Opening Day for New Moon was a historic day in the realm of movies, with the film taking in more than any movie in history. While it didn't take the all-time lead for the weekend (it fell behind The Dark Knight and Spiderman 3), it still had a remarkable opening weekend with $141 million. Among those throngs seeing the movie on opening day were my wife and I, and the experience of the movie in many ways raises more questions and thoughts than the movie itself, but more on that later.

For those who have been following the series, New Moon is the second installment regarding the Twilight movie saga; it is the second of a four-book series. It is a continuing story of forbidden love, much like the popular Romeo and Juliet theme by Shakespeare. Of course the director of New Moon intends that; it is why we see the book on the bed of young Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart, in the opening scenes. The second installment of Twilight has the Romeo mirror character, Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, leaving Bella because he is afraid of the harm that will come to her if he stays in the region and with her as a romantic partner. Part of the forbidden love theme has young Bella as a senior in High School, living with her divorced father. They live in the Pacific Northwest, a perfect environment for the vampires who live there, like Edward. While Bella is a young 17-year-old high-school student, Edward is a handsome 109-year-old vampire who hasn't aged due to being a vampire. While Edward leaves, a new romance begins to develop for Bella: along comes young, handsome, well-built Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner. There are several problems that come about as time goes by with this relationship; Jacob is a werewolf and Bella hasn't really gotten over her vampire boyfriend, Edward.

New Moon actually moves at an okay pace but the film is plagued with several pitfalls. First is the acting, not all that good and mediocre at best for a movie that has as much anticipation as this. It seems as if the best acting in the film is by minor actors. While the editing, sound, and music are quite decent, the movie is also plagued with the story itself. Likely no other film has done as much to destroy the vampire or werewolf lore and legend as has Twilight. For a fan of the genre, as a fan of the history of film, I just have to wonder as to the reasoning for this. While historically there have been strong religious themes displayed in these types of stories, the Twilight series is virtually void of these themes. Vampires can walk around in the day, but originally chose the Pacific Northwest because of their being able to adapt better to the cloudy days, yet when Edward and his family decide to move to help protect Bella, where do they go? Well, the place we all want to go at some point, the sunny beaches and locale of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. There are these and other inconsistencies that had me wondering out loud to my wife, why can't this girl just find a regular guy? It isn't like they don't exist.

But it isn't just there the movie falls short. In a movie like this, it is obvious there needs to be quality special effects. Twilight is tremendously disappointing in the reality of the werewolves and the transformation sequences. I don't know where all the money went in making this movie, but it certainly didn't go in providing quality special effects. There is one quality shot of time passing with Bella that is quite impressive, but that one shot does not make the movie worth the price of admission.

There is something about the film I think is worth mentioning, however. My wife and I attended a 7 PM show on opening day; we purchased our tickets at 4 PM and we literally purchased the last 2 tickets for all shows that day as every other theater, four for opening night, and six for the midnight showing were all sold-out. At that particular theater, every show on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was sold-out. There is a tremendous following for this movie. It is here I have to address some thoughts.

I had to arrive an hour early to stand in line to guarantee a decent seat to see the movie. While in line, I had the opportunity to talk with and make notice of a number of people. The line I was in was for two screenings with over 1,000 seats; at that point there were very few men. Once in the theater I noticed that out of 250 seats, I noticed only 11 were men, the rest women; not just young girls, though: there were a few teenage girls, but it was mainly young adults up to about the age of 35. I was amazed, but my amazement didn't stop here.

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