Franchise Review- Spider-Man

    It may have been too soon for a reboot, but ready or not "The Amazing Spiderman" is swinging into theaters this July 4th weekend. Andrew Garfield and director Marc Webb had their work cut out for them trying to wipe the slate clean and make moviegoers forget about the biggest franchise of the past decade but comparisons are inevitable and before I get into this new incarnation, here's a recap of the Raimi-Maguire era.

"Spider-Man"(2002)                                             
The superhero movie renaissance that still rages on today started ten summers ago when the crown jewel of Marvel comics finally made his way to the big screen after several years of false starts and legal entanglements. Tobey Maguire("Pleasantville", "The Cider House Rules") was perfectly cast as high school nerd Peter Parker who yearns for the affections of neighbor and classmate Mary Jane(Kristen Dunst). Aided by a radioactive spider bite and some eye-popping CGI, he fights crime in New York as his webslinging alter ego and clashes with the sinister Green Goblin(Willem Dafoe).

   There are a few corny lines and moments and Dafoe's face is scarier than the Green Goblin mask, but overall this sunny and upbeat blockbuster from "Evil Dead" director Sam Raimi was a triumphant introduction for a legendary hero, and was exactly what audiences needed and wanted post-9/11, as evidenced by the staggering $400 million box office total. The angst and uncertainty of the '90s was officially over(on movie screens at least). Batman was nowhere to be found. It was Spidey's world, we just lived in it.

"Spider-Man 2"(2004)
This superior follow-up made my list of the greatest sequels of all time and has to be considered not just a high point for the series but the entire genre as well. It seems to be a rule that the second movie in a superhero franchise is always the best as the filmmakers are more confident in the knowledge that the public has embraced the characters and the world that was established the first time around.

   Raimi gets his inspiration straight from the early comics as Peter realizes the heavy toll that his crime fighting duties have taken on his personal life. Can he have a relationship with Mary Jane AND stop the destructive Doc Ock(Alfred Molina)? Aunt May's 'hero' speech aside, everything here feels just right. From Tobey's inner turmoil to the show-stopping elevated train sequence, this remains the Spiderman movie to beat.

"Spider-Man 3"(2007)
It's safe to say that fans had total faith in Sam Raimi at this point, and that's why it was such a shame to see him drop the ball with this mega-budgeted third installment. There are some undeniably impressive action/FX sequences, but the story is all over the place. The villainous Sandman(Thomas Haden Church) is terrorizing the city, Harry Osborn(James Franco) is plotting revenge as the new Green Goblin, an alien symbiote/black goo/whatever attaches itself to Peter unleashing his dark side, and there are some unnecessary romantic complications with Mary Jane. As if that's not enough, there's a half-hearted attempt to insert fan favorite villain Venom(Topher Grace) into the proceedings, that reeks of 11th hour studio interference.

   Although another huge financial success(cha-ching, $336 million domestically to win the summer battle of the sequels), most people agree that "3" hit a wall creatively, that ultimately resulted in the removal of Raimi and Maguire from the franchise(they were reportedly on board for a fourth up until 2010). But not before they made it safe again for heroes in strange attire to appear on the silver screen.

Legends- Michelle Pfeiffer

     With the recent releases of three new films, "New Year's Eve", "Dark Shadows", and "People Like Us", it seems like the right time to talk about my favorite actress. Why Michelle Pfeiffer, you ask? She's the best actress to never win an Academy Award, but her list of credits is more impressive than most of the women that have the gold statue. She's led a remarkably low-key personal life devoid of tabloid scandal and controversy- a real rarity these days. She shared the screen with almost every major male actor for two decades and didn't get overshadowed by any of them. She's without question one of the great beauties in all of cinema and at age 54, still looks amazing with no obvious signs of plastic surgery. Her fabled beauty isn't even a matter of opinion. It's backed by scientific fact. A study in 2001 determined that Pfeiffer had the exact facial proportions for feminine beauty based on the ratio of her mouth to the width of her nose. I'm not trying to make any females out there feel bad about themselves, but this woman is as close to perfect as it gets.


    Born and raised in a middle class family in Southern California, she stumbled onto acting after winning an Orange County beauty pageant and after appearing in a string of forgettable movies and TV shows, her big break came when she was cast as one of the leads in "Grease 2", the sequel to the 1978 smash hit musical. Lightning didn't strike twice however, and although it has something of a cult following now, "Grease 2" was a critical and commercial disaster upon it's release in 1982 and could have killed her career before it even got started. Fortunately, Al Pacino and Brian De Palma gave her a huge second chance to make a first impression. To say that "Scarface" was a popular and successful film would be a massive understatement and Pfeiffer's role as Tony Montana's icy, coke-snorting object of desire brought her widespread recognition. How many 24 year olds with only bad movies and TV on their resume could hold their own with a heavyweight like Pacino who was already a legend by this point? She wisely followed "Scarface" with the comic thriller "Into the Night" as a gorgeous jewel thief that shows Jeff Goldblum's sad sack insomniac the time of his life. Her stock continued to rise with Richard Donner's "Ladyhawke" and the supernatural comedy hit "The Witches of Eastwood" in which she co-starred with Jack Nicholson, Cher and Susan Sarandon.


    She truly arrived as a superstar in her own right in 1988 with the release of three films that were well received by critics and audiences. She was delightful as brassy mob widow Angela DeMarco in the quirky comedy "Married to the Mob" and she struck sparks with Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell in the slick crime drama "Tequila Sunrise". She completed this trifecta of wildly different roles with her Oscar nominated performance as the demure Madam De Tourvel in the superb "Dangerous Liaisons". Many feel her single greatest moment in film came the following year when she sat atop a piano in a red dress in the role of slinky nightclub singer Susie Diamond and stole "The Fabulous Baker Boys" right out from under Jeff and Beau Bridges en route to a second Oscar nomination. As the decade drew to a close, Pfeiffer was arguably the hottest actress in the world until Julia Roberts showed Richard Gere her horse grin in 1990(nothing against Roberts, I like her but this is Michelle Pfeiffer's blog). With every script in town coming her way, it's worth noting that she turned down "Silence of the Lambs", "Thelma and Louise", and "Basic Instinct"- all films that made the careers of the actresses that did them. Instead she gravitated toward projects with less commercial appeal that allowed her to stretch as an actress like "The Russia House" with Sean Connery and the romantic drama "Frankie and Johnny" which reunited her with Pacino.


    In 1992, she nabbed the role that perhaps she is best known for in Tim Burton's blockbusting sequel "Batman Returns". Her instantly iconic turn as Catwoman/Selina Kyle forever earned her the love and appreciation of hormonal fan-boys everywhere. That same year she starred in "Love Field", a quiet drama that dealt with the aftermath of the JFK assassination which earned her a third Oscar nod. She carried on a forbidden love affair with Daniel Day-Lewis in Martin Scorsese's prestigious 1993 period piece "The Age of Innocence" and 1994's underrated "Wolf" brought her and Nicholson together again. "Dangerous Minds" and "Up Close and Personal" were star vehicles that did respectable business thanks to her good standing with moviegoers. But as the '90s wore on, some of her choices were disappointing. There's not much to say about "One Fine Day", "The Deep End of the Ocean", and "The Story of Us". She bounced back alongside Harrison Ford in the Robert Zemeckis mystery thriller "What Lies Beneath", a big box office hit in the summer of 2000. She provided strong support to Sean Penn in 2001's "I Am Sam" and got good reviews for her role as an imprisoned mother in 2002's "White Oleander". Her career was definitely on an upswing when she took a self-imposed hiatus that lasted nearly five years.

   She came back in 2007 but found it difficult to return to the position she once enjoyed in the industry. "Hairspray" was a hit, "Stardust" was not. Both were supporting roles. After suffering the indignity of having two films go straight to DVD and the failure of 2009's "Cheri", she took another long break. It's a shame Hollywood is so hard on older actresses not named Meryl Streep because Pfeiffer could still have much to offer. Her new movies may not amount to a full fledged comeback but she has no plans to retire. Unlike most of the leading ladies from her era, she's still in the game, and there's hope for one last great role. If not, we'll always have Susie Diamond.






*Updated Nov 2017
"The Wizard of Lies" was Michelle's best work in at least a decade, and Darren Aronofsky's criminally overlooked "Mother!" is destined to be a cult flick.  She's in the "Ant-Man" sequel next. It's a good time to be a pfan.

$am Jack$on $ucks

 

    I saw "The Avengers" a few weeks ago and something bothered me right off the bat. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't enjoying the opening scene of what is shaping up to be the biggest movie of the summer. Then it hit me. When the first thing I see is Samuel L. Jackson hamming it up in an eyepatch, I'm wondering if it's too late to get a refund. Which brings me to a problem that has existed in cinema for some time. Sam Jackson is everywhere. His roles in all the Marvel superhero movies, the "Star Wars" prequels, "The Incredibles", "Die Hard 3", Pulp Fiction", and Jurassic Park" have made him one of the biggest box office actors in history. But this is nothing to celebrate. Jackson has appeared in close to 100 movies since making his film debut as a stick-up man in "Coming to America" in 1988. He's made 24 movies in the last five years. That is insane. Filmmakers seem to think he brings this instant cool factor which is something he really hasn't had in at least a decade. The reason is quite clear. Jackson is the biggest sellout in Hollywood.


   Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying he doesn't have talent or that I wasn't a fan when he first came on the scene. He made a name for himself as a fiery character actor in the works of Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino. I would have given him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1994, but Jules Winfield was a long time ago. Jackson hardly cares about awards, though because he won where it really counts. I think he got some career advice from his fellow paycheck-loving "Jackie Brown" costar Robert De Niro. When was the last time Jackson added anything to a film? Maybe it was "Unbreakable" in 2000. Few seem to realize how many times he's polluted the multiplex. Did anybody like "Formula 51", "Basic", "SWAT", "Freedomland" or "The Spirit"? How about "Soul Men", "Lakeview Terrace", "Jumper", "Snakes on a Plane", or "Resurrecting The Champ"? Jackson says he just loves to work and that's what adults are supposed to do. His kids wouldn't have missed any meals if he had turned down "The Man" with Eugene Levy. Even Vin Diesel turned down the sequel to "XXX". Not $am. He's signed on for a third. Prostitutes say no more often than this guy. Marvel Studios signed him to an unprecedented deal to play Nick Fury in up to nine films and specifically redesigned the role from a silver haired white man to fit his exact image. Jackson would play Snow White if he thought an audience would go for it. Yet somehow he remains "cool".

   Jackson has no credibility as an actor anymore. He would have to sit on the sidelines for 3 to 5 years before I would want to see him again. That will never happen. Jackson fires his agent if he doesn't have at least 3 movies lined up. Forget about Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. I've got a new game. Three Degrees of Sam Jackson. He blasted a NY Times critic on Twitter for giving "The Avengers" a bad review. Jackson can have his $150 million but he's the last guy that should be demanding respect from the critics after everything that he's put them through. He just signed up for the "Robocop" remake that nobody asked for, due out in 2014. I think we should ignore it and every other piece of garbage that Jackson shovels into theaters until he's the joke in the industry that he deserves to be.



*Updated Dec 2012
I have to give credit where credit is due. Sam was very good in "Django Unchained", but QT always brought out the best in him.