Spiderman, like we have [already] seen it before!

Finally, after 5 long years, years filled with subpar films such as The Dark Knight or The Avengers, years filled with the dullest films to come along in years like Super 8, Star Trek, or even Captain America, we finally have a Spiderman film. Those dark days of waiting to see our friendly neighborhood webslinger finally get the big screen treatment is over. 2012 will be long remembered for bringing us exactly what we were all calling for: The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises. And shoved right in between these two, amongst the rest of the summer releases, is Spiderman.

The Amazing Spiderman is not a bad film, it's just not a great film and it is certainly not a film we needed. You see, the main problem was the exact thing that I was mostly worried about and (if you were unlucky to hear me talk about it in person) I've been vocalizing for months. It is yet another retelling of Spiderman. Yes, kiddos, we get to see how Spiderman became Spiderman. Again.

A Princess is John Carter's Mars...or something like that.

Despite Disney's best efforts to destroy it, John Carter turns out to be one heck of a movie. Whatever movie that Disney was trying to sell you, with the rock rifts, the Attack of the Clone scenes, the weird ships, the lack of story, they succeeded in hiding the better film that lay underneath. And I think that it's going to cost them. Dearly.

John Carter goes for a walk!

Now, let me address the name change for a moment. This movie is called John Carter. Simple. And boring. What does the name John Carter tell me? It's about a man named John Carter. And what is he going to do? Be John Carter, right? But what makes John Carter so important? He's John Carter. Honestly, this was another great example of Disney trying to hide the most important element that is the focus of this movie, which is John Carter, goes to Mars. You see, John Carter is from earth, but goes to Mars, where he has his adventure. So, if I were thinking straight, I would have called it something like, John Carter of Mars, to help with the marketing. Instead we get John Carter. Why not just called it John? Or J. Carter? Or J, for that matter? This movie would have been so much easier to find an audience with the words Of Mars, attached. John Carter, tells me nothing but John Carter of Mars tell me tons. However, Disney not calling it A Princess of Mars, was smart. When you think of Disney and Princesses, this movie would have been a sever disappointment to brainwashed girls across the board.  I am not sure why some reviewers haven't made this connection yet, but they need to shut their mouths and stop whining. Not to mention since this movie is about John Carter (as the name clearly states) viewers would have expected more from the Princess than we are given. If I say anything good about Disney and their marketing here, I say good call on not putting Princess in the title.

A quick word re: the score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

I would love to go into great detail regarding this release. I would. I just have so many problems finishing started projects. I believe I have about 10 articles that I plan to write. I plan on getting to them in the future. I hope.


So here is a quick post  and maybe one'll expand in the future, who knows.

I recently acquired a copy of the Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Extended Edition score by James Horner. As a lover of the original release, getting this in the used bin at a store was a rare find. 


We all know that Wrath of Khan is one of the best films in the Star Trek franchise. The direction  the story, and the score all help to push it to the limits and beyond. Everything about the movie is wonderful. And James Horner really helped to come into his own on this one. It's powerful stuff, never really letting go, always pushing forward and always action packed. 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Half Blood Prince

Frustration and Love. 

Two ways to sum up the next two movies in the series. 

These movies are when the kids start changing into adults, despite almost dying time and time again.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is my least favorite of the movies. It also just happens to be my least favorite book, one in which J. K. Rowling decided to torture the hell out of the audience, by giving us an angry emo Harry, an evil witch Umbridge, more torture, long pages of the same thing over and over, tons of useless of subplots, and lots of pages of the same damn thing over and over. It is bad.

The movie doesn't score much better. In this case, it is because most of what they cut to make this movie the shortest in the series is a lot of the stuff that made the book tolerable. What's left is amended and incomplete. In fact, it feels like half a movie, and that is a huge reason why this is my least favorite.

It's not that the acting is bad. The kids kick ass and the adults are amazing. The new character of Umbridge  is played so deliciously evil by Imelda Staunton that it is going to be hard  to see her in anything else without being pissed off at her for her treatment of Harry and the Gang. The character is just so nasty, and Imelda just hits the right cords to make her just so unlikable. Plus the addition of Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood really adds another level to this growing cast. She is so enduring in her obliviousness and innocence. She is great fun to watch on screen. On the evil side, Helena Bonham Carter is brought in as Bellatrix Lestrange and just hits it out of the park. She is evil and crazy and creepy as hell to watch. She is great fun. 

Harry Potter Week

This was the way to usher in the last movie in the series. 8 movies, 4 days. Seeing them in a theater filled with other fans who want to be there. Seeing the films in order really helps show how the films improved and how certain mistakes that were left out that later came back to haunt them. You get to see the kids grow up and you get to see them deal with loss and hurt.

This was the way to see Harry Potter! I am so glad that my family was able to enjoy this experience. It won't happen like this again.

---MGS

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Fire

With the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there was somewhat of a shake up when it came to the making of these movies. Chris Columbus decided to bow out as director of the third film and the search began for a replacement to take over the next film. Loads of names were tossed around, but with a big project such as this, there is always names that come and go.

In the end, they settled on Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, know for such films as the critcially acclaimed Y Tu Mama Tambien, which is known for its extreme sexual content, and the film adaptions of A Little Princess and, afterwards,  Children of Men. To me, he didn't really seem to fit the expected mold. There was just something about the way he adapted A Little Princess that never sat well with me. It always felt like it went way to far away from the source material, but not in a terrible way, just enough hat it felt like it was only giving slight nods to the book. I was more than a bit worried.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is an interesting film. It shows that sometimes the established and expected norm can change, and with it comes a big breath of fresh air. Except for the fact that there is a huge budget behind this thing, this could amost be a fanasty indepant film, as it has that sort of sensabilty to it. 

Chris and his films felt a bit tired after the second film. Chamber still had too much presentation in it, it still had that weird paint by numbers feel, it still has very little in the area of surprise. In some ways, it was getting dull. This was apparently an assessment shared by others. 


After the second movie, somebody felt the need to want to re-launch the series, even taking it as far as redesigning parts of the established school buildings and designs. Alfonso's Hogworts, while still very similar to its earlier versions, have changed just enough to be quite noticeable which is both frustrating and interesting. Still, they are good changes, some welcomed, in fact.  An example of this being Hagrid's hut is further away from the school and down a hill. Such a simple change that makes the grounds, and therefore the castle, feel that much more spread out. Hogwarts isn't just a little place for students to go and study. Hogwarts is now a huge and spread out compound where people go to learn magic. 

'nuff said'

--MGS