CAPTAIN MARVEL starring Brie Larson (3/8/19) 5 5

[pemart1966]

3 hours ago, @therealsilvermane said:

TROLL ALERT

 

  So...you think that because someone thinks that a movie that you like is "a turd in a toilet" that they're a troll...ignorant...lacking knowledge...lacking taste?  It seems to me that you like the movie in part because you perceive that it raised the price of some of your slabs...

[@therealsilvermane]

1 hour ago, pemart1966 said:

  So...you think that because someone thinks that a movie that you like is "a turd in a toilet" that they're a troll...ignorant...lacking knowledge...lacking taste?  It seems to me that you like the movie in part because you perceive that it raised the price of some of your slabs...

I can tell you because I do have Carol Danvers slabs, the movie's box office success and the fact that I loved the movie on first viewing has made me that much more excited about it. I have a pricey CGC slab of the 1st app of Wasp, so I was hoping for the best for that movie. I didn't like Ant-Man and the Wasp, couldn't defend it against detractors, and didn't try. I love Captain Marvel so I defend it, and have posted multiple times in the last few weeks here why I think the movie is good. But I didn't attack or try to belittle folks who didn't agree with me. But when somebody, and I don't care how much senority you got, comes on the Captain Marvel movie forum here and uses words like "AWFUL" and says they'll root for the villain against CM in Endgame and end the comment with a haha emoji, that's trolling. And I simply called it out for what it is. Your comment wasn't constructive at all and needlessly insulting to the character. I've had enough online throwdowns with Captain Marvel trolls to know what trolling is. You have every right to troll,  obviously, just like I have every right to call it out.

Edited April 13, 2019 by @therealsilvermane

[Prince Namor]

I think I'm going to see it again this weekend. I enjoyed it that much.

[Mystafo]

23 minutes ago, @therealsilvermane said:

it was kind of insulting to the character

this is not a real person, you know....right?  I smell a crush!

[@therealsilvermane]

 

38 minutes ago, Mystafo said:

this is not a real person, you know....right?  I smell a crush!

 

1 hour ago, @therealsilvermane said:

...and needlessly insulting to the character.

I went out my way to edit my post just for your clarification. And I'm just a big fan standing up for a good movie and one of my heroes. And yeah, my investment, too.

Edited April 13, 2019 by @therealsilvermane

[Callaway29]

 

[Callaway29]

57 minutes ago, @therealsilvermane said:

 

 

I went out my way to edit my post just for your clarification. And I'm just a big fan standing up for a good movie and one of my heroes. And yeah, my investment, too.

Never seen someone actually admit to this before...

[Bosco685]

4 hours ago, @therealsilvermane said:

I would hope the majority of the people in these forums are intelligent enough and adult enough to not dismiss somebody's comments as weightless just because they haven't been around here as long as you have. 

Appreciate what you like. You should. Life is too short to ignore such items you appreciate. Just realize there will be others that didn't like it as much.

Not all will mean this to come across as trolling. Some will. But not all.

[@therealsilvermane]

19 minutes ago, Callaway29 said:

Never seen someone actually admit to this before...

We're all next level collectors here, right? Aren't we all rooting for a character's movie to do well if we have CGC slabs of that character's comics? I'm just being honest. My presence here in general is because I happen to have CGC slabs of Carol Danvers books as well others. But as I've said, I've been shilling for and standing up for Captain Marvel because I think it's a good movie and also because there's been a little extra amount of trolling on this movie, as you probably know. But honestly, I genuinely love the Captain Marvel movie and I genuinely enjoy standing up for it. Strangely, I hadn't been really excited about the MCU until I saw GOTG Vol 2. This is coincidentally when Kevin Feige took the corporate reigns off the filmmakers and allowed them to do more of their own thing. Thus we got GOTG2, Ragnarok, Black Panther, Infinity War, and Captain Marvel. They've all had a little more creative filmmaking touch that, to me, wasn't there in earlier films. As someone who enjoys more eclectic films as well as mainstream, I've appreciated what Marvel Studios has been doing: allowing independent film visions to start to give more individual takes on these MCU films.

Edited April 13, 2019 by @therealsilvermane

[Callaway29]

22 minutes ago, @therealsilvermane said:

We're all next level collectors here, right? Aren't we all rooting for a character's movie to do well if we have CGC slabs of that character's comics? I'm just being honest. My presence here in general is because I happen to have CGC slabs of Carol Danvers books as well others. But as I've said, I've been shilling for and standing up for Captain Marvel because I think it's a good movie and also because there's been a little extra amount of trolling on this movie, as you probably know. But honestly, I genuinely love the Captain Marvel movie and I genuinely enjoy standing up for it. Strangely, I hadn't been really excited about the MCU until I saw GOTG Vol 2. This is coincidentally when Kevin Feige took the corporate reigns off the filmmakers and allowed them to do more of their own thing. Thus we got GOTG2, Ragnarok, Black Panther, Infinity War, and Captain Marvel. They've all had a little more creative filmmaking touch that, to me, wasn't there in earlier films. As someone who enjoys more eclectic films as well as mainstream, I've appreciated what Marvel Studios has been doing: allowing independent film visions to start to give more individual takes on these MCU films.

I admire your honesty, but at the same time you’re openly defending a movie’s performance partly due to your financial investment in its corresponding comic books...which should be irrelevant if your goal is non-bias subjectivity.

[@therealsilvermane]

8 minutes ago, Callaway29 said:

I admire your honesty, but at the same time you’re openly defending a movie’s performance partly due to your financial investment in its corresponding comic books...which should be irrelevant if your goal is non-bias subjectivity.

As I said before, my general excitement for Captain Marvel stems from my being a fan and, yes, because I'm an investor. But my active defense for the movie against detractors and trolls is because I genuinely believe Captain Marvel is a remarkable movie. 15 years ago I passionately defended Ang Lee's Hulk on sites like Aint It Cool News and other places because a lot of people hated it and I felt it was being grossly misunderstood and underestimated (Ang Lee, after all, has won two Oscars for Best Director). It was the same with Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man. I'm a film guy. I happen to make films and also watch them with a passion. I've also been a comics guy all my life. When a comic book movie comes along that I'm really passionate about, I'll defend the heck out of it and stand up for it. Captain Marvel is my favorite MCU movie. To me, it's one of the most unique of the MCU movies to come out. That's why I've been actively defending it and praising it here.

[pemart1966]

2 minutes ago, @therealsilvermane said:

As I said before, my general excitement for Captain Marvel stems from my being a fan and, yes, because I'm an investor. But my active defense for the movie against detractors and trolls is because I genuinely believe Captain Marvel is a remarkable movie. 15 years ago I passionately defended Ang Lee's Hulk on sites like Aint It Cool News and other places because a lot of people hated it and I felt it was being grossly misunderstood and underestimated (Ang Lee, after all, has won two Oscars for Best Director). It was the same with Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man. I'm a film guy. I happen to make films and also watch them with a passion. I've also been a comics guy all my life. When a comic book movie comes along that I'm really passionate about, I'll defend the heck out of it and stand up for it. Captain Marvel is my favorite MCU movie. To me, it's one of the most unique of the MCU movies to come out. That's why I've been actively defending it and praising it here.

Well you know what they say...there's no accounting for taste...

[@therealsilvermane]

10 minutes ago, pemart1966 said:

Well you know what they say...there's no accounting for taste...

Yeah yeah yeah...blah blah blah...

[Prince Namor]

3 hours ago, @therealsilvermane said:

It was the same with Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man. 

 

I'm not sure what anybody's defense of this movie could be.

[@therealsilvermane]

4 hours ago, Chuck Gower said:

I'm not sure what anybody's defense of this movie could be.

Spoiler

 

I'll be glad to tell you why I think Amazing Spider-Man is an exceptional film, though I haven't seen it in a while as I'm totally invested fan wise in the MCU now. Also, I'm not talking about ASM2 with Electro, but the first one.

I liked that Marc Webb, at heart, basically made an independent film style coming-of-age romance movie with Spider-Man in it. Key word is "independent film style." This approach may have been inspired a bit by Nolan's Batman, but I think it allowed a more realistic portrayal of the characters which fit the story.

I liked Andrew Garfield's take on Peter Parker. He actually gave Peter a working class New York accent. I liked how his Peter wasn't a near autistic nerd like Tobey Maguire's Peter, but was a little more cocky and streetwise (with the skateboard as a visual symbol of that), so that when he becomes Spider-Man, I can believe it when he starts cracking jokes at the crooks expense. I liked the realistic acting beats Andrew Garfield gave his Peter, the stutters and mannerisms. Again, it was this more realistic approach that was refreshing after a decade of Sam Raimi's cartoony Spiderman.

I liked Emma Stone's take on Gwen Stacy. It's Emma Stone, after all. Gwen never really got a chance to shine in the comics. She does here. The movie allows Emma's Gwen to be a stronger person as she actively participates in Peter's adventures.

I loved that scene in the hallway after detention when Peter successfully asks Gwen out on a date. The stutters and stammers and nervous smiles both actors portrayed made it feel like a real high school scene where some kid asks a girl out for the first time. Marvel tried to replicate that scene in Spiderman Homecoming, but it didn't work nearly as well.

That scene edits right into the Kingdom Come sequence where Peter is trying out his powers in private in a warehouse by the river with the Coldplay song as a soundtrack. The movie uses real stunts instead of digital effects giving Peter's "discovery of his powers" scene a nice immediacy. You see the smile on his face, he's loving these powers. There is an edit included of a spider swinging on a web intercut with Peter swinging on chains which was a great edit. This sequence, to me, captured the essence of Peter Parker gaining new powers.

I loved the bridge sequence where Spiderman fights the Lizard, then saves the kid, and truly becomes Spiderman. Up to then, he's just a masked vigilante with a vendetta to find Uncle Ben's killer. But after saving the kid, and Soul Man asks him who he is, it's then that Spiderman understands his destiny. We cut to Peter at home staring down at his mask. Maybe this is his great responsibility. It could be a moment right out of the Stan Lee stories.

I thought Dennis Leary's Captain Stacy death scene was pretty powerful as he asks Peter to not involve Gwen. It's this tragedy that's followed Peter around all his life in the comics, harm or death befalling those close to Peter because of who he is. As "snow" falls over New York with Peter standing over Captain Stacy's body, this scene captured that spirit from the comics perfectly.

The hero/villain dynamic of the story was pretty good, too, with some hits and misses. I loved Spiderman in the sewer weaving a web trap for the lizard. very Spider-like. Most of it was pretty typical for a super-hero action movie. But, again, it was Peter, Gwen, and their intimate relationship that really made Amazing Spider-Man a special movie to me. It was basically an independent coming-of-age romance film with a superhero in it, and I loved that.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2019 by @therealsilvermane

[Prince Namor]

34 minutes ago, @therealsilvermane said:

I'll be glad to tell you why I think Amazing Spider-Man is an exceptional film, though I haven't seen it in a while as I'm totally invested fan wise in the MCU now. Also, I'm not talking about ASM2 with Electro, but the first one.

I liked that Marc Webb, at heart, basically made an independent film style coming-of-age romance movie with Spider-Man in it. Key word is "independent film style." This approach may have been inspired a bit by Nolan's Batman, but I think it allowed a more realistic portrayal of the characters which fit the story.

I liked Andrew Garfield's take on Peter Parker. He actually gave Peter a working class New York accent. I liked how his Peter wasn't a near autistic nerd like Tobey Maguire's Peter, but was a little more cocky and streetwise (with the skateboard as a visual symbol of that), so that when he becomes Spider-Man, I can believe it when he starts cracking jokes at the crooks expense. I liked the realistic acting beats Andrew Garfield gave his Peter, the stutters and mannerisms. Again, it was this more realistic approach that was refreshing after a decade of Sam Raimi's cartoony Spiderman.

I liked Emma Stone's take on Gwen Stacy. It's Emma Stone, after all. Gwen never really got a chance to shine in the comics. She does here. The movie allows Emma's Gwen to be a stronger person as she actively participates in Peter's adventures.

I loved that scene in the hallway after detention when Peter successfully asks Gwen out on a date. The stutters and stammers and nervous smiles both actors portrayed made it feel like a real high school scene where some kid asks a girl out for the first time. Marvel tried to replicate that scene in Spiderman Homecoming, but it didn't work nearly as well.

That scene edits right into the Kingdom Come sequence where Peter is trying out his powers in private in a warehouse by the river with the Coldplay song as a soundtrack. The movie uses real stunts instead of digital effects giving Peter's "discovery of his powers" scene a nice immediacy. You see the smile on his face, he's loving these powers. There is an edit included of a spider swinging on a web intercut with Peter swinging on chains which was a great edit. This sequence, to me, captured the essence of Peter Parker gaining new powers.

I loved the bridge sequence where Spiderman fights the Lizard, then saves the kid, and truly becomes Spiderman. Up to then, he's just a masked vigilante with a vendetta to find Uncle Ben's killer. But after saving the kid, and Soul Man asks him who he is, it's then that Spiderman understands his destiny. We cut to Peter at home staring down at his mask. Maybe this is his great responsibility. It could be a moment right out of the Stan Lee stories.

I thought Dennis Leary's Captain Stacy death scene was pretty powerful as he asks Peter to not involve Gwen. It's this tragedy that's followed Peter around all his life in the comics, harm or death befalling those close to Peter because of who he is. As "snow" falls over New York with Peter standing over Captain Stacy's body, this scene captured that spirit from the comics perfectly.

The hero/villain dynamic of the story was pretty good, too, with some hits and misses. I loved Spiderman in the sewer weaving a web trap for the lizard. very Spider-like. Most of it was pretty typical for a super-hero action movie. But, again, it was Peter, Gwen, and their intimate relationship that really made Amazing Spider-Man a special movie to me. It was basically an independent coming-of-age romance film with a superhero in it, and I loved that.

So, you're fond of Garfield and Stone's romance, so that made the movie for you? I get that, but how do you overlook the endless amount of silly coincidences, poor writing, and bad cliches throughout the rest of the movie? I GET liking a movie despite the fact it's not very good - I mean, I LOVE the Adventures of Ford Fairlane with Andrew Dice Clay and I've been told for years it's one of the worst movies ever made, but...

I actually found my notes for the DVD release of this movie... well, only the first 30 minutes or so... I guess I couldn't finish writing about it. I may have to update this as it brought back a lot of chuckles to me. A word of warning, it's fairly extensive...No offense, really, everyone is entitled to like what it is they like, but here are MY notes:

 

Spoiler

 

This is a movie put together by marketing people who think they understand what’s ‘hip’ (as if that’s what Spider-man was ever about) and directed by a guy who’s primary work was music videos. It shows all the way through, these two influences.

The opening shows Peter as a boy who’s parents have to mysteriously leave, putting him  with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben to look after. We can only assume this is what the underlying mystery of the movie is or what Peter Parker’s characters motivational pull. Okay, let’s go with that - even though it completely changes what the thrust of the character has been about for 50 years!

The second scene of the movie is Peter in high school. Getting picked on by Flash Thompson, getting approached by a model hot female student who appreciates his photography and wants pictures of her boyfriends car, the principal lecturing him about riding his skate board through the halls (he does it once he’s around the corner - the rebellious, hip skateboard nerd Peter Parker!), students making out and blocking entrance to his locker… all shot to the sounds of what I can only assume is the mid-tempo rock of the day - the Shins “No Way Down”.

In fact, if anyone wants to make a critical study of this movie, it so far has been shot exactly as it would a music video. This isn’t film making… it’s TV. It’s a music commercial. It’s aesthetic is SMALL. The first scene, of the parents leaving, shot to the sounds of a stock ‘heart-tug’ string arrangement. And this one to watered down rock.

But the music video isn’t over. Peter walks outside and sees Gwen Stacy, sitting in a posture perfect way on a picnic table, reading a book (she’s a hip nerd too!). With great longing, he takes her picture - Gwen unaware - before he hears a playground commotion. Flash is roughing up another nerdy student, holding him up so his face mashes in his veggies, while a crowd of students CHEERS HIM ON! (What kind of school is this?)

Peter of course intervenes, gets his butt kicked by Flash - I can only assume everyone is unsupervised at lunch, and we find out Gwen is dating this one dimensional high school tough guy. She chases him off to class, telling him, “I’m very disappointed”, before giving a dismissive glance to Peter rolling on the ground in pain.

But the second music video STILL isn’t over as Pete and Gwen have a talk in class, and she tells him she thought it was great what he did out there. It was “stupid, but great”. Apparently, this is the lofty goal this movie is shooting for. This is the end of the second music video, and is supposed to show us there is some chemistry there.

I’m not an Emma Stone fan, and as Gwen Stacy, I’m REALLY not a fan, but I’ll try and overlook that. I’m not an Andrew Garfield fan, and as Peter Parker, I want to literally tear my eyes out of their sockets, but… let’s brave through this.

The third music video starts out without any music as Peter is at home and we see his interaction with his Aunt May (Sally Fields) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen). Uncle Ben is more understanding and aware of what Peter is going through at his age and unlike the comics, Peter doesn’t really show any kind of overt affection for his Aunt and Uncle. In the comics of course, they were the only parents he ever knew - here they’re the new parents.

Cleaning up the basement Peter finds an old satchel and clues to his parent’s mysterious disappearance, once again all set to stock movie music - this one the haunting, over reverb'd piano tinkering. We learn the satchel was kept there for safe keeping, and Garfield does his best Anthony Perkins, but with tears, and he KNOWS his dad was very secretive. Pete goes through it and…. we find out his dad worked for Oscorp. Oh for god’s sake.

But Pete finds a secret compartment in the satchel and it’s a secret file and… Uncle Ben comes in to tell us Curt Conners was Pete’s fathers partner! So now, the parents of Peter Parker are tied to the Curt (the Lizard) Conners and Oscorp, which of course, was Norman (Green Goblin) Osborne’s company.

That’s a lot of coincidence, but it can’t get worse than that, right?

Peter decides to go to Oscorp and through a coincidence is able to snag a name badge as an intern, choosing the name Rodrigo Guevara, which I guess is supposed to be funny, but the model looking receptionist isn’t laughing and just accepts that’s who he is. As secretive as Daddy Parker is, Oscorp is pretty easy to infiltrate.

And then, holy smokes, what a HUGE coincidence - Gwen Stacy is the tour guide of Oscorp and the lead intern for Doctor Connors, despite still being a senior in high school! She tells us all this while addressing a tour group. Pete tries to stay hidden amongst the group as we then hear the real Rodrigo Guevara being forcefully removed from the premise.

Security is TOUGH at Oscorp! Except for the rebellious skater nerd Peter Parker and of course Gwen Stacy who we’ll learn has almost complete access to the facility.

Dr. Connors tells the group about his research, regenerating cells, “I want to create a World Without Weakness”, and someone guesses stem cell research, but it’s Peter who understands the movie science and gives the correct answer, “cross species genetics”, and I couldn’t help but groan when I heard that. This is your modern day Spidey movie, nowhere near the friendly neighborhood, but dipped deep in movie cliches and now b-movie cliches. Is it too much to ask for a female lizard, maybe played by a less than coy Natasha Henstridge?

I mean, if we’re going to get silly, let’s go all out.

Wait, I didn’t LITERALLY mean that, but moments later I see the hologram of Oscorp’s ‘Tree of Life’ and the ‘cross species genetics’ hits me like a ton of bricks and I realize Pete’s going to get bitten by the Spider here! Oy vey! So the hero and all the villains and even his parents are all tied to Norman Osborn’s Oscorp! THAT is lazy writing.

Note: It’s no surprise I guess, I’m not a fan of Brian Michael Bendis, and this ASM movie series was apparently heavily influenced by the Ultimate line of comics. Gross.

So, Pete and Gwen exchange flirtation and Pete in more coincidence bumps into ‘mysterious man in a suit’ who drops of folder with the paperwork inside containing the same two symbols as Pete’s dad’s folder had…oh lord. So somehow he’s able to follow him through this secret facility, as the man looks VERY suspicious, whatever it is he’s doing.

Pete figures out the code lock upon watching the ‘mysterious guy in the suit’ do it once and soon he’s INSIDE a top secret room! It appears it’s the whole guts of the project contained in just this small room, and it’s unguarded, and there are spiders in it, and despite being encased in glass and steel and… Pete goes INSIDE one of the test compartments - the one with day glow lights and thousands of Spiders, and he messes with one of the strung webs and it stops and a bunch of spider’s fall on him, and…

Seriously, was this a DeGrassi Junior High special fantasy episode or something? This is NOT written by someone used to writing superhero stories. (Truth).

Meanwhile, we get the standard scene in a Hollywood movie where the ‘mysterious man in the suit’ is pushing Connors to finish the research (“the results are disappointing”) so they can save Norman Osborn (who we’re told is dying) or “We’ll both lose our heads.”

Gwen takes Peter’s badge, the spider bites him, and he gets on the subway, where he promptly decides to take a nap. The spider’s ‘cross species genetics’ is pulsing through his blood! When a standard stock Hollywood subway tuff decides to set his beer on Pete’s head, he wakes up and jumps to the ceiling of the subway car, clinging to it momentarily, before jumping back down to the floor.

And what is the first reaction to that?

The beer obviously spilled when he jumped up and the lady passenger closest to him says, “Disgusting. Now I smell like beer” (she got some on her) - THAT Is what she’s freaked out by!?!? Pete says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that”, - THAT is what he’s worried about?

Everyone seems to forget about this amazing freak of nature occurrence and instead go after Pete to fight him after his hand sticks to the girl’s shirt and it gets ripped off, exposing her in just a bra. In a Spider-man movie? Really?

Pete, of course, beats them all up, having mastered his powers already I guess.

He runs home and Aunt May and Uncle Ben are so worried and he picks a fly out of mid-air right in Aunt May’s face. He then again gives us his best Anthony Perkins weirdness and I can HEAR his thoughts, “They’ll see. I wouldn’t even hurt a fly!” as he acts strange and sweaty and loves Aunt May’s meatloaf.

The next morning we get a ‘montage’ to the rockin’ sound of Phantom Planet’s ‘Big Brat’ (who?) as Pete destroys his alarm clock accidentally, and then shoot too much tooth paste, and breaks the handle on the sink, etc. Is he Superman or Spider-man?

He goes to see Dr. Connors and reveals he’s Richard Parker’s son and did you know that his father bred spider’s and that’s what led to the advancement of their research? And then Peter solves the Decay Rate Algorithm right there on the spot! (Kudos to whoever came up with that name). At this point I’m exasperated.

 

 

[@therealsilvermane]

45 minutes ago, Chuck Gower said:

So, you're fond of Garfield and Stone's romance, so that made the movie for you? I get that, but how do you overlook the endless amount of silly coincidences, poor writing, and bad cliches throughout the rest of the movie? I GET liking a movie despite the fact it's not very good - I mean, I LOVE the Adventures of Ford Fairlane with Andrew Dice Clay and I've been told for years it's one of the worst movies ever made, but...

I actually found my notes for the DVD release of this movie... well, only the first 30 minutes or so... I guess I couldn't finish writing about it. I may have to update this as it brought back a lot of chuckles to me. A word of warning, it's fairly extensive...No offense, really, everyone is entitled to like what it is they like, but here are MY notes:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This is a movie put together by marketing people who think they understand what’s ‘hip’ (as if that’s what Spider-man was ever about) and directed by a guy who’s primary work was music videos. It shows all the way through, these two influences.

The opening shows Peter as a boy who’s parents have to mysteriously leave, putting him  with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben to look after. We can only assume this is what the underlying mystery of the movie is or what Peter Parker’s characters motivational pull. Okay, let’s go with that - even though it completely changes what the thrust of the character has been about for 50 years!

The second scene of the movie is Peter in high school. Getting picked on by Flash Thompson, getting approached by a model hot female student who appreciates his photography and wants pictures of her boyfriends car, the principal lecturing him about riding his skate board through the halls (he does it once he’s around the corner - the rebellious, hip skateboard nerd Peter Parker!), students making out and blocking entrance to his locker… all shot to the sounds of what I can only assume is the mid-tempo rock of the day - the Shins “No Way Down”.

In fact, if anyone wants to make a critical study of this movie, it so far has been shot exactly as it would a music video. This isn’t film making… it’s TV. It’s a music commercial. It’s aesthetic is SMALL. The first scene, of the parents leaving, shot to the sounds of a stock ‘heart-tug’ string arrangement. And this one to watered down rock.

But the music video isn’t over. Peter walks outside and sees Gwen Stacy, sitting in a posture perfect way on a picnic table, reading a book (she’s a hip nerd too!). With great longing, he takes her picture - Gwen unaware - before he hears a playground commotion. Flash is roughing up another nerdy student, holding him up so his face mashes in his veggies, while a crowd of students CHEERS HIM ON! (What kind of school is this?)

Peter of course intervenes, gets his butt kicked by Flash - I can only assume everyone is unsupervised at lunch, and we find out Gwen is dating this one dimensional high school tough guy. She chases him off to class, telling him, “I’m very disappointed”, before giving a dismissive glance to Peter rolling on the ground in pain.

But the second music video STILL isn’t over as Pete and Gwen have a talk in class, and she tells him she thought it was great what he did out there. It was “stupid, but great”. Apparently, this is the lofty goal this movie is shooting for. This is the end of the second music video, and is supposed to show us there is some chemistry there.

I’m not an Emma Stone fan, and as Gwen Stacy, I’m REALLY not a fan, but I’ll try and overlook that. I’m not an Andrew Garfield fan, and as Peter Parker, I want to literally tear my eyes out of their sockets, but… let’s brave through this.

The third music video starts out without any music as Peter is at home and we see his interaction with his Aunt May (Sally Fields) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen). Uncle Ben is more understanding and aware of what Peter is going through at his age and unlike the comics, Peter doesn’t really show any kind of overt affection for his Aunt and Uncle. In the comics of course, they were the only parents he ever knew - here they’re the new parents.

Cleaning up the basement Peter finds an old satchel and clues to his parent’s mysterious disappearance, once again all set to stock movie music - this one the haunting, over reverb'd piano tinkering. We learn the satchel was kept there for safe keeping, and Garfield does his best Anthony Perkins, but with tears, and he KNOWS his dad was very secretive. Pete goes through it and…. we find out his dad worked for Oscorp. Oh for god’s sake.

But Pete finds a secret compartment in the satchel and it’s a secret file and… Uncle Ben comes in to tell us Curt Conners was Pete’s fathers partner! So now, the parents of Peter Parker are tied to the Curt (the Lizard) Conners and Oscorp, which of course, was Norman (Green Goblin) Osborne’s company.

That’s a lot of coincidence, but it can’t get worse than that, right?

Peter decides to go to Oscorp and through a coincidence is able to snag a name badge as an intern, choosing the name Rodrigo Guevara, which I guess is supposed to be funny, but the model looking receptionist isn’t laughing and just accepts that’s who he is. As secretive as Daddy Parker is, Oscorp is pretty easy to infiltrate.

And then, holy smokes, what a HUGE coincidence - Gwen Stacy is the tour guide of Oscorp and the lead intern for Doctor Connors, despite still being a senior in high school! She tells us all this while addressing a tour group. Pete tries to stay hidden amongst the group as we then hear the real Rodrigo Guevara being forcefully removed from the premise.

Security is TOUGH at Oscorp! Except for the rebellious skater nerd Peter Parker and of course Gwen Stacy who we’ll learn has almost complete access to the facility.

Dr. Connors tells the group about his research, regenerating cells, “I want to create a World Without Weakness”, and someone guesses stem cell research, but it’s Peter who understands the movie science and gives the correct answer, “cross species genetics”, and I couldn’t help but groan when I heard that. This is your modern day Spidey movie, nowhere near the friendly neighborhood, but dipped deep in movie cliches and now b-movie cliches. Is it too much to ask for a female lizard, maybe played by a less than coy Natasha Henstridge?

I mean, if we’re going to get silly, let’s go all out.

Wait, I didn’t LITERALLY mean that, but moments later I see the hologram of Oscorp’s ‘Tree of Life’ and the ‘cross species genetics’ hits me like a ton of bricks and I realize Pete’s going to get bitten by the Spider here! Oy vey! So the hero and all the villains and even his parents are all tied to Norman Osborn’s Oscorp! THAT is lazy writing.

Note: It’s no surprise I guess, I’m not a fan of Brian Michael Bendis, and this ASM movie series was apparently heavily influenced by the Ultimate line of comics. Gross.

So, Pete and Gwen exchange flirtation and Pete in more coincidence bumps into ‘mysterious man in a suit’ who drops of folder with the paperwork inside containing the same two symbols as Pete’s dad’s folder had…oh lord. So somehow he’s able to follow him through this secret facility, as the man looks VERY suspicious, whatever it is he’s doing.

Pete figures out the code lock upon watching the ‘mysterious guy in the suit’ do it once and soon he’s INSIDE a top secret room! It appears it’s the whole guts of the project contained in just this small room, and it’s unguarded, and there are spiders in it, and despite being encased in glass and steel and… Pete goes INSIDE one of the test compartments - the one with day glow lights and thousands of Spiders, and he messes with one of the strung webs and it stops and a bunch of spider’s fall on him, and…

Seriously, was this a DeGrassi Junior High special fantasy episode or something? This is NOT written by someone used to writing superhero stories. (Truth).

Meanwhile, we get the standard scene in a Hollywood movie where the ‘mysterious man in the suit’ is pushing Connors to finish the research (“the results are disappointing”) so they can save Norman Osborn (who we’re told is dying) or “We’ll both lose our heads.”

Gwen takes Peter’s badge, the spider bites him, and he gets on the subway, where he promptly decides to take a nap. The spider’s ‘cross species genetics’ is pulsing through his blood! When a standard stock Hollywood subway tuff decides to set his beer on Pete’s head, he wakes up and jumps to the ceiling of the subway car, clinging to it momentarily, before jumping back down to the floor.

And what is the first reaction to that?

The beer obviously spilled when he jumped up and the lady passenger closest to him says, “Disgusting. Now I smell like beer” (she got some on her) - THAT Is what she’s freaked out by!?!? Pete says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that”, - THAT is what he’s worried about?

Everyone seems to forget about this amazing freak of nature occurrence and instead go after Pete to fight him after his hand sticks to the girl’s shirt and it gets ripped off, exposing her in just a bra. In a Spider-man movie? Really?

Pete, of course, beats them all up, having mastered his powers already I guess.

He runs home and Aunt May and Uncle Ben are so worried and he picks a fly out of mid-air right in Aunt May’s face. He then again gives us his best Anthony Perkins weirdness and I can HEAR his thoughts, “They’ll see. I wouldn’t even hurt a fly!” as he acts strange and sweaty and loves Aunt May’s meatloaf.

The next morning we get a ‘montage’ to the rockin’ sound of Phantom Planet’s ‘Big Brat’ (who?) as Pete destroys his alarm clock accidentally, and then shoot too much tooth paste, and breaks the handle on the sink, etc. Is he Superman or Spider-man?

He goes to see Dr. Connors and reveals he’s Richard Parker’s son and did you know that his father bred spider’s and that’s what led to the advancement of their research? And then Peter solves the Decay Rate Algorithm right there on the spot! (Kudos to whoever came up with that name). At this point I’m exasperated.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Wow, that was a pretty extensive response. I'm a little exhausted from reading that, too.

The idea of the three scientists Richard Parker, Curt Connors, and Norman Osborn all working together didn't seem so much a coincidence when you consider they're in the same city and studying the same thing, cross-species genetics. 

Yes, I too noticed awkward scenes in the movie like the extra cruelty of the school kids cheering on Flash as he beat up the kid or the weirdos on the subway not acknowledging that Peter just stuck to the ceiling for a few seconds. I thought the "I'm Rodrigo" thing wasn't great. Yes, the mysterious guy in the trench coat was cliche. Yeah, the movie had issues. But it didn't bother me in the end because I thought the movie did other things so great. 

The "indie film style" approach, which did include making the aesthetic small, worked for me. For me, Spiderman always worked better as a smaller level hero because the things dear to working class Peter Parker were such a big part of his life, particularly his Aunt May and MJ and Gwen, and trying to get through school and pay the bills. This is small world stuff and for me, the film's small aesthetic was appropriate for that. You didn't see much paying the bills in ASM, but the small aesthetic was expressed through Andrew Garfield's streetwise loner rebel high school outcast Peter and his moment by moment relationship with popular Gwen Stacy, as well as smaller moments with Aunt May.

I also liked a lot of the Spiderman parts. I thought him being a jerk to the car thief was effective, and keeping with who Garfield's Peter Parker was. The cop shooting at him wasn't good, but I acknowledged the movie had issues. I liked Spiderman in the sewers. There were a lot of good Spiderman action scenes here to like. 

But like I said, ASM for me was an indie style coming of age romance movie with a superhero story in it. I liked that small aesthetic you didn't like. I liked the focus on the small things. For me that IS Spiderman. It was a very unique approach. That's why I thought it was exceptional. We'll never see that again from Marvel. It's in the past now, not part of current canon, but I'm at least glad they made it. 

 

 

[Prince Namor]

16 minutes ago, @therealsilvermane said:

  Hide contents

 

Wow, that was a pretty extensive response. I'm a little exhausted from reading that, too.

The idea of the three scientists Richard Parker, Curt Connors, and Norman Osborn all working together didn't seem so much a coincidence when you consider they're in the same city and studying the same thing, cross-species genetics. 

Yes, I too noticed awkward scenes in the movie like the extra cruelty of the school kids cheering on Flash as he beat up the kid or the weirdos on the subway not acknowledging that Peter just stuck to the ceiling for a few seconds. I thought the "I'm Rodrigo" thing wasn't great. Yes, the mysterious guy in the trench coat was cliche. Yeah, the movie had issues. But it didn't bother me in the end because I thought the movie did other things so great. 

The "indie film style" approach, which did include making the aesthetic small, worked for me. For me, Spiderman always worked better as a smaller level hero because the things dear to working class Peter Parker were such a big part of his life, particularly his Aunt May and MJ and Gwen, and trying to get through school and pay the bills. This is small world stuff and for me, the film's small aesthetic was appropriate for that. You didn't see much paying the bills in ASM, but the small aesthetic was expressed through Andrew Garfield's streetwise loner rebel high school outcast Peter and his moment by moment relationship with popular Gwen Stacy, as well as smaller moments with Aunt May.

I also liked a lot of the Spiderman parts. I thought him being a jerk to the car thief was effective, and keeping with who Garfield's Peter Parker was. The cop shooting at him wasn't good, but I acknowledged the movie had issues. I liked Spiderman in the sewers. There were a lot of good Spiderman action scenes here to like. 

But like I said, ASM for me was an indie style coming of age romance movie with a superhero story in it. I liked that small aesthetic you didn't like. I liked the focus on the small things. For me that IS Spiderman. It was a very unique approach. That's why I thought it was exceptional. We'll never see that again from Marvel. It's in the past now, not part of current canon, but I'm at least glad they made it. 

 

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I guess I'm not getting the small indie aesthetic you are. This was a huge budget movie. It had a 230 million dollar budget and the special effects compared to what came out at the time.... The Avengers cost less to make and looks endlessly better than this. I would say it was more like a small time director (who'd done mainly music videos up to that point) had some trouble making a big time superhero movie.

Remember - Sony wasn't trying to hedge with Spidey... they saw it for what it is - one of the biggest money making properties on the planet -  It just domestically, put up some disappointing numbers for the #1 merchandised character in the WORLD. Man of Steel out did it in the U.S. by $30 Million with almost the same budget. And THAT movie looks infinitely more professional and well done than ASM. (As big budget superhero movies go). 

Personally, I thought Raimi in the first two movies mixed the action with the romance perfectly. And the unfulfilled romance especially. THAT is classic Spider-man. This I thought was a mess. They're practically married half way through the movie. 

As far as the coming of age romance stuff, I'm a huge fan of it in the comics. But the comics took some time for Pete to get there. He didn't go from big nerd to woman magnet in the first issue. This definitely has a rom com feel to it, and if you like that... well, ok. They usually make rom coms for about $200 Million less than this.

But hey, once again everyone is entitled to what they like. I think of True Romance as a romantic movie, you see ASM as one. Probably neither are very traditional in that sense!

Edited April 13, 2019 by Chuck Gower

[jsilverjanet]

I still think Captain Marvel was boring 

[Prince Namor]

Just now, jsilverjanet said:

I still think Captain Marvel was boring 

I still think it was fun. I'm going to see it again tomorrow.