The second chapter in the “Twilight” saga – “New Moon” is good, but not as good as the first chapter (“Twilight”).   Sorry to say it, but this franchise may have lost its charm and become too big… with too many hands in this project to come out the way fans and non-fans may be hoping for.

Lets get this out of the way right now — fans should SEE IT – you may only be a little disappointed.  MY WIFE LOVED IT but she had a few minor issues with this movie.  Non-fans should wait for the excitement to die down or WAIT TO  RENT…. or you may be doubly disappointed with fighting the crowds and seeing a less than stellar offering.   Let me tell you why, without spoilers….

  (My spoiler-free review)

By now, most of us know the story: teen girl (Bella) crushes on teen-looking vampire (Edward, who is actually 100+ years old).  Now with “New Moon”, this “Twilight” love gets the third leg in its triangle… as good friend Jacob (West Michigan native Taylor Lautner) starts to become more than just a good pal due to the circumstances of this chapter.

This growing love interest with Jacob adds to the themes of Love, Forbidden Love, Love Lost, Sacrifice, Tough Choices and more Forbidden Love…. and then more Tough Choices.

I guess Bella can’t catch a break.  First its Forbidden Love with a vampire and the whole teen anxst thing… now its on to another Forbidden/awkward level… why can’t she just date a normal guy… with no superpowers or immortality?  Because that would be boring.  And the references to Romeo and Juliet laid out early in this one wouldn’t make sense now would they?

But as this new chapter’s pieces all begin to unfold (and there are a lot of storylines to keep track of)…. its clear that not all is good for the happy couple… including Bella now worried about growing old like normal people.

The movie makes a clear distinction between Bella’s two love interests both in personality and physique… but its a labor going through the two hours she takes to come to a decision.   The visual journey isn’t easy either – with one close-up after another and tracking camera moves around Bella … its like a director with a budget and tools he never had before.

Most of those storylines do make sense in the end… but the journey through this love story/fantasy adventure is a lot of mushy, over-the-top moments that we know these good young actors can do better at… we saw it in some scenes here… but not in others. 

There’s more effects and long exhaustive camera movements with blaring music than actual character development.   More time is spent in the second half of the movie with the male leads removing their shirts and being objectified by Bella… than actually digging deeper into their characters… they are just moved along a storyline… in the same fashion and mostly the same acting as the first.  We expect more from a sequel since the main characters are established, we should be getting more into who they are and why.

Its good that all the effects support the story, and are not just done because the fillmakers have a bigger budget.    There are also nice little moments of humor – some only fans will get – that break up a lot of the tension and overall gloominess of the film.

West Michigan can be proud of Hudsonville native Taylor Lautner who does a good job with what he has to work with and succesfully pulls off the change in his character… Jacob is the only character that really gets much development this time around.   In “New Moon”, Lautner begins to seperate himself as a strong character and actor apart from his mopey screen companions that mostly do the same thing they did in “Twilight” – look young and inexperienced and unpolished… acceptable in the first movie… not this time around.

The supporting cast gets a little to work with including more for Ashley Greene’s “Alice” character… and respectable fare from Michael Sheen who plays a powerful vampire with limited screen time.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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UPDATE: “New Moon” tickets going fast… 36 shows sold out, new shows added too

 36 “New Moon” (Twilight Saga) shows are now sold out at Celebration! Cinemas… the movie opens November 20th, to keep up with demand… new shows have been added at Celebration! North and Celebration RiverTown !! 

To check how the shows are selling, click over to the Celebration New Moon page.

ORIGINALLY POSTED 10/29/09:

Celebration! Cinema selling tickets for “Twilight” and “New Moon” on same night

Forget how the first one ended?  Just want to see it again?  Never saw it?!!?  Here’s your chance to see “Twilight” and the sequel “New Moon” on the same trip to the theater!!

Tickets are already selling at many Celebration! Cinema locations for Thursday, November 19th when “Twilight”, the first film in the series, will be shown at 9:00pm and then ”New Moon” premieres at midnight Friday, November 20th. (more…)

One of “New Moon”’s actors to take part in “Twilight Night”

“Twilight Saga: New Moon”’s  Alex Meraz is scheduled to make an appearance at a Grand Rapids Griffins hockey game three weeks after the new movie is released.

Meraz will take part in the Griffins’ Twilight Night” at Van Andel Arena for the Grand Rapids on Saturday, December 12th at 8:00 pm. (more…)

Updated from post originally published 3/17/09:

New at Theaters (Friday): “Duplicity”, “I Love You, Man”, “Knowing”, “Super Capers” (limited, playing in several theaters in Grand Rapids market)

 Watch the trailer for “Duplicity”

Watch the trailer for “I Love You, Man”

Watch the trailer for “Knowing”

Watch the trailer for “Super Capers”

BEST BET: “I Love You, Man” is a funny R-rated buddy comedy that is a good man-date movie choice and could be a date night movie with wife or girlfriend… “Duplicity” is a crime/thriller with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen that looks pretty good, but have not seen yet …. and “Knowing” is a sci-fi/thriller that is good, but might be a better rental because you could be disappointed after paying full price for your movie ticket and concessions.

 CLICK HERE TO FIND A MOVIE SHOWTIME

New on DVD (Tuesday): “Elegy”, “Punisher: War Zone”, “Twilight” (Saturday 3/21) 

BEST BET: “Twilight” was the big event movie for fans of the book, it won’t be available to rent/buy until Saturday, while “Elegy” had some early Oscar buzz for the acting performances of Penelope Cruz and Ben Kingsley, if you like superhero movies and waited to see “Punisher: War Zone”… and you’ve seen everything else (10 new movies on DVD last week), now may be the time to see it.

MY REVIEWS OF OTHER MOVIES CURRENTLY PLAYING IN THEATERS OR AVAILABLE TO RENT: 

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  “Twilight at Midnight”

Attention “Twilight” fans!!  

While the DVD isn’t available until Saturday (3/21), Summit Entertainment wants to create a fun event out of the release with organized “Twilight at Midnight” DVD release parties at area stores on Friday from 10pm until midnight, much like book releases as stores are allowed to start selling the special edition DVDs just afer midnight on Saturday. 

There are more than a dozen “Twilight at Midnight” DVD release events across West Michigan, including the Walmart on Alpine, Hot Topic on 28th Street, FYE and Hot Topic at River Town Crossings Mall in Grandville, and the Walmart in Greenville, just enter your zip code through this link to the “Twilight at Midnight” store locator to find out which stores near you are staying open late to sell the DVD!!

Executives at Summit Entertainment are working with retailers to make this special edition DVD something that would not disappoint fans.   President of Home Entertainment, Steve Nickerson said “We wanted to say thank you to all of those who came out in droves last year and helped make Stephenie Meyer’s characters and story a truly successful movie.”   “What better way to celebrate than a weekend party with your fellow Twilight fans”, Nickerson added.

West Michigan native Taylor Lautner will officially be back for “Twilight” sequel: “New Moon”

That news being reported by entertainment news outlets all across the country today, the news is also on the home page of ”Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer’s website.

Lautner plays Jacob Black, a werewolf competing for the affections of main character Bella.

The movie is set for release November 20, 2009.

Read more about Taylor in my previous post (from, ironically Nov. 20, 2008)… (more…)

“Marley & Me” holds on to number one, “Doubt” moves into 8th place, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” moves down one spot to 9th place, and one of my favorite movies of the year: “Slumdog Millionaire” moves into to the top 10 for the first time.  

“The Spirit” followed up its poor opening weekend by dropping to 13th (losing 49% of its audience) during a weekend with no wide releases (that’s a red flag movie go-ers !!!).

There were 27% fewer people ($130 million) at the movies over the New Year’s weekend compared to the big Christmas weekend ($179 million).

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (estimated): 
1. “Marley & Me” – $24.05 million
(2nd week at #1, lost 34% of audience from last week)

2. “Bedtime Stories” – $20.32 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 26% of audience from last week)

3. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” - $18.40 million
(2nd week, was #3 last week, lost 32% of audience from last week)

4. “Valkyrie” – $14.04 million
(2nd week, was #4 last week, lost 33% of audience from last week)

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4 new movies top the box office… but “The Spirit” was almost invisible in its opening weekend.

The life story of a dog “Marley & Me” and the life story of a man who ages backwards “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” take first and third place, while Adam Sandler’s family movie was second and Tom Cruise’s nazi-era drama was fourth.

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 
1. “Marley & Me” – $37.00 million  (1st week)

2. “Bedtime Stories” – $28.07 million  (1st week)

3. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” - $27.00 million  (1st week)

4. “Valkyrie” – $21.53 million  (1st week)

5. “Yes Man” – $16.45 million  
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 10% of audience from last week)

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It was a slower weekend nationally, perhaps because it was the last shopping weekened before Christmas, or the bad winter weather across a majority of the country could have also been a factor.  

Either way, the weekend’s three new releases came out on top, with Jim Carrey’s comedy Yes Man edging out Will Smith’s latest drama Seven Pounds for first place while the family movie The Tale of Desperaux barely beat last weekend’s number one The Day the Earth Stood Still for third place.

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 
1. “Yes Man” – $18.16 million  (1st week)

2. “Seven Pounds” – $16.00 million  (1st week)

3. “The Tale of Desperaux” – $10.51 million  (1st week)

4. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” – $10.15 million
(2nd week, was #1 last week, lost 66% of audience from last week)

5. “Four Christmases”  – $7.75 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 40% from last week)

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The Day the Earth Stood Still #1 in Weekend Box Office

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 
1. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” – $31.00 million  (1st week)

2. “Four Christmases”  – $13.27 million
(3rd week, was #1 last week, lost 22% from last week)

3. “Twilight”  – $8.01 million
(4th week, was #2 last week, lost 39% from last week)

4. ”Bolt”  – $7.46 million
(4th week, was #3 last week, lost 24% from last week)

5. “Australia”  – $4.17 million
(3rd week, was #4 last week, lost 41% from last week)

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