May 06, 2007

At the Movies

Some thoughts on some recent films:

- "Spider-man 3": Following the second film, one of the top movies of '04 and one of the better comic book movies ever, the third Spidey flick is quite a disappointment.

There are some top-flight action sequences, sure, but having three different villains is remiscent of the Joel Schumacher-era "Batman" pictures, the "evil Spidey" thing is just cringe-inducing, especially in the jazz club song-and-dance number, and the ending is a mess. Maybe having the hero forgive the villain is satisfying in some universe, but not in this one.

- "Waitress": This indie comedy, starring Keri Russell and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly, is as good as advertised. The characters are real, the scenes well-directed, and it actually gets better as it goes on. One of the best of the year, and everyone should see it.

- "Lucky You": This one sat on the shelf for more than two years, and for good reason: It's a crushing bore, made to capitalize on the poker fad and left to die in theaters (against "Spider-man") once it petered out. The poker scenes are pretty good, but everything else in the movie fails, especially the part about the star (Eric Bana) being a professional gambler even though he's not that good at gambling. Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall, meanwhile, return as the exact same characters they played in their five previous movies.

Posted by Stephen Silver at May 6, 2007 05:50 PM
Comments

I wouldnt say Waitress is going to be one of the best movies of the year. It was a well made movie but did seem a tad predictable. It was cute.

Posted by: A at May 6, 2007 08:29 PM

"the "evil Spidey" thing is just cringe-inducing"

But you can't really blame the film for that. Venom's been a major part of Spiderman's storyline for going on 20 years.

Posted by: Dave J at May 7, 2007 10:34 AM
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