Midnight Movie Madness: Twilight Breaking Dawn (Part 1)

WARNING: this post was authored by a sleep deprived, moderately-Twilight-obsessed woman.  Keep this in mind as you continue reading...

I am 27 years old, and last night I went to my very first midnight movie premiere.  It was quite the rite of passage, especially because the movie was the Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn: Part 1.

Okay, so let me just get this out in the open now:

• yes, I do realize that Twilight is a book series/movie franchise geared towards teenage girls that are blindly obsessed with Robert Pattinson's hair, Taylor Lautner's abs, and Bella (the slightly awkward girl-next-door's) ability to get both of these hunks to fall madly in love with her;
• yes, I am fully aware that these movies will not be winning any sort of cinematic and/or acting awards in the near future...or ever; and
• yes, I realize that vampires and werewolves aren't real, that "imprinting" is weird...especially on a newborn baby (you have to read the book to truly understand that one!), and that no man, no matter how good you are in bed, will ever actually break a headboard as a result of your lovemaking skills.

All that being said, I loved the movie, and here are a few simple reasons why.

1. Director Bill Condon wasn't afraid to make fun of the sometimes cheesy storyline (Can you say giant wedding cake made of corpses? Werewolf mind-speak?  And sly, series in-jokes one right after the other?).
2. The wedding dress was beautiful, and although I know it will have its critics, I think it lived up to the hype.
3. The honeymoon scenes lived right on the edge of PG-13 and Rated R, just as they should have.  Enough said...(insert swoon here!)
4. Considering a 19 year-old werewolf was claiming a newborn as his soulmate, the imprinting scene between Jacob and Renesme was shot as appropriately as possible.
5. As the film's director, Condon really goes there in terms of making Bella as sickly and corpse-like as she is described in the book.  It is a little scary to watch, but as a devoted reader, I appreciated the fact that they didn't soften the horror of her pregnancy.  And as for the birth scene...
6. ...it takes a few steps into the horror genre, not because it is evil or demonic or anything remotely of the sort, but instead because Condon doesn't shy away from the terror that is Renesmee's birth, or the desperate fear on Edward's face as he thinks he's lost Bella forever.

Enough of my amateur review skills, here's what one professional movie editor had to say:

It's essential, [to] be able to embrace the ridiculous as Condon has and not go in with an ironic distance. Accept that this particular take on vampires and werewolves exists, and try not to be put off by the romantic moments (which, this go-around, feel like more accurate allegories for actual marital tensions). Granted, there's one late-in-the-game twist involving Jacob (you almost certainly know the one by now) that's over-the-top absurd even for Twilight. Condon pulls it off about as well as anybody could.

Now, someone remind me, when will Breaking Dawn: Part 1 come out on redbox?!  You betcha! I am already looking forward to seeing it again and picking up on all the small little things I missed the first go 'round.  That's how you know I'm a true fan :)

As for the midnight movie madness itself, Colbi and I had quite a good time! 

Although we arrived a little over two hours early (around 9:45 pm), we didn't have to stand outside in the cold for more than 10 minutes, and we caught up on our "girl talk" while sitting in our comfortable theater seats.

The other thing about midnight showings that I liked?  Practically everyone wears sweatpants or pajamas and has bed-head hair.  In that respect, Colbi and I fit right in because we had both come from the weekly yogatluck and were decked out in our best yoga gear!  Hey, at least it made sitting in the theater for over four hours a little more comfortable...

In total, the theater had four theaters simultaneously showing Twilight at midnight, and all four were completely sold out.  (Which, by the way, the theater workers made no jokes about!  Because I didn't have any pockets, I had to tuck my ticket into my bra to go to the bathroom just to make sure I could get back in to the theater afterwards.  Those movie theater employees meant business!)

My apologies, I know that this picture is horrible.  I couldn't seem to figure out my flash last night.  Oh well, this should give you at least a little inking of last night's crowds (this was the line for just one of the theaters!).  Seriously though, every seat in the theater was taken...even the super-front-row-crappy ones.  Man do I feel sorry for the neck-ache those guys are experiencing today!

All in all, the movie lasted until a little past 2:00 am, I got home around 2:30 am, and for some ungodly reason I woke up at 6:45 am.  REALLY body clock?! You couldn't wait at least two more hours to wake me up?!

Now it is 8:45 am.  I have breakfast in my tummy, this post typed, and my eyelids are drooping dangerously low.

I need to regain my energy before teaching my Hatha Yoga III class this afternoon.

I think I hear my bed calling my name...nightie night!

Question of the Day:

Have you ever been to a midnight movie premiere?  If so, which movie?!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo