This is the story of a brave and amazing horse indeed.
A man squanders all of his hard earned money on a young wild horse, just so he can out bid his fairly mean landlord, Lyons, portrayed by David Thewlis (aka Professor Lupin). Ted Narracott now owns the horse, but thus he cannot make his rent and does nearly lose his farm. However, his son, Albert (a great debut from Jeremy Irvine) takes a huge shine to the horse whom he names Joey. Albert spends every waking moment with that horse and even manages to train him to pull a plow to plow a field so Lyons can give the family an extension. Joey plows the whole field, a new crop is planted but a nasty storm comes along to ruin everything. Then World War I arrives and desperate for the money, Ted takes the horse and sells Joey to the army. Albert is devastated, as any boy would be. He tries to join the army, but he's too young. It isn't until after he receives word that Joey's rider has died that he runs away and joins anyway. By the time Albert has joined, Joey has already switched hands. After pulling a German ambulance for some time, he finds himself in the arms of a lovely, but ill French girl named Emily who loves the horse (s) dearly. (There is another horse with Joey, named TopSod, a black beauty.) But soon these horses are also captured by some troops where they are forced to pull artillery up steep hills; the work is dangerous and the majority of the horses don't last long. But Joey survives, only to be caught in a nasty amount of barbed wire. Here a British soldier and a German soldier work to untangle him, and in the end, he gets to go home with the British one. Joey is taken to the hospital, where Albert is recovery from mustard gas and is temporarily blind. Joey has a wound in his leg and the doctor decides that he must be shot, as it will too much work to mend him. But then Albert discovers that this horse is Joey and proves it to everyone else. Joey is not killed, and heals. Yet, another hurdle remains, he is to be auctioned off once the war ends. Albert's squad digs up money for him so he can buy him back, but he is drastically outbid by an elderly French man (Niels Arestrup) so he can have something to remind him of his granddaughter, Emily. Fortunately, a scarf found on Joey belonged to Albert's father, and thus the grandfather changes his mind, after all it was what his granddaughter would have wanted. Albert and Joey return home, to his parents.
Now, though the film is good, with its realistic set and natural lighting add to authenticity of the film, the play still manages to be better. Having seen the play in London (where it originated), where the horses are fantastic puppets instead of being real, the film changes many aspects of the plot, trying to make it seem more epic. Others work, while others simply make the film a whole mess. Emily isn't ill in the play, and Joey is not put up for auction after the war, he just gets to go home with Albert. The character of Lyons also does not exist; instead, he is replaced with Ted's brother, who also tries to buy Joey. On stage, the scene stealing goose is also much more effective, constantly trying to get in the house, where as in the film, it is a watch goose, who does get in the house. The mother (Emily Watson in the film) is a much more powerful character, spitting her lines at her husband with fiery emotion, while Watson does well in the film, though her character is largely limited which is unfortunate. The film does contain some great performances, mainly from Jeremy Irvine, but the supporting players, including Tom Hiddleton and Benedict Cumberbatch are also good to watch. For the final word, the play lost points because the German and French characters said their lines in their native language, confusing me, while the film had the same characters speak their lines in English, ruining the authenticity of the film. The lines should have been said in the proper language with subtitles. Still, the film is good, but the horse steals the show, just as it was intended. Grade: B+
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Magic Mike
This is another film that should have been better, but at least it proved that Channing Tatum isn't a total dud. He does have some talent and can be confident, traits he was sorely lacking in The Vow.
Here, Tatum is Michael Lane, aka Magic Mike, who is part entrepreneur, part stripper. In addition to his stripper gig, he is also a roofer and apparently also has a small business dealing with cars as well. But his dream is to make custom furniture, and though his creations do look good, they are really nothing more than rumble he finds along the beach and puts together to create a table with a glass sheet on top. However, when he visits a bank towards the middle of the film, he can't get approved for the loan he needs because his credit score is awful, but he has money, tons of it as he gets paid in cash every night.
The main plot of the film is when Mike takes the young (only 19) Adam under his wing and teaches him the lay of the land (almost literally). Adam becomes a stripper and is quite popular, just as Mike and Dallas (Matthew McConaghey) expected. However, Adam is really nothing more than a loser with a caring sister, Brooke (Cody Horn, a blond Anna Kendrick). He got into a fight with his college football coach and thus tossed away a football scholarship; he's a real keeper, ladies. Once in the stripper business, Adam also gets involved with the ecstasy business as well, much to Mike's chargrin. In fact, Mike tells him to never give the drugs to a girl he doesn't know. Actually, he shouldn't be giving drugs to any girls, whether he knows them or not. However, once they run away from the party where they both were stripping, as they were getting beat up over Adam's actions, Adam leaves his bag with the large remainder of the drugs so now he owes his dealer a ton of money. Money he does not have. Instead, Mike pays it, just so Adam is not physically harmed. Ten thousand dollars, all for a jerk who does not truly appreciate what Mike did for him. Adam takes his gesture for granted, though he swears he will pay him back, but I personally doubt it.
Mike is also still getting a grip on his own life, and must deal with the fact that his main source of income is moving to Miami, but he will not be getting the cut of the business that he feels he deserves and in the end, leaves the stripping business behind. Which is good, as Dallas took advantage of his best, and most buff stripper. But then again, you never really knew what Dallas's big plans were, as he was the one who said that he would just let his kid watch the money channel all day long to figure out how to become rich, that school was nothing more than a waste of his time.
Then there are the women. For a while Mike tries to have a relationship with Joanna (Olivia Munn) who enjoys psychology and threesomes, but all along, she had a fiance. Then there is Brooke (Cody Horn), Adam's responsible medical assistant sister who is dating this boring guy, Paul, but luckily soon he is out of the picture, leaving room for her to get together with Mike, which does happen, though once again, she allows him to sleep with her too early in the relationship, just as all the female characters in the film do. They are merely objects. Another stripper, Ken (Matt Bomer) even lets Adam touch his wife's boobs, and she just lets the young kid get away with it. And everyone lets Adam drink alcohol even though he's too young, which is illegal, just for the record. Yet, the film was still decent as Tatum was in full control of his role, but ultimately, it just wasn't enough to save the film. Grade: B
Here, Tatum is Michael Lane, aka Magic Mike, who is part entrepreneur, part stripper. In addition to his stripper gig, he is also a roofer and apparently also has a small business dealing with cars as well. But his dream is to make custom furniture, and though his creations do look good, they are really nothing more than rumble he finds along the beach and puts together to create a table with a glass sheet on top. However, when he visits a bank towards the middle of the film, he can't get approved for the loan he needs because his credit score is awful, but he has money, tons of it as he gets paid in cash every night.
The main plot of the film is when Mike takes the young (only 19) Adam under his wing and teaches him the lay of the land (almost literally). Adam becomes a stripper and is quite popular, just as Mike and Dallas (Matthew McConaghey) expected. However, Adam is really nothing more than a loser with a caring sister, Brooke (Cody Horn, a blond Anna Kendrick). He got into a fight with his college football coach and thus tossed away a football scholarship; he's a real keeper, ladies. Once in the stripper business, Adam also gets involved with the ecstasy business as well, much to Mike's chargrin. In fact, Mike tells him to never give the drugs to a girl he doesn't know. Actually, he shouldn't be giving drugs to any girls, whether he knows them or not. However, once they run away from the party where they both were stripping, as they were getting beat up over Adam's actions, Adam leaves his bag with the large remainder of the drugs so now he owes his dealer a ton of money. Money he does not have. Instead, Mike pays it, just so Adam is not physically harmed. Ten thousand dollars, all for a jerk who does not truly appreciate what Mike did for him. Adam takes his gesture for granted, though he swears he will pay him back, but I personally doubt it.
Mike is also still getting a grip on his own life, and must deal with the fact that his main source of income is moving to Miami, but he will not be getting the cut of the business that he feels he deserves and in the end, leaves the stripping business behind. Which is good, as Dallas took advantage of his best, and most buff stripper. But then again, you never really knew what Dallas's big plans were, as he was the one who said that he would just let his kid watch the money channel all day long to figure out how to become rich, that school was nothing more than a waste of his time.
Then there are the women. For a while Mike tries to have a relationship with Joanna (Olivia Munn) who enjoys psychology and threesomes, but all along, she had a fiance. Then there is Brooke (Cody Horn), Adam's responsible medical assistant sister who is dating this boring guy, Paul, but luckily soon he is out of the picture, leaving room for her to get together with Mike, which does happen, though once again, she allows him to sleep with her too early in the relationship, just as all the female characters in the film do. They are merely objects. Another stripper, Ken (Matt Bomer) even lets Adam touch his wife's boobs, and she just lets the young kid get away with it. And everyone lets Adam drink alcohol even though he's too young, which is illegal, just for the record. Yet, the film was still decent as Tatum was in full control of his role, but ultimately, it just wasn't enough to save the film. Grade: B
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Moonrise Kingdom
This film, like all Wes Anderson films, is an experience. An interesting experience.
Here, there are two young people who runaway from their homes. In the case of Sam (Jared Gilman), it's his campsite, while for Suzy (Kara Hayward), it's here house, with her mature younger brothers and neglectful parents, Walt and Laura Bishop (aka Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). Laura calls her children to dinner with the use of a blow-horn.
After a chance encounter during a production of Noah's Ark, when Sam sneaks into the girl's dressing room, the two meet and become friends and pen pals. Sam is an orphan, and horribly unliked at the Khaki Camp which he is attending, though when he escapes his scoutmaster Randy Ward (Edward Norton) organizes the remainder of his troops into a search party for the young boy. In the meantime, the police are also notified. The only cop we really see is Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis), who just so happens to be having an affair with Laura. He is a lost and lonely man. But he throws himself into looking for the lost children.
Sam and Suzy have some interesting experiences, including their first encounter with kissing. But they also run into the fellow campers and Suzy ends up stabbing one of them with her left-handed scissors, which is bad. The moment that the two are caught is hilarious. They are both inside the tent, sleeping, but when they open up the tent, all the adults are just staring at them and Bill Murray is furious and rips the tent right off of it base. The children are taken back to their respective homes, but soon they escape again, this time with the help of Sam's fellow troops. One camper takes them to his cousin Ben's (Jason Swartzman) camp who marries them (not officially of course) and they once again try to escape, though this time it is the weather that thwarts them as a downpour arrives.
In the end, the kids decide to return home. Captain Sharp decides to open his home to young Sam, which is an offer he accepts, as he does not want to go with Social Services (Tilda Swinton) where he will be taken to a mental institution to be evaluated. Laura also ends her affair with Captain Sharp, though he understands why this needs to be done. She also tells Walt that they need to focus more on the children (though I don't think they follow through on this). At the end of the film, Sam and Suzy are still friends and may remain so for the rest of their lives, or they may eventually take it to the next level, but none of that matters, as they are together which is precisely what they wanted.
I do have some problems with the film, including the role of Suzy. Though her parents often say she is troubled, I don't believe that to be the case. She is lonely and way too old for her years. She also lets Sam touch her chest too early in the relationship. When Sam makes her a pair of earrings, but she doesn't have pierced ears. Not a problem, Sam just pierces them for her, with a stream of blood running down her neck from the procedure.
Still, the film has some great moments. The characters are all interesting and portrayed well by the famous actors. But Edward Norton does look old for only 42 and why is the Bill Murray character always the one being cuckolded? However, the scenery is fabulous and Anderson certainly pays attention to every single detail in his films, from the camera angles to the books Suzy reads aloud to the menfolk. It was a good film, but it could have been better. Grade: B+
Here, there are two young people who runaway from their homes. In the case of Sam (Jared Gilman), it's his campsite, while for Suzy (Kara Hayward), it's here house, with her mature younger brothers and neglectful parents, Walt and Laura Bishop (aka Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). Laura calls her children to dinner with the use of a blow-horn.
After a chance encounter during a production of Noah's Ark, when Sam sneaks into the girl's dressing room, the two meet and become friends and pen pals. Sam is an orphan, and horribly unliked at the Khaki Camp which he is attending, though when he escapes his scoutmaster Randy Ward (Edward Norton) organizes the remainder of his troops into a search party for the young boy. In the meantime, the police are also notified. The only cop we really see is Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis), who just so happens to be having an affair with Laura. He is a lost and lonely man. But he throws himself into looking for the lost children.
Sam and Suzy have some interesting experiences, including their first encounter with kissing. But they also run into the fellow campers and Suzy ends up stabbing one of them with her left-handed scissors, which is bad. The moment that the two are caught is hilarious. They are both inside the tent, sleeping, but when they open up the tent, all the adults are just staring at them and Bill Murray is furious and rips the tent right off of it base. The children are taken back to their respective homes, but soon they escape again, this time with the help of Sam's fellow troops. One camper takes them to his cousin Ben's (Jason Swartzman) camp who marries them (not officially of course) and they once again try to escape, though this time it is the weather that thwarts them as a downpour arrives.
In the end, the kids decide to return home. Captain Sharp decides to open his home to young Sam, which is an offer he accepts, as he does not want to go with Social Services (Tilda Swinton) where he will be taken to a mental institution to be evaluated. Laura also ends her affair with Captain Sharp, though he understands why this needs to be done. She also tells Walt that they need to focus more on the children (though I don't think they follow through on this). At the end of the film, Sam and Suzy are still friends and may remain so for the rest of their lives, or they may eventually take it to the next level, but none of that matters, as they are together which is precisely what they wanted.
I do have some problems with the film, including the role of Suzy. Though her parents often say she is troubled, I don't believe that to be the case. She is lonely and way too old for her years. She also lets Sam touch her chest too early in the relationship. When Sam makes her a pair of earrings, but she doesn't have pierced ears. Not a problem, Sam just pierces them for her, with a stream of blood running down her neck from the procedure.
Still, the film has some great moments. The characters are all interesting and portrayed well by the famous actors. But Edward Norton does look old for only 42 and why is the Bill Murray character always the one being cuckolded? However, the scenery is fabulous and Anderson certainly pays attention to every single detail in his films, from the camera angles to the books Suzy reads aloud to the menfolk. It was a good film, but it could have been better. Grade: B+
Friday, July 6, 2012
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
This film should have been better. It just should have been as it had a great cast, full of famous and talented British people: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton and the young but still talented Dev Patel.
These people are all retired and want to make some changes in their lives, some for pleasure, others out of necessity. Maggie Smith hates all that are not white, but she needs hip surgery and does not have the money to have it done in Britain, thus she is outsourced. She goes, albeit reluctantly. Judi Dench plays Evelyn, a recent widow, whose husband left her deep in debt, thus she goes because it is cheaper there. Tom Wilkinson goes to seek out a lost love, who turns out to be someone who you least expected. He's homosexual and the man he seeks out is a former servant of his. And then he dies, but at least he can die happy. Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy are the only married couple among the group, though they are unhappy, for Penelope often flirts with Tom and becomes quite upset upon learning that he is gay. Bill is enjoying India, while Penelope struggles with the adjustment and towards the tail end of the film, leaves, alone. She tells Bill that she's done. Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie (the two least known stars) stay put. Celia sets Ronald up with this rich British woman staying at another hotel. However, it is Maggie and Judi who thrive the most. Judi finds a job, her first in her life and loves it. Maggie recovers from her surgery, comes around to those different from her and eventually gets a job helping Dev run the hotel.
The hotel has struggles of its own. Dev is deep in debt. At least, the hotel doesn't even have operating telephones. Dev also tries to woo a beautiful girl, played by Tena Desae, to the chagrin of her family.
In the end, everyone is happy. Dev's mother comes around; the hotel stays in business and Judi finds love again with Bill. Dev and Tena are also happy together.
Though the film has its good moments, especially when Maggie Smith reveals her true history. She was a servant in a large house, but after awhile, the family hires another servant. Maggie takes the new person under her wing and shows her the ropes, but then the family fires her; she was no longer necessary. And there are some funny moments, but ultimately, the film did not really teach a lesson or inspire people to change their lives in anyway. Grade: B
These people are all retired and want to make some changes in their lives, some for pleasure, others out of necessity. Maggie Smith hates all that are not white, but she needs hip surgery and does not have the money to have it done in Britain, thus she is outsourced. She goes, albeit reluctantly. Judi Dench plays Evelyn, a recent widow, whose husband left her deep in debt, thus she goes because it is cheaper there. Tom Wilkinson goes to seek out a lost love, who turns out to be someone who you least expected. He's homosexual and the man he seeks out is a former servant of his. And then he dies, but at least he can die happy. Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy are the only married couple among the group, though they are unhappy, for Penelope often flirts with Tom and becomes quite upset upon learning that he is gay. Bill is enjoying India, while Penelope struggles with the adjustment and towards the tail end of the film, leaves, alone. She tells Bill that she's done. Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie (the two least known stars) stay put. Celia sets Ronald up with this rich British woman staying at another hotel. However, it is Maggie and Judi who thrive the most. Judi finds a job, her first in her life and loves it. Maggie recovers from her surgery, comes around to those different from her and eventually gets a job helping Dev run the hotel.
The hotel has struggles of its own. Dev is deep in debt. At least, the hotel doesn't even have operating telephones. Dev also tries to woo a beautiful girl, played by Tena Desae, to the chagrin of her family.
In the end, everyone is happy. Dev's mother comes around; the hotel stays in business and Judi finds love again with Bill. Dev and Tena are also happy together.
Though the film has its good moments, especially when Maggie Smith reveals her true history. She was a servant in a large house, but after awhile, the family hires another servant. Maggie takes the new person under her wing and shows her the ropes, but then the family fires her; she was no longer necessary. And there are some funny moments, but ultimately, the film did not really teach a lesson or inspire people to change their lives in anyway. Grade: B
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Brave
This was a fairly good film, though it was far from Pixar's best.
In Brave (this will contain massive spoilers), Merida (Kelly MacDonald) is a Scottish princess, who wants to change her fate. She doesn't want to marry one of the heirs to the other clans. Instead she wants to go her own way. Skilled with the bow and arrow, she orders the others to a game of bow and arrow to win her hand, as is the tradition of her people, but after the contest is over, she (knowing that she is the first born) decides to fight for her own hand, and she beats all three of the boys. Naturally, her mother (Emma Thompson) is furious, though her father (Billy Connolly) is less so. Not satisfied with the results, Merida then runs away and journeys into the woods where she meets up with a strange witch who conjures up a spell to change Merida's fate. A pie is made which Merida brings home to her mother. I wondered what was going to happen, just as everyone else did, but I never expected what would really happen. Mom changed into a bear. However, this creates a huge problem. Dad has not had good experiences with bears and one even chopped off his leg (this turns out to be one the ancestors who also tried to change his fate). Thus upon finding out that there is a bear in his palace, he tries to attack and kill it, despite Merida's pleas to stop. She has to recruit her crazy younger brothers (who are addicted to sweets) to help her mother escape. However, instead of finding the witch (she has gone off to sell her craved wood products), the two spend time bonding, though it is awkward as the mother is a bear. The spell does have a catch, it will become permanent after two sunrises. Soon, Merida realizes that the spell can be broken if the tapestry (which she ripped in the previous fight with her mother) is mended. However, though Merida's main problem is mended, as her mother comes around and decides that she does not need to marry unless she falls in love. But the bear is caught and the people begin to chase after her, and Merida does to, bringing the tapestry along with her which she carelessly mends as she rides along to save her mother. As the final battle begins, the other bear (the ancestor) comes along also despite for revenge. Suffice to say, everything works out. The mother bear manages to kill the bad bear while saving her own life. Merida gets the tapestry onto mother's body in time and she (along with the younger brothers who found and ate some of the cake as well) all turn back to normal. All is right in Merida's world.
Though Merida is a fascinating character, and it is truly wonderful to finally have a female lead in a Pixar film, the film ultimately falls flat. The plot feels forced and weak, and there are several times when I wondered why Merida was making the decisions that she was. And I didn't understand why the tapestry needed to draped across the mother's body for the curse to be broken. Still, there are some genuinly funny moments, though most of these involve Merida's crazy younger brother or the stock character maid. Still, I will gladly watch the film again, though I expected something much better from Pixar. Grade: B+
In Brave (this will contain massive spoilers), Merida (Kelly MacDonald) is a Scottish princess, who wants to change her fate. She doesn't want to marry one of the heirs to the other clans. Instead she wants to go her own way. Skilled with the bow and arrow, she orders the others to a game of bow and arrow to win her hand, as is the tradition of her people, but after the contest is over, she (knowing that she is the first born) decides to fight for her own hand, and she beats all three of the boys. Naturally, her mother (Emma Thompson) is furious, though her father (Billy Connolly) is less so. Not satisfied with the results, Merida then runs away and journeys into the woods where she meets up with a strange witch who conjures up a spell to change Merida's fate. A pie is made which Merida brings home to her mother. I wondered what was going to happen, just as everyone else did, but I never expected what would really happen. Mom changed into a bear. However, this creates a huge problem. Dad has not had good experiences with bears and one even chopped off his leg (this turns out to be one the ancestors who also tried to change his fate). Thus upon finding out that there is a bear in his palace, he tries to attack and kill it, despite Merida's pleas to stop. She has to recruit her crazy younger brothers (who are addicted to sweets) to help her mother escape. However, instead of finding the witch (she has gone off to sell her craved wood products), the two spend time bonding, though it is awkward as the mother is a bear. The spell does have a catch, it will become permanent after two sunrises. Soon, Merida realizes that the spell can be broken if the tapestry (which she ripped in the previous fight with her mother) is mended. However, though Merida's main problem is mended, as her mother comes around and decides that she does not need to marry unless she falls in love. But the bear is caught and the people begin to chase after her, and Merida does to, bringing the tapestry along with her which she carelessly mends as she rides along to save her mother. As the final battle begins, the other bear (the ancestor) comes along also despite for revenge. Suffice to say, everything works out. The mother bear manages to kill the bad bear while saving her own life. Merida gets the tapestry onto mother's body in time and she (along with the younger brothers who found and ate some of the cake as well) all turn back to normal. All is right in Merida's world.
Though Merida is a fascinating character, and it is truly wonderful to finally have a female lead in a Pixar film, the film ultimately falls flat. The plot feels forced and weak, and there are several times when I wondered why Merida was making the decisions that she was. And I didn't understand why the tapestry needed to draped across the mother's body for the curse to be broken. Still, there are some genuinly funny moments, though most of these involve Merida's crazy younger brother or the stock character maid. Still, I will gladly watch the film again, though I expected something much better from Pixar. Grade: B+
The Amazing Spider-man
I really enjoyed this movie, though now it leads me to wonder why was the series with Tobey Maguire ever made when this one is much better? Okay, now don't get me wrong, I really liked the films with Tobey MaGuire as Spiderman, especially the second one, though the third one was nothing more than a waste of my time. However, this time, it was quite different from the Tobey Maguire series, but in a good way. Number One: Andrew Garfield is hands down a better actor (and taller) than Maguire. Number Two: Emma Stone is loads better (and prettier) than Kirsten Dunst. Number Three: The story tells us the background of Peter Parker's life, and why he needs to do what he does.
The movie begins with Peter trying to find his parents, and at first, I thought his parents had already vanished, but this turned out not to be the case. Instead his father, Richard (Royal Pains's Campbell Scott, who still had the accent for his character on that show) and mother, Mary (Embeth Daviditz) whisk him away and deposit him at the home of his Uncle Ben and Aunt May (Martin Sheen and Sally Field).
Flash forward to the present day, Peter is now in high school (Midtown Science High School) and is now portrayed by Andrew Garfield, whom I will get to later. Here he is a loner, without any real friends, though he tries to stick up for the little guy only to get pounded in return. Also at this school is Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) whom Peter harbors a crush for and she is one of the few people who actually see him as a person. However, Peter wants to know more about his parents and after looking through an old briefcase of his father's, he discoveries a formula. Desperate to know more, Peter seeks out his father's old partner, though he lies his way into the lab, stealing the identity of another student, though Gwen (who works there in her free time, an important job for a mere high school student) opts not to call him out, though after Peter wanders off from the rest of the group, she has no problem terminating his visitor's pass. It is when Peter wanders off from the group that his fate changes. He sneaks into the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (his father's former partner) and accidentally lets some super spiders loose and then one of them bites him on the neck.The effects of the bite are felt almost immediately. On the subway ride home, changes are noticed. His hand gets stuck to the shirt of this one woman, and he doesn't know why. He can't remove it, so the woman's entire shirt is ripped off. The next morning, just brushing his teeth proves to be too difficult, as he nearly destroys his bathroom. He tries to get back at the bully at school, though that plan backfires; he angers his aunt and uncle and yells at his uncle and leaves the house in a huff. After a nasty encounter with a store clerk, he lets a thief go into the street. This same thief later murders his uncle, leaving Peter with ever more regrets. It is because of this that he decides to harvest his new powers for good instead of evil, and thus he begins to help the police by capturing the bad guys for them. However, the police led by Captain George Stacy, Gwen's father, (a well-cast Denis Leary), don't like what he's doing at all. In fact, at one point they issue a warrant for Spiderman's arrest. Never mind that he's a favorite of the public.
By the time the movie gets a true villian, Peter and Gwen are dating. She invites him over to her house for fish one night, but the evening does not go well. Captain Stacy and Peter argue over the true intentions of Spiderman really are. Then he and Gwen have a make out session on her balcony and here he reveals his other true identity. Gwen doesn't get angry at him, though, instead she merely mutters to herself that she's in trouble. (I'll discuss this scene more later.)They continue to see each other, creating more than enough screen chemistry to go around.
Now to the villian: Dr. Curt Connors (another good performance from Notting Hill's Rhys Ifans). Having only one arm, he is desparate to find a cure so he can be completely human again. However, despite his vast amount of research, he is not even close to doing this. Enter Peter into the picture. Peter arrives with the formula he found in his father's suitcase and the new formula is given to the test mouse, Fred. And it works, Fred now has four legs, just like any other mouse. Dr. Connors's boss is even more desperate than the doctor, and wants human trials to start immediately, though that breaks many laws. When Connors does not agree to this, his funding is cut completely. Connors decides not to give up that easily and injects himself with some of the serum. This has devastating results. He becomes a monster, both literally and figuratively. Revenge is all he has in mind and he immediately becomes the number one enemy of Spiderman.
All of this leads up to the final battle, when Connors decides to use biological weapons to turn the rest of the city into lizards as well. Peter recruits Gwen to make an antidote to cure the lizard while he attacks the man himself. However, though he has been only victorious before, the lizard is considerably larger than him and much more dangerous, and injuries him often, causing him at one point to almost give up, fortunately the father of a child he saved earlier comes through with cranes to aid Spiderman in his quest to defeat the Lizard. Though he begs Gwen to escape the medical office, she defies him and stays put to finish the antidote. Spiderman finally reaches him destination, only after being caught by the police, though he wiggles (almost literally) out of getting arrested by saying that Gwen is in the path of the nasty lizard. The final battle is a nasty one, but luckily, everything does work out, Peter manages to fit the antidote into the machine, causing everyone affected with the lizard virus to be cured. (He fits the serum in after Gwen gives it to her father whom then gives it to him. The Captain stays behind to battle the nasty lizard.) After this step is complete, Peter returns to the aid of Captain Stacy, who is near death. In his dying breathe, he makes Peter promise to stay away from Gwen so she does not get involved in all that he does. Naturally, Gwen is devastated when Peter doesn't show up at her father's funeral (though he does come, but hides the entire time). Needless to say, they break up. The end is somewhat ambiguous, leaving plenty of room for the sequel.
The movie is not perfect. My two favorite scenes include the one where the Lizard attacks innocent cars on a bridge, and a small boy is trapped in a car. Peter manages to save him, though it is incredibly difficult, But what got me was the reunion of father and son. Peter's mask is still on, but you can almost see the tears behind the mask, for Peter longs to have his own father back. Another great scene is after Peter is injured by the Lizard in one of their first encounters. He sneaks into Gwen's bedroom, but before she can tend to his wounds, her father wants to know if she'd like any cocoa. Her first excuse is lame, but her second, that she has cramps prove to be much more effective, though I would have love to see Peter's reaction to that excuse rather than her first one. Still, it was easily Emma Stone's best scene, because she was underused.
The scene that made me mad was the make out one on her balcony. Gwen starts to walk away from Peter, but he uses his spiderweb to capture her back and then draws her close, proving that he has all the power over her, causing the feminist in me to get mad. This may only be a minor detail, as it is, but I hated it, and found it demeaning to Gwen's character because she is a strong independent woman, though that scene sets her character back decades. Another problem is with Aunt May. Though Sally Field was perfectly cast, she looked much too old and haggard at the beginning, and thus after she loses her husband, nothing changes, though it should. Also, I don't know how that many fights would be allowed in schools, but these were needed for the plot to work.
However, despite these minor problems, the film is still great with perfect casting of the relatively unknown Andrew Garfield in the lead role. He may be 28, but he nearly looks like a teenager. Emma Stone was also great, though underused. You truly do get to know more about Peter Parker and his background, which the three films lacked. The father was seldom even mentioned. Though the character of Peter's best friend, (James Franco in the previous three films) was also eliminated, but a character like that wasn't even needed. I will still gladly see the film again, because this film is hands down, better acted and contains more interesting camera angles than the first series. Grade: A-
The movie begins with Peter trying to find his parents, and at first, I thought his parents had already vanished, but this turned out not to be the case. Instead his father, Richard (Royal Pains's Campbell Scott, who still had the accent for his character on that show) and mother, Mary (Embeth Daviditz) whisk him away and deposit him at the home of his Uncle Ben and Aunt May (Martin Sheen and Sally Field).
Flash forward to the present day, Peter is now in high school (Midtown Science High School) and is now portrayed by Andrew Garfield, whom I will get to later. Here he is a loner, without any real friends, though he tries to stick up for the little guy only to get pounded in return. Also at this school is Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) whom Peter harbors a crush for and she is one of the few people who actually see him as a person. However, Peter wants to know more about his parents and after looking through an old briefcase of his father's, he discoveries a formula. Desperate to know more, Peter seeks out his father's old partner, though he lies his way into the lab, stealing the identity of another student, though Gwen (who works there in her free time, an important job for a mere high school student) opts not to call him out, though after Peter wanders off from the rest of the group, she has no problem terminating his visitor's pass. It is when Peter wanders off from the group that his fate changes. He sneaks into the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (his father's former partner) and accidentally lets some super spiders loose and then one of them bites him on the neck.The effects of the bite are felt almost immediately. On the subway ride home, changes are noticed. His hand gets stuck to the shirt of this one woman, and he doesn't know why. He can't remove it, so the woman's entire shirt is ripped off. The next morning, just brushing his teeth proves to be too difficult, as he nearly destroys his bathroom. He tries to get back at the bully at school, though that plan backfires; he angers his aunt and uncle and yells at his uncle and leaves the house in a huff. After a nasty encounter with a store clerk, he lets a thief go into the street. This same thief later murders his uncle, leaving Peter with ever more regrets. It is because of this that he decides to harvest his new powers for good instead of evil, and thus he begins to help the police by capturing the bad guys for them. However, the police led by Captain George Stacy, Gwen's father, (a well-cast Denis Leary), don't like what he's doing at all. In fact, at one point they issue a warrant for Spiderman's arrest. Never mind that he's a favorite of the public.
By the time the movie gets a true villian, Peter and Gwen are dating. She invites him over to her house for fish one night, but the evening does not go well. Captain Stacy and Peter argue over the true intentions of Spiderman really are. Then he and Gwen have a make out session on her balcony and here he reveals his other true identity. Gwen doesn't get angry at him, though, instead she merely mutters to herself that she's in trouble. (I'll discuss this scene more later.)They continue to see each other, creating more than enough screen chemistry to go around.
Now to the villian: Dr. Curt Connors (another good performance from Notting Hill's Rhys Ifans). Having only one arm, he is desparate to find a cure so he can be completely human again. However, despite his vast amount of research, he is not even close to doing this. Enter Peter into the picture. Peter arrives with the formula he found in his father's suitcase and the new formula is given to the test mouse, Fred. And it works, Fred now has four legs, just like any other mouse. Dr. Connors's boss is even more desperate than the doctor, and wants human trials to start immediately, though that breaks many laws. When Connors does not agree to this, his funding is cut completely. Connors decides not to give up that easily and injects himself with some of the serum. This has devastating results. He becomes a monster, both literally and figuratively. Revenge is all he has in mind and he immediately becomes the number one enemy of Spiderman.
All of this leads up to the final battle, when Connors decides to use biological weapons to turn the rest of the city into lizards as well. Peter recruits Gwen to make an antidote to cure the lizard while he attacks the man himself. However, though he has been only victorious before, the lizard is considerably larger than him and much more dangerous, and injuries him often, causing him at one point to almost give up, fortunately the father of a child he saved earlier comes through with cranes to aid Spiderman in his quest to defeat the Lizard. Though he begs Gwen to escape the medical office, she defies him and stays put to finish the antidote. Spiderman finally reaches him destination, only after being caught by the police, though he wiggles (almost literally) out of getting arrested by saying that Gwen is in the path of the nasty lizard. The final battle is a nasty one, but luckily, everything does work out, Peter manages to fit the antidote into the machine, causing everyone affected with the lizard virus to be cured. (He fits the serum in after Gwen gives it to her father whom then gives it to him. The Captain stays behind to battle the nasty lizard.) After this step is complete, Peter returns to the aid of Captain Stacy, who is near death. In his dying breathe, he makes Peter promise to stay away from Gwen so she does not get involved in all that he does. Naturally, Gwen is devastated when Peter doesn't show up at her father's funeral (though he does come, but hides the entire time). Needless to say, they break up. The end is somewhat ambiguous, leaving plenty of room for the sequel.
The movie is not perfect. My two favorite scenes include the one where the Lizard attacks innocent cars on a bridge, and a small boy is trapped in a car. Peter manages to save him, though it is incredibly difficult, But what got me was the reunion of father and son. Peter's mask is still on, but you can almost see the tears behind the mask, for Peter longs to have his own father back. Another great scene is after Peter is injured by the Lizard in one of their first encounters. He sneaks into Gwen's bedroom, but before she can tend to his wounds, her father wants to know if she'd like any cocoa. Her first excuse is lame, but her second, that she has cramps prove to be much more effective, though I would have love to see Peter's reaction to that excuse rather than her first one. Still, it was easily Emma Stone's best scene, because she was underused.
The scene that made me mad was the make out one on her balcony. Gwen starts to walk away from Peter, but he uses his spiderweb to capture her back and then draws her close, proving that he has all the power over her, causing the feminist in me to get mad. This may only be a minor detail, as it is, but I hated it, and found it demeaning to Gwen's character because she is a strong independent woman, though that scene sets her character back decades. Another problem is with Aunt May. Though Sally Field was perfectly cast, she looked much too old and haggard at the beginning, and thus after she loses her husband, nothing changes, though it should. Also, I don't know how that many fights would be allowed in schools, but these were needed for the plot to work.
However, despite these minor problems, the film is still great with perfect casting of the relatively unknown Andrew Garfield in the lead role. He may be 28, but he nearly looks like a teenager. Emma Stone was also great, though underused. You truly do get to know more about Peter Parker and his background, which the three films lacked. The father was seldom even mentioned. Though the character of Peter's best friend, (James Franco in the previous three films) was also eliminated, but a character like that wasn't even needed. I will still gladly see the film again, because this film is hands down, better acted and contains more interesting camera angles than the first series. Grade: A-
Monday, June 11, 2012
The Tonys
This is a show I just love to watch, though I have no idea who should win or who even deserves to win, having seen any of the shows on Broadway. The opening was fantastic, thanks to the opening number filled with jokes, including telling Annie to go find her parents courtesy of Neil Patrick Harris. Then came a song and dance routine from the nominated musical Newsies, which would only come home with two awards. The first winner, Judith Light, also had a great speech, short, sweet and to the point. She managed to thank absolutely everyone, including her fellow nominees, castmates, crew, family and agent in record speed. However, after this, the show started to lag. Speeches got longer and more boring, though some where still filled with heart, namely Steve Kazee's speech, honoring his recently deceased mother and Audra McDonald's telling her daughter that the day she was born was the greatest day of Audra's life. The songs from the other nominated musicals (both new and revivals) also lacked the spark of Newsies, though Once still was interesting and quite good in a different way. Newsies is a traditional musical, while Once is contemporary. Another odd speech including Best Actress winner, Nina Arianda, telling presenter Christopher Plummer that he was her first crush, which was weird to admit on national television, but for some reason, I found that interesting and realistic. However, too bad her Best Actor counterpart's speech was more awkward than anything, admitting that he couldn't wait to marry his baby mama. Still, the show managed to be interesting, including some famous people mixed in there, hello Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield (and Emma Stone). James Earl Jones also made an appearance, which was good, considering he was a nominee. Angela Lansbury, at eighty-six, still seemed to be in great shape. She was a delight to see. After all, she is a living legend. Grade: B+
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)