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!

The New Moon Soundtrack, preview and speculation

Dear LTT-ers and music nerds alike,

Yesteryday’s the day I had been waiting for with baited breath… the Soundtrack track listing for New Moon was released. Would Alexandra Patsavas, Chris Weitz and team knock New Moon’s soundtrack out of the park this time? Would they avoid the pitfalls of the Twilight soundtrack? Mainly the inclusion of shiz like Collective Soul and Perry Ferrell? Well we still have a little bit longer to find out since the soundtrack itself isn’t released till October 20th and the ultimate test: the movie isn’t released till November 20th, but for now we have a track listing that looks SOLID. And like any good music nerd, I’m here to break it down for you, introduce some of these artists and also learn a bit about the ones I’m not familiar with.

Hold on tight you little creep!

As explained on Stephenie Meyer’s website as well as the super awesome New Moon Soundtrack site “…all of the music is original, and exclusive to the soundtrack.” Though I have to point out that Muse song was released on their latest album The Resistance, but according to them they were asked by Chris Weitz to cut a different version of the song. All that to say not only is it exciting that we’ll be hearing all (almost) new music but how telling is it that this saga can get TOP artists like Thom freaking York to cut all new music for it?! That’s called pull and this saga’s got it.

Anyway, on to the track listing…

01. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE — MEET ME ON THE EQUINOX

I really love the line “Oh darling understand, that everything ends…” which works so well with the themes of New Moon. Bella learns that nothing is forever and that as much as she thought she’d be with Edward forever, it wasn’t meant to be. Little does she know! I can almost seeing this being a song from Jacob’s perspective, not only did we learn Chris Walla is SO Team Jacob the lyrics have so much longing, so much want. Wanting to be that person for her but needing her to meet him halfway. Hmmm love to ponder the lyrics, my friends!

Get your coffee and follow the cut as we jump into the rest of the tracklisting…