Vampires on my Mind

Last weekend, I flew to San Francisco. I am in the US for work for two weeks, and I am having a pretty great time.

The cool and breezy weather here is a beautiful change after the sultry sweatiness of Bangalore. The hotel is excellent, the people I work with are friendly, and life is pretty good.

The long hours on the flight (16 dreary hours from Dubai to SFO, which is just one leg of the journey!) were pretty dull, though, and I whiled away the time alternating between sleep and watching vampire stuff on the TV.

Why vampires? Because honestly, I was too beat to focus on anything, and these were movies that I could watch with half a brain and still be able to keep track.

What did I see?

New Moon

Well, first up, I watched New Moon. I had watched Twilight earlier (you can read my thoughts on the movie here) and thought the movie wasn’t half bad. I liked it better than the book.

But after seeing New Moon, I take back all my thoughts that the movie series might be any good.

New Moon is so godawful dull that I fell asleep twice while watching the movie (not before pausing it, of course!, so don’t think I am reviewing a movie I only half saw).

Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward) never smile in the movie. I know the story is not cheery, but at least in the romantic scenes, they could have looked a little happier. The few times they smile, it seems as if it hurts them physically. They are both attractive, but that’s all they bring to the movie. Taylor Lautner (Jacob) is probably the only livewire. He is handsome, goes without his shirt for most of the film, and can emote. The locations are beautiful, and all the wolf energy is excellent. But ultimately, this is a movie worth watching only on a plane where entertainment options are somewhat limited.

The Vampire Diaries

Next up, I saw the first three episodes of The Vampire Diaries. I have heard of these books written by L.J.Smith, but I had never read them. I am glad I didn’t because I watched these episodes with an open mind without overthinking whether it is faithful to the book series.

This series is a strange combination of Beverly Hills 90210 (a lot of bed-hopping between many friends in high school) and Twilight (a love triangle between two supernatural beings and a mortal girl). I loved pretty much every bit of it. The main character is Elena, a girl who is grieving the sudden death of her parents. She falls in love with the mysterious new guy in school (no guesses for what he turns out to be). Also, there are weird, gruesome deaths happening in the town, and no one can figure out who/what has caused these deaths.

Yeah, it’s all cliched vampire stuff, I know. But for in-flight entertainment, it was not bad at all. If the series ever comes on in India, I might continue watching it to see how it all plays out. And I am planning to read the books!

Is anyone else watching this series? Is it better than the books?