2002.05.02 two words. :
spider-man.
well, really, i guess that's one word with the hyphen thing there, but technically, it's two, so… nyah.
about the Spider-Man movie let me just say this:
I was the first mother-fucker in line for spider-man in this entire city!
ok, sure, perhaps i wasn't the first person in line in the nation… i certainly wasn't the first person to get to see it since the big premiere was Tuesday night (and certainly a select few others had gotten to see it before that), but i claim bragging rights to being the first person in line for the first showing in my city. i think that says something about me.
what that is… i'm not exactly sure.
could be:
A. I'm an extraordinarily huge geek
B. I've got so much time on my hands that i can throw it away waiting in line for an hour & a half
C. I give too much importance to insignificant facts
people, the Spider-Man movie rocks. go see it.
to compare it to the reigning champion superhero movie, X-Men, i'd have to say that there are certainly some things spidey did better. and as i've explained to others, i think the reason the X-Men movie still ranks #1 with me is probably because it was a much darker movie. spidey's plot was much more subtle than the X-Men's Magneto plot. basically, it's a different type of movie.
which is not to say that spider-man wasn't action packed, in fact, i'd say spidey had more action than the X-Men movie as well as really well-done fight sequences (though it's hard to compete with Wolvie & Mystique mano y mano).
one really positive thing was that of all of those things that i was terribly afraid they'd mangle or mishandle, they really didn't do any of it. they handled everything really well, even the many changes they made to the "classic" spider-man origin, powers, and history.
in fact, here's a list:
things i didn't like:
dialogue was a bit too melodramatic at points
(GG's dialogue doesn't count, as paul pointed out)
kirsten dunst as mary jane watson
she did really well in the role… gave an excellent performance, but she's just not mary jane
things i didn't like but grew to accept before the movie was over:
Green Goblin's outfit (mainly the mask)
things i liked:
every other aspect of the movie
gad. it's not showing tonight, is it? no? … damn.
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| categories :: | Comics - Happy/Love - Movies - Pop Culture - Raves |
Sebastian said:
Come on dude, Kiersten Dunst is hot city, population me.
scott said:
hahaha
m@ said:
hehe. don't get me wrong Sebastian, Kirsten is indisputably cute. she's got a great, great body. but i really don't see her as the über-hottie that Mary Jane is supposed to be. i mean, Mary Jane–before her whole death/kidnapping thing was supposedly one of the top (if not *the* top) models in the Marvel universe. we're talking "blow your load at fifty paces" hot, which Kirsten just isn't.
and as i said, she did a fine job except for a few somewhat over-melodramatically delivered lines, and my only real beef with her centers around the cute/hot debate.
Sebastian said:
Well, who would you have wanted?
I haven't seen the movie yet (9 page paper is finish, however) and I'm not a big dork comic book fan, but the casting of Tobey Maguire kind of precludes a similarly cute actress as his counterpart, if just by Hollywood conventions.
Sebastian said:
Dammit, there was supposed to be a line through dork. Whoops.
scott said:
I don't think anyone could've really been hot enough to pull it off. Mila Jovovich perhaps?
paul said:
yo! sebastian watch who you imply is a "big dork comic book fan! matt is no dork, but he is a comic book fan, and he is definitly fucking big (hulk smash big)!
oh, and matt, you'd help your argument if you would provide us with a lovely alternative hottie.
Sebastian said:
The dork part was a joke.
I saw it last night. I thought it was entertaining, I thought Kirsten Dunst was hot, and overall, 3 stars out of 4. It lagged at parts during the second hour, some of the fighting was a little too inspired by the Matrix, and some parts were overdramatic. I still think the first two Batman movies rule over all other recent adaptations of comic books, but hey, it was entertaining and mostly exciting, so all in all, good time.
You couldn't have played up the "girl next door" angle that the love story relied upon with a superhot chick.
m@ (still drunk) said:
yeah guys, i wish i could think of an alternative, but unfortunately i've really fallen far from the days of yore when i could tell you the name of every "supermodel" in Ms., Elle, or Seventeen magazine. oh, how the mighty have fallen.
and i got your dork joke, sebastian, so don't worry, hulk won't smash puny student this time. hehe
and i think i agree with your assessment of the movie for the most part. the 2nd half was definitely a little weaker than the first, some of the drama seemed a little forced in places, the dialogue could've used some work. As for the "Matrix-influenced" fight scenes… i can see where you're coming from, but y'know, the Matrix did have a huge impact on filmmaking when it came out. Plus, you're trying to show how a person with "spidey powers" would fight… and i can't really imagine that Spidey (were he real) would fight much differently than they portrayed. I thought they handled the fight scenes exceptionally. I still think CGI needs a few more years of maturation, but the little CGI related problems i had with the movie are forgivable, for the most part.
as for MJ… I almost agree with you on the "girl next door" argument, though how much more impact would the drunk dad have had if MJ *was* the uber-hottie? The girl with seemingly everything actually has a raging alcoholic father and horrible home-life…
but, it would seem that they changed MJ's character a bit anyway… she's an actress rather than a model, and perhaps that makes a difference. Can I see the Kirsten Dunst MJ being a super-model? nope. But if they made her a successful stage actress… i might be able to buy that and forgive the admittedly minor issues i have with their chosen MJ.
m@ (still drunk) said:
damn, maybe i should've just made that a post…
Nate said:
Kirsten Dunst is *so* not hot.
I agree you need a girl-next-door, but even so…
Compare Kirsten Dunst to Mary Anne. Compare her to the daughter on the Munsters. Think of that girl on TV that drew first wood. She ain't it. They're typically girl-next-door, but they don't have to be slightly unattractive and extremely remedial girl-next-door. Maybe you live next to an institution… what do I know?
Nate said:
By the way, you have no sympathy whatsoever on the paper. Nine pages? Phah. That's right, I "phah" at your misery. Phah again.
Nate said:
Double phah.
Sebastian said:
Dear Nate,
Eat a dick.
Thanks,
Sebastian.
PS: That's fine that you don't like Kirsten Dunst. I'll have her all to myself, thank you very much. This means Rosie O'Donnell is -all- yours.
timmy said:
wow, everyone says that spiderman is worth seeing… guess i'm going have to spend my last 10 bucks to see it now…
m@ said:
yes indeedy. food? who needs it? go see Spidey!
and Sebastian, just to give a little perspective on Nate's "phah'ing" of your 9 page paper… he's currently in a doctorate program and has just finished (what sounded like, from everything he was telling me) a grueling semester… so, i'm sure he's feeling a bit vindictive right now.
anyway, you have *my* sympathy at least, whatever that counts for.
Sebastian said:
Here's my outlook. 9 pages is pretty bad for a junior undergrad. I'll probably reach the doctorate level at some point, and I'm sure I'll bitch then, too. But it's all relative.
Here's to nate's doctoral problems and my comparatively pithy 2 exams and a job interview in one day.
Cheers.
Nate said:
Trust me: revel in the joy of 9-page papers. Especially at the junior level of undergrad. I didn't eat the dick as advised, but I did take some Tylenol and am feeling much better now.
Good luck on your pithy exams. Where is assigning 9-page papers to juniors anyway? I just had my students do two 15 pagers along with their normal work.
Nate said:
p.s. Although Rosie has recently come out of the closet I do still have hopes of converting her back to the fold. Thanks for your encouragement and enjoy your consolation prize.