Twilight Premiere

About 3 weeks ago, I got a fairly standard piece of regular old fashion snail mail. When I opened it I quickly saw that it contained two tickets to an event -- and I instantly assumed that it was one of those lame Donald Trump real estate seminar invitations where they tell you the tickets are worth $150 a piece but really they just try to sell you crap when you go. I almost chucked the whole thing in the trash.

Luckily, I took a closer look.

To my surprise it contained two numbered tickets with Becky and my name on the back for the Arizona premiere of Twilight. We were told to keep the event confidential until after it had occurred...and that formal attire was recommended.

So, tonight Becky and I got all gussied up and went out for a delightful evening (see Becky's review here). We ran into a bunch of our old Glendale friends from back in the day when Stephenie and Poncho were both our friends and neighbors (same Ward. I served in the YM with Poncho).

It was really fun to see a couple hundred people in the theater all decked out in their finery. They even had a red carpet leading into the theater. At the door they gave us a bunch of gift cards to redeem at the concession stand (p.s., I learned that it is pretty easy to blow $30 bucks at a concession stand). Once inside, Stephanie was there to greet everyone and take pictures. She immediately ran up and gave Becky a really big hug as soon as she saw her.

As far as I know we were among the earliest audiences in the world to see this show (the Hollywood premiere and press screening, before us). It was only Pancho's second time, after the Hollywood premiere. It was their son Gabe's first time.

My review: I can't possible review this film objectively. I suppose my super abbreviated review is that it was better than I expected it would be AND that it was more faithful to the book than I thought it would be. But this is where it is hard to be objective: because it was pretty faithful to the book, I know that I was mentally filling in any blanks that the film mayhave left out. For example, when the waitress is serving Bella and Edward in the restaurant, I'm mentally filling in the dialogue that is going on in her head that Edward is hearing...but the film never shows this or tell us that it is happening. I just know it from the book.

So, if you liked the book, I think you will like the film. If you haven't read the book, I don't know how you will like it...that is the part I can't be objective about. I can't un-know what I know about the story.

We talked to Stephenie and Poncho after the showing, congratulated them and thanked them again for the invite. I also told Stephenie that whatever hand she had in the soundtrack, that I liked it a lot.

Look for Stephenie's brief cameo in one of the diner scenes. She's sitting a her laptop writing and orders a veggie burger. Our audience got a big kick out of that scene.

All in all, a very fun evening.

To any of our other current of future famous friends...please invite us to your premieres as well!


P.S. Last week I think we broke some kind of Stephenie Meyer reading record in my household. I was reading "The Host", Becky was reading "Breaking Dawn", Madison re-read "Twilight" and then read "Midnight Sun", and Savanna re-read "New Moon" and "Eclipse" and "Midnight Sun". Crazy!