We had loads of fun, although it's a bit of a story.
You see, I'd seen on the news that there were insane lines for the Friday showings, and I knew a bunch of younger folk who were planning to see it Sunday morning as well. I'd bought tickets for us online, so I wasn't too worried about that part... but I distinctly remember queueing for two hours for a showing of The Phantom Menace, like, a week after it opened. Also, the last time I bought tickets online, I actually had to wait in the same line as the people who were buying tickets at the door (grr). So I thought we'd best get there early.
This being me, I went a little overboard on what "early" meant. This is partially because I have a history of getting lost in San Jose (ask my friend Teddy how often we've driven by the county jail...) and partially because I'm just paranoid like that.
So I got up at 6am, showed up at Teddy's house at 7:45 am, and we pulled into the movie theatre parking lot at about 8:25am. Went in, saw there were automated ticket-pick-up kiosks, got our tickets. Went back out, checked the door, and saw that the mall (in which the theatre was located)... didn't open until 11. At which point we were like "uhm... wtfbbq?"
So anyway, we left, and got McDonalds for breakfast. Then we read the tickets and realized "Uh. Wait. The movie starts at 10:45. They must be planning to open at least the area around the theatre before 11am." So we drove back over, went and stuck our heads in the door (still unlocked) and discovered that there were some other people sitting around, so we went ahead and got our stuff and went in.
Now, I'd planned ahead for possibly having this sort of wait, so I brought my laptop, and DVDs. So we got to curl up on some surprisingly-comfy benches in the foot court and watch Torchwood. Mmm, Jack. Mmm, Ianto.
Anyway, eventually it got to be nearly time for the movie (where by nearly I mean, like, 10:10), so we put the stuff away and went into the movie theatre. Got really good seats. Bought some popcorn. Sat around and made snarky remarks about the ads---which didn't have sound, so it wasn't like we were really competing with anything by adding our own soundtrack.
Anyway, eventually the movie started, and it was... special. The dialogue was bad enough in the book (if you've read it, you know what I mean) and they made a really good attempt to make it better for the screen. But... still fail. Also, there were clearly some points where Robert (Edward) wasn't... er... thinking with the head on his shoulders, if you catch my drift.
Charlie stole the show, in my opinion. He was absolutely spot-on as the dad who is just a little lost by what to do with this daughter who's suddenly showed up. I was a little unhappy with how Bella's actor played out the scene where she storms out of Forks, but... he was there, man. And the actor who played Bella's mum was great, too, for the few bits of her we saw. Jacob was also good, as was Billy. The folks playing the rest of the high school students were... painfully high school. Which I guess is a good thing.
And now, the vampires.
First off, I have to say, if I was a vampire (at least, Meyer's kind of vampires) I would totally drift every curve. At least, when there weren't cops around. I mean, seriously, nearly-invincible, super-strong, super-fast reflexes. Dude.
One problem they had with the vampires was that Meyer... clearly must have failed physics, or something, because her characters all act (at least when the vampires around) like they have no mass, or at least no inertia (Dear Ms Meyer: If Edward actually did that with Bella, she'd have more broken bones than just a leg. Kthxbai) and of course they're trying to film this with actors who have real mass. So a lot of the special-effects scenes were a little bit of fail. Although, the early scenes with the three bad vamps were really really cool. I thought the early hunting scene with one of the Cullens was a little over the top, though. Or possibly just way too long for my tastes.
Anyway, we made the whole thing better by providing our own commentary, MST3K style. It was hilarious. Now I want to see it again just to laugh at it all over again.
In that vein, I have two comments.
1. Edward's makeup. Oh, my god. I understand the whiteface (vamps = pale) but DEAR GOD THE EYELINER. AND THE LIPSTICK. Please, someone put GothEmoBoy out of his misery now. (I suppose Carlisle tried. Props to him.)
2. The sparkly. The first scene where Edward sparkles was handled quite well, I thought. Of course, we made snarky comments, but what do you expect? HE'S BLINKING SPARKLING AT US. But. Then.
He went back in the sun.
AND THEY STARTED SPARKLY SOUND EFFECTS!!!
My friend and I just about died laughing. Seriously.
Also, James is hawt.
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