episode
Not my favorite episode, but not terrible either. The Roswell incident in America took place I believe about 6 years prior, so I can see alien invasions being all the rage in comics and B-movies at the time and especially young boys having an interest in them.
I liked that they tackled how easy it was for household help to get fired if they get sick without a second thought and that Alisha was raising her brother on her own after their father returned to India after their mother's death.
This episode also tackles parental abuse, an attempted forced abortion, and Father Brown riding a moped, at least for this episode only.
Father Brown: The Theatre of the Invisible (2017)
Nostalgic humor and a grumpy guest house lady
One of the more enjoyable episodes. Mrs. Rudge as the guest house owner who rifles through her guests private things when they are out, former circuit performer Barney, and the flambouyent Richie who is probably terrible trouble to go out drinking with.
Everyone wants to be a contestant on the touring game show and while Bunty plays the rich sidekick who comes off as clueless, yet again it shows he has the smarts and there is more to her than good looks.
Great to see the small town getting excitement from the BBC coming their way and a bit of love thrown in at the end. Wonderful episode with some old fashioned humor.
Father Brown: The Missing Man (2016)
There are better ways to have addressed this subject rather than the stretch of a plot
What I liked:
Father Brown shows compassion towards transgendered characters, especially at this time in Britain. It also keeps with Catholic teaching lightly which 'Pope Francis reminds us that our bodies are a gift from the Lord, to be received with gratitude from the Lord. It is not good for a person to assert an identity at odds (with) the body, because we are embodied persons. No one can be "born in the wrong body." And if a person's self-perception conflicts with the reality of the body, then the good is to help the person gain a clearer self-perception, one that aligns with the truth. And that 'faith calls all of us to treat everyone with respect and kindness, acknowledging the dignity of the person before us - a person truly loved by God. And we need to be compassionate toward those who suffer - literally, "suffering with" and accompanying the person. '
What I mean is that Father Brown shows compassion and dignity towards the transgendered characters where everyone else doesn't. This is true to Catholic form even if there are priests out there that don't do this.
What I didn't like:
Possibly the most unbelievable plot line to explain the son's absence only to return on the wedding day. The daughter being such a good shot in the dark without her glasses, and Father Brown being able to land a plane while being in the cockpit for the very first time.
Doctor Who: Rosa (2018)
Complete skips the history of Claudette Colvin who did it before Rosa
For the sake of a civil justice episode the writers decided to completely neglect and gloss over that Claudette Colvin did it first. A 15-year-old gifted Black student, with aspirations to become a civil rights attorney, took a window seat near the exit door. Colvin's unplanned act of bravery was almost written out of civil-rights history.
Although Colvin's arrest made a stir in the local media back in 1955, the local civil-rights campaign, led by a then little-known Montgomery pastor by the name of Martin Luther King Jr, ostracised her. This she attributes to a combination of factors: her age, her gender, her darker skin tone and the fact that a few months later she would become pregnant out of wedlock. After Claudette's arrest, she was approached by Rosa Parks, a secretary of the Montgomery NAACP and a seamstress.
Claudette said "They (local civil-rights leaders) wanted someone, I believe, who would be impressive to white people, and be a drawing. You know what I mean? Like the main star. And they didn't think that a dark-skinned teenager, low income without a degree, could contribute," she says. "It's like reading an old English novel when you're the peasant, and you're not recognised."
And that's what the writers of this episode did - write out Claudette completely and play into the mythology that what Rosa Parks did was a first. It was completely planned from beginning to end after what Claudette did months earlier. The also downplayed her links to the communist party.
The writers had a chance to set the story straight and tell the truth and instead inflated the already inflated story and pushed Claudette back under the rug.