New Moon: The Hits and the Misses, Moon’s review part 1

The claw is in the details

Dear New Moon, LTT-ers and anyone ever in the world involved with this,

After seeing New Moon for the third time (obviously I’m not a true fan as my viewing number is not in the teens at this point) I think I can safely start to review the film with a discerning eye. I’m finally past the freak out/totally in awe/blinded by the abs stage and ready to give this a whirl and put my thoughts on virtual paper.

I think the key phrase for New Moon is: “The devil’s in the details” and Chris Weitz must have made a deal with the devil, like Rob did, because he nails it. From the very first shot of Bella waking up next to the tattered copy of Romeo and Juliet with the cover that looks an awful lot like Voltera, I knew we were in for a great ride courtesy of someone who “got it.”

While on the whole I think New Moon is light years ahead of Twilight in terms of the overall product and as my brother (in the industry and knows a thing or two) says Twilight looks like “student film” where they cut a lot of corners by being lazy instead of creative whereas New Moon is actually a total product with a vision and a pay off. New Moon is definitely not without it’s faults, and you know us here at LTT we love a good fumble (Buttcrack Santa, Spider Monkey?) so…

Let’s examine some of the hits and misses of New Moon the movie…

This scene kills me EVERY time

Hit
Jacob/Taylor Lautner
This guy actually showed up and ACTED! He had emotions, they were complex and interesting. He emoted with his face and body and didn’t rely solely on blinking, stuttering or squinting to show how much pain you’re feeling to even be near your “la tua cantante.” Did I really just use that phrase? Apparently so. Just imagine it said in Aro/Micheal Sheen’s creepo voice. Not only did he emote well he made the audience laugh. Of the three times I’ve seen it men in the audience seem to react the best to Jacob, laughing at his jokes and generally just relating. My favorite line of his? “Don’t get me upset, this will get very ugly!” Bra-freakin-vo Taylor Lautner! Big Daddy, take this kid out for a McRib but hurry they’re only back for a limited time!
c

Let’s see who can run the slowest and dazzle the mostest!! AND GO!

Miss
Future Bella as a vampire/Edward sequence
The slow-mo running, the khaki Anne of Avonlea outfits, the SLOW MOTION running?! Cheese with a capitol C. I get the reason behind the slow-mo which is better than Cathi’s half assed special effects way of making them run super fast but all 3 times I’ve seen it (yes, including opening night) people laughed.

More hits and misses more biker gangs more LSD trips more awesomeness after the cut!

c

Hit
David Slade as the creepy biker in Port Angeles
It was so nice of him to fill in when the original actor who was playing the biker dude got sick. Good way to bond with your actors David! Also, it’s a wonder Charlie lets Bella go to Port Angeles at all at this point the crime rate is so high what with drunk frat dudes trying to rape high school girls lost in an alley way or the Hell’s Angels trying to recruit said high school girls to be their biker mama’s. They might as well rename that place Port Compton.

c

Miss
Bella drowning in the ocean
What was supposed to be a really sad poignant moment ends up more like an Acid trip at a Grateful Dead weekend in the 60s with arguably the worst sync in the movie using Grizzly Bear’s Slow Life. Ugh. 2 out of 3 times the audience laughed and I gotta agree with them. The music kills the scene. What a missed opportunity.

Hit
Fight/Chase scene through the woods between Wolfpack and Victory to Thom Yorke
Probably my favorite scene of the movie next to “the breakup (bella and jacob).” Hands down the best sync of the movie placing Thom Yorke’s Hearing Damage over the scene. SO GOOD. Like ridiculously good. It was like watching serendipity happen only it was totally planned. Chris Weitz and the editor and music crew created a piece of art with this sequence. Who says fight/chase scenes need to be set to up beat, in your face rock music? The mid tempo, almost trance like quality of Hearing Damage was a revelation when paired with super speedy wolves slowed down to half time while the blackbird overhead flies at an even slower pace. All the while Victoria and the wolfpack are playing a

I believe I can fly… I believe I can touch the sky!

game of cat n mouse with that back and forth feeling only enhanced by the music. It’s the little details like that that show me Chris Weitz didn’t treat this like just another cheesy teen franchise movie. That he made purposeful, artistic decisions to not only tell a better story but to appeal to those outside the so-called Twi-teen demographic. For this sequence alone I gotta give it up again to Cee Dubs. I may be coming off like a fangirl but it’s not without merit. I don’t just give out my love and affection freely like Kellan at a TwiCon event.

(I wish someone had already ripped this scene onto Youtube… sadly they have not…)

When I sat down to write this I thought I could wrap it all together in one little post but this is already long.com so I’m gonna break up the rest of my hits and misses review to my next LTT post! Stay tuned! Don’t touch that dial!

All the wrong I’ve done will be undone in song,
Themoonisdown

So whaddya think? Were your hits and missed the same as mine? Or did you like the Anne of Avonlea montage? Don’t care for Taylor’s performance in NM or did you switch teams?! Let’s talk about it here, then take all our other daily convo’s over to the forum!

Thx Lion & Lamb for always having the best galleries!

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