5/11/07--Movie reviews

I want you to know...that I am just NOW beginning to get over my annual cold--which last a minimum of a week and a half.  UGH.

So, while I sit at home (work?  what's that?) I thought I'd review a couple of films that I just had a chance to watch--both of them thumbs up.

1) Spiderman 3--okay, this is the big summer blockbuster that everyone is going to want to know about, so here's the thing.  One part of the movie, I really didn't like....the other part...I thought was great.  So, take that for what its worth.
One of the villians in the movie is Sandman, who's played by Thomas Haden Church.
First of all, the guy just doesn't come across as a bad guy--its not the actor's fault, that's the way the character  (at least in the movie) was written.  The whole thing with Peter Parker and Mary Jane is just getting old--I mean, marry her or throw her over the top rope for someone new.  We're now on the 3rd Spidey movie and we are still rehashing the Green Goblin situation.  Enough already!  Now, those are the movie's faults.
The other part of the movie concerns the character of Venom (Topher Grace from t.v.'s That 70's Show--who knew he could act?) and the symbiote that creates the character.
In a word:  awesome.  This was without question the best part of the movie--the way that the alien takes over not just Topher Grace, but Peter Parker for a time.  This is a storyline that they could easily pick up in another Spidey film---and they should.
Overall grade:  ****

2) Blood Diamond--this was one of the last of the big award winning movies from last year that I had yet to see.  All I can say is....this is one damn good movie.  Leo DeCaprio is rapidly becoming, along with maybe Matt Damon, the best actor of his generation.  This role, in which he plays a diamond smuggler in Sierra Leone who begins to understand the implications of his smuggling efforts when he meets a local fisherman (Djimion Hounsou--very good here) who has been captured by a local revolutionary group to mine the diamonds to fund their groups actions...which results in his entire family being seperated.  Both leads to a fine job, particularly DeCaprio, who plays a not entirely likeable character.  They are also supported by Jennifer Connelly and Arnold Voosloo (the mummy from "The Mummy").  A really good movie, worth going out of your way to watch.  ****1/2

Later,
Jeff

PS...a quick but funny teenager story.  We were in a store at the local mall the other day, and I saw a t-shirt that said "Mary Jane" on it.  The dreaded Kellie Poe-Bowdren happened to be with me and I asked her what the shirt meant.
"Isn't that the girl from Spiderman?" she said.

So I figure...ya know...she hasn't stopped being a little girl just yet.