Spidey Record

[Conquest10]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040704/ap_on_en_mo/film_spider_man2_4
I'd like to know what you guys think about this. With all the talk about piracy and profits, its really funny to see news like this almost at a monthly basis now.

[Tommyknocker]

Well, two things I think about. Spiderman was always my favorite comic book hero, so I am pleased to see it doing so well.

Next, I think and will continue to Valenti is the 21st century's Chicken Little, claiming the sky is falling. Although in this case, it would be the video pirates are robbing us blind. Although I for one will never buy a bootleg DVD. It may have been ripped by an idiot.

[iooi]

its really funny to see news like this almost at a monthly basis now.

Well they do put the seat prices up monthly......They would only need couple of cents on each seat to make the diffrence.
Film aint that good anyways.

[Nilfennasion]

I'll bet that Sam Raimi wishes he could go back to truly creative things now. After Army Of Darkness, he's really only made one film that I would even bother to pirate. AOD was a piece of major-league crap, too.

I can't wait for when Zwartboek hits theatres.

[CaseyComb]

Nilfennasion here are the facts:

1.) Army of Darkness rocked.
2.) You're an idiot.

p.s. thats the stupidest picture I've seen on this forum yet.

[Nilfennasion]

Here's two actual facts:

1) A catch-phrase does not a good film make. Especially when it is ground into the dirt.
2) Disagreeing with the lowest common denominator does not make one an idiot. Usually quite the opposite, in fact.

[Forum Troll]

I wonder if "Catwoman" will break this record.

[Tommyknocker]

I really wonder about this Catwoman mystique. Any one whose ever read a Batman comic book laughs at this crock. She never existed in the DC comic books. As a matter of fact, let me let you in on a little secret: Catwoman never existed as an arch criminal. It was Batgirl going under cover to help Batman and Robin catch a bad guy named Catman. So ooh and ahhh to your hearts content--Catwoman only appeared as a nemesis of Batman first during the Batman TV comedy. It still is a joke today. And you can bet Mr Kane is spinning in his grave.

[lordsmurf]

Spiderman was a great movie, I hope Marvel makes a lot of money off it. In fact, they should make several more pictures, with all kinds of superheroes. I want them to ride this wave as long as it'll last.

That said, the theatre I went to at lunchtime, a really nice place, stadium seating and all, was $3 per person, drinks $2.50. I never eat popcorn.

The pricing chart at the theatre was wacky. It was $3 early in the day, and as the afternoon fell, it went up $2 every few hours, until $9 was the nighttime price.

[smearbrick1]

1. Evil Dead sucks.
2. Evil Dead 2 sucks even harder.
3. Army of Darkness blew dog.
4. Who cares that Catwoman wasn't an original DC Comics nemesis of
Batman? Halle Berry is really hot.

[tomreedtoon]

Interesting to see you guys arguing the quality of a film's story, characters, et cetera, instead of techie matters.

Of course, some of you seem to be making the bad arguments for pirating films, like "The film is lousy anyway, why not steal it" and "The film companies make too much money anyway." These are extraordinarily lame; there are better reasons, and I suggest you go look them up and start using them instead.

As far as "Catwoman," so what if she was introduced in the 1960's? Robin didn't exist for the first year of Bat's existence, and Harley Quinn (you ever read the MODERN comics or see the animated series?) was created by Paul Dini about a decade ago. Batman has evolved, and there's nothing wrong with that. Bad argument against the film.

There are GOOD arguments against the forthcoming "Catwoman" film. First, she is not related to any of the previous comic incarnations; not the odd cat-themed thief of the TV series, nor the dominatrix hooker of "Batman: Year One," nor the current quasi-reformed thief that protects the small thieves, prostitutes and street kids that even Batman won't help.

Second, the current Catwoman seems to be a star-ego turn for Hallie Berry. It isn't even an acting challenge for her; she wants a money machine like Jack Nicholson's portrayal of The Joker. Finally, her costume is full of holes to show off a lot of her skin, one of the stupidest designs ever. (Besides providing nice places to aim bullets, those holes make it easy for a villain to grab onto her suit, hold her still and punch her to death.)

Okay, end of rant.

[offline]

Army of Darkness is a classic film imo. To offhandedly dismiss it
as "crap" as Nilfennasion does, illustrates his narrowmindedness
and divergence of taste. His problem thankfully.

I happen to
hate Raimi's first foray "into the woods" but
I could see some merit, and would never call it crap.

Sam Raimi has nothing to regret as a producer/filmmaker.
He made it into the history books in more ways than
one. It is amazing how many are quick to kick down the
small guy, the self starter, the ones with original ideas.

Hail to the King, Baby

[ckdexterhn1]

I really wonder about this Catwoman mystique. Any one whose ever read a Batman comic book laughs at this crock. She never existed in the DC comic books. As a matter of fact, let me let you in on a little secret: Catwoman never existed as an arch criminal. It was Batgirl going under cover to help Batman and Robin catch a bad guy named Catman. So ooh and ahhh to your hearts content--Catwoman only appeared as a nemesis of Batman first during the Batman TV comedy. It still is a joke today. And you can bet Mr Kane is spinning in his grave.

Seems you are misinformed. Catwoman made her first appearance as The Cat (out of costume) in Batman #1, Spring 1940, along with the first appearance of the Joker. Being the first villainess in comics, she made her first costumed appearance in Batman #3, and made many, many appearances before the 1966 TV show was even thought of.

Also, Mr. Bob Kane CO-CREATED Batman with Bill Finger, so give credit where credit is due.

[dvdguy4]

Who really cares about Catwoman anyway.
people will go to see Halle Berry in that outfit of hers. Yes she is hot Ill agree.
Its just a movie. No need to remember who was the first cat girl or bat girl
thats all I have to say. Thats my opinion of course

[stiltman]

Thought this was a spiderman thread

[Nilfennasion]

I find it highly amusing that people equate narrow-mindedness with the inability to see quality that just isn't there. Army Of Darkness, to me, can be seen in the same light as A Nightmare On Elm Street 4. The attempts at innovation have stopped, the central story has become formula, and the central characters have all the depth of a sock puppet. Sam Raimi should have learned that he just doesn't do comedy well.

But hey, I must be narrow-minded if I say "I expect better" to the guys who want me to pay them ten-plus dollars to see their work, right? Never mind the fact that I consider The Evil Dead one of the most beautifully-made films in history, eh? Honestly, what do you hope to gain with this "accept what I accept or else" kind of attitude? It's exactly the reason why Hollywood hasn't made a truly risky film in over fifteen years.

Now that we've got that out of the way, the best argument against Catwoman is incredibly simple. She's being played by Halle Berry. During most every shot she appeared in X-Men 2 with Anna Paquin, I half-expected Anna to turn to Halle and say "I *earned* my Oscar". The woman is an epitome of egoism, and can't act her way out of a wet paper bag. One of her lines in the first X-Men film still makes me wonder if she was trying to swallow a cockroach at the time. Given that the most powerful and enduring lines in those two films are short utterances, the fact that every cast member in the film, regardless of their experience, can deliver their lines well save for her leads me to the conclusion that I am far from interested in Catwoman.

But I guess I am narrow-minded, right? I mean hey, finding Tina Turner's performance in Mad Max 3 a thousand times more endearing than the sum total of Halle's career is just sooooooooo narrow-minded.

[proxyx99]

There's one thing that always comes to my mind when I hear about movies like Spiderman: who's watching it? Seems to me that it will remain one of the biggest mysteries to me. I recall one post from couple months ago where somebody said "...we we're all raised on comic books..." (or something like that). I know many including myself that were never a part of "all" as defined here.

Yes, when I was a kid I used to play in a sandbox too. But today whenever a new sandbox is being built in my neighborhood I don't see ppl gathering and certainly I don't go to check it as well. Could it be nostalgia for some, maybe, but a record shattering euphoria...?
Batman, X-man, Spider- and Super-man, Catwoman, I'm sorry but do so many ppl want to refresh their "sandbox" memories so badly? As movies these are quite poor creations calculated with a specific viewer in mind combined with a specific "state of mind" of such prospective viewer. I actually never thought that I would live in the times when watching a high-tech Barney on a big screen would be called an art and would draw record breaking crowds into theaters. I was reluctant to sacrifice 2 hrs for the first Spiderman (DVD rental, would never go to see it in a cinema) and I know for sure that I'll pass the second one like it never happened. So, whoever can help me understand this phenomena please.

No personal flame pls. It's just my opinion and although some may see posting it as an invitation to a nuclear war on yet unknown scale it bothered me so much that I decided to share it here.

[RottenFoxBreath]

i downloaded catwoman a couple of months ago,and even as a workprint,its utter shite.
definatly not one to go see at the cinema,makes me believe even more that all they care about is making money.
they could have picked a better character than that non-entity.

[Nilfennasion]

I don't think the character is so much of a problem. They could have done a very interesting character arc with her had they used the right screenwriter and actor. Michelle Pfeiffer did a brilliant Catwoman in Batman Returns, even if the script was a bit all over the place.

But really, if you're going to cast anyone to do something other than sit and look pretty, then why bother with Halle Berry? Give her a penis and she could be John Howard - a walking personality/charisma vortex.

[GKar]

1) Spiderman rocked
2) Army of Darkness was pure genius
3) Catwoman without Michelle Pfeiffer is a crime, but Halle Berry is younger and does do it a lot of justice.
4) William Shatner is still my choice for Captain of the Enterprise.....oops I guess I blew that one..........

[Nilfennasion]

I vastly preferred Bill Shatner to any captain Star Trek has had since. Maybe it is because he has a human quality the others lack. The universe of post-Roddenberry Trek has become so stagnant and sterile that it seriously rubs off on the characters. They show no human/sentient qualities at all. Not that this is strictly necessary, but in this display of what the writers seem to wish the military was like, it would help.

In spite of that, I tend to expect more of my entertainment. I expect it to engage my brain as well as my eyes and other bits. AOD could not accomplish this for a similar reason to why Play School couldn't even get me to stop heckling it when I was a lad. I had seen better before, and it felt like an insult by comparison. I enjoy having a go at the 2002 attempt at Rollerball for precisely the same reason.

All I will say about either Spider-Man is that, in contrast to X-Men, I was less interested in its source material after the films were out in this country than before.

[OneCardShort]

Sam Raimi should have learned that he just doesn't do comedy well.

Evil Dead series, classics IMO, especially Army of Darkness. Sam Raimi not funny? Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness get so many chuckles from me every time I watch them, but maybe I'm just easily amused.

Yay, Evil Dead, Yay

Yay, Army of Darkness, Yay

[Tommyknocker]

1) Spiderman rocked
2) Army of Darkness was pure genius
3) Catwoman without Michelle Pfeiffer is a crime, but Halle Berry is younger and does do it a lot of justice.
4) William Shatner is still my choice for Captain of the Enterprise.....oops I guess I blew that one..........

No, wait. Look, GKar, look! Number four just got past the first baseman, run it out! SAFE!! You're four-for-four, my man!

[JBUNGIE]

I wonder if "Catwoman" will break this record.

[Conquest10]

Hey, quit jacking my thread!

Oh, and Captain Picard was better.

[GKar]

1) Spiderman rocked
2) Army of Darkness was pure genius
3) Catwoman without Michelle Pfeiffer is a crime, but Halle Berry is younger and does do it a lot of justice.
4) William Shatner is still my choice for Captain of the Enterprise.....oops I guess I blew that one..........

No, wait. Look, GKar, look! Number four just got past the first baseman, run it out! SAFE!! You're four-for-four, my man!

Thank You!

[zod5000]

in response to the top of this topic, where spiderman 2 is smashing records while the mpaa is trying to crack down on pirating.

I hate it when i go in the theatre and they have that commercial of a set designer or something talking about how much it sucks that people pirate, yet there i am, and i've paid my 10 bux to see the movie.

I also tend to download a movie i've seen in the theatre, so i can watch it again before the dvd comes out. When the mpaa or riaa releases their loss numbers they never take into consideration, the people who paid to see and downloaded it at the same time. The people who downloaded but never would of seen a movie in the theatre anyways.

Not to mention the fact that neither organization is running at anything close to a defecit.. it sucks... i buy dvd's. i go out to the movies.. but I can't afford to buy every cd or every movie.. so yah i do download a little from time to time.. but you guys still get a fair chunk of my consumption spending.

[GKar]

Let'em crack down on pirating, profits are up, movie makers are cleaning up! They may as well well try to get a cow to stop farting!

[adam]

I thought the first Spiderman was just ok. Some of the CG made me cringe, but all in all it got the job done. I thought Spiderman 2 absolutely blew. Doc Ock was awesome, and some of the fight scenes looked really great, but the movie was just slow and boring. I admit I chuckled a couple times at the corny jokes, but the whole comedic sub plot with him losing his powers just slowed things down.

Also, can some real comic book fans clarify something for me? Did Spiderman or Doc Ock ever fall, say, 50 stories and land on pavement and not receive a scratch? Even though Spiderman is super fast and agile and strong, that shouldn't make him damn near invincible. And Doc Ock just has mechanical arms attached to his spine. Otherwise he's a normal guy. Several times when he falls, like onto the moving train, the arms really don't even break his fall. There's no way either of them should have survived those falls.

IMO, neither movie is that great, its just got incredible cross-over appeal It attracts the kids as if it were the next Harry Potter and it attracts the adults like it were the next LOTR. And both groups tend to want to go back for multiple viewings.

[iooi]

Also, can some real comic book fans clarify something for me? Did Spiderman or Doc Ock ever fall, say, 50 stories and land on pavement and not receive a scratch? Even though Spiderman is super fast and agile and strong, that shouldn't make him damn near invincible. And Doc Ock just has mechanical arms attached to his spine. Otherwise he's a normal guy. Several times when he falls, like onto the moving train, the arms really don't even break his fall. There's no way either of them should have survived those falls.

Er not a comic book fan but i can tell relailty from ficton..... Of course they cant survive the falls but hey if they died the film would be finished.... :P
A hint start living in the real world, people dont climb up buildings and stop trains......
lol