the "twilight" zone

"twilight" is yet another movie whose book version by stephenie meyer i haven't read. so, i'm reviewing it based on my reactions to the film, without an in-depth comparison with the book. haha.

the moment i learned about "twilight"s DVD release, i clicked on the title on netflix. i've been curious about all the hullabaloo with this vampire book-turned-movie. i missed this in the movie theaters. i went through an anne rice phase myself which started with "interview with the vampire"...yes, i read the books that time! i must have seen the movie a million times.

stephenie meyer's vampires are, shall we say, more modern. they're still pale-skinned, handsome, stone-cold, and fierce-eyed--yes--but, they don't turn into burnt bacon when exposed to sunlight. on the contrary, they sparkle like diamonds! and you know how "diamonds are a girl's best friend," so that probably added to the attraction felt by bella (the heroine) towards edward (the eternal high school student/vampire prince charming). and they don't sleep in coffins at nighttime or shy away from the sun, their skin tolerates the cloudy/rainy weather that often shrouds the mysterious town of forks, washington (their website proudly proclaims itself as the "home of the twilight book!). but don't expect them to go suntanning with you at the beach.

another quirk these vampires have, at least the cullen family of vampires (to which edward belongs), is that they're "vegetarian vampires." a misnomer, really, because they don't go out in the night hunting for asparagus. the term means that they don't feast on humans, rather, only animals. well now, that's meat, right? not a fiber source, haha. the point is, they're these rare, humanitarian vampires who just wish to coexist with humans peacefully. they don't eat their mortal peers. they probably belong to an organization called VETH: "vampires for the ethical treatment of humans". haha!

and that's the main message of the story: abstinence. restraint. selflessness. edward and his family are on an impossibly challenging diet. through abstinence, edward learned to love his potential entree--bella. bella, on the other hand, wants to be a vampire herself so she can be with edward forever. typical teen hormones talking, but on a preternatural level. do you see the underlying themes, though? sure you do, we've all been teenagers!

i loved the thunderstorm baseball scene. it's like super-teenyboppers with fangs slugging it out--on steroids. reminds me of "heroes" playing football.

okay, pardon me, but i loooooooove robert pattinson as edward cullen! he exudes a certain rockstar air with his vampire personality. and no wonder he looks familiar, he played cedric diggory on "harry potter and the goblet of fire." he was that hottie quidditch captain! hmmm...will look for that DVD in my collection.

didn't like the movie's music too much, though. at certain scenes, the background music sounded like mood music for a porno flick. i think marilyn manson's "the beautiful people" would have been perfect music while the cullen family strolled together...or during that baseball game in the storm! they ARE beautiful people...err, vampires. nice, edgy music too. i bet edward would bang his beautiful head to this. but then, i'm not the musical director for this movie...and perhaps the kids watching this move might be too scared instead of being slightly seduced by edward's charms when they hear marilyn manson (explicit lyrics, see). haha!

looks like "twilight" will fill the hormonal void that "harry potter" left behind...that is, until the next (and last?) harry potter film. looks like i'm owning this movie on DVD. edward and bella are the romeo and juliet of vampire lore. wish me luck reading the novels.

[movie poster from mtv movies]