Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 2010
I have heard all sorts of praise for this movie since it came out, even though it seemed destined to become an immediate cult movie. It was a pretty dismal failure at the box office, making just over half of it’s fairly impressive $60 million budget. I find that it’s actually rather fitting that I watched this movie after watching Unbreakable. Because it’s like different sides of the same coin. Where Unbreakable was understated, slow paced, and ultra realistic, Scott Pilgrim is over the top, fast paced, and extremely stylized. Yet it can be said about both of them that there is no other movie out there quite like either of them. I went into this movie knowing very little about it. I knew the basic plot that Scott falls in love with an alt chick and has to fight her seven exes, and there’s a resounding comic book slash classic video game slash anime influence. That’s putting it mildly. It’s like an anime ate a comic book while playing a video game and had a love child with a superhero movie and this is the resulting child of that event. It’s definitely not a movie for everyone, I wasn’t sure where it was going at the beginning, but once I got into it I really enjoyed it.
Are reboots of comic book movies more forgivable?
Before I get into today’s topic, I want to give a quick shoutout to At the Back who passed me the Versatile Blogger Award. I really do appreciate the award for what it is, he thinks this site is in his top 10 list of blogs. But I’m not going to participate in the meme. If you follow me on Twitter, you did get to hear 10 random facts about me, but that’s as far as I’m going with it. I’ll stick with my Follow Fridays to share the blogging love. But today I wanted to go back to The Amazing Spider-Man. It’s a great movie, did well in the box office, though not quite as well as any of the Raimi movies yet, and was received rather well critically. But the thing hanging in the air in almost every single discussion about the movie was that it was too soon for a reboot. So my question for today is, should we be more forgiving of reboots of comic book movies?
Unbreakable
Unbreakable 2000
I’ve been a fan of M. Night Shyamalan a lot longer than most. He snuck onto the scene in the nineties with a pair of low budget independent movies (Praying with Anger and Wide Awake). But in 1999 he made The Sixth Sense and was instantly hailed as the next Hitchcock. Instead of another psychological thriller, as everyone anticipated, Shyamalan followed with Unbreakable, an understated, ultra-realistic, and altogether atypical take on the superhero origin movie. Although it went on to earn more than $100 million at the box office, many still considered it failure since it didn’t live up to the $300 million take of The Sixth Sense. Unbreakable shatters the mold created by previous comic book adaptations: there are no big budget effects or action sequences, no costumes or masks, and no secret identities. Nevertheless, it is every ounce a superhero movie, and easily claims a spot in my personal top ten.
FTMN Poll: What should I watch next?
Click here for the poll on Facebook. The Polldaddy polls used by WordPress weren’t working the way I wanted them to, but on Facebook it’s very easy to add your own option so list whatever you want. It’s time once again to ask that age old question of what I should watch next. I’ve left this poll wide open, so just type in your choice, or pick a choice someone else has already put down. I have two other options because the system won’t let me create essentially a blank poll. Tomorrow’s movie will be Unbreakable, but it’s wide open after that. If you need some suggestions, check out the List – by Date for a big list of superhero movies. Or you can check below for DVDs that I own, but haven’t reviewed. Many of them I haven’t even watched yet because I bought them from the bargain bin for the specific purpose of watching them for this site. Note – I have both Nolan Batman movies, but I’m saving them for just before Dark Knight Rises.
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man 2012
So I mentioned before back when I watched the Avengers, that it had been four years since I had been to the theaters to see a movie, and this movie has been the second one so far this year to drag me out of my house even in this crazy heat to go to the theater and watch on the big screen. It was totally worth it. This was also a different experience for me because I managed to make a split and let Jena and her mother watch Brave the next theater over while I watched Spider-Man with one of my friends. I think one of the biggest questions anyone has about this movie is if it is too similar to the Raimi movies to make a difference on the audiences. I personally think it managed to take most of the best parts of Spider-Man 2, leave out some of the weaker parts of Spider-Man, and add in things from the comic that never made it into the original trilogy and come out with something at least as good as Spider-Man 2, which was my favorite of the original 3. I think it’s a worthy start to a new series and I’m all for the Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Superhero Shorts: Spider-Man Eclipse
Superhero Shorts: Spider-Man Eclipse
Welcome to this week’s edition of Superhero Shorts where I take a look at a different superhero themed short film and get the creator of the film to answer a few interview questions. This week I’m sticking with my current theme and found a Spider-Man short that was actually released this week right alongside the Amazing Spider-Man. It’s called Spider-Man: Eclipse and I got the chance to talk with the director Al White. You can check the short out at their website SpidermanEclipse.com or you can watch it right below.
Follow Friday: The Droid You’re Looking For
Follow Friday: The Droid You’re Looking For
Welcome to another edition of Follow Friday where each week I feature and interview a fellow blogger and follow their suggestion to another blog to feature next week. I prefer this over a blogroll because it gives each blog their own time to shine, plus I personally rarely click on blogrolls so why would I expect you to? Not only that, but I get the chance to check out some great blogs I might not have found otherwise found, talk to some great people, and share the conversation with you. This week I was directed by Steve over at Anti-Film School to check out The Droid You’re Looking For aka TDYLF which is a great site with a lot of humor along with the movie reviews.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2002
I end my trip through Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy at the beginning, rewatching the first movie so I can aptly compare it to the new Amazing Spider-man movie this weekend and there have been a lot of ups and downs. It was an interesting experiment and I think it was mostly successful. Of the three, I definitely enjoyed the second one the most. There were a few misgivings I had with this movie compared to the second, and the second had very few flaws. But this was easily head and shoulders above the third movie. I’m really looking forward now to seeing the new one and am just hoping it doesn’t rehash the story too closely or else it will feel pointless.
What’s your favorite Superhero Movie?
This weekly blog has become the toughest part about writing for this site, but since it’s halfway through the first year I thought it’s a good time to start tackling the toughest question that I ask everyone that I talk to for this site, “What’s your favorite Superhero movie?” I’ve done 23 different interviews, gotten 25 different people to answer this question, and gotten 25 different movies for an answer. Of course, that includes 2 people that didn’t pick a single movie, and almost half of them couldn’t pick just one movie. One person even went so far as to make a top 10 list. I counted every movie that was listed as a favorite, but I didn’t count any movies that were listed, but then discounted in favor of a different favorite movie. So what movies did everyone pick? Read on to find out.
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 2004
If anyone else is thinking about rewatching all three of the Spider-Man movies before going out to see the new one, I would really recommend watching them in reverse order. Going from Spider-Man 3 to Spider-Man 2, it’s hard to believe that they were made by all the same people. They feel like such completely different types of movies. Where Spider-Man 3 was filled with action setpieces, fan service villains, and bland love triangles, yet feels empty and lifeless. Spider-Man 2 however still has a fan service villain, but only one of them, a love triangle, but only one of them, and still manages to come up with exciting action sequences. Overall, Spider-Man 2 has the heart that Spider-Man 3 is completely missing, even though the third movie tries to replicate it with the Sandman, but fails due to not enough screen time. Aside from a few minor moments, I enjoyed this movie from start to finish. It’s one of the superhero movies done right.
Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 