Three Years Later… "Spider-Man 3"

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The transformation scene of Flint Marko de-materializing and then forming in to a human once again through his sand abilities is rather incredible. Raimi just outdoes himself here and the sequence is mesmerizing. There’s even a scene where Sandman balloons in to a humongous sandstorm pounding down on Spider-Man. But, again, no one really cared. Venom was the attraction. What do you expect from the fans? Venom is more popular than Spider-Man himself! But you have to give it to Raimi for at least trying to take a considerably lame villain and attempting to bring him to the attention of movie goers alike. He even retcons the entire origin of Spider-Man by making Sandman one of the folks who took part in the death of Uncle Ben.

So what all seems like a quick crime turns in to a pretty lame moment where Ben tries to talk Flint out of stealing his car and is shot by his partner for his resistance. All things considered, it’s a shame because Thomas Haden Church is a doppleganger to his comic counterpart and his strong performance is just forgotten. Venom is obviously shoe-horned in to the movie due to his sudden introduction in the second half because Raimi commits a heinous crime by completely reducing him in to a second rate villain. With that Raimi makes his position clear to both fans and the studio. He wanted Sandman to take center stage, Venom just isn’t important.

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Three Years Later… "Spider-Man 3"

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Many would agree that the comic book movie has somewhat run its course in film. We have seen all the big guns of the comic book genre tackled on the big screen and we’re now being reduced to watching obscure superheroes and indie comics be adapted and fans are pretty exhausted. Even those who are die hard readers. One thing is for sure though: the fad is not dying any time soon even though they breed surefire controversy.

Such an example is the upcoming reboot of the “Spider-Man” movies. Upon reading the news many fans of the films and comics shouted from the rooftops at the sheer gall Sony studios had of wanting to restart the series. So far Sony is planning to completely revamp the big screen vision for the web slinger kicking out director Sam Raimi, and the entire cast and basically starting over from scratch. Obviously it’s to cut the cost of salary, but they insist it’s to completely rethink the direction the series is going in. Sony surprised many by this decision after talks ensued for months about their meetings with director Sam Raimi about plans for part four of the original franchise and even had the original cast contracted for parts four, five, and six.

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Our Top 10 Animated Films of All Time

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10. Wall-E (2008)
Directed by: Andrew Stanton
Written by: Jim Reardon
Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Studios
This was a last minute choice, but watching “Wall-E” in theaters this year was an incredible experience and has made me somewhat of a fan of Pixar Animation. Pixar and co. seem to put Disney on the fryer for the messages they influence here with themes of consumerism, materialism, and the dangers of dependence on big corporate conglomerates who keep us fat and happy. In their infinite ignorance, I doubt Disney saw the jabs through their dollar colored goggles. One of my favorite movies of 2008 and now one of my favorite animated movies of all time, “Wall-E” is that rare picture that features one of the most sympathetic heroes of all time, a droid with a simple purpose: Clean. He is then met by Eve, a new entity in his life that he falls in love with at first sight. This inspires a look in to a new world and a better purpose beyond working and he learns that he has a choice in how he lives his life. Just seeking to reclaim his love, he doesn’t know he’s introduced an apathetic, fat and lazy society to a world beyond comfort and sloth and to a crooked organization whose given up on humanity. It’s one of the most visually stimulating animated films with some of the best characterization I’ve ever seen in a movie that didn’t rely on dialogue.

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Our Top 5 Animated Characters

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5. Tie: Fred Flinstone/Snoopy
In the end, I really couldn’t decide who I loved more. They’ve both had a significant impact on my childhood, they’ve both managed to garner more than a few chuckles out of me over the years, and they’re also interesting creations who have garnered a long shelf life thanks to the innovation of their creators. Snoopy was the much needed edge in the “Charlie Brown” cartoons always giving the characters a run for their money, even during hard times.

And I don’t know a single person who didn’t like the Red Baron. From his interaction with Woodstock, to his battles with Peppermint Patty, Snoopy is an enduring icon. Fred originally began as a spoof of Ralph Kramden and thankfully gained his own individual cult status in one of the funniest cartoons ever created. Fred has that particular personality to him that warrants the same laughs as Kramden did, but also revealed a sweet center that showed on more than one occasion. Even at its absolute worst, “The Flintstones” strived thanks to the combined comedy of Fred and Barney.

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Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)

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Comic book geeks like yours truly are at a definite cross roads. Marvel continues to churn out animated series and live action movies like it’s going out of style yet their animated movie gallery has been severely hit or miss, while DC has only released big films from Batman and Superman and yet their animated movie gallery has promised quality almost all the time. I’m just curious when we can get a movie from them that’s longer than eighties minutes. That aside “Crisis on Two Earths” is another graphic novel that I haven’t read and thankfully I went in blind. I consider that an advantage because in the end it allows me to judge the material more objectively.

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The Blind Side (2009)

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the-blind-sideAdmittedly I’m an old cynical bastard in a young man’s body, so nine times out of ten inspirational sports films don’t connect with me at all. “The Blind Side” took everyone by surprise and I don’t think anyone expected it to hit as big as it did. But sure enough it did and I’m more surprised than anyone that I quite enjoyed myself most of the time because normally I’d find a reason to bash this film as being melodramatic. Sure it is melodramatic but oddly enough most of the events that occur here actually happened. Someone actually did take a poor African American child from the ghetto and turn them in to a fine upstanding citizen with a plethora of opportunities and it’s because of the Tuohy’s that Michael Oher was able to pursue his dreams and break free from the prison that is poverty and crime. John Lee Hancock directs quite a visually soft film that doesn’t play too heavy on the sap.

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Blessed (2004)

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blessedI’ve seen many “Rosemary’s Baby” wannabes since I was a kid, many of them hit the mark, many of them missed the mark, but all aspired to reach the greatness Roman Polanski did in his film about Satanic cults and the woman who becomes prey for their horrific goals at resurrecting satan. “Blessed” seeks to take that concept and run with it and wouldn’t you know it? It misses the mark. It misses it by thousands of miles. “Blessed” is such a confused and unfocused piece of tripe that I feel nothing but sadness for the likes of Heather Graham and James Purefoy who just shamble around looking for a direction and can never seem to find any.

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