The only - and I mean ONLY - drawback to writing for printed publications is the lack of space. I've been really thankful to have a great group of editors at am New York, who can excise portions of my writing to fit it into the space constraints of the paper without leaving a bloody corpse behind.
Of course, the Internet has no such problem, so when my stories find the pages of AMNY in truncated form, I'm going to post the full versions here at RS.com.
Up first - my "New Moon" film review.
By Robert Spuhler
The middle film of any series presents a difficult needle to thread; the filmmakers must keep the story going while also exploring and deepening the world created in the first installment. “New Moon,” the second of the “Twilight” saga, does the latter in spades, but fails to provide any forward momentum to the series.
The film shatters the Bella/Edward love affair almost immediately, with the vampire (Robert Pattinson) walking out on the now-18-year-old Bella (Kristen Stewart), ostensibly to keep her safe. She falls into a deep depression without her immortal beloved, turning self-destructive until her old friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) tries to rescue her. Meanwhile, Edward is heading towards an ugly confrontation with the Volturi, a sort of “vampire government” in Italy.
Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg has made a mess of the adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's novel in an effort to stay faithful to the book. No single moment or character revelation is given time to sink in or be meaningful, since there's too much to try to accomplish. It ends up as a shopping list of a film, simply touching on moments rather than reveling in them.
It's a shame, because many of the actors in ”New Moon” put in solid to winning performances, even with the poor material. Lautner is a star on the rise, and veterans Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning (yes, she's a “veteran” – especially in this cast) both seem to be having a blast as Aro and Jane, respectively, of the Volturi.
"New Moon" eventually ends where it started, though, with only an unintentionally-hilarious "cliffhanger" separating the film's final frames from its first. It's a glorified placeholder which will only be satisfying to those who already squeal with delight from the mere mention of Bella or Edward.
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