2 Bloggers and a Movie

Kate, of Cinematic Musings fame, and I have decided to try something. We both are film nuts, and we see a lot of the same movies. Miraculously, we've never written a review about the same movie. Now that the summer is rolling around, and some pretty big movies are about to hit the cineplexes, we'd thought we'd test out a new format. So, without further ado, I present you...

A Conversation with Kate about Spider-Man 3
Faith: Well, Kate, I saw Spider-Man last night.
Kate: Yeah? And…
Faith: Booooooooooring.
Kate: What!? This one is so my favorite.
Faith: I was entertained for maybe 20 minutes.
Kate: I felt Spidey 2 was boring...3 is the one I liked so much more than the other two.
Faith: The fight scenes between Harry and Peter were interesting. And, of course, the showdown at the end was interesting.
Kate: I was more entertained by 3 than any of the others.
Faith: Most of the movie felt forced and drawn out.
Kate: 1 was good. 2 was eh. 3 was hysterical!
Faith: I did laugh a lot but mostly because it was far too absurd. And come on, “Bad Peter” had eyeliner and punk wannabe hair!
Kate: Hahaha...yeah. The whole black eyeliner thing was stupid, but the strutting was awesome.
Faith: The strutting was funny, not awesome.
Kate: I don't buy Tobey Maguire as the eyeliner bad boy at all. And no, the strutting was AWESOME. Was it just me...or was casting Topher "I'm cuter than Tobey" Grace a bad deal? The only thing that really set them apart was hairstyle and color. They could be brothers.
Faith: “I’m cuter than Tobey”—that’s funny. I don't think it was a bad idea. I think it was the point. Oh! Oh! Can we say it was a little too on the nose when Eddie prays for Peter’s death?
Kate: I think my reaction to that was..."What?! Where the heck did that come from?!" He went from, “Oh, that guy really burns my toast” to “DIE, MUTHERF***ER, DIE!”
Faith: Yeah, Eddie Brock--evil before the goo. Maybe that's why the goo made him super freaky.
Kate: I don't think they really developed him well enough for him to have that kind of dynamic personality shift, you know?
Faith: But they established his jerkiness pretty quickly.
Kate: Yes, jerkiness, but not evilness.
Faith: True.
Kate: There are bigger A-holes than him who would never go to a cathedral and sincerely wish for someone's untimely demise.
Faith: That is very true. That’s just one example. There were many “too much too fast” moments.
Kate: Yeah, I think they did a much better job with Thomas Haden Church. I thought they rushed the "Spider-Man publicity" ferver in Tobey, too.
Faith: Definitely.
Kate: I was kind of sitting there going..."Wha-? But you? Since when-? Um...OK." But it was funny when he was watching the video and told the kids, "Hey wait...come back. It's gonna start over again in about 30 seconds" Hahaha.
Faith: That was more in the spirit of Peter, but his actions later on? Boo, Peter!
Kate: I know! And you know what else? I totally didn't know who Bryce Dallas Howard was.
Faith: Really?!
Kate: Yeah, no clue.
Faith: It helped that I knew the cast beforehand, but I also saw her name in the opening credits. Oh, let's talk about the opening credits, shall we?
Kate: Sure. Shoot.
Faith: What was up with the full recap?
Kate: I liked it, thought it was a fun reminder. I'd only seen the second movie once in theatres, so I didn't remember much of anything.
Faith: I just thought it was an interesting way to open the movie. Did I really need a full on recap of the last two movies?
Kate: Let me say there were many things about Spider-Man 3 that didn't sit well with me. However, for a fun, summer blockbusting-action-comedic-ride with some returning enjoyable characters, I had a blast. Plus, it beat the pants off Pirates 2.
Faith: Hmm. I don't think I can agree. Pirates was disappointing in comparison to the first one, but I still enjoyed it. I can honestly say I'm happy I didn't pay full price to see Spidey.
Kate: Really?
Faith: Yep. I think Spider-Man 3 can be compared to a good story that lost its way.
Kate: Please illuminate.
Faith: There was way too much filler. At 2 hours and 20 minutes, it stopped being an action movie with a love story, and became a movie that couldn't decide what it was. Am I about the action? The love story? The friendship? The slapstick comedy?
Kate: BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA. Tiny plot variance. BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA. Pitifulness. BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA. Stupidity. Blunt force trauma, blunt force trauma, blunt force trauma.
Faith: Yes!
Kate: My friends did tell me that it was enjoyable watching the movie with me because I kept making noises about the pain.
Faith: I enjoyed the blunt force trauma parts.
Kate: Yeah.
Faith: The fight scenes were far better than 1 or 2.
Kate: But that's all the movie was. It was more about the action sequences than anything else.
Faith: Yeah, but if it had completely been about the action, then it would have been a 90-minute movie.
Kate: Exactly. Ninety minutes of slamming into buildings and swinging and sand pounding. No dialogue...unless it was cheesy Hot Fuzz dialogue like "Playtime's over!"
Faith: Oh, come on. There was some good dialogue... Oh, who am I kidding?
Kate: Certainly not me! For all its plot holes and poor character development, I still thought it was fun.


**SPOILER ALERT**

Faith: Oh! Let me tell you the best moment in the entire movie.
Kate: OK.
Faith: The moment on the bridge when MJ broke up with Peter.
Kate: Not the strutting?
Faith: Haha. No.
Kate: As far as emotion?
Faith: Yep. Tobey friggin' broke my heart.
Kate: It was soooo pitiful. I personally think the best emotional scene was with the Sandman at the end.
Faith: I'm sticking with Peter and MJ on the bridge.
Kate: But the end was such a let down. A whole movie build up to a freakin' engagement, and then… What? A dance?!
Faith: Hahaha.
Kate: Do NOT leave it open for 4! Freakin’ ask her to freakin’ marry you!!


**SPOILER ENDED**Faith: Yeah, that sucked big time. I thought that last scene was a microcosm of the entire movie--tons of build up with a really weak payoff.
Kate: Right, Ebert. A microcosm. Any which way you look at it, the movie left itself open for a fourth installment...judging by the actors' lack of enthusiasm for the completion of a third...I have a hard time believing that dangling plot point will ever be wrapped up as nicely as I would've liked. (But I still thought it was great!)
Faith: I assume that makes you Roeper? Well then, Roeper, we agree on too many other movies for me to hold your opinion against you. It's been grand, Kate. Let's do it again.
Kate: Any time, Faith. I haven't held the fact that you won't watch Murder By Death against you either!
Faith: Hey! I'll watch it...eventually.

Well, folks, there it is--our first in, hopefully, a long line of conversations. I hope you enjoyed it as much as my traditional reviews.