The Twilight Saga : New Moon Trailer

New Moon’s first trailer was released yesterday and it looks like my foreshadowing was correct. I’ve never read the books but it was easy to see that the American Indians would turn out to be werewolves. Being such a huge fan of the werewolf versus vampire theme, this is definitely a film to check out. Its kinda cool that the Indians turn into actual “Wolves” rather than the werewolves we have seen in features such as “Underworld“. Guess we’ll have to see how special they really are when the film hits the big screen.

Some Hi-Res photos for your enjoyment as well.

Beware: If you play the first trailer for New Moon within a five mile radius of Twilight fans you risk being trampled during the mad rush to your computer that will inevitably ensue. Fans of Twilight will go nuts over this trailer, non-fans and people who just don’t really care will issue a collective, “Meh.” But it’s something new to look at, and the prospect of vampires fighting werewolves is never something to thumb your nose at. (SPIKE)

Twilight (DVD)

Before I begin with my review I just wanted to mention that I’ve never read any of the Twilight books, so I am unable to judge the fidelity of this film from its origins. As some of my regular readers already know, I am a huge fan of any story featuring vampires, but opted to skip this in theaters because it seemed more like a chick flick than an actual vampire feature.

To start, I’m calling Twilight your average teen romance. I felt that Twilight set the tone for its upcoming features, and after watching the first of five films (assuming they release one per book), I’m actually looking forward to its sequel. This franchise has the opportunity to put out some excellent films in the future, and it ultimately rests in the hands of director Catherine Hardwicke the producers (thanks NDO for the update) to make everything come together.

The sticking point for me was definitely the forbidden love relationship between Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). There are few films that cast members with chemistry as good at these two, and I think that their pairing was an excellent choice. Pattinson definitely is THE draw for the films female fanbase and is without a doubt the biggest part of this films success. I do acknowledge that Stewart is as important in her own right, but lets be real here, without Pattinson, its hard to imagine this film performing as well as it did at the box office.

Back to the story, I really liked how they portrayed the vampires as much more than just blood lusty monsters. The Cullen family portrayed as “Vegetarians” was an interesting take on vampire lore, and vampires living in daylight (and glittering in the sun) rather than being restricted to the nightlife was a nice twist. I’m curious to know if there are any actual weaknesses for these immortal beings, because it really seems like they have nothing to fear but being murdered by their own kind.

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30 days of Night (Theaters)

thirty_days_of_night_ver630 days of Night was a refreshing change of pace from the films I have been viewing lately. The film centers itself in the small rural town of Barrow Alaska where the sun disappears completely for 30 days each year.

After a short introduction to the town and its people, the sun sets and the real horror begins. The sheriff realizes his town is disabled from all communication, and with no source of sunlight available for 30 days, these beasts begin their feeding frenzy on the town’s small population of people.

After watching the entire feature, two things stood out for me the most in this film. The originality of the vampires appearance, and the music for the film. I really liked the fact that the beasts look quite different from Hollywood’s typical vampire interpretation. Instead of having simple fangs, they had rows of teeth, completely rotted and ready for flesh. The score for the film actually stood out for me as well, and I really liked the way it kept the movie suspenseful and paced. It definitely set the mood and kept your heart thumping and waiting for another kill.

Synopsis:

This is the story of an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only the small town’s husband-and-wife Sheriff team stand between the survivors and certain destruction.