The Rain Continues....and other unrelated useless bits of interest

The rain abated by late afternoon on Thursday [the day of the flash floods and heavy downpour] so David got up at his usual time on Friday morning to head to work. I declined to get up and drive him to work myself since I had a terrible headache and no need for the car that day. This turned out to be a very good thing since David was sent home from work at 11a.m. Though it wasn't raining, the sewers were backed up with all the water from the day before and they had to shut off the water in David's building, meaning that there were no functioning bathrooms. And when there are no functioning bathrooms to be had, you get to come home. Thank you heavy rains! I've enjoyed having my husband around.

By dusk of last night, however, dark clouds had rolled in over Oahu and we had a good-sized thunder and lightning storm, accompanied by even more rain. I love watching lightning light up the sky, especially at night. The best lightning I ever saw was in Arizona. You could actually see each individual lightning bolt streak across the sky over the vast and empty desert. Here I could only see bursts of light, but it was the first good storm I've seen on this island so I took what I could get. It's like the first snowfall of the year. You love the sight and sounds and smell of the snow and bask in its beauty....and then you slowly start to despise it as the winter progresses and you feel like you'll never be warm again. I'm starting to wonder if this island will ever be dry again.

The rain had stopped by nine o'clock last night and, having been cooped up in the house for quite some time, David and I headed out to see a movie. To see Twilight.

I had avoided seeing the movie for so long because I expected it to be three parts lame, awkward, and poorly acted. After hearing the reviews from friends who opinions and interests I generally share, I determined that my expectations for the movie were sufficiently low that I could probably enjoy some of the movie, if not just laugh through the whole thing from sheer lameness. Plus, I figured the 12 year screaming girls would be gone by now. I had also finally convinced David to come with me and so we set out for the 9:55 showing.

I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed the movie. So did David. Sure, there were a few things I did not like but I think the series has the potential to vastly improve. Especially under a different director with a bigger budget. I think it really did help that I expected the movie to suck, that I was prepared to laugh at all the awkward moments.

What I Didn't Like
1.) The special effects could have used some help. I especially hated the shots of the vampires running and jumping, etc. Since when did their feet not need to touch the ground?
2.) Was it just me or was every scene with Eric extremely awkward? Maybe it was the hair.
3.) Same for Jaspar. He seemed so pained. I swear....in some parts, he was the spitting image of Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands. I wish there had been less of the Forks High students and more of the Cullens.
4.) The direction. I felt like there were some weird shots and direction in the movie, especially in the scene where Bella and Edward are revealing his vampire status in the woods. [It also didn't help that the emergency alarm started going off during this scene.] Why all the close-ups of trees and not the actors while they are in the middle of talking? Why did Edward look like he had body glitter all over him in the sun? I always thought he would sparkle much more, and have a greater amount of light radiating off him. There were just some weird shots and I'm glad that Catherine Hardwick will not be back to direct the sequel.
5.) Robert Pattinson. I actually think Robert is very physically close to how I pictured Edward Cullen. And I didn't think he did a horrible job with the entire role, just certain parts. I always knew Edward was very intense, but Robert gave Edward a creepy intense vibe and came across as rather wooden at times. It was the scenes in which he loosened up and smiled that I actually believed him as Edward and enjoyed him in the part.
6.) Of course, it's not all Robert Pattinson's fault. The script was rather clunky in a lot of places and there was some bad dialogue.

What I Did Like
1.) Kristen Stewart. I'd never seen her in any movies and just from the trailers, I didn't think she was the right choice for Bella, nor did I think she was a good actress. Her performance as Bella was actually my favorite part of the whole movie. I thought she did a terrific job and really conveyed Bella's character perfectly.
2.) Victoria. Sure, she didn't say much and sure, I thought she'd have redder hair, but her presence was exactly as I imagined her.
3.) The chemistry between Bella and Edward. They worked together.

So yes, Twilight was not the most fantastic movie, but I at least enjoyed it, which was far more than I was expecting. I only wish that they had pushed the new Harry Potter movie back six months! Oh well.

Now, I suppose it's time to clean the house a bit. Tonight we're going to the Navy holiday party at a hotel in Honolulu. It's a bit of a fancier affair and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be exciting enough to warrant a post and some pictures.