I for one am willing to temporarily buy Chris Weitz‘s statement of devotion and sincerity regarding his direction of New Moon, the sequel to Twilight. I happen to feel Weitz (The Golden Compass, About A Boy) is a weak choice, feeling as I do that he’s a sensitive, well-intentioned but fatally middlebrow journeyman. I’ve also said before that given the chaste female sensibility of the Twilight novels that a woman director would have been a more natural fit. (Like The Hurt Locker ‘s Kathryn Bigelow.)

I also think that Weitz’s statement-to-the-fans is politically correct b.s., but one may as well as accept that he’s got the gig. I just can’t put aside knowing that Weitz and Summit’s president of production Eric Feig are longtime pallies. I can just see them playing poker together, smoking cigars together, watching ESPN together, going to Lakers games together, lending each other waders for fly-fishing, going to Scores together when they’re in Manhattan, etc.