2009
"New Moon" pleases crowd, tops box office
J ulsa V an W inkle
Beginning with a disastrous
eighteenth birthday and a
breakup between the main
characters, "The Twilight
Saga: New Moon" starts off in
an exciting way. Bella Swan,
played by Kristin Stewart,
wants to be with Edward
Cullen, Robert Pattinson,
forever. When he leaves, she
spirals in to an uncontrolled
depression.
Bella soon realizes that in
dangerous situations she can
see hallucinations of Edward.
She then turns to potentially
risky activities just to see him.
In "New Moon", Jacob
Black, played by Taylor
Lautner, takes on a more
considerable role. After
Edward's departure, Jacob
helps bring Bella up from her
depression and they form a
strong friendship. Soon Bella
and Jacob realize that the
friendship is not as simple
as they thought. Jacob is
destined to join the wolf pack
that protects humans from
vampires. When angry, he
has a tendency to turn into an
enormous wolf.
As the sequel to the
very successful "Twilight,"
this movie was not a
disappointment. New director
for the series, Chris Weitz, did
a better job than Catherine
Hardwicke, the director of
"Twilight." The second movie
in the Twilight saga surpassed
the first in many ways. The
dialogue was not as awkward,
the acting was improved
and more humor was added.
However, improvements on
the Twilight saga movies are
still needed. Some scenes
in "New Moon" that were
meant to be serious stirred up
laughter instead.-
On screen Stewart tends to
be awkward, though between
"Twilight" and "New Moon"
this has improved. Bella is
uncoordinated and not very
outspoken, so at times the
awkwardness is appropriate.
In romantic scenes between
Edward and Bella the flow of
the movie is lost and leaves
the audience struggling.
Pattinson doesn't help these
situations too much. However,
his distant, yet caring
personality fits with Edward's.
Lautner is a good fit for his
part, and that’s not only
because of his perfect body (of
which there is no lack in the
many scenes he has his shirt
off in; much to the excitement
of his fans). Overall, Lautner
does a good job acting.
Running and springing
into the air, Jacob changes
from human to wolf. The
transformation of Jacob and
other pack members into
wolves was impressive. They
were so huge and looked
real. Equally impressive was
watching the wolves hunt
vampires. Not only did the
wolves look good, but Bella's
hallucinations of Edward fit in
perfectly. Edward didn't look
like he was cut and pasted in
or like he was just standing
there; he looked like a figment
of her imagination. All of the
special effects in "New Moon"
were very well done.
In every scene, whether
dramatic or romantic, the
setting, lights and music
fit and helped to create the
mood. The details in each
scene helped define what was
going on. The choice of setting
for each scene was essential.
The lighting through the
movie remained a little dim
and the melancholy music
helped create the more serious
and sad mood. Even scenes
in the dark, like the first time
Bella has hallucinations of
Edward, have just the right
amount of lighting.
"New Moon" followed
the main elements of the
book fairly well, with unique
details added. The movie
moves faster than the book.
The plot was easy to follow,
and didn't confuse the
audience. However, reading
the books before seeing the
movie definitely helps the
viewer to understand the
plot. By reading the book,
little details that seem to be
missing are clear.
Many twists and turns add
up to a dramatic cliffhanger
ending. Though the ending
may not be the best for a
movie, it remains true to
"TheTwilight Saga: New Moon" opened in theaters on Nov. 20. New
Moon was an improvement over "Twilight" the first installment in
the series.
the book. Two more movies
will come out to tie up the
loose ends. The first of these
is coming out this summer.
"New Moon" came out on
Nov. 20. It is currently in
theaters.
"New Moon" is an
improvement on "Twilight"
and has a fast-paced plot.
Despite some minor issues, it
is definitely a movie to see.
Panera Bread bakes, serves up satisfactory meal
D anny M c G arry & H aley C ool
If you don’t mind
average food, Panera Bread
in Tualatin on Nyberg Road
is just the place for meeting
friends for lunch or going
out for coffee and working
on a paper. Panera Bread
is a chain cafe and can
be found throughout the
United States and Canada.
The small cafe with a
fireplace and jazz music
may be cliche but Panera
Bread does feature amazing
mac’n ’cheese.
When we walked in
during the afternoon, warm
colors and the smell of
coffee and pastries greeted
Photo by Libby Kara
An employee helps a customer with his order. Panera Bread Company offers a variety of pastries as well
as meals. Panera Bread Company has few locations in Oregon; one being on Nyberg Road in Tualatin.
us. The cafe, however, was
empty except for the few
people that were working
on their laptops, chatting
with friends or reading
a newspaper. To order a
meal,we walked to the
counter rather than having
table service. As soon as
you order, you pay, so you
don’t have to wait for a
check at the end of your
meal. Prices are normally
cheap, averaging $6 or
$7 for a lunch or dinner,
but some items, such as
the French croissant, are
overpriced. If you're just
ordering from the bakery,
you can expect prices to
range from $1 to $5.
Panera Bread offers free
wi-fi so you can work while
you eat. However, the food
is hit and miss; it is either
fantastic or mediocre. The
grilled cheese tasted like
vegetables and the only
thing that was good were
the chips that were not
made by the restaurant. The
other orders consisted of a
frontega chicken panini and
a tomato mozzarella panini
which were very good.
The tomato mozzarella
was good but the frontega
chicken was even better.
Actually, it was so good, we
ordered a second one. The
mac'n'cheese was delicious
and it is one of the best
items on the menu right
now.
The servers were
nice and they were very
courteous although they
messed up our order. They
did give us a free cookie for
their mistake.
Don't expect the bakery
food to be fresh at 4 p.m.
It's dry and unappealing.
The French croissant was
stone dry. The chocolate
chip muffin was moist
in the center, but dry
around the edges. The
only exception was the
cinnamon scone; it was
moist and baked to
perfection. It made us want
more.
Set in a very quiet and
was in a nice neighborhood,
Panera Bread surpassed
standards, but not with
flying colors.