Cast: Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man/Peter Parker), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), James Franco (New Goblin/Harry Osborn), Thomas Haden Church (Sandman/Flint Marko), Topher Grace (Venom/Eddie Brock), Bryce Dallas Howard (Gwen Stacy), Rosemary Harris (May Parker)
For complete info, see IMDb's Spider-Man 3 page.
I liked Spider-Man 2 better than Spider-Man, so I had high hopes for Spider-Man 3 - especially since I always liked Venom. I wasn't disappointed. The special effects were wonderful and the story was great.
I never read the comic books, so I don't know if they stayed in line with that and don't remember Sandman from the cartoon, but they did a great job with the Venom part of the story line. They also did a great job with the Spider-Man/New Goblin, Peter Parker/Harry Osborn dynamics. Having the competition between Eddie Brock and Peter Parker playing off of the Venom & Spider-Man fights was a nice touch. I don't remember much about Eddie Brock from the cartoon, probably because Venom is so much cooler, but in the movie it was a very interesting part of the story.
Definitely catch this one in IMAX if you can, since the special effects are worth seeing on the largest screen possible and in the best quality.
Grade: A
Labels: 2007, action, adventure, Bryce Dallas Howard, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst, movie, sci-fi, Thomas Haden Church, Tobey Maguire, Topher Grace
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Paul Giamatti (Cleveland Heep), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Lady - Story), Jeffrey Wright (Mr. Drury), Cindy Cheung (Young-Soon Choi), M. Night Shyamalan (Vick Ran, author, & director)
For complete info, see IMDb's Lady in the Water page.
I hadn't read the reviews, but I had looked at the ratings in Entertainment Weekly and People and saw the negative title for the CNN review. So, I wasn't expecting much, in spite of Lady in the Water being created by M. Night Shyamalan, who has done some good movies (and one that I'd argue is great).
Perhaps it's because I wasn't expecting much, but I enjoyed Lady in the Water. Sure, it was never truly scary, but I kept expecting it to be, which allowed the sprinklers to get me every time. Fortunately, it was clear the same thing happened to others in the theatre.
The way the bedtime story from long ago that had been told to one of the occupants of The Cove turned out to be real as Cleveland tried to figure out how to save Story was pretty interesting. I'm not sure it's necessary to see this one in a theatre, but it's worth renting.
I think it's easier to enjoy it if you realize that this isn't a typical M. Night Shyamalan movie. It's not truly scary, but it is suspenseful at times and pretty interesting.
I also think that if they'd made it clear that the part about Lady in the Water being a bedtime story by M. Night Shyamalan was true (and not a joke as I thought it was when I saw the first preview that ended by saying it was a bedtime story by M. Night Shyamalan), expectations of the movie would have been more in line with the movie. Realize that it really is a bedtime story (you can even buy it on Amazon), originally written for M. Night Shyamalan's kids and you'll go into the movie expecting the right thing and be able to enjoy it.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2006, Brad Pitt, Bryce Dallas Howard, fantasy, M. Night Shyamalan, movie, mystery, Paul Giamatti, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard (Ivy Walker), Joaquin Phoenix (Lucius Hunt), Adrien Brody (Noah Percy), William Hurt (Edward Walker), Sigourney Weaver (Alice Hunt)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Village page.
I know The Village got a lot of bad reviews. But, I think that's just because we've come to expect so much from M. Night Shyamalan and his movies. The Village wasn't his best effort, but it was still very entertaining. The cast was wonderful and the story was good. The whole idea of an isolated village believing that their alliance with the neighboring creatures is ending and threatening their way of life is really a good one. How it plays out is interesting - especially when the outside world is entered. I won't spoil that, since unlike most reviews I've read, I think The Village is well worth seeing.
It's not a horror film, per se, which might be the issue most people have with it, since most of M. Night Shyamalan's movies are more horror oriented. I still think it's very entertaining and worth seeing.
Grade: B
Labels: 2004, Brad Pitt, Bryce Dallas Howard, drama, Joaquin Phoenix, M. Night Shyamalan, movie, mystery, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:40 PM show | 0 screams