Chris on the webbed one
We saw "Spiderman" last week. Not bad. I thought Tobey MacGuire was good and that Willem Dafoe was charmingly over the top. J.K. Simmons (a great actor) stole the show however as Jameson. That type of character has been done before (see what’s-his-name in "Barton Fink") but he still did a great job.
Mark's review - you gotta read this
Paul,
Finally saw Star Wars Episode II tonight at the Digital Projection
theater in Pleasure Island.
We obviously need to talk about this, but I know you're packing and
moving soon. I can envision a lengthy tirade not unlike Saving Private
Ryan or Episode I brewing.
Here's some of my opening arguments:
Definitely better than the last film. Worth seeing digitally
projected. Much more action than any SW film to date. BUT...reminded
me of Pearl Harbor. Utterly fantastic single action sequence surrounded
by a horrible script and totally unbelievable love story. The only
thing that made this film's dialogue any better than Episode I is that
none of it came out of Jake Lloyd's mouth.
Probably my own fault for hating the first film so much and not watching
it ever again but, I was totally lost as to what the hell was going on
in terms of all this political bullshit! I couldn't tell who the bad
guys were, who ended up becoming the bad guys in Episode 4, 5, and 6,
and who the hell to root for in this movie. It was kind of odd getting
behind the stormtroopers who we all knew as the bad guys in the first
trilogy. Jenn and I managed to (I think) sort most of the rhetoric out
in the car on the way home, but geez, did it have to feel like a world
government class?
Fantastic visuals much improved over anything I've seen so far. Seeing
all the great looking beasts that Obi-Wan and Ani fought in the arena
has given me great hope for Paramount's hopeful franchise in the Edgar
Rice Burroughs Martian Tales books I loved so much as a kid. That being
said, like Episode I it was painfully obvious where all the video game
tie-ins were going to be. They even actually had a scene in this movie
where the characters were on a platform and had to jump and dodge
mechanical arms and stompers like you'd see in any Mario Bros. game.
All in all I gave it an B for effort (mercifully little of Jar Jar,
still too much in my opinion though), and a D for originality (where
have we seen that asteroid scene before? And those flying cars looked
an awful lot like Blade Runner mixed with Fifth Element) and script (the
only thing missing from Natalie and Hayden's love confessional
pre-battle scene was a "you complete me," or a "you had me at hello."
Combined overall grade: C+ Worth seeing if for no other reason than the
final battle scene and Yoda throwing down, but after it was over, I
really wanted to go see Spider-Man again.
Your thoughts on the subject?
-Tooch
Mark, Episode II
Paul,
Very insightful and thought out reviews - you should have your own show :-)
I wanted to write back and offer my comments to you about Spider-Man since I only got to wax about AOTC, but you seemed to have summed up my feelings on that film pretty nicely.
I agree completely about the look of the film. Comics typically are contained in a four color world with vibrant, bright hues and this is especially true of Spider-Man. I couldn't imagine what this film would have been like if someone like Burton or even Fincher (who was touted) had gotten their hands on it.
It is true that practically everything in this movie has its roots in the comics in some way. You pointed out what I had mentioned about Spider-Man 2099 (the finger talons originated in this series too). The scene with the Goblin and Mary Jane on top of the bridge was taken from the comic as well (although it was Parker's first love, Gwen Stacy that was dropped and ultimately dies).
Most of the other stuff that differs is only slight and was altered to obviously allow for the pacing of a 2 hour movie versus a multi-issue comic series. The death of Peter's Uncle is an example of this, as in the comic the burglar breaks into their house in Queens several days AFTER Peter let's him go in the hallway. But the changes make sense and work well in this movie.
I didn't have as much of a problem with the CGI scenes, I've kind of taken it for granted that this is a way of movie making that we the audience must suspend for enjoyment purposes. It kind of reminds me of the old Harryhousen days of Clash of the Titans and the Sinbad films where it was pretty obvious what was a real actor, and what was a molded clay armature. The same kind of "suspension of disbelief" occurred then as now, just with a different technology. I'm sure, much in the same way we view those old films now, years from now we'll look at Peter jumping from roof to roof and Harry Potter on the broom and say, "wow that looks SO unbelievable compared to what they can no now" - whereas in the present, yeah it doesn't look real, but compared to what they used to do, it looks great.
I really liked the fact that the villain in this movie did not overshadow the hero or even the main characters as it has countless times in the Batman franchise. I also liked the fact that the Goblin was not out to "rule the world" with some ridiculous over-the-top scheme (see the Riddler in Batman 2), but rather was just bent on either getting Spider-Man to join him, or eliminating him if he doesn't. I think that THAT personal goal - Villain versus Hero, was more interesting than some complicated plot involved in world domination or theft.
Anyway, Spider-Man gets my vote for best Superhero flick ever. That's a pretty tall order considering I've waited for over 10 years for this movie, and was a big fan of the comics and the character most of my life. Glad to see that my expectations weren't shattered. No for those die-hard Star Wars fans, well....
Clones is so bad, Melissa had to speak up
Oh my goodness, it has been a long time since I've seen a movie as poorly
written and acted as Attack of the Clones. Of course, I don't get out much,
but... Here are the young lovers by a waterfall. Here they are in a field
of flowers. Oh, now he's clowning around and they're rolling in the grass.
Cut to steamy scene by fireplace and she's wearing the senator level version
of black leather bondage outfit. "I am in pain with the very love I feel
for you..." or some other such poorly written smarmy crap. HOLY CROW. If I
wasn't such a sci-fi fan (and I really did enjoy the coliseum scene with the
animals), I'd have walked out. I couldn't have cared less for these
characters, and all of the cutting back and forth was nonsensical. (I've
heard that Lucas was inspired by comic books, but I think he's gone too far
this time.)
Okay, I'm done now. I'll go read your review, I just had to say my piece.
M
Paula's thoughts
Okay, here's a few brief thoughts from me:
"Spiderman" was great; really enjoyable. The dialouge
was cringe-inducing at a moment or two, but on the
whole, exciting and well-done.
Speaking of cringe-worthy dialouge: "Attack of the
Clones". Those poor actors! Even Hayden Christensen
and Natalie Portman managed to stink in it. But there
were also some genuine thrills, courtesy of my main
man Yoda - which I won't comment more on unless I know
you saw it already!
"About a Boy" was AWESOME! Hilarious, smart, and
totally heart-warming. It was the first movie this
year I out-and-out loved.
Rob needs to get a life...
I was reading your reviews this morning as I was breakfasting (nice
digestive aid, I might add) and was hit by an image in your Clones
review: Little Orphan Annie Skywalker.
Let's fire up the cloning unit and whiten those eyeballs. Is it too
late to pitch to Mad Magazine? It's soooo ripe for the pickin'! Daddy
WarBucks, a war profiteer and leader of the Intergalactic Senate is
playing his evil game (like the movie, duh.). But, Little Orphan Annie
Skywalker has been training with Punjab and learning the secrets of
eastern Jedi magic. The plot thickens and let's send in the clones.
Hmmm, maybe I need to get a life.
Rob
Palmer weighs in
Spider-Man: 3 & 1/2 stars: There's a reason that so many Marvel characters are reaching the big screen, and it's the same reason why they're making enough money to wipe out the national debt. Good old fashioned fun, good vs evil, stand up and cheer while you sympathize with the hero's human dilemna. Plus visual effects no longer need catch up. We're there baby. Stuck almost entirely to the original storyline, but updated it without a seam showing. Visuals were a sight to see. I could nit pick and say Goblin's costume was the wrong choice, or point to the fact the MJ's crisis was more akin to the original Gwen Stacy storyline, but it's just hooey. This movie is why we GO to the movies. Spectacle, escape and lotsa fun.
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: 3 stars(barely): I like Lucas' political and socioeconomic parallels with his story and the world not so far far away that we live in, but since it's only a simple plot vehicle, it in itself is no big entertainment draw. So we rely on the effects and characters. Nothing wrong with the characters, besides the fact that almost all the dialogue has the same oomph as an ice cube in a microwave. the special effects are, as always, grounbreaking and terrific, but if you get caught up in this movie fantasy world, you come to expect to be where you are, so enough scenery and get on with the real meat. Action sequences were terific, should have seen more of Yoda's acrobatic bad assness, but let's see where this movie leads us to. High expectaions for the third film to justify the trilogy in its entirety. I propose we put C-3 PO, Jar Jar Binks, the entire colony of Ewoks, and Jenny McCarthy in the cage of death together. If anyone survives, they can continue to strive for film work for another 5 years or so. Then we put them down.
WHAT?!
"Attack of the Clones" got WAY too many stars from you - dude, we LOVE the old trilogy. Does this new series of movies have an OUNCE of what made the originals great? I still contend - no.
- Paul
A few thoughts from Steve
Can I ever dish someday on how Attack of the Clones had some good stuff but
was overall DISAPPOINTING AGAIN. Lucas is on my "You Lost IT" list.
By the way, there was never any ATTACK of any CLONES, ever, they came to
help out, very odd.
Matt sums it up
Star Wars, Episode II: I loved the action and effects, but I'm stunned how bad the
acting and dialogue was.
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