Letters to the Editor
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So, how about the failure of the House to override Dubya's veto?
Spiderman 3? What is this, People magazine?! I'm not expecting a reincarnation of Ramparts, but give me a fucking break, Joan, can we have some serious topics?
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Thursdays are always movie days
Gordon, Salon's schedule has always been to have movie reviews on Thursdays, since Fridays are a big movie-going day. It's not like Salon has been slacking lately in their political coverage, so you might want to cut them a little slack this time.
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Jesus, Gordon
Even in the middle of a war, the soldiers get time off to talk about other things.
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Remember the Spiderman promotion that wanted to
put web logos on the bases of baseball games? Why does Salon.com have to be a channel for the hype machine?
Best movie of all time, hmm, Rules Of The Game? Spiderman 3? Let me think...
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Gordon, Gordon, Gordon,
dude...everybody knew there wouldn't be the votes to override the veto. no story there...no news. if you want to get all high and mighty, why not bitch about the lack of coverage for Darfur...did you know there's a genocide going on?
While you're reading up on that, I'll go check out spiderman 3...it sounds pretty good.
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new critic please
Oh God please. Salon its time to find a new film critic. PLease Please Please
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Too cool for school
Remember that "Mr. Show" sketch where David Cross plays a guy who is so cool and hip he hates anything even remotely popular, to the point of only listening to old victrola recordings of fin de sicle megaphone performers?
If your answer is a) "Yeah! It wasn't their best skit, but was amusing enough," then, like me you can't help but chuckle at these people who are upset that Salon would lower itself to review a movie that, like it or not, will be part of American culture for a couple of weeks, and as such, like it or not, deserves mention.
If you answered b) "No way! I don't watch TV. And where did this Mr. Cross Show find a working victrola?" then there's really no point in continuing now, is there?
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Loved it
I'm not sure why Spiderman 3 opened everywhere else before it hit the US, but we saw it the day it opened in Europe, May 1. I am a huge Spiderman fan from way back, probably one of the only girls in my class who actually looked forward to the next Spidey comic book. So I am a bit biased.
I was passing my time during the film being in a lovely state of suspended disbelief and thoroughly enjoying everything from the filmic references to Frodo and the Ring, to The Mask, to a bit of Gene Kelly, to the old 'thirties musicals, to the grey shading of all the characters (there isn't a single one-dimensional character here of note, except perhaps for JJ, Peter Parker's choleric editor - and even he is good at being the comic relief). All the main characters, including the villians, actually have some depth, thanks to the writing/directing/acting.
I didn't care that the origin/motivation of the malicious black goo from beyond is never explained and strains credulity even for people like me. I thought it moved itself around in a groovy, insect-like fashion, and the way to get rid of it is super cool. I thought James Franco was fab, and Thomas Hayden Church just keeps blowing me away (pun intended) with his choice of roles. I loved Peter Parker trying to be cool - a sort of latter-day Nutty Professor high on space goo. I loved how the movie gets into different perceptions of what the characters see as right, wrong, and their responsibility towards being truthful with themselves.
So, in the middle of this, my 12-year-old daughter turns to me and says with a sigh, "I'm bored." Then she apologized for dissing my favorite superhero, and politely sat through the rest of the film.
What to say? I loved it, she was just killing a couple of hours. The movie is long, a bit convoluted, and bites almost but not quite more than it can chew. Can't wait to see it again...but I'll probably have to take a different date.
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Relax, Gordon, and enjoy the pretty pictures
Oh, and for those who consider it irrelevant to discuss movies like Spiderman, remember: Many, many more people will see this than will ever see the amazing Seven Samurai, or Woman in the Dunes, or The Lives of Others, or Fanny & Alexander. So you can get all culturally huffy, but this is it, baby. Either you find out what all the morons and hicks are watching so you are informed, or you look down your nose at it and then wonder why no one outside your select circle knows what you are talking about.
Did you want to have a discussion, or did you want to rant? 'Cause if you just want to rant, why are you wasting your time even reading a review on a mega-blockbuster? You already know what you think. Go over to the political articles and thrash around there. And if you think Salon shouldn't talk about Spiderman, go read something else for awhile. It's that easy.
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right on lettuce1001
I don't call it "TV" because TV is a nickname and nicknames are for friends and television is no friend of mine!
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Get over it Bitches
It amazes me that people are so fucking pretentious. Why not review this movie? Why not tell people to go see a big budget film that is fun to watch. The idea that every movie or review has to be of an indie film in order for you to respect Stephanie is fucking stupid and limiting. Get your head out of your asses and go see something fun just for the hell of it.
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Multiple Plots - why not?
I haven't seen the movie yet, so I'd like instead to comment on the reviewer.
Ms. Zacharek says "'Spider-Man 3' is the most ambitious and complex Spider-Man movie yet. Its multiple plots wave themselves around, defiantly declaring their unmanageability like Doc Ock's tentacles..."
This is a nice contrast from all the other critics who have pronounced themselves confused and bewildered by the multiple plot streams, and so they hate the movie.
I like to read reviews by people who "get" that genre of movie. Ms. Zacharek "gets" the comic book movies and similar melodramas. I can't judge how she does on the prissy art-house movies that Salon sophisticates groove on - because I'm not a sophisticate myself - so I won't say anything about that, either.