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"New Moon" the latest offering in the "Twilight" series, based on the books of the same name by Stephanie Meyer, is a critic-proof movie. Just ask the estrogen-filled throngs flooding the 14 midnight showings at my local theater, voraciously consuming the development of the vampire-human-werewolf love triangle of Edward, Bella, and Jacob. An informal straw poll of the XX-ers sitting around me revealed that, on whole, they found the movie to be superior to the first and truer to the book. An informal straw poll of those few XYs sprinkled throughout the auditorium revealed a discomfort with the amount of drool being expelled over the leading men.

"New Moon" is a completely different animal than director Catherine Hardwicke's moody, bleached-out "Twilight." Sure, Edward (Robert Pattinson) is still angsty and the whole piece is driven by Bella's (Kristen Stewart) depression over his leaving, but director Chris Weitz has infused the film with some "Golden Compass" magic, upping the special effects budget and creating a hybrid of teen drama and fantasy that mostly works. (The Volturi scenes are great fun.) Of course the special effect that received the most attention in Theater 7 was the 30 pounds of muscle that Taylor Lautner packed on to play the post-werewolf-pubescent Jacob. You may know how the books end, but you'll be Team Jacob by the end of this flick.

But this isn't a CGI-fueled film, it's all about the sexual tension between Bella and Jacob. Oh sure, Edward's still in the story, more so than in the book, but this is really Jacob's set piece. Still growing as an actor, Lautner's performance has some weak points-what my friend calls Keanu Reeves moments: cute but wooden (I think this goes for Pattinson at times, too)-but he's perfect as the best friend with the puppy dog crush: balancing the the pain of unrequited love with the desire to remain a loyal friend. Just as importantly, he brings out the best in Stewart. Gone, for the most part, are the distracting rapidly fluttering eyelashes and stuttering, replaced by an engaging, believable intimacy.

CNN and other outlets are reporting today that "The Oprah Winfrey Show" will be ending after 25 seasons.

The last show will be coming up soon: on September 9, 2011.

Okay, so it's not so soon! Mrs. Winfrey has followed the path of evening talk show host Jay Leno, the host of "The Tonight Show" from 1992-2009. To remove speculation about the potential of him moving to another network, or about what would happen with Conan O'Brien, the succession plan was announced well in advance of his May, 2009 departure from the show. Mrs. Winfrey's announcement comes almost two years before her show will actually end.

I have several questions and reactions to the news:

Wow! Sometimes it takes the end of something to appreciate how amazing it's been. According to the Oprah.com website, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" has been the highest-rated talk show for 23 consecutive seasons, being seen by 42 million viewers a week in the United States and 145 other countries. It has spun off "Oprah's Book Club," "O" Magazine, Oprah.com, "Oprah's Angel Network," Harpo Films and a host of other associations.

More Than a Show. "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is more than a show. It's an institution. It's a movement. It's a congregation. It's a marketing animal. It's the home base of a much larger media empire. While most talk shows ("Larry King Live," "The Today Show," "Good Morning America," "Late Night With David Letterman, etc.) attract media leaders who are releasing a book, movie, campaign or public relations message, Oprah's endorsement has turned unknown people into household names, including Eckhart Tolle and Marianne Williamson. She has helped turn unknown gadgets into everyday must-haves . She once urged her audience to read Leo Tolstoy's"Anna Karenina," and the ancient Russian classic shot to the top of the Best-Seller list.

Entertainment Weekly and the usually astute, if crabby, Get Religion blog did their best to raise a kerfuffle last week about news that Dimension Films is hoping to market "The Road," the new apocalyptic movie thriller, to conservative Christians. Dimension has hired A. Larry Ross Communications, the media p.r. firm famous for representing Billy Graham, causing EW (Adam Vary's article is not online) and GR to question whether it's seemly to reach out to pastors on behalf of an R-rated, high-end zombie flick--and whether Christians will take the bait.

The countdown to the release of 'New Moon,' the second movie in the Twilight Saga, is long underway. In less than forty-eight hours all will be revealed! OK. Maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic. Regardless, I'm excited to see what's in store for Twilight fans on the big screen when 'New Moon' hits theaters. Here are my top five hopes--I say hopes instead of predictions because, really, I know I'm just wishful thinking:

1) That Edward is portrayed as less like a stalker this time around and more like the romantic hero he is in the books. He actually smiles quite a bit and even laughs in the series--but there was only one scene when he smiled and did anything playful in the movie version of Twilight. I didn't like that portrayal of Edward at all!

2) That Edward's face won't look pained for the entirety of his time spent on the screen. Okay. See hope #1 above.

3) That, despite the trailers and the movie poster, this movie will not be as Jacob-heavy as we've been led to believe. Of course, I am well aware that 'New Moon' the book is almost all Jacob, all the time, but still: I can hope, right?

As thousands of teens - not to mention those who passed their teen years some time ago- work themselves into a lather over this week's movie debut of the "Twilight sequel, "New Moon" there is one teen who doesn't seem to be the slightest bit interested in all the vampire fuss.. In fact, tween queen Miley Cyrus says she - gasp - has never seen "Twilight" and doesn't plan on seeing it -ever.

In an interview where she was busy hawking her Walmart clothing line, Cyrus was asked if she was a member of Team Jacob or Team Edward, and that's when Miley decided to make her big confession. In the interview she was quoted as saying "I don't believe in it. I don't like vampires. I don't want anything to do with it."