"The Amazing Spiderman"

Aaaaah Spider-Man. I owe a lot of my childhood to the wall-crawler. Ever since I was little I've loved the guy, spent hours drawing him from comics, watching every episode religiously on Fox Kids, playing with all the figurines. But enough about what I did last weekend, this is a film blog, after all.

Mmm, Shiny.

As I got older Sam Raimi obviously didn't want me to stop loving Spider-Man, so he thought he'd make an equally awesome trilogy of films showing my secret dream profession web-sling all over the cinema. I actually know Spider-Man 1 word for word off by heart. I loved them, because they captured the essence of Spider-Man perfectly. He's not like all the other superheroes! He has normal everyday problems like everyone else, he's a nerd, he's in love with the babe next door, he's a part time pizza guy! Can't imagine Bruce Wayne getting his dinner money stolen, can you? And I think that's part of the reason why I love Spider-Man so much, yeah he's bad-ass and everything, but he's also relatable as a person.

Although I will always adore Sam Raimi's trilogy, I am very, very, verrrry excited for Mark Webb's Spider-Man. Although not a lot is known so far about the film itself, the clues and the speculation are enough to make me want to fail my A-levels and just sit in my room for the next 18 months watching re-runs of Spider-Man cartoons until it's released. Below I'm going to list reasons why it's destined for awesome!

#1 

Andrew Garfield.

Now, impending man-crush's aside, Andrew Garfield will be perfect for the part. When he was first announced as the new Spidey everyone seemed to collectively wonder "Who?" and "Why?" Apparently even Garfield was completely shocked by the decision. 

They are several reasons why he's perfect for the part. Firstly, he's a really good actor. Like most people I first heard of him in "The Social Network" playing Eduardo and I thought he was really good and out-shone Jesse Eisenberg. (who was essentially playing... Jesse Eisenberg. A bit like Michael Cera... but that's for a whole other blog.) It may seem pretty strange that him being a good actor would be such a good element of his casting, but when names like Zac "High School Musical" Efron and Jake "Brokeback" Gyllenhaal were in rumour circulation he came very much as a relief. 

Also, Andrew has made it very clear in interviews that he had a quite a hard time as a teenager with bullies, which can only make his portrayal of troubled Peter Parker all the better. Oh yeah, and he’s a trained gymnast, which can only be a plus as far as stunts are concerned.

#2 
Hopefully it could go down the “Dark Knight” Route.
Batman films have been completely revitalised since Nolan got his hands on them, by giving them a realistic, darker, gritty edge. Raimi’s Spiderman had there moments, after all the Green Goblin died from being impaled by his own hovercraft. But on the most part, they were very light-hearted affairs, which as a 12 year old I didn’t mind at all!

But it would be great to go for a completely new change of tone, and make a Spiderman film which can be mentioned in the same breath as The Dark Knight. Having said that, Mark Webb’s previous film was (500) Days of Summer. Not the most shocking film in existence, but a decent flick none the less, and shows the direction for the Spidey films taking a whole new route.

#3 
Emma Stone
Ah… Emma Stone. She has been cast as Gwen Stacey, and considering no Mary-Jane has been announced yet, we can assume she is the leading lady. She’s cool, having starred in “Zombieland” and “Easy A” and of course the love interest in “Superbad.” She can be funny. She can… act. Probably. Oh whatever, just look at this I made on Photoshop.

I know which one I'd rather lived next door...

Hmm, hmm.

I mean Mary Jane wasn’t bad in the last Spiderman, but Kirsten Dunst was hardly the bombshell we’re all meant to find completely irresistible. She’s more (ironically) girl-next-doorsy.

#4
New plotline
In the last trilogy, Peter Parker worked for the Bugle, but considering this film won’t even include Jameson we can safely assume he won’t be there this time. This could be because in this film he isn’t even leaving school yet and therefore hasn’t had chance to become a photographer. Or, it could signify that the new film is following the more up to date storyline in “Ultimate Spiderman” where he becomes (again, ironically) a “web designer.” A bit cheesy, but it shows Spiderman keeping up with his ever-changing audience.

It will also be another element to separate this film from the previous trilogy. Keeping in line with Peter staying at school, the enemy in this film will be the Lizard, who of course is Dr Connors from the previous films. He becomes the lizard when trying to utilise the regeneration properties from (you guessed it) lizards, in order to regrow his arm. However, it goes terribly wrong and he becomes the very aggressive “Lizard.” Played by Rhys Ifans, more good points!

#5
Web-Shooters
Woohoo! He’s finally getting web-shooters. In the original comics Spiderman didn’t develop sudden web shooting wrists straight away, and developing highly pressurised web-shooters, which only he could operate because of his super-strength. He does later develop natural web, but only after he mutates into the “Man-Spider” for a while which was more like Shelob rather than “friendly neighbourhood Spiderman.” On the subject of his costume, his latest costume looks bad-ass. It's not so, spandex, and more dark and stylish...

New Spidey, new wardrobe.

Well there we go, my top 5 reasons why The Amazing Spiderman will be… amazing! I just hope it’s everything the Spiderman franchise deserves. I'll make sure I post more info about the film as it's released, but until then I’ll have to settle for Thor and Captain America to be released this summer. 

In the immortal words of Stan Lee… come back soon, true believers!
-Luke

Update!

Just in case anyone is wondering, I haven't abandoned this blog! Just been bogged down with essays and stuff from college. I've got a couple of posts in the works, one explaining why the next Spiderman film will be all kinds of awesome, and a review of the superb 127 hours. 127 hours may have been out for ages, but I've only just seen it and enjoyed it that I wanted to write a review for it. It just proved Danny Boyle can't make a bad film, so expect a lot of Danny Boyle related ass-kissery in that review!

Oh yeah, and for anyone who hasn't seen it you HAVE to watch this trailer for new zombie game "Dead Island." It's one of the best trailers I've ever seen, for a film or game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqrG1bdGtg
Don't bother watching the backwards version, it ruins the whole effect.

Because every blog is better with a picture of Ramona Flowers.

And another thing.
Edgar Wright re-tweeted this really genuinely awesome Scott Pilgrim "8th evil ex" comic earlier.
Well worth a look for any Scott Pilgrim fan, I hope Edgar liked it so much he want's to make it into a film...
http://www.edgarwrighthere.com/2011/02/16/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-walking-dead/


Anyway, come back soon for the posts I mentioned earlier!

-Luke :-)

A Man Date. Of Epic Proportions.

With so many films out at the moment it begs the question, how does one find time to see all these amazing films! I'm particularly excited about The Fighter and True Grit. A boxing film and a cowboy film, both tipped for oscar success.

Unfortunately, believe it or not, my girlfriend isn't keen on either of these. How she can resist Mark Wahlberg's biceps will be a mystery to me, but each to there own. So this leaves me no choice.
A man date.

Just to make one thing clear, a man-date isn't a "date" involving romance, cuddling, sharing of popcorn or the ol' yawn reach around the shoulder trick (which, might I add, never fails). No. A man date is the most manliest of affairs. Two men, united by cinema (and maybe a couples combo. what? it works out cheaper...) joining forces to watch epic movies which most girlfriends wouldn't dare boldly step foot into. My man-date is fellow man-child, Tom.

You may be thinking, what makes this man date so epic anyway? Well, it's because we're seeing True Grit and The Fighter. Together. ON THE SAME DAY, WITHOUT LEAVING THE CINEMA. (except maybe for provisions. Like KFC. Standard man-date procedure.) And if we don't pass out from testosterone over-dose (-edit. that sounded much less gay first time I wrote it) we might even watch Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's latest caper "Paul" as well. A cowboy film, a boxing film, and a sci-fi film in one day!? Living the dream, folks.



Anyway, I'll be writing reviews and thoughts of all three films as soon as I get chance. The man-date shall be taking place in about two weeks, but I should post more film news before then. Check back soon for these reviews, and any other film related chunks of awesome I wish to share.

See you around film-fans!
Luke.

Black Swan

Black Swan is very much one of the films of the moment, it’s got more award nominations than you can shake a tutu at, and it kick’s off what promises to be a very important year for Natalie Portman. I went to see it this Wednesday, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I didn’t really research into before I went to see it, and to be honest went to keep the missus happy, but I was pleasantly surprised.

           

Black Swan follows a young, virginal, fragile girl who is desperate to win the lead role in Swan Lake. I know what your thinking, this could quite easily be a film about Barbie but believe me it couldn’t be further from it.

           

Nina (Portman) lands the role of the Swan Queen which involves playing the “perfect ballerina” as the white swan, but also the darker, sexier evil twin of the white swan, the (you guessed it!) Black Swan. However, the role becomes too much for Nina and the inner demons it unleashes within her, and suddenly what the audience is dealing with is an intense psychological thriller. I loved how the film crosses the boundaries of realism and presents the world from Nina’s point of view, and using metaphorical imagery it conveys the inner feelings of Nina. The White Swan and The Black Swan parts of the role start to act as a release of her almost schizophrenic sub-conscious. It reminded me of American Psycho in that respect, how the audience sees and hears what the protagonist feels.

    

The film is truly superbly made. I particularly liked how the sound was edited to sound incredibly harsh in places, for example when she trimmed her finger nails it sounded like they were being ripped from her fingertips. This worked really well, contrasting itself with Nina and presenting her as the delicate young woman she is. This leads me on nicely to Natalie Portman’s performance which was faultless throughout. I’m not sure if she’s a trained ballet dancer, but she certainly looks the part as far as this untrained eye could tell. In my opinion she was proof that casting can make or break a film, and she certainly made it.

Black Swan may be set around the graceful world of ballet, but this film is not for the faint-hearted. In places it’s genuinely disturbing, and I honestly wonder how it didn’t get passed with an 18 certificate. But don’t let that put you off, if you enjoy psychological thrillers with twists and turns and climatic endings which will leave your heart racing then you can’t go wrong here, just be prepared to really engross yourself. As a film-fan I really enjoyed myself, and my girlfriend seemed to really enjoy it and she doesn’t often stray much further than The Notebook when having a film night in.

To conclude, by all means go and see this film in the cinema for the full immersive experience, just be prepared to have to use your noggin in places!
And if that doesn’t convince you… Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. Underwear. Together. Enough said.

Hope you enjoyed my review. Please leave a quick comment and come back in the future for more reviews and articles!

-Luke

             

First Blog. EVER.

Howdy-do viewer!

I’m really excited to get started, so just thought I’d get a first post up to get the ball rolling. I’m completely new to blogging, but intend to have a browse around later on, so don’t be surprised if I end up on your page. I’m going to be writing film reviews about latest titles, but also previously released films which I get round to watching and feel like expressing my inner nerd-hood about.

I went to see Black Swan with my girlfriend the other night, thinking I’d take her to a ballet film before groveling and begging to let me take her to see True Grit… but I was so amazed by the film! I ended up really enjoying it. (and no, not just the Natalie Portman vs. Mila Kunis bed wrestling match half way through.) So anyway, I think I’ll get a review up over the weekend!

I hope you stick around, I promise to be a consistent blogger, because as you can imagine, a guy who makes a blog about films has far too much spare time on his hands!

See you around :-)

-Luke