So I’m waiting for the person(s) from the condo developer to come and inspect my place, but have no idea when that’s going to happen.
I hate having to be on someone else’s schedule, and I wish I’d been given a specific time.
I hate the whole “be home between now and September” kind of thing. Tell me when you’re going to be here, then be here at that time. It really shouldn’t be all that difficult.
At the very least, give a timeframe, not this be home all day crap.
And sure, normally it wouldn’t be an issue, but there are actually a few things that I need to do out in the world today, so it would be nice to know when it’s safe to leave.
Admittedly, I could have just left a key at the office with my authorization to enter, but I want to be here for it.
*Sigh*
I guess I should say a little more about Spider-Man 3.
The biggest problem I had with it was the amount of time he spent without his mask. It was even worse this time around than it was in the last movie.
This was made even more irritating by the amount of time Venom spent without his mask.
The other big problem was the rather ambitious nature of the movie. Three villains? Even in a 2+ hour movie, that means giving short shrift to each villain, particularly given all of the other plot threads that the story was woven together from (pun sort of intended).
The Venom story didn’t get nearly enough time to develop properly, and the Sandman storyline just sort of dropped off for a while before reappearing at the end.
I’m sure a lot of people were put off by how much time was devoted to Spidey’s personal life and all of the teary-eyed moments, but the angst of his personal life has pretty much always been a trademark of Spider-Man since his creation, so there’s not much validity to that complaint.
My final complaint is that there weren’t really enough “incidental” Spider-Man scenes, the random thwarted muggings and various rescues that happen in the course of a regular day and in between major super-villain battles, though that’s a complaint I have about most super hero movies.
But that does bring us to the action, which was all very good. No complaints at all on that front, though the fights just weren’t as cool as the fights in 2. I mean, Spidey and Doc Ock fighting on the side of a building? Easily beats out the high speed aerial chase through narrow alleys (which was still very cool).
As for the performances, Tobey Maguire, as per usual, seemed to be sort of sleepwalking through the role, but still managed to do a decent job.
Kirsten Dunst, in my mind, has only been playing someone with red hair who happens to be named Mary Jane Watson; she hasn’t ever been Mary Jane. She just lacks the spark. Still, it’s never been a deal-breaker. I will say that her wardrobe this time around was rather frumpy. She actually looked her best in her waitress uniform.
Thomas Haden Church did a great job as the Sandman (The whole “birth of Sandman” sequence in which he struggles to reassemble himself after the accident that transformed him into living sand was one of my favorites in the movie. I will say that the people conducting the experiment that caused the transformation was probably the best-looking group of scientists ever assembled. I really doubt that in all the world there are that many good looking scientists.), and the Sandman effects were very well done.
Topher Grace did his best work as Eddie Brock, though he was also a serviceable Venom. Of course, Venom was mostly effects (hence the constant need to remove the mask in order to give Grace something to do), but he did get in some good lines.
Naturally I loved the Bruce Campbell cameo, though I still think his cameo in 2 beats this one by a very slim margin.
Not much needs to be said about J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson beyond mentioning that he was pitch-perfect as always. The man was born to play that part.
Bryce Dallas Howard made an amazing Gwen Stacy. She was, as I mentioned to Scott, a total Dodson, which is to say that she looked like a character illustrated by Terry and Rachel Dodson brought to life. In fact, she looked exactly like Gwen Stacy as illustrated by the Dodsons in a Spider-Man story that had been the first place I’d ever taken note of their work.
Of course, I will say that she had some padding added either to her clothes or to herself to make her look so buxom, as I’ve seen her sans clothes and at that time she was decidedly less zaftig.
One thing I found sort of interesting about the casting is that Kirsten Dunst, a blonde, plays a redhead, while Bryce Dallas Howard, a redhead, plays a blonde.
Bringing Gwen into the franchise at all at this late date was kind of interesting choice, though, as in the comics world Gwen was Peter’s first love, and, like Mary Jane in the first movie, she was thrown off a bridge by the Green Goblin, though unlike MJ, Gwen didn’t survive.
I can’t say I really approved of Gwen’s treatment in the movie. Not in how she was handled as a character – that was fine, and Ms. Howard played her well – but in how she was treated by the other characters. She really wasn’t much more than an object to be coveted or used by the people around her.
Which leads me to the effect that the black suit had on Peter as it destroyed his inhibitions and turned him into a creature of nearly pure Id.
For the most part it led to throwaway moments of Sam Raimi silliness (a la Hercules or Xena), but in some cases it led to some very interesting moments.
Basically, what’s fun about having a hero under the influence of something that weakens his inhibitions is that you get to see him do and say things that you always wished he would do or say but knew that he couldn’t because, well, he’s the hero, and heroes just don’t (or at least shouldn’t) act that way.
In that spirit, the best line of the movie came with Peter standing over a defeated (in more ways than one) Harry Osborn and taunting him by saying, “Oh, look at little Goblin Jr. Are you gonna cry?”
Anyway, that’s my considerably lengthier take on the movie. I could go on even more, but I’ll spare us all and stop here.
Ugh, I really hate sitting here waiting, wondering if I could make it to the comic book store, Best Buy, and Super Target and still get back here in time, or thinking about leaving a note saying, “Back at X.”
*Sigh*
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