Radio Lady Reviews: "Spider-Man 3" (Opens Friday, May 4, 2007)

[Radio_Lady]

Judging from early reviews, others may not quite agree with me, but "Spider-Man 3" is the best Spidey yet! Wow! This outing is jam-packed full of everything: personal challenges and trials, villains galore, and romance. Spidey gets caught in a web of romance!

Tobey Maguire delivers and is better-than-ever in the dual persona of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Maguire was on with David Letterman and Jon Stewart the same night; he described the grueling task he had of flitting from city to city around the world for premieres.

Kirsten Dunst, with her natural blond hair tinted red -- is great as love interest Mary Jane Watson. In this episode, she contends with thwarted personal ambitions and the green demon. No, not that demon... I'm referring to the specter of JEALOUSY. She gets very upset with an insensitive Spidey.

With her hair bleached up to blonde, Bryce Dallas Howard plays another female heart throb. I hardly recognized her since her last outing in the unfortunate "Lady in the Water."

James Franco once again plays friend-turned-enemy, Harry Osborne. Franco nicely portrays Harry as the wannabe friend who still feels compelled to avenge his father’s death. New villains of note are Flint Marko/Sandman played by Thomas Hayden Church (from "Sideways") and Eddie Brock/Venom played by Topher Grace.

The action is swift as Spidey swings and flies through the canyons of Manhattan. In addition to the bad guys mentioned earlier he also has to contend with an alien substance from outer space that surfaces his own dark side. (This movie just tweaked my love for licorice... and sand castles. You'll understand when you see the movie.)

Computer work just gets more and more amazing. I'd love to see this film in IMAX, but regrettably, I know I would be subjected to "mal de mer" (motion sickness) in just a few minutes. I'm jealous of all you lucky people who don't have this problem on cars, trains, and busses, roller coasters, sometimes even on the carousel at Jantzen Beach here in Oregon.

There’s much more and the film runs runs two hours and twenty minutes. It's a little longer than necessary perhaps -- but at the end, you’ll still want more. Will there be another? Can #4 be a match for this excellent #3? I’m ready. Bring it on.

If I say much more about Spider-Man 3, I’ll start giving away the story. Instead, go and experience the excitement for yourself. Rated an "A" on Ellen's Entertainment Report Card. By the way, this film is doing quite well in other parts of the world where it has already opened.

Good news! Looks like "Spider-Man 3" was shot entirely in the U.S. of A. Hooray! Frankly, I'm so tired of other (Canadian) cities filling in for the actual NYC. That's just not right.

We were just coming back from Scotland last year on the Memorial Day weekend of 2006. We stayed at the Hilton Club of New York. The next block north at West 54th street and Sixth Avenue looked like a disaster area. We noticed that there was a film crew was shooting a scene right there. The doorman said it was "Spider-Man 3." They spent the whole three-day weekend with various shots at that location. They even blew up a Sabrett's hot dog stand. I felt a lot of compassion for the extras on that film. The temperature was in the mid-80s and they all were wearing WINTER COATS!

My husband was transfixed and caught some interesting digital shots. (SEE PHOTOS DOWNTHREAD.) I assume the Spider-Man who was in this scene was a stunt double. Still, it's always interesting to see movie crews out and about in the Big Apple. By Tuesday, they had cleared all the "debris" and wrapped the location. We saw the scene very briefly in the final film. Fascinating!

Also Known As: 3 (USA) (trailer title)
Spider-Man 3: The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence.
Runtime: 140 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color

[Radio_Lady]

1. Trivia entries appear at the Internet Movie Database:

Trivia for Spider-Man 3 (2007)

The release date for the film was set before Spider-Man 2 (2004) was even released.

At the San Diego Comic-Con, on July 22, 2006, director Sam Raimi admitted that to keep the inclusion of the Venom character in this film secret, during casting and pre-production he went so far as to claim he hated the character, and had no intention of including the character in this film, or any subsequent sequels. To make amends, he then treated the audience to the first public images of Venom in the film, albeit with unfinished special effects.

John Dykstra, who won an Oscar for his work as visual effects supervisor on Spider-Man 2 (2004), had declined to work on the third film. Instead, Dykstra chose to work on Hot Wheels (2007). Scott Stokdyk took over as visual effects supervisor.

Topher Grace left "That '70s Show" (1998) to star in this movie.

The over 600 latex "web" balloons in the celebration scene had to be hand-painted with a Sharpie marker.

MORE AT LINK: http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0413300/trivia

[Radio_Lady]

2. Photos from Spider-Man 3 NYC location at West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue...

My husband... that DIGITAL DEVIL ... took these shots during the Memorial Day weekend 2006. Feel free to permalink to them if you wish!

[Radio_Lady]

3. Link to review by DUer whirlygigspin -- who liked it less than I did.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=6476656

[whirlygigspin]

4. oh, I liked the movie, just not the editing

I guess it's the curse of anyone who's ever taken a film class.

[Radio_Lady]

5. Sorry about that... I'm curious ... can you explain your objections?

My editing was in an ancient class -- maybe 1959! I wish I could take some current editing classes, but we're too busy in retirement.

Most of what I recall was splicing my own 16 mm film, shot in black and white on the streets of L.A. The vernacular included "you have to remember... emulsion to base". (Wow, does that date me... or what?)

When I see current editing, I realize that everything I studied went the way of corsets, the buggy whip, and typewriters. Oh, well. "Time marches on..."

Here's my current question: CAN WE EVEN CALL IT "FILM" ANYMORE?

On my radio shot, I have to explain that we're heard through the listener's television set as Secondary Audio Programming, and also on HD radio, as well as being streamed on the Internet. Even now, I try to explain -- and remember myself -- that we don't TAPE radio interviews anymore, we "record" them on disk. Even that is obsolete with many updated radio stations using digital recording.

The expression "tape delayed" has no meaning at all anymore. For several months in the 1960s, the "Tonight Show" was recorded on tape in the early evening. It was then edited by me and other technicians -- I was partly responsible for "bleeping" the "bad words" with the help of a representative from "Standards and Practices."

After that a delivery person "bicycled" it to one of the New York airports. The tape was flown by air to the NBC studios in Los Angeles, where it was played one day delayed for the west coast. (No cable, no satellites, etc.)

Well, at least I'm not as old as the lady I use in my signature! She probably remembered Marconi!

[Gatchaman]

16. Maybe not "film", but it's still a motion picture

editing is a visual process, not a technical one. Whether you're using a moviola or Avid is irrelevant.

[Radio_Lady]

6. Kick for the Sunday crowd. Are you there? ISP problems at the DU troubling today.

I can't get a conversation started on this.

[AmyDeLune]

10. I'll be seeing it late tonight. :-)

...and hopefully my sinuses will have cleared by then. *$^%&#@! pressure changes..*grumble*

[Radio_Lady]

7. Saturday news: Spider-Man breaks 1-day record

Link is down, but I'll repost tomorrow.

[deucemagnet]

8. Thanks for another great review, RL!

I'm glad to hear it's a good flick, but with a built-in audience of men who read Spider-Man as kids plus Venom, Sandman *and* the Green Goblin, I think they'd make money if the film sucked eggs.

Enjoy your vacation!

[Radio_Lady]

12. Well, in my opinion, it was exceptionally well done. If you want to see a neat little movie

that you probably know nothing about, see "Waitress" with Keri Russell, Cheryl Hines, and Andy Griffith.



Also, it's rated "R" -- not for kids.

It opens in Portland on Friday, May 11th, so my review is embargoed. But it's won some awards and you can find extensive reviews on the major critics sites:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waitress/

www.us.imdb.com

www.metacritic.com

I saw it with a gal pal and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I see you list yourself as a male from Pennsylvania (I was born in Pittsburgh!), so it's a little hard to judge this one for your. However, for couples or women or sensitive men, there is enough meat in this story to capture an audience. You will have to research the sad history of the movie's writer, director, and actress, Adrienne Shelly, for a horrific true crime story. This is a sweet-tart little movie with edge, courage, pluck, and humor, too.

[Cannikin]

9. I'm more of a Superman/Batman fan, but I've enjoyed the spidey movies. I'm seeing it in an hour.

I'll let you know what I think!

[Radio_Lady]

11. Hi Cannikin! Thanks for your comments. I'm winding down my computer work this evening,

because we're out of here on Tuesday to Europe and the U.K.

All the news services report big bucks for the film. The critics don't seem to like it much, but I'm not as jaded, I guess. I think I remember paying 10 cents for "Wonder Woman", "Superman" and "Captain Marvel." (Gawd, just 10 cents... whatever happened to the cent sign? I think it used to be above the 2 key, where the ampersand/ "at" sign (@) is now. Is that right? It's been gone for decades on my keyboards.)

"Bye-bye for a while, and keep a smile!" (closing used in the TV kids' show I used to host in the 1950s.

P.S. After you see the movie, perhaps you'd be more interested in seeing the NYC street shoot, taken over Memorial Day weekend 2006. Crowd control at the corner of W. 54th Street and Sixth Avenue was awesome. Sam Raimi was very wise to keep this all in New York, in my humble opinion. There were apparently a couple of sequences in another city, but that was unavoidable.

Photos here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=6477639&mesg_id=6477835

[wildhorses]

13. thanks for the review radio_lady

you always do such a thorough job, excellent reporting:hi:

i hope to take the 7y/o and 10y/o in the next week or two. even though it is rated pg13, i think they will be okay, right?

[mvd]

14. Thanks for the review

I still haven't seen Spider Man 2. That's how much I keep up with movies.

[Redneck Socialist]

15. I thought it was the weakest of the three

I liked it, but both one and two held up better IMO. Though I have to say, "bad" Peter Parker (under the influence of Venom) was pretty freakin' hysterical and Bruce Campbell stole the movie as the "french" Maitre'd (sp?)

It was also nice to see Stan Lee get a cameo.

[Mojambo]

17. I thought it was wretched

And you won't find a bigger fan of the character than me.

I posted a little review in the Comic Book forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=300&topic_id=837&mesg_id=858

In short, I thought it was totally drama queened out. None of the charm of the first movie and the action sequences were no better than the second.

The story was awful. It's the beginning of the end of the franchise, IMO.

At least until the inevitable re-boot.

[Rob H.]

18. I'll probably see it again

mainly because I sat way down front (there weren't any other seats) and I hate seeing movies that way and because I went with a friend of mine who isn't a fan of comic book movies in general and he would! not! stop! making stupid comments during the movie. :mad: Won't be seeing any more movies with him for a while.

[Dukkha]

19. saw it twice but the 2nd on is my favorite

They really needed to give Venom more screen time an using Topher's voice for the alien was a very bad idea.

[Debi]

20. I feel bad saying this

but I really didn't like it. Watching the three original actors on screen they seems bored with their parts and with what they knew would happen (good stuff then bad stuff then a fight scene and then back to good stuff..the end).

However, my son and his friend really liked it and my 16 y-old cousin has already seen it twice.

:shrug: maybe I outgrew Spidey?