Movie Review: Spider-Man 3
For once everything in Peter Parker’s life is perfect. Crime is almost nonexistent, Mary Jane is starring in a new musical which is set to open on Broadway, and Spider-Man is finally receiving his due. Bad reviews, genetically engineered Sandmen, a vengeful former best friend, a rival Daily Bugle photographer, a beautiful starry eyed classmate and a black alien symbiote monster are just some of the opposition introduced in the third film. If this sounds like over-load, that’s because it is. The story-lines presented in Spider-Man 3 could easily have been made into two films. The resulting movie suffers from the suffocation of too much plot, and too many characters.
The problem with Spider-Man 3 is that I (like many others) found an abundance of faults and problems, most of which can be easily dismissed. But to write about the film, means to point out many of the film’s problems. So my positive feelings about the film may become obscured behind some of my criticism. But trust me, the film is good - better than the first movie. Spider-Man 3 is the Return of The Jedi of this comic book trilogy. Spider-Man 2 is the best comic book movie of all time. And like Empire, it’s very hard to follow-up on such greatness.
And Spider-Man 3 sometimes comes closer to cliche, than the smile-enducing corny that was done so well in the second film. Some of the effects, especially in the crane sequence, seem unfinished. Some of the original Danny Elfman themes were used, and when Christopher Young’s original score comes into play you can tell. His jazz/beat-music like themes feel out of place. And the Kirsten Dunst singing sequences were unneeded and over-excessive.
I think that most people may be disappointed by the lack of Venom in the film, especially considering that he is the core of most of the film’s marketing campaign. I also felt that Topher Grace had too much of a presence in those sequences, when they should have just given the fans the character that they paid to see.
And one must also acknowledge the many convenient coincidences spread throughout the unimpressive screenplay. The meteor containing the black symbiote goo crashes to earth right next to Peter Parker’s moped. Harry Osbourne has a lapse of memory at the most convenient moment. A gimmick of the nature is usually reserved for the lowest of the low entertainment mediums - soap operas. And with Soaps, it is understandable - they have to create so many hours of entertainment each week that some of the plot inherently suffers. But a two and a half hour movie like Spider-Man 3 has no excuse for such bad plotting.
The Sandman’s particle effects provides some of the most interesting visuals in the film. The Green Goblin/Peter Parker skyscraper fight (the one seen in the extended preview) happens early on (probably too early on) but provides more excitement than any action sequence in recent years. It is everything that the final Matrix battle between Agent Smith and Neo promised (but failed) to be. A montage of darker/more-aggressive Peter serves as a companion piece to the wonderful No responsibility montage from the second film.
Fans of the series will enjoy a few inside nods to the fanboy crowd, including an quick hint of Peter Parker’s “relationship” with J. Jonah Jameson’s secretary Betty Brant, a pair of cameos from Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee, and Venom’s auditory weakness (which I feel plays much better in the comic series than in the film adaptation).
But deep down Spider-Man 3 is really the third act in the Peter Parker/Harry Osbourne story. Sure, the other villains help mirror Parker’s internal struggle, but it is Osbourne’s storyline which comes to a dramatic climax. Spider-Man 3 is the perfect bookend to the main through-line that makes up this comic-book trilogy. And while Spider-Man 2 is a film about responsibility (to be or not to be Spider-Man, and Uncle Ben’s death), the third film is about forgiveness and acceptance.
2007 Academy Award Predictions
Well, like last year, here I am on the day that the Oscar Nominations are out, trying to be the first person to predict the winners. I like to go on gut instinct for my predictions. It is easy to predict after you hear what all the experts have to say on the subject. But to do it right away before you read others predictions is harder but thats the way I like it. So, read on to find out who will win this years Oscars:
Picture: The Departed
Actor in a Leading Role: Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
Actress in a Leading Role: Helen Mirren - The Queen
Actor in a Supporting Role: Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Actress in a Supporting Role: Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Director: Martin Scorsese - The Departed
Original Screenplay: Babel - Guillermo Arriaga
Adapted Screenplay: The Departed - William Monahan
Cinematography: Laberinto del Fauno, El - Guillermo Navarro
Editing: Babel - Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Art Direction: Laberinto del Fauno, El
Costume Design: The Queen
Original Score: Laberinto del Fauno, El - Javier Navarrete
Original Song: Our Town - Cars - Randy Newman
Makeup: Laberinto del Fauno, El - David Mart, Montse Rib
Achievement in Sound: Flags of Our Fathers
Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Flags of Our Fathers
Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Best Animated Feature: Cars
Foreign Language Film: Laberinto del Fauno, El - (Mexico)
Best Documentary, Feature: Deliver Us from Evil
Best Documentary, Short Subject: Recycled Life
Best Short Film, Animated: Maestro
Best Short Film, Live Action: West Bank Story
And, like last year, I will post these predicitons again the week before the Oscar telecast.
Oscar Predictions, Again
The day the Oscar nominations came out, I posted my predictions for who will win in each category and promised to repost the predictions a week before the Academy Awards broadcast. Well, here we are and here are my predictions once again. This time though, I have added a few comments about some of the picks. The picks are exactly the same as the last time even though some of them go against what most people are predicting. But I like to go with my initial gut instinct and thats what Ive done here.
Best Picture: The Departed - Of all my picks, this one has me the most worried as everyone seems to be picking Babel and there has even been some talk about an upset win for Little Miss Sunshine. But Im still picking The Departed, partially because I believe it is finally Scorseses year and the Best Director usually wins Best Picture as well. Plus last year everyone (including myself) said that Brokeback Mountain was going to win and nobody picked Crash (despite the fact that I was hoping it would win as it was a better movie). Crash won and nobody seemed to see that coming. The Departed will be similar.
Actor in a Leading Role: Forest Whitaker -The Last King of Scotland - Almost a guarantee.
Actress in a Leading Role: Helen Mirren - The Queen - A definite guarantee.
Actor in a Supporting Role: Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Actress in a Supporting Role: Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Director: Martin Scorsese - The Departed
Original Screenplay: Babel - Guillermo Arriaga
Adapted Screenplay: The Departed - William Monahan
Cinematography: Laberinto del Fauno, El - Guillermo Navarro - Pans Labyrinth has garnered so much attention that I picked it for most of these, what I call epic movie categories.
Editing: Babel - Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Art Direction: Laberinto del Fauno, El
Costume Design: The Queen
Original Score: Laberinto del Fauno, El - Javier Navarrete
Original Song: Our Town - Cars - Randy Newman - When Dreamgirls has three songs nominated it seems like a lock to get a win, so I went out on a limb and predicted long-time Oscar favorite Randy Newman.
Makeup: Laberinto del Fauno, El - David Mart, Montse Rib
Achievement in Sound: Flags of Our Fathers
Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Flags of Our Fathers
Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Best Animated Feature: Cars
Foreign Language Film: Laberinto del Fauno, El - (Mexico) - If it doesnt win with so many other nominations, there is something wrong.
Best Documentary, Feature: Deliver Us from Evil - While An Inconvenient Truth has gotten the most attention because of Al Gore, Ive heard better things about Deliver Us From Evil.
Best Documentary, Short Subject: Recycled Life
Best Short Film, Animated: Maestro
Best Short Film, Live Action: West Bank Story
So, there is my reposted predictions. I hope everyone enjoys the Oscars!.
Pan’s Labyrinth expands to Over 1,000 Screens This Weekend
Ever wonder what an Academy Award nomination can mean to a film? Up until January 18th, the critically acclaimed Pan’s Labyrinth was only being shown on just under 200 screens nationwide. With six nominations, the film will expand to over 1,000 screens on Friday. This is one of the must see movies of last year. If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to go to your local theater this weekend and see it on the big screen. Press release after the jump.
PICTUREHOUSE EXPANDS PANS LABYRINTH
TO OVER 1,000 SCREENS THIS WEEKEND
(New York, February 1, 2007)
Picturehouse will expand Pans Labyrinth to over 1000 screens this weekend. Pans Labyrinth was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Foreign Film, Cinematography, Art Direction, Makeup, Music Written for Motion Pictures (original score) and Best Original Screenplay.
Pans Labyrinth won 7 GOYA Awards this past weekend including Best original screenplay, Best Cinematography, Special Effects, Makeup, Sound, Montage, and best new actress for Ivana Baquero! It is also the best reviewed film of 2006 and 2007 (mentioned on over 100 top ten lists).
Directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pans Labyrinth is a fanciful and chilling story set against the backdrop of a fascist regime in 1944 rural Spain. The film centers on Ofelia, a lonely and dreamy child living with her mother and adoptive father; a military officer tasked with ridding the area of rebels. In her loneliness, Ofelia creates a world filled with fantastical creatures and secret destinies. With post-war repression at its height, Ofelia must come to terms with her world through a fable of her own creation.
Launched in April 2005, Picturehouse is the joint venture of two leaders of the entertainment community - HBO and New Line Cinema. Currently in release is Guillermo del Toros gothic fairy tale Pans Labyrinth, Starter for 10 from Tom Hanks Playtone Productions; El Cantante, a music-infused biography of Puerto Rican, salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe, starring Jennifer Lopez and her husband, Marc Anthony; Olivier Dahans Edith Piaf biopic, La Vie En Rose; Gracie, directed by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) and starring Oscar Nominee-Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue and Carly Schroeder (Firewall, Mean Creek); and Francois Girards Silk, starring Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Koji Yakusho, and Alfred Molina.