Apologies

There was a post on here that was about my surgery. To those of you that read it, I apologize for the randomness. To those of you that didn't read it, well I apologize anyways. It has been removed and I am going to be more careful where I post my personal stuff. At least I'll wait until I'm not loopy from the anesthesia or pain meds before I post to a blog. By everyone!

A Gift for the Anti's

Since it's the holiday season and Christmas has come and gone, I thought I would give my fellow Anti-Twilighters and the rest of you a little gift.

A few weeks ago I came across a Tumblr called "Reasoning with Vampires," which has completely changed my life since I found it and I absolutely adore everything about this website.

Basically what the person running the Tumblr is doing is going through each of the Twilight novels in turn and pointing out everything that's wrong with it in a comical manner. She's just finished New Moon and will soon be starting on Eclipse.

Seriously, this girl is a genius and I love her sense of humor. So please!! Go to her Tumblr! It's absolutely brilliant!



http://reasoningwithvampires.tumblr.com/

-Buffyrules01

Movie Review

I offer my apologies for not writing as often as I can... I just haven't had anything to write about until today. As many of you readers know, part one of Breaking Dawn was released on November 18th. It is now the 19th and I have seen it three times. (This is both good - it allows me to feel comfortable enough to leave a review - and bad - I've seen it three times in less than 48 hours.) For my review, I will give you what I didn't like, what I liked, neutral (don't hate, but not favorite) parts, and an overall thought. Warning... possible SPOILERS.

Dislikes: The wolf telepathy was weird but understandable on how they did it the way they did. The wolves also looked better in Eclipse (my opinion) then they do in Breaking Dawn.

Neutral: The dialogue in some scenes. There is plenty of "cheese" to go around. The pacing of the movie. It felt like it went really, really fast... it didn't feel like a two hour movie at all the first time I watched it. The second time it kind of did. The third time, since I had seen it about four hours prior, was somewhat torture-some even though I enjoyed the movie again. There is an extra scene after the credits that was okay. I only watched it the first time because it was 'eh' to me.

Likes: I enjoyed this movie. The wedding scene was gorgeous. I liked the wedding dress. It was simple, elegant and beautiful. It fit Bella; her personality, her body, etc.... Poor Charlie. Jessica is annoying. Alice/Jasper (Ashley/Jackson) can really dance. Emmett's toast is awesome. Charlie's toast is hilarious. The Sue and Charlie interaction is cute. The Jacob/Bella dance is beautiful.
The honeymoon was handled tastefully. Bill Condon really gets props for the re-edited version of this (it originally got an R-rating and the "sex" scenes were part of the problem... apparently, because of noises). The main 'sex' scene comes across more as a flashback. Bella's attempts at seduction are funny. Especially the first one.
The pregnancy/birth. I'm just going to say that the CGI/SFX/make-up on Kristen (Bella) were awesome! She really looked sick. The birth scene, itself, was horrible. It was intense but not graphic.
The minor changes that take place in this movie. There are few but lots of reviews by fans are pointing them out. The wolves are supposed to run faster than the vampires. They were made to destroy them. It makes sense that they outrun them. Alice being attacked by a wolf makes sense too. She can't see them, her only fighting method (really) is gone. The wolf fight towards the end... while it's not in the book we don't really know how that things gained from it happened. And Stephenie Meyer was one of the producers on this movie... she had to approve it.
The imprinting scene. I like when Jacob falls to his knees.

Overall: I liked this movie. It was good. There's vampire speed in this movie... for once in the series it seems. There's comic relief (mainly Emmett). And, the movies are tied together. Music from Twilight is used in this one. Bella's lullaby comes back. The prom song is used. And, the acting is better than the other movies.
But, alas, you cannot judge what you have not experienced. So, if you want to judge/understand the movie. You have to go see it for yourself. :) I'd suggest it. It's good.

Introducing Emmett!

            Oh Emmett, the fun-loving member of the Cullen family. The gigantic teddy bear that is a fierce protector of those he loves. The one that needs to be involved in the action in order to feel of use. Emmett’s back story is very briefly touched on in chapter fourteen of Twilight. In The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide we learn that Emmett grew up in Tennessee where he hung out “with a crowd that drank, gambled, and womanized” (pg. 115 - 116). But even though he hung out with the wrong crowd, Emmett helped take care of his “large, Scotch-Irish family by being an excellent hunter and woodsmen” (pg. 115 - 116). When Emmett was finally able to control himself, Edward - after reading his thoughts on wishing to provide for his family in some way - gave him “a small fortune” (pg. 118) that Emmett then placed on his family’s doorstep. After doing this he didn’t look back.

            Emmett is one of my favorite secondary characters. He is the comic-relief in the series. When things get tense he’s there to say, or do, something that lightens the situation for a brief second. Kellan Lutz portrays him in the movies and I think that Kellan does a good job portraying Emmett. If you are interested in reading about Emmett’s back story in more detail, Stephenie Meyer has an outtake on her website. The URL for the direct link to the back story is http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/twi_outtakes_emmett.pdf .

Works Cited

Meyer, Stephenie. The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide. New York: Little, Brown      and Company. 2011. Print. 114 - 118.

Review for the Anti's...

...and those of you who like Twilight, but know that it isn't exactly the best written series in the world.

I'd like to introduce you all to Nightlight: A Parody.

Yes, it's a parody of Twilight.

Written by the National Lampoon, Nightlight tells the story of Belle Goose as she arrives in Switchblade, Oregon, looking for adventure in all the wrong places. On her first day of school, Belle comes across Edwart Mullen, a boy with "reddish, blonde-brown hair that was groomed heterosexually" (13). After a few strange events that really aren't that strange (Edwart won't eat his potatoes at lunch, he saves her from a flying snowball), Bella believes that she is absolutely certain of three things:

First, Edwart was most likely [her] soul mate, maybe.

Second, there was a vampire part of him--which [she] assumed was wildly out of his control--that wanted [her] dead.

And third, [she] unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogenously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed [her]

-Chapter 6

This book is an easy read, only 154 pages, and had me laughing from the first page onward. I honestly believe that people who despise Twilight will like this book, and people who like Twilight will like this book because it is just THAT funny!

The writers take everything that was a bit off in Twilight, like the fact that every boy who meets Bella falls in love with her, and take it to the extreme. Belle Goose believes that every boy who talks to her, gives her mail, looks at her, or runs her over MUST be in love with her.

And Edwart Mullen? Isn't a vampire at all! He's a nerdy human boy who has issues with germs and girls, but is (oddly enough) very good looking. These quirks naturally make Belle Goose curious, and without a second thought she assumes that Edwart must a vampire and hilarity ensues.

The writers even go so far as to joke about what happens in New Moon.

"Isn't it a little soon to cut yourself off from the rest of your peers, depending on a boyfriend to satisfy your social needs as opposed to making friends? Imagine what would happen if something forced that boy to leave! I'm imagining pages and pages would happen--with nothing but the names of the month on them" (Charlie, Ch 6).

And of course they use adjectives excessively, which is one of Stephenie Meyer's faults in the Twilight Saga.

I absolutely adore this book, and would highly recommend this to anyone regardless of whether or not they're Anti-Twilight or a full blown Twilight fanatic. It's just pure fun and good for a few laughs. Honestly, even if you're having a bad day, this book will crack you up and bring a smile to your face. It's truly brilliant and comedy at it's best.

-Buffyrules01

Quick Announcement from Random

Hello my fellow readers!

As you can probably tell, the month of Harry Potter is over and we are back to our usual randomness. Since we did not finish with our reviews from Harry Potter, those will show up at random over the course of the year along with our character spotlights and all that other good stuff.

I would also like to announce that at the end of this month, our real lives will be taking over and I'm afraid we won't be able to post as much as we can over the summer. We will try our best to post what we can and I imagine the coming months will be very similar to how they were last year.

Until next time!

-Random

The Chamber of Secrets

The Chamber of Secrets is the second installment of the Harry Potter series and is also the second and last Harry Potter movie that director Chris Columbus ever did.

These two films are also, in my opinion, the closest any of the movies get to the novels. Chris Columbus knew what he was doing when he made these movies, and it shined through in both. He was dedicated to making the Chamber of Secrets as close to the book as he could get, and I think he really achieved it.

But enough about the movie for now, I must talk about the story itself.

The Chamber of Secrets takes place in Harry's second year at Hogwarts when he is 12 years of age. He's survived his first encounter with Voldemort since he was a baby, but he can't survive living at home with the Dursley's. The Dursley's are as cruel as ever and lock Harry up in his room after the house-elf Dobby shows up and dumps a cake on some very important Muggles after Harry refuses to stay away from Hogwarts.

The Weasley boys; Fred, George, and Ron come to save Harry from his bedroom in their enchanted flying Ford Anglia and take him to the Burrow where he stays with them until it's time to head off to Hogwarts. Before Harry can even get to Hogwarts though, he must ride the Hogwarts Express, which has been mysteriously barricaded from entrance. Not knowing what else to do, Harry and Ron fly the Ford Anglia to Hogwarts and crash it into the Whomping Willow, which then results in Ron's wand snapping.

More mysterious events unfold as Mrs Norris is petrified and found hanging from a torch underneath the words "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware."

The Chamber of Secrets has a similar formula to that of the Sorcerer's/Philospher's Stone. Something is amiss and it's up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione to find out. The only problem is, the whole school thinks that Harry is the one petrifying the students after he keeps showing up at the scene of the crime. It's a tough year for him at Hogwarts when everyone has turned against him, and it is only when Hermione is petrified that his classmates start to lighten up a bit.

This novel, while it may seem like not a whole lot is going on (other than a murder mystery without the murder), is actually very informative and has key components that help explain things later on in the series. We find out in Chamber of Secrets that Harry is a Parseltongue, something that only Voldemort and Salazar Slytherin can do, and that Tom Riddle was actually Voldemort's real name back when he looked like a normal person.

It turns out that Tom Riddle was going to school back when the Chamber of Secrets was first opened and that he was the one who opened it in the first place.

In order to go back again and finish what he started, Voldemort actually puts a bit of himself into a diary (which we all now know is a horcrux) and uses his Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy to set it all up so that the diary could fall into the hands of innocent Ginny Weasley and she could bring the diary back into the school.

Naturally, at the end of the story, Harry and Ron figure out what has been petrifying the students, cats, and ghosts of Hogwarts: a Basilisk, which is simply the giant serpent that when seen with the naked eye, can kill a person instantly. They find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in a girl's bathroom and set out on a rescue mission after Ginny has been taken. It is in the Chamber itself where Harry discovers Tom Marvolo Riddle has escaped the diary using Ginny's life source.

Up until this point, Harry has believed that Tom was a hero at Hogwarts, but the tide soon turns when Riddle admits that he opened the Chamber of Secrets before. He then baits Harry by asking him how he, a mere baby, could've defeated the greatest wizard of all time, and then reveals that TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE when switched around spells out I AM LORD VOLDEMORT (JK Rowling is so clever)

In the end, Harry destroys the diary by stabbing it with a the fang/venom from the Basilisk, after nearly being killed by the thing-thank goodness for phoenix's and their healing tears-and all is right in the world again.

Like I said before, the movie gets about as close to the book as you can get and retains that magical essence each installment contains. What's also so special about the film Chamber of Secrets is you get a glimpse at Daniel, Rupert, and Emma growing up. You can really tell the difference in Dan and Rupert's voices in this one, and I love seeing them in the "in-between" stage of puberty.

Well, there you have it! The Chamber of Secrets and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone are probably the only two Harry Potter books that really belong in the Children's Book genre. After this, the characters mature and the stories become a lot darker.

As for my opinion? I do not love or hate this book. It has parts I like to skip over and parts I think are so important on figuring out why Harry is the way he is and what happens in the rest of the novels.

-Buffyrules01