Love at First Bite

I can't believe this has happened to me; I've been bitten by the Twilight bug. In my own defense, I've only seen the movie twice, but mostly because I'm on business travel in Dallas for two weeks, am stuck in a hotel without a car, and not a theater in sight.

I read the first book when it came out, but confess that I found the story unforgettable. No disrespect to Ms. Meyer, but I found the writing a little on the insipid side and couldn't understand why Edward--the vampire hero--laughed, grinned, chuckled, and snickered his way through the story. I found his habit of sneaking into Bella's bedroom (our ordinary teenage heroine) to watch her sleep a little on the creepy side, and if the author had made one more reference to his "crooked smile," I was going to toss my lunch.

Ah...but then the movie came out.

I have two tweenie daughters, so we played hookey from school on the day the movie was released, had lunch at a nice restaurant and went to an early matinee. I sat, completely enthralled, for the entire two hours, wishing I could replay some of the scenes just to watch the expressions on Edward and Bella's faces. The music score was beautiful, the cinematography was breathtaking, and the emotion and chemistry between the two star-crossed lovers left my own heart beating faster and wishing I was, oh, about thirty years younger! I think Kristen Stewart did an amazing job, and she was absolutely luminous in her portrayal of Bella. I wasn't so sure I was going to like Rob Pattinson in the role of Edward, but he was perfect. I completely bought into the intensely smoldering looks he gave Bella, his barely-restrained passion, and his own tortured existence. And if I hadn't known he was British by birth, I'd have never guessed his American accent wasn't the real deal.

Here are some outtakes from a recent Vanity Fair shoot...I love these first two photos.

And here's a picture of Robert Pattinson that I really like...

A talented musician in real life, Rob Pattinson really played the piano in the movie.

Another VF outtake:

I'm thrilled that this movie is doing so well in theaters, and that a decision has been made to film the sequel, New Moon. I'm looking forward to seeing more of these two talented young actors.