Twilight: New Moon

My husband took me to see "New Moon" for my birthday - after quite a bit of begging. He hated the first movie, "Twilight," and even I thought it was pretty corny and stupid.

But I still wanted to see the sequel. After all, this is the book where Jacob is featured prominently, and he is my favorite character. I wish there was a movie just about Jacob, but this is probably as close as we're gonna get. That is, of course, until they make the fourth movie. Then hopefully at least part of it will be about him.

The main reason I have a problem with the movies is that they are so geared toward 14-year-old girls. Ooooh, look! There's Edward running without his shirt on! And the "Bella, I won't ever hurt you, I won't ever leave you" and then the next minute you're gone. I guess if I had still been 14 I would have loved it - that's what life was like back then, right?

Thanks to a bigger budget for movie no. 2, "New Moon" actually does OK in terms of tying things together - there's depressing music, there's great cinematography - and yes, I even cried when Edward left. And compared to the first movie - but that's not saying much since it was absolute garbage - "New Moon" is 10 times better.

The best part? Edward isn't it in much.

Sometimes, I guess, it's better when the characters just stay in your head. At least then they look the way you want them to, and not like a pretty-boy "Harry Potter" actor who is now wearing too much makeup.

Bride Wars

There's a new movie out in theaters here called "Bride Wars." I haven't seen it yet, but in the previews they show two girls (Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway) who are best friends planning their weddings together. They both dream of getting married at The Plaza, and lo and behold, it's available for three dates very close to each other.

Then something goes wrong.

All of a sudden, the brides-to-be find out their weddings have been scheduled for the SAME DAY. Oh, the horror!

"Well, one of us will just have to change the date," the first bride says.
"Or one of us could change the venue," the other says.

But both want the date, and both want The Plaza. So they start fighting. Kate Hudson's hair is "mistakenly" colored blue; Anne Hathaway's dress is covered with red glittery hearts. And it goes on and on.

While I'm pretty sure I'll end up seing the movie when it comes to DVD, the preview only left me with one thought: What is their problem?

I mean, why does everything have to be the princess-fairytale-it's-all-about-me wedding? Is that really what makes people happy? If they were really best friends, wouldn't it be great to be able to share the day?

When I was a little girl, my best friend and I planned to get married on the same day so we could have a double wedding. It was our dream.

Double weddings are fairly common in Sweden, especially among siblings or best friends. And why not? All the friends and family are already there, so what's a few more guests? You split the cost of the band and the meal, and you have one big party.

If you get the location you want, and the date you want, and your husband-to-be shows up, what is the big deal? I frankly don't see it. Perhaps the movie will give me a clue. I'll have to post an update in six months when the DVD has been released.

The beauty of chick flicks

I wonder why chick flicks always make me cry. They suceed every time, and I know they will - that's why I watch them.

On some level I can identify with every single miserable girl, and I combine my own hopes and expectations with their greatest wish.

There something so passionate about that longing - the one you felt when you were in your early teenage years - like nothing else matters in the world. All that matters is here and now, and the longing MUST be dealt with immediately. The chick flicks I watch remind me of those days.

Not that I would ever want to be a teenager again. It was too emotional.

I recently came across some short stories I wrote when I was growing up. Very early on, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I had this small, black travel typewriter and I used to sit at the kitchen table, spread out my notes and write for hours.

It was all about love - unanswered feelings and longing. It was about loneliness and emptiness.

Now, it's embarassing to read. It's even more embarassing when I think of how I used to make copies and hand them out to all my friends. Perhaps the better pieces will one day be featured on this blog.

My evening with penguins

Sometimes I actually do slow down. I'll have some dinner, watch a movie, chat with friends.

Tonight, my friend Lauren and I watched "Happy Feet." For those of you who haven't seen it, it's another penguin movie (in addition to "March of the Penguins" and "Surf's Up," although I think "Happy Feet" came out in between the other two).

Turns out, it's an animated penguin musical. There's singing and dancing throughout, and at times it was difficult to stop my feet from tapping lightly on the floor. And I'm not even a dancer.

Perhaps my favorite parts of the movie were the constant references to sex. Animal sex, of course, since the movie is made for kids. The characters only say "it's time to make eggs" or "let's go make eggs." Totally OK for a G-rated movie, apparently. But if someone were to actually say the word "sex," the movie would have to be rated R for sexual language.

My favorite romantic dialoge:
"I don't need an egg to be happy."
"But what about when all your friends have eggs?"
"Then I'll have you." (aw....)

Overall, it turned out to be a happy and cute movie, something I'll probably watch again. I mean, who wouldn't like a movie where they say things like "you did everything penguinly possible"?

A date with Indiana Jones

I saw the new Indiana Jones movie tonight. It was great, except for some alien references... won't say anymore now, don't want to spoil it for other fans.

Albie thought it was a bit corny and said it was "OK at best."

What's wrong with today's parents?

Albie and I went to the 10:45 p.m. showing of "Prince Caspian" after my concert last night.

We walked in just in time for the previews. As we sat down, a young mother comes in with a little boy in her arms. I didn't see her at first., but Albie did.

"Who brings their 6-year-old to a movie this late?" Albie asked, and I turned around to look at the two of them walking up the stairs to some seats two rows behind us.

"He's not 6," I replied, turning back to Albie. "He looks more like 4."

The mother and son (we assume) placed themselves next to a little girl.

"Now, she looks more like 6," I said.

The first preview started showing and the mother got up and walked out the door. The boy was screaming "Moooooooooom!" but she just kept going. She got back 6 or 7 minutes later, just as the movie was about to start.

I had just started thinking she was going to leave the kids there by themselves while she went to see a "grown-up" film.

The ultimate movie experience

A few hours into my work day, my boyfriend called and said "is this going to be an early or late night?"

"Pretty late," I said. "Why?"

"I want to go to the movies," he said. " 'Iron Man' is playing at 12:30 (a.m.)."

I had no idea what he was talking about, but we haven't been to the movies in forever, so I was all for it.

Throughout the evening, Albie helped me from home by writing an editorial and looking over a story so I would get done on time. I then rushed out and drove to the mall closest to our house - about 20 minutes from work.

Of course, he wasn't there when I got there. So I had fun looking over the edge of a railing to three floors below be. The mall - situated on two separate floors below the multi-plex theater -was closed, but someone was in the glass elevator and a man was cleaning the floor on the lowest level.

Albie got the tickets and said "let's get some snacks" before I had a chance to pull out the fruit snacks I had brought with me from the office vending machine.

Popcorn is a must, of course, when you are watching a movie.

"I want nachos," I said, determined to add some melted cheese to my day.

Being the good boyfriend he is, Albie of course supplied me with nachos as well as a large bottle of water.

"What exactly is 'Iron Man'?" I asked as we stood in line, waiting to pay for our snacks.

Albie told me the movie is based on a comic book.

"Oh, great," I said and sighed. "One of those."

He convinced me the movie is "supposed to be good" and we entered the theater just in time to see the last preview before our featured presenation.

The movie actually wasn't bad. It had Gwyneth Paltrow in it, and I like her. There were some war scenes and bombs and explosions to please the guys in the audience. Despite that, the movie felt like a better and more realistic version of "Spider-Man."

Here are some other movies coming out soon here, that I am eagerly awaiting:

The new Indiana Jones movie was filmed in part in Connecticut. Somewhere in New Haven, actually. I assume because of Yale University, but I haven't read up on my Indy trivia.

I didn't see the last movie based on M. Night Shyamalan's book "Lady in the Water," but I heard it was pretty awful. "The Happening" seems a lot better, and one that I will consider.

Now, after a long evening of page design, stories from Costa Rica, nachos with melted cheese and a trip to Stark Industries, it is time to say goodnight.