Reviews

It's a concert and not the mash-up the other reviewer rants on about. The cutting is normal, the concert is one night and the songs are whole. I have no idea what he was watching but this is as good a concert as most. If you like these women you will like this concert disc. The 5.1 audio rocked my speakers and I'd liked to have seen them live. The back-up band is quite good too. This disc had me dancing around the room. Whether anyone wants to look at the Dixie Chicks political comments as right, wrong, poorly timed, or misplaced being said on foreign soil, it is hard to not see 10 years after the hypocrisy how the Dixie Chicks came through it smiling and singing.

Fabulous Idea, Stupid Execution ---------How is it possible to make such a bad film from such a good idea? How is it that the misleading trailer is the best part of the movie? How long does it take before you want the cameraman dead? When is it possible to care about these lame teenagers? Who would go back for any reason? When will this endless use of bad hand-held camera in feature films ever end? Why call it Cloverfield? How many miles can you run with a hole in your shoulder that big? How many sequels can you squeeze out of this concept? How long until you started rooting for the monster? How many times can you lean on LOST to boost your other cruddy projects? One last chance Abrams, get STAR TREK right or go back to TV.

I read that Boorman woke from a dream with the entire film whole in his head, as opposed to, say, Terminator, which started out as one scene(rising from the flames and advancing once again) and was written in both directions. Zardoz was a last gasp of the 60's and had flaws, but it is so unique a vision that it still stands out artistically. Most sci-fi film is marred by the same problem: avid older readers have seen these ideas since the 30's and not much can improve on a good idea, so all that's left is to pile on more special effects. The only film I still use as a benchmark is Forbidden Planet. But Boorman had James Bond in a diaper, the incredible Charlotte Rampling, minimal effects, nudity and attitude to bring this solid-sender to you. 7/10

I probably had seen Donald Pleasance before but his character and acting did a gotcha that I've never forgotten. Now that this Database exists I am able to name it after all these years. Although my adult mind would not see it the same way now I remember going back twice. The power outage truly creeped me out and I'll say this: it scared the whoopie outta me when I first saw it.

2006 Update Thanks to Netflix I finally got to see it again and lemme tell ya, do not miss this film. Nobody chews the scenery like Palance and creepy Donald Peasance dies real good. Being a document of its time there is mood and laughs, pair it up with a sci-fi monster flick for a taste of drive-in heaven.

Even though we don't hear from the original artist of the comic you can bet he probably likes this film; I know I do and I'm sure most fans of the book will too. So much is true to the idea and original look [ stance, acrobatics, ] and so little changed for the sake of change that even the stupid Goblin mask couldn't ruin it. Once again Elfman's score perfectly displays the superhero nuance.

And yes, J. Jonah Jamison is quite well cast. References abound, Aunt May serving the turkey in particular, proving once and for all Sam Raimi's talent. It's no surprize that Willem Dafoe steals the show from Tobey who couldn't be a better choice, especially after hearing who the others were [Leonardo?? please...] Of course I had to go my first chance and as usual the matinee crowd is the most annoying bunch complete with fathers explaining to 3 year olds through the whole film, the jerk behind me on his cell phone twice!! [I'm ready to declare death penalty for phone and pager use during first-run movies ] and crinkling candy paper. Television has destroyed sensibilities for group appreciation of public art.

Two more Spideys as good as this one will be just fine by me. Raimi says the next one won't be Doc Octopus so what will that leave? And please, make the DVD release full of cut scenes, excerpts that haven't been on TV, and something from Ditko. Read the books too, they are beautiful, even in reprint!