So I went to see New Moon yesterday with my mom (sadly my dad declined this time…well, actually, he had to go to work so he didn’t have much of a choice).

And I have to say, I had really, really mixed feelings about this one. As a movie (considering the camera, music, actors, and other cinematic effects) it rocked. Chris Weltz proved to be a way better director than the one in Twilight (thank God). But…plot wise? Uh. It sucked hard.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, by saying the plot sucked, I’m more talking about the book than the movie. Chris Weltz went above and beyond the limitations of the crappy book. (In case you didn’t know, New Moon is my least favorite book in the saga, and I, to this day, don’t have a copy of it.) In fact, the storyline is the only thing that I found fault in this time.

But enough intro. I’ll organize my thoughts in a hopefully neat and orderly matter.

Likes:

• Victoria. OMG, she was my fave character in this movie. I just loved all the action/flight scenes with her and the werewolves. And her HAIR! I wanted her hair SO BAD…before in Twilight, I know we were all worried that Vic’s hair would be too light/orange to be “the fiery red Victoria”…but I don’t know if they colored her hair digitally or  what, because her hair was THE PERFECT, hauntingly red shade. It was to the point that little girls could have nightmares about glimpses of her fiery red hair in the woods. Freakin fantastic.
• Jacob. Taylor Lautner is just so sweet. He made me, an anti-Jacob, falter in my resolve. He was just so nice and funny and warm…and his hair looked less stupid when he tied it back and later on cut it.
• the fight/running scene with Laurent. I particularly loved where Laurent GOT EATEN ALIVE. It was just SO FUNNY how one second he was all like: Mmmmm yummy Bella…and then the next: -wide eyed- OH CRAPPPPPPPPPPP -bolts for his life as werewolves crash into the meadow- . Great acting on his part. I also loved how, like, towards the end (of his life) he stopped and he got this look that clearly said: “hey. why am i running away like a wimp when I can take down these stupid dogs?”. And then he did the martial arts movie sort of thing where he just stood there and went, “come and get me, beyotches.” And unfortunately for him, they DID come and get him…and ripped him apart into pieces.
• Victoria’s running/fight scene. Dang that girl is a ninja. Since you couldn’t really emphatize with the werewolves, (they looked like the monsters while Vic looked like the heroine) it was literally like seeing one of those kick-butt action movies like Underworld. Flips, mid-air somersaults, that girl had it all…she was also super fast. I loved it how the camera sort of zoomed out to show this crow slowly flapping its wings above the forest while Victoria was jogging through the woods.  At first, I thought it was high or something, because it did look like it was dying. But just when I realized that the crow was normal and it was VICTORIA who was running really fast, the camera sped up and WHOOSH, I saw streaks of red, dark red, black, and brown. (vic and the werewolves). Pure. Epic. Awesomeness.
• the fact that they all had brand-named sneakers. I don’t know if they had sponsors or what, but I found it very funny that everyone (from Bella to the werewolves to Laurent/Victoria) had either reebok, nike, or other brand name sneakers. I mean, you’d expect them to run barefoot or something…but I guess it was for the actors/actresses’ sake b/c i doubt they had an eternal supply of foot makeup like the peeps at LOTR did.
• the Volturi. Just as creepy (maybe more so, especially in Aro’s part) as I imagined them to be. Also, Jane? YIKES.
• fight scene with Edward and Felix (the ultra buff guy who’s like virtually unbeatable). I was horrified/amazed when Felix slammed Edward into the marble floor and the floor AND EDWARD’S FREAKIN FACE had cracks running down them. Fortunately for Edward, he can heal…but you could just see the “aw man, not again, not my shiny floors” expressions on the Volturi’s faces. HAH.
• the artistic aspects of the film. I loved how in the start of the movie, they had a full moon slowly waning as the words “New Moon” slowly faded into the screen. Even my mom (former art teacher/design major) had to agree on that one. I also loved how they portrayed what the book did with the pages of nothing but the words of “October” “November” etc. They had Bella sit in front of the window and the camera orbiting around her like the Earth, as it showed glimpses of the passing seasons and her unchanging, expressionless face.
• The music. The music. The music. I loved how sad and mournful the classical piece was. I think it captured what New Moon is about really well. It almost made me cry all over again. ALMOST. I was too mad at Bella the whole time to actually cry though.
• Kristen Stewart. EXCELLENT job at the mopey, selfish Bella. She was so good that I wanted to punch her face off the screen. Hey, that was a compliment at her acting skillz.
• The Cullens. They seemed closer/more like a family this time. And yay, Jasper smiled (and actually made  one or two witty jokes. GASP)
• The pack/Native American community. Excellent casting and they all worked really well together. Their closeness was really believable.
• The fact that we could ACTUALLY SEE ALICE’S VISIONS. OMG, the scene where Edward mistakenly thought Bella was dead after the phonecall with Jacob was so awesome. HE CRUSHED THE CELL PHONE INTO PIECES. Fan-freakin’-tastic. Also, we got a sneak-peek into Breaking Dawn: Bella and Edward frolicking happily in the woods.
• Italy. They actually went to Italy to film the Volterra scenes. Must I say more?
• the peeps at Forks High School. Hahah, gotta love my nerdy azn Eric. Mike Newton was just as annoying as he was in the book. excellent job.
• Robert Pattinson’s acting. From what I remember in Twilight, he was kind of holding back as if he thought grimacing/frowning would ruin his hotness. I’m proud to say he improved in New Moon, and was very good at the scene where he pretended he didn’t want Bella and the scene where Bella kissed him (I was about to report vampire boyfriend abuse, that’s how pained he looked.)

Dislikes:

• The story/plot of New Moon. 95% of the movie was about depression and suicdal feats/thoughts.
• Bella. She’s even more annoying now that I can actually see her moping around. (excellent job, Kristen Stewart)
• the scene where Bella thought she was seeing her grandma but was really seeing herself. That old lady looked NOTHING like her.
• The fact that if you hadn’t read the book, you’d have NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON. Sure there are a few small hints here and there, but you could only understand the secret looks and whispers if you’d read the books. But then again, I guess it’s the vapid fans’ fault for not reading.
• The fact that Chris Weltz didn’t direct the Eclipse (THEY’RE DONE SHOOTING ALREADY, O.O). I liked him >.>
• the 20 min long commercials at the beginning. Although I admit, I WAS happy to see the trailer for the Lightning Thief. Dang, Percy is HOTTTT.
• they skipped a lot of scenes. Making it virtually unfollowable if u haven’t read the book.
• the OST (soundtrack). I mean, the classical song is good and all, but the rest are indie rock/classical rock. Sure, they are awesome when incorporated into the movie, but by themselves…eww?
• Bella. Bella. Bella. Bella. the entire time when she was flirting around with Jacob, I wanted to strangle her for betraying Edward and messing with Jacob’s feelings.

That pretty much sums up my New Moon watching experience. Will add more if I can think of more.

Oh my gosh, another one of my fave book series is turning into a movie! I really love it how all the popular book series are being turned into movies…it makes me feel very nostalagic/happy.

Although I read this series, like, four years ago, and a lot of things look pretty childish, I can’t wait until it comes out so I can see it! (or at least see it when the DVD comes out…it all depends on whether or not I’ll have time this month >.>)

My thoughts on the trailer:

1. Hmmm I imaged Mr. Crepsley as being…more handsome. LOL. He’s, like,, my fave character in the series, which is funny because I more or less disliked him in the first book. But I guess he has charisma, and I know that that actor is very good/talented. So we’ll see how he pulls through.

2. I like the actor that plays the best friend of Darren. I know he’s good b/c his performance in “Bridge to Terabithia” was phenomenal. I hope the movies (hopefully there is going to be more than one movie >.>) follow the books so that he will have a bigger part than he does in the first.

3. Gah. Again with the three book in one movie thing. This sort of kind of didn’t work for “A Series of Unfortunate Events”, but I hope it does for Cirque du Freak.  Although the fact that they decided to go with this method sort of annoys me, I understand that  making/having people watch 12 different movies is just plain IMPOSSIBLE.

4. The graphics for the circus scenes sort of bothers me. IDK. Maybe it’s because I see too many movies with good visual effects. Or maybe my imagination’s capacity to visualize things surpasses any computer’s ability to create. But in any case, I’m hoping the v. effects will be better on the actual movie than the trailer.

And yes. I know. I should be doing my homework now. I will. I just took a little detour from printing out the current event and the reading for Humanities.

(A bit of situation irony: We’re learning about the Leviathan. Scott Westerfeld’s newest book is called “The Leviathan”. HAH this made me smile while reading the Hobbes section of yesterday’s reading.)

Wow. Korea was awesome. I did things there that I would most likely never be able to do at home.
I also got to meet family members that I’ve last seen 3 years ago. (and it’s official, I’m the shortest one in the family.
-sigh-) I also ate a lot of korean food, walked around the cities for hours, and basically had a really fan-freakin’-tastic time.

Here are some of the things that I got to do (for the first time) in Korea:

• go to this restaraunt where the first floor is a live fish market and the second story is where you get to eat the fresh sashimi.
• see little crabs get boiled in hot water (I was thinking all philosphically about the futility life all the while)
• go to an outdoors fish market that stretches about a mile long where people are selling alive fish (they kill it when you buy it, of courses)
•  set and feed a fire (yes, an actual fire) over a primitive stove so we could boil a duck (not an alive one, thank God)…I had a little Fia moment when I was feeding the fire with flammable objects like newspapers and scrap paper…newspaper is excellent, by the way. LOL)
• eat a hamburger where the bun is actually made of rice. (pretty good, except, too much mayonnaise…and I had to pick out the pickles, first, as always)
• get stuck in traffic for like 10 or so hours
• sleep, exercise, and basically live in a supermarket (my grandparents own one, and they had a cycling machine in the store. LOL. I was like a cycling guard dog, making sure no one steals anything while also burning a lot of calories. Now THAT’s being productive)
• Watch the korean dramas I like so much on live TV.  (I miss that now…there is, like, nothing to watch on American TV. It’s all either hospital dramas,  FBI-like scenarios, soap operas that are so inappropriate my parents don’t let me watch them),the weather, and sports)
•  See people I actually know (not personally, of course, but that’d be cool) on advertisements and posters (sorry, I don’t memorize the Victoria Secret/Abercrombie models)
• ride the bus in the aisle with lawn chairs b/c the bus was full
• watch my grandpa hunt for little freshwater crabs with chicken scraps
• eat under a bridge (it was so hot that we were just like, “let’s set up the picnic blanket under that bridge.”)…this happened like 3+ times
• sleep in a one-room, studio apartment (in Seoul)…I want one of my own one day
•  eat original Turkish kebobs (done by actual Turkish people living in Seoul)
• get carsick on two consecutive bus rides x.x
• go to this beauty school where people learn how to do nails, style hair, make fashionable clothes,  apply makeup (not ordinary makeup, but like, makeup for actors and other celebrities), and design weird costumes…all in one place (my mom’s friend is,like, the headmistress there.)
• go to the back-alleys of Seoul and do some browsing for illegal, fake purses from Hong Kong that look like the real thing but cost way cheaper (my mom wanted a prada purse, not me). I thought I was going to die back there b/c it was the sort of place where a random thug could walk up to you and shoot you or something.
• eat barbecue duck at 11 o’clock at night (not my idea, but my uncle’s. had indigestion the next morning and had to go to the gym and work out for like 2 hours to get my insides back to normal)
• work out for at least two hours in a gym with a great view of the city and watch some old Jackie Chan movie while on the treadmill.
• steal apples from an orchard that was right next to my aunt’s house in the country. (we only took like, 2, so don’t fret…plus it wasn’t my idea.)
• realize that I have way more family members than I thought…so many great uncles (at least 5?!) and great aunts (3?)…not to mention they’re children…and their grandchildren.
• get more than $300 in less than a month from the above great-uncles, great-aunts, grandparents, uncles/aunts, random cousins once removed (which I now know means ‘the cousin of your parent’), my mom’s friends, etc.
• drink green tea on the summit of a mountain. (we used a cable car, of course…but there was still like a 200 m climb up and down)
• go to a sauna after visiting the said mountain.
• go to a bathroom stall out in the country where there was nothing but a big hole. D: 

There are many other things that I did in Korea, but I can’t think of any more right now. I’ll add more later if I think of any.

Starting July 19th, I will be in Korea for about a month. (I’ll, like, come back a day or two or three before school starts @.@)
I might still update my blog and check my emails, but I don’t know for sure. It all depends on whether I can access the computer or not.
I’ve currently been working on my novels at 2-3 AM every morning. And I’m strangely not tired/can still wake up at 7ish every morning…I surprise myself sometimes.

If I get a chance to post another entry or edit this one, I shall put up a list of the books I’ve read so far in my summer vacation. If not, well, I’ll just do it after I come back.

In case any of you have been actually checking my word count on the WIP Angel page, I’m really sorry to announce that I’ve officially started writing by HAND. This is largely because I’ll be staying in Korea for a month or so (July 19th-approx August 18th) and will not have limited access to a computer. I also decided to do this because as I’m sure most of you know, my handwriting SUCKS, and I figured this would be a good chance to practice my handwriting.

So, the good news is, YES, I’m going to work on my novel during ‘vacation’ (as in my time away from home). Bad news is: you guys aren’t going to be able to see any progress on my word count b/c I don’t want to end up manually counting words by the thousands. Sorry.