Today was originally going to be when the new Harry Potter film came out, so of course no other movies wanted to open this weekend. Then Harry got pushed back to next July, and two movies dashed in to take his place: “Twilight” and “Bolt.” Apart from that, it’s a light weekend.
Of course, it’s hard to call it a “light weekend” when at 9:00 tonight there was already a line of girls outside the movie theater waiting for their midnight screenings of “Twilight.” Hundreds of those screenings have sold out all over the country. By the time you read this, the film will have already made several million dollars. Who needs Harry Potter?
The “Twilight” movie (my review is at Cinematical) captures the feel of the book pretty well, at least as far as I recall. (It’s been 2 1/2 years since I read it.) An informal discussion with two other critics after the screening suggested that the less detailed our memory of the book was, the better we liked the movie. Then again, maybe someone could remember every detail of the novel but still accept the fact that the movie is bound to be different in some ways.
All I know is, Stephenie Meyer says on her website that my movie reviews are her favorite. I am very proud of this. I brag about it regularly. I hope I will continue to hold that position even after reviewing a movie based on her book. It didn’t affect my opinion of the movie, of course, nor did it influence what I wrote. I only mention it because I wanted to brag some more.
Then there’s “Bolt,” a Disney cartoon about a dog who plays a superdog on TV and is startled to discover he doesn’t actually have super powers. I think we’ve all been there. The movie is fairly funny and reasonably entertaining. My review is at Film.com.
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