Things of note for the week ending April 25th, 2014.
1. The Dalai Lama’s Ski Trip
This, via Slate, is quite wonderful and easily the best thing I’ve read on the internet this month.
Just then, an expert skier entered from a higher slope, whipping along. The Dalai Lama saw him and said, “Look—too fast! He going to hit post!†He cupped his hands, shouting down to the oblivious skier, “Look out for post!†He waved frantically. “Look out for post!†–
The skier, who had no idea that the 14th incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion was crying out to save his life, made a crisp little check as he approached the pylon, altering his line of descent, and continued expertly down the hill. –
With an expostulation of wonder, the Dalai Lama sat back and clasped his hands together. “You see? Ah! Ah! This skiing is wonderful sport!â€
The image above, from a piece over at The Monkey Cage, is just one chart from a very interesting piece of research. Turns out, the further respondents were from getting it right, the more likely they were to want the US to intervene.
4. Minimalist Film Posters
James Whatley in ‘blogging about pretty cool film posters’ shocker, I know. This bunch are alright but not spectacular. The only one worth sharing is this rather cool take on Reservoir Dogs.
5. The Bradley Timepiece
This watch, designed for blind people and named after a Paralympian gold medallist who lost his sight in Afghanistan, is up for design of the year at London’s Design Museum.
It’s rather awesome, but it’s mostly being bought by sighted people.
–
“Here’s hoping future installments deliver on the early promise [that at least some of] the cast have shown.” –
Well, did it?
No. It didn’t.
And I’ll get to why shortly. But first, the good stuff.
The Cast
TASM2’s main players are perfect (it’s the secondary characters that make you cringe*). Andrew Garfieldis Peter Parker just as much as he is Spider-Man. The latter of the two, especially in the earlier action scenes, never better in fact. Funny, fast-talking, and clearly very much at ease with who he is, Spider-Man of 2014 is pretty darn spot on.
On a related note, much has been said about the outstanding chemistry between Garfield and his leading lady, Emma Stone. This, again, is a definite highlight and the screen sparkles and shines whenever the two of them are together throughout. In fact, some of the film’s best laugh out loud moments come from their quick-fire back-and-forths; their relationship has never been more believable.
Jamie Foxx, as new villain Max Dillon – aka Electro – is actually really good too. His journey from ignored nobody through to genuinely messed-up-in-the-head super-villain is superb and in all honesty, probably deserved more screen time than he actually got (but we’ll come back to that).
Dane Dehaan is a great Harry Osborn but again, not for very long. I haven’t seen Dehaan in anything since the seminal super-powers flick, Chronicle, so it’s good to see him bringing the gravitas and pain to the always conflicted character that is the heir to Oscorp.
Finally, on the casting front, it must be said that Sally Field is without doubt one ofthe best things in the entire film. Her screentime can only add up to something around 15mins in total, but the emotional punch her Aunt May delivers in one particular scene (as well as others) makes her stand head and shoulders above all else and the film is much better for it.
All those great actors, all those great performances – what could possible go wrong?
The Script
It’s terrible. I mean, really really terrible. There were rumours of multiple rewrites and myriad changes constantly throughout the making of this film (an entire character, in the shape of Shailene Woodley’s Mary-Jane Watson was written, shot, and then later edited out of the final cut) and the script has clearly suffered for it. Admittedly Jamie Foxx is a great actor, but he’s worthy of an Oscar nod for pulling off this line with a straight face –
“Soon, everyone in the city will know how it feels to live in a world without power, without mercy, without Spider-Manâ€
‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Great actors do their best with terrible lines.’
—
The Plot
To say the plot [and pacing for that matter] of TASM2 is ‘convoluted and messy’ would be an understatement. In the original Spider-Man trilogy, it is universally accepted that Spider-Man 3 is the worst of the three. With the blame, amongst other things, being placed firmly on there being too many villains and not enough time. Sadly, you can say the exact same thing about TASM2.
The Goblin’s arrival seems unnecessary and rushed, especially as Dehaan was doing such a great job as Osborn (and moreso when you remember it took James Franco’s Harry Osborn a full two-and-a-half-films before he finally turned), and the appearance of the mechanised Rhino later on in the film is almost laughable in its whole only-reason-to-exist-is-so-that-we-can-sell-more-toys cheek.
It’s a joke.
Thing is, it’s not only that TASM2 tries to cram in as many references as humanly possible, but its also Sony’s whole ‘we’re building a world/platform for sequels’ thing.
The problem here is twofold. First, the story loses focus and feels bloated. Second, and this is the major deal-breaker, as a result of this ‘sequel-itis’ Spider-Man never really goes through any real sense of surprise or peril.
Don’t get me wrong, while more bad things happen in this film than the first one, there isn’t any real point throughout that you think ‘Oh no! How will Spider-Man get out of it this time?’
I get it. He’s a super-hero. But still. Even his lowest ever low point doesn’t actually feel that low, and that’s a really bad thing.
In Closing
As I’ve already said, TASM2’s casting is [almost] perfect and the film gets away with a lot because of it. However, more time should’ve been spent on the story at hand, not on the wider sequel-set-ups and, as a result, the end result lacks any real emotional impact.
#SpiderMan2 is a good Spider-Man film, featuring a collection of decent actors let down by a rushed script and no real sense of peril.
Yes, my main points of contention have been about story, pace and scripting, however, perhaps a new/decent director wouldn’t let those things through the net. Marc Webb has already been signed up for TASM3, and I really don’t hold out much hope for it to be much better than this.
Which is a real shame, because he makes a darn good trailer.
Two supporting characters in particular really SUCKED for me.
First: Paul Giamatti. It’s clear PG is meant for bigger things to come in [the already planned/announced] TASM3 however, as Russian gangster Aleksei Sytsevich – aka The Rhino, I can’t work out if he’s woefully miscast or utterly wasted. Whichever one it is, he brings the film down.
Second, Marton Csokas turns up in a random cameo as Ravenscroft Institute’s Dr Ashley Kafka and, when that happens; the whole film takes a swerve into Batman Forever territory. Every time I saw him, it was as though the director had just stepped out for lunch or something. I wanted to throw popcorn at the screen it was that bad.
For the uber-geeks out there, wondering if there’s any kind of post-credits sting similar to the first one (with Dr Connors getting a visit from a mysterious inquisitor) you’ll be sadly disappointed. That being said, many publications are reporting that there’s an X-Men: Days of Future Past scene midway through TASM2’s credits.
But this is not the case at the IMAX.
About 70% of last night’s IMAX #SpiderMan2 audience stuck around for a post-credits sequence that didn’t arrive. There was actual booing. — James Whatley (@Whatleydude) April 19, 2014
Things of note for the week ending April 18th, 2014.
1. BFI Player
Not sure if this is available outside of the UK but the British Film Institute launched their own web-based content player recently. If you like bloody good film, it’s not a bad place to rent stuff from (and there’s 15% off if you’re a member, obvs).
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
This has got car crash written all over it BUT wild horses won’t keep me from seeing it at the cinema.
Yes, Michael Bay is rebooting the Turtles.
No, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be keeping to their origin stories.
Yes, the trailer looks terrible / typically Michael Bay.
No, there’s no sign of Krang.
Yes, Megan Fox is playing April O’Neil.
No, the Turtles aren’t as small as they’re supposed to be.
Yes, Splinter will be in it.
Things of note for the week ending April 11th, 2014.
1. Useful [and timely] Social Media Tips
The Easter break is coming up and, one week out, if you’ve not made the right prep for your social channels, now might be a good time to sort that out. This post, from the endlessly-knowledgeable Stephen Waddington, is a good place to start (and bookmark for future use).
2. A 9hr trip into SNES history
Did you ever own a Super Nintendo? Then you need to [at least attempt to] watch this nine hour epic, showcasing ALL OF THE START SCREENS FROM EVERY SNES GAME EVER.
ZOMG.
Yes, they’re in alphabetical order. My personal favourite, Streetfighter II is at 06:45:50 and if, like me, nearly all your old games started with ‘SUPER’ (Super Bomberman, Super Mario World, Super Street Fighter II etc) well they all start at 06:52:45 – enjoy!
3. Sony ad of colour
I’m in the final throes of completely Sony-fying my life (a new TV, amp, and console, with the matching phone arriving next week), so it seems only fitting that we celebrate this gorgeous ad –
4. RANKING EVERY WWF/WWE WRESTLEMANIA MATCH EVER
You need a day to read this.
EDIT: I wrote this list of five things at the start of the week. Between then and now however, it was announced that just days after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, The Ultimate Warrior had sadly passed away.
In the list linked above, the first match I ever saw comes in at No. 33. That was Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6 (World Championship vs Intercontinental Championship), it was an amazing match and the image of Warrior Gorilla Pressing Hulkster up above his head became seared on my mind forever.
RIP Warrior.
Your fans thought you were the best thing in the world.
5. Good list of interesting upcoming films
I like films. If you read my blog, there’s a good chance you do too. iO9 has put together a list of upcoming genre movies that aren’t sequels, remakes, or reboots. Stuff to get excited about.
2. Gravity Deleted Scene
This is great (watch ’til the end)
3. Die Hard
I was watched Channel 5 last Sunday, and [the original] Die Hard was voted ‘The Best Action Film Ever Made’. I find it hard to disagree (it really is fantastic). To celebrate, here’s a picture of Bruce Willis.
4. Captain America: Old Shool
Last weekend I saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier (and wrote you a spoiler-free review too), I spotted this awesome old school poster for it not shortly after and just had to share it. It’s super cool.
5. The Photography of Stanley Kubrick
Before Stanley Kubrick began to make his name in film, he tinkered around in the related medium of photography.
During the 1940s, Kubrick was employed as a photographer at Look Magazine in New York. It was during this time that he started studying film at the Museum of Modern Art. Fortunately for us, he also took a lot of photos and 1940s New York, through Kubrick’s eye, is fantastic.
I left the cinema feeling sick to the pit of my stomach.
Under the Skin is magnificent.
There is much to say, but also too much.
Many other reviews give you tip offs, things like which characters are driven by what motivations, or where certain characters have come from and where they’re headed. I can’t do that. I can’t. I want you to see this knowing as little as possible.
In fact, I can’t recommend enough that you go into this completely cold (even if you can’t, even if you’ve seen a review that says ‘This is terrible!’ or if you’ve heard from someone that it’s completely rubbish. Ignore that person. Do not listen to their advice).
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