The Amazing Spider-Man (Rhoades)

“The Amazing Spider-Man”

Gets a Big Reboot

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

re·boot  (rēˈboot) verb. To turn (a computer or operating system) off and then on again; restart.

That’s the technical definition of reboot. But in the comic book world it means starting a series over again, a retelling. At Marvel Comics, we did it all the time. A cagey way to sell fanboys the same story (albeit with a few tweaks) over and over again.

What Shakespeare called “a twice-told tale.”

So now the movies – especially movies based on comic book characters –have learned the trick. After three Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire, Columbia Pictures is rebooting the series, retelling the story, this time around with Andrew Garfield as the ol’ webslinger.

Will you buy a ticket to see this same story over again? You bet.

We love our iconic superheroes … and like a tribe of Neanderthals hulking around a campfire we retell our legends over and over and over.

We used to call such movies “remakes.”

“The Amazing Spider-Man” swung into the Carper Theater at the Tropic Cinema this week in eye-popping 3D.

Directed by Marc Webb (Sam Raimi did the last three), we again get the story of high school nerd Peter Parker getting bit by a spider and developing super abilities.

Yes, it still puts forth that memorable mantra from Stan Lee: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

While the plot is familiar, this time there’s more emphasis on Peter trying to discover the truth behind his missing parents while finding himself in the process. Coming across a briefcase that belonged to his father, he’s led to Richard Parker’s former research partner – a guy who turns out to be the arch villain known as The Lizard.

Andrew Garfield (you saw him in “The Social Network”) was tapped to play Peter Parker and his alter ego Spider-Man. Although born in Los Angeles, Garfield was raised in England. The acting bug (not a spider) bit him at 16. His early prowess as a gymnast and swimmer gave him the wiry physicality for the Spider-Man role. The way he moved while eating a cheeseburger is what sold director Marc Webb on him.

“I’ve loved these comics, I’ve loved the movies, I’ve loved the cartoon series,” says Andrew. “This character has meant so much to me since I was two years old. So it’s very surreal to be stepping into the symbol.”

He looks the part, the kid the comic book described as a “professional wallflower.”

Hollywood It Girl Emma Stone (“The Help”) goes blonde as Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s first love. Stone describes her as “more sassy and sarcastic” than the comic book Gwen. “I hope fans will accept that,” she smiles cautiously.

Martin Sheen (TV’s “The West Wing”) and Sally Field (a two-time Oscar-winner for “Norma Rae” and “Places in the Heart”) take on the roles of Peter’s Uncle Ben and Aunt May. And a more-serious Denis Leary is cast as Gwen’s dad, a police captain hunting the illusive Spider-Man.

At Marvel Comics, we had an axiom that a superhero was only as good as the villain he faces. Rhys Ifans (“Anonymous,” “Exit Through the Gift Shop”) fulfills that role as Dr. Curt Connors a/k/a The Lizard.

“A compelling theme in this film is about loss and finding something again,” says Ifans. His character poses “a deep moral question, an ethical puzzle.” A conflicted baddie.

It’s a good script. Screenwriter James Platten Vanderbilt (yes, he’s one of those Vanderbilts) went to school in New Canaan, CT, near where I lived when I was publisher of Marvel Comics. Having grown up reading comics, Jamie went off to the University of Southern California, and stayed on working at a Starbucks until he made it as a Hollywood screenwriter. “The Amazing Spider-Man” is his sixth movie assignment. And now he’s busily scribbling a script for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.”

Stan Lee, who along with reclusive artist Steve Ditko, is credited with creating Spider-Man, has his obligatory cameo in “The Amazing Spider-Man.” It’s his best one yet, he claims.

“I guarantee the Spider-Man one is the funniest one you will ever see ... There’s a big battle going on with Spider-Man and the Lizard in the library. I’m the librarian. And I’m stamping books. And I have earphones on, and I’m listening to music. So while I’m stamping the books, this life and death battle is going on behind me, but I don’t know it, I don’t hear them. And it looks so funny and I look so dumb.”

So far the earlier three Spider-Man movies have grossed nearly $2.5 billion dollars. The worldwide box office on this reboot (in 3D) is expected to be equally impressive.

Not bad for a crudely drawn character who first appeared in a comic book that sold for 12-cents.

I donated my No. 1 “Amazing Spider-Man” comic book to the Savannah College of Art and Design as part of a reference library for its Sequential Art Department. One like it recently sold for $90,000 at auction. That’s pretty amazing!

srhoades@aol.com 

Week of August 10 to August 16 (Mann)

What’s on at the Tropic

by Phil Mann

There’s a lot going on this week. Let’s take it day-by-day.

On Friday, the Visiting Filmmaker Series brings in Kevin Hanlon, the director of the new documentary BILL W., about Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Wilson was a modest man, committed to the low-profile ethos of AA, refusing even an honorary degree from Yale. But Time Magazine named him one of the most influential men of the 20^th Century, for his role in creating a program that has provided a lifeline for millions and spawned imitators for other addictions.

The film, eight years in the making, is full of recovered images and footage of Wilson, and captures the history of the program as well as his contributions. “Laudatory but never simplistic, Bill W. is a thoroughly engrossing portrait of Wilson, his times and the visionary fellowship that is his legacy.” (Sheri Linden, L.A. Times)

Mr. Hanlon will attend the 6:45PM show on Friday, and take questions afterward. The movie will be running all week.

Also opening Friday is DARK HORSE, the latest from provocative filmmaker Todd Solondz. He’s known for his dark comedies, about sweet characters like pedophiles (Happiness, Life During Wartime). As he puts it: "There's good laughter and bad laughter. As long as they're not laughing at the expense of any of these characters, it's OK. My films are comedies, but they're sad comedies …." By that standard, Dark Horse is a barrel of laughs. The main character Abe (Jordan Gelber) is a 35-year-old loser living at home and working in his father’s office, while fantasizing about action figures. His parents, played by Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow, are a couple who make you understand why he might be messed up. But he thinks he’s found his true love in Miranda (Selma Blair) a depressed, affectless creature who doesn’t know how to say no. He wants to marry her and bring her home to live in his room.

 “Solondz’s most waywardly endearing film — his gentlest triumph.” (Richard Corliss, Time Magazine) “Dark Horse is irritating, baffling, disturbing and hypnotic.” (Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

Saturday brings two Special Event films.

In the morning, at 10:30AM, it’s the Kids $1 Movie Club with BLACK STALLION (1979), the quintessential boy and his horse film. “When I search my brain for the perfect family movie to please all ages, one of the first titles that always comes to mind is 1979's fantastic adventure, The Black Stallion." (Michael Booth, Denver Post) With Mickey Rooney as the wise old horse trainer, even grandparents will be able to indentify.

If this is too refined for you, at noon you can slide over to the August Creature Feature, ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES (1960). Produced by the cheapie horror film master, Roger Corman, it’s drive-in theater nostalgia.

On Monday, the Everything ‘80ties Classic Series features FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982), the original high-school scorcher, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Sean Penn, among others.

And on Wednesday, there’s Cinema and Cuisine, a special fund-raiser and screening of JULIE AND JULIA. It’s for the benefit of the American Cancer Society, which selected the film as a tribute to writer/director Nora Ephron. Free food, silent auction and more. Tix only $20.

Meanwhile, the regular movie schedule rolls on, with BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, SAVAGES, TED, and BRAVE (in 3D), all held over.

Full info and schedules at TropicCinema.com or TCKW.info

Bill W. (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway 

Bill W.

For those of us interested in learning about a man who once pulled himself out of despair to reach a Zen sense of understanding and also helped millions of addicted people in the process, there is "Bill W." a new comprehensive and compelling documentary about the famed co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The documentary directed by Dan Carracino and Kevin Hanlon, traces Bill Wilson's shambling and somewhat bohemian beginnings in East Dorset Vermont as he is abandoned by both his mother and his father and is possessed by the violin. When his first love, the young Bertha Bamford unexpectedly dies, Bill abruptly stops everything and falls into clinical depression.

Then in 1913, Bill meets Lois on one Emerald Lake and by his own words seems "healed". Yet as Bill discovers, his haunt of depression and anxiety still usurps his spirit like a poltergeist and becomes impossible to shake. After serving in WWI, he has one beer with little diabolical effect. Three weeks later, at a party, Bill feels immobile and tongue-tied by conversation. He is unable to relate to his social situation and fixed with anxiety. He drinks an innocuous-looking orange Bronx Cocktail and magically becomes part of life and the world. Bill called this drink "The Elixir of Life". And until the mid 1930's, Bill never stopped drinking, even while being a semi-prosperous Wall Street speculator. 

But his rum-horned devils soon caught up with him.

This documentary maintains a momentous circular rhythm through stirring re-enactments that are interspersed with some poignant stories by actual AA members themselves whose faces are slanted in shadow to protect their anonymity. This gives the documentary a film noir quality which may or may not have been intentional, yet it makes for strong stuff by illustrating the fact that many are sincerely blighted by some very real Gimlet gremlins that wreak havoc with the soul. The essence of "Lost Weekend" as we are shown, is no mere flickering fiction but truth shown in absolute  starkness. 

Indeed, Blake J. Evans and the directors show Bill  suddenly overwhelmed by a chiaroscuro of shadow and white light as he experiences a "Hot Flash" spiritual jolt at a detox retreat. Bill then gets the idea to help alcoholics overcome their demons and holds meetings at his home. With his cranky voice, his brown suit and hat, Bill seems a brother to William Burroughs, always reaching, searching and exploring to find the meaning of his addiction, no matter that it is hops here instead of heroin.

Battling depression throughout his life, Bill once asked his friend and AA cofounder, Dr. Bob, "Why do we thirst?" Dr. Bob answered "To thirst is human."

Although the documentary does not dwell on dogma, it does mention that the strict Evangelical Oxford Group, gave Bill the idea for God "as we understand Him" as well as the rule of modesty and the need to make amends to those who are hurt. There may be a tendency here for some to see a cult, but the film clearly shows that Bill was guided by a more universal spirit. After all, he championed LSD decades before Timothy Leary, declaring its useful properties in battling alcoholism, together with niacin, which is vitamin B-3.

"Bill W." the film shows the full light and dark spectrum of the man Bill: a sufferer, a seeker, a skirt-chaser (as we learn of the covert affair with AA's Grapevine writer, Helen Wynn. ) Rather then diminish the "Bill" many revere,  this fact only makes the legend more vivid and no cold fish. Alas, Bill is human.

In thinking about Bill throughout the narrative, we become acquainted with a man who remains Jungian in spirit and young at heart, despite all the wracking  torment throughout that nearly kills him. But the real magic of  the film is that it lets us discover all these episodes without judgmental harps and never obscures or excludes. The glimpse that "Bill W." gives us is refreshingly without pretense and open to all.

Write Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com

Dark Horse (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway 

Dark Horse

Todd Solondz as a director, is usually the bad boy at the party. He invariably spares no one, be it an issue of sexuality, gender, religion or physical challenge. In his infamous "Happiness" (1998) he treats pedophilia as a mundane human condition. In "Storytelling" (2001), he gives physical disability a dose of darkness, by portraying a cold egotistical young man with Cerebral Palsy. Solondz possesses the ridicule of a John Waters with the Neurosis of a Woody Allen. Whether you love or hate his films, he never apologizes. Solondz is for me, a cinematic and transgressive Isaac Bashevis Singer. Central to his  insular universe are domineering Jewish mothers, unsavory people and  claustrophobic  split level houses that resemble beige rat traps.

In "Dark Horse" there are many of these elements but the irreverence is a bit tame. Rather than outrageousness, Solondz appears to have opted for the chance to subvert a John Hughes comedy. Instead of amoral glee, there is a low key existentialism. A kind of assessment of the 1980s on Zoloft. This is not to say that this is a bad film. Indeed Solondz's eerie trademarks are still in evidence: his bright, Pee Wee Hermanish palette and set design displays his usual paranoia. And here also is a suffocating mother played with anemic camp by none other than Mia Farrow and we have enough anxiety for two Solondz films. 

The film focuses on the fat and angry Abe (Jordan Gelber) who is an obnoxious born loser who collects 1980s film figurines and lives at home. Abe is pushy, sedentary, and a blowhard and there is very little to like about him. At a wedding, Abe sits with Miranda (Selma Blair. Abe pushes himself on Miranda before she says no. The two share nothing in common other than moodiness and inactivity. After a few drives in Abe's yellow Hummer, Miranda latches on to Abe, not because she likes him, but because she can find no one better. The two mostly sit and mumble, barely touching each other. Abe is shaped like a box while Miranda is like a bag of wet leaves. 

But they are supposed to be. Both Gelber and Blair play off each other wonderfully and have a perfect non-chemistry together.

"Dark Horse" would be a snooze-fest, were it not for the blacker than black humor behavior that Abe exhibits, which at times would turn Larry David into an unemployable Miss Manners.
Abe burps at every opportunity. He stomps around and takes up as much space as possible. His main outings are spent at the local Toys R Us. (In the film the name of the store is pixelated out, but you can still recognize the logo) In his soiled t-shirt Abe is a sight: more of an outsider than George from "Seinfeld."

If that wasn't enough we get Christopher Walken who leaves his over the top theatrics aside and sports a bad toupee. 

Suffice to say, Abe always chooses the worst path. He rages and storms and becomes more and more pathetic. His episodes are interrupted by his cloying mother and a lusty older co-worker who is a Mrs. Robinson to Abe's sour passivity.  Solondz has so much sleight of hand in his weird graces, that  he somehow makes it all entertaining. 

Like a cinematic car accident, we watch his characters to wait and see just how bad they are. No two Solondz films are alike. At their lightest, they are a scathing day at the beach and at their darkest, they are scenes from Roman Polanski as if inked by Robert Crumb or Harvey Pekar. Such visual fare may not be for everyone, but director Todd Solondz is never meh once the story unfolds.

Write Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com

Dark Horse (Rhoades)

A “Dark Horse” Doesn’t

Necessarily Win the Race

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

C’mon, get your own place. Get a job that you like. Bravely ask a girl out. I’m getting tired of these “failure to launch” stories, about an immature guy who still lives at home, unable to face the world.

Yes, “Dark Horse” is a good film, but it’s yet another “quirky, tragicomic romance” between an eager underachiever and the socially-awkward, over-medicated object of his affections.

Thirtysomething Abe (Jordan Gelber) still lives with mom and dad (Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow). He hates working for his father and resents his successful brother, the doctor. He meets Miranda (Selma Blair) at a wedding and pretty soon they’re deciding to get married. But Abe’s still a man-child surrounded by his toy collections and his fantasies.

Whether trying to return a scratched action figure to the toy store, playing backgammon with his mom, or arguing with his dad over finishing his degree, he’s an oversized boy who’s “going through a rough patch.”

What makes this film different than “Failure to Launch” or “Greenberg” or “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is the not-quite-John-Malkovich look inside the cranium of Abe, an exploration of his angst and obsessions as events begin to spin off track.

These fantasies explore Abe’s unsteady mind – from trying to get a store credit for returning his fiancée to a toy store, to being pursued by his father’s cougar secretary, to an encounter with Miranda’s former boyfriend Mahmoud in a neck brace after being slugged by the distraught Abe.

“Next thing you know you’ll be fifty and your life will be over and you’ll still be living at home,” says Marie the secretary. Or at least a fantasy version of her does.

A fantasy version of his mother explains that the family wrote him off as a failure years ago.

An overweight nerd, Gebler adds a great deal of depth as Abe. Blair is listlessly mopey as Miranda. Walken is wonderfully unsympathetic as dour old dad. And Farrow is an excessively pampering mother.

Currently playing at the Tropic Cinema, “Dark Horse” is a dark comedy from writer/director Todd Solondz (“Happiness,” “Welcome to the Dollhouse”). He describes it as a “sad comedy, where it’s up to you to laugh or not.”

Solondz has been described as a “truth teller.” So don’t be surprised to find yourself smiling and wincing at the same time.

srhoades@aol.com

Ted (Rhoades)

“Ted” Is a

Fuzzy Fantasy

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Bet you like watching TV’s “The Family Guy,” that wonky animated sitcom about a dysfunctional family with a loudmouth dad, a weird kid named Stewie, and a talking dog. It’s the brainchild of Seth MacFarlane, the animation whiz who Entertainment Weekly calls “the Smartest Man on TV.”

Well, you can get more of his brainy antics this week at the movies. MacFarlane’s “Ted” is still playing at Tropic Cinema.

This comedy centers on a man and his teddy bear. Hence, the movie’s eponymous title. Seems Johnny (Mark Wahlberg) made a childhood wish that his beloved teddy bear come to life. And it did. Now the fuzzy companion’s slacker behavior is getting in the way of John having a normal life. Especially when he meets Lori (Mila Kunis).

Yes, it’s so hard to embrace adulthood.

Not only is this live-action film Seth MacFarlane’s directorial debut, he voices Ted, much as he lends speech to the zany characters on “The Family Guy.”

Born in Kent, CT, by age nine MacFarlane was drawing a weekly comic strip for the local newspaper. He went on to study animation at the Rhode Island School of Design before getting hired by Hanna-Barbara as a writer and storyboard artist. At 24, Fox Television bought his pitch for “The Family Guy,” making him the youngest executive producer on the network.

So with MacFarlane’s the success of “The Family Guy” and Mark Wahlberg’s recent Oscar nods for “The Fighter,” the two stars have little to lose with a can-you-believe-it story about a teddy bear who comes to life. Columbia Pictures is taking the bigger risk (Columbia’s president has admitted the studio makes some pretty cruddy movies) with such an off-the-wall concept.

But moviegoers seem to be embracing the silly premise.

One describes “Ted” as “so much better than what I imagined it would be.”

And movie usher Anna Young admits that she doesn’t go to movies (too much of a busman’s holiday), but she caught a screening of “Ted” because she worked at the theater. “I’m a really picky person when it comes to movies,” she says. “But I thought that it was truly won’t-stop-laughing-until-it-is-over funny.”

But a come-to-life teddy bear? “Definitely not one of the movies that left me thinking the idea was good, but they could have done so much more with it,” confesses another movie buff. “It was actually quite the opposite.”

srhoades@aol.com

Bill W. (Rhoades)

Are You a Friend

Of “Bill W.”?

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

“I’m a friend of Bill W.,” is all the introduction needed for those who belong to Alcoholics Anonymous – or AA for short. But who is Bill?

A new documentary eponymously called “Bill W.” will answer that question. Here is a profile of William Griffith Wilson, cofounder of AA.

We learn that Bill W. was a drunk who overcame his alcoholism and forged a path to help for others with that problem. AA grew from a handful of men to a mutual aid fellowship with over 2 million members worldwide.

Bill poses the question: “Why do these drunks continue to drink in the face of destruction?” This documentary helps you to better understand the “obsession of drinking.”

The actual voice of Bill Wilson acts as narrator to many of these reenactments. We trace his history from being abandoned by his parents to taking that first drink. His “power drive” led him to master the violin, become class president … until he couldn’t win when his first love Bertha unexpectedly died. Eventually he meets Lois Burnham, the woman he marries.

While in the army, he drank a Bronx cocktail and the whole universe changed. It released him from “this gnawing fear of inferiority.” He and Lois were unable to adopt a child because of his drinking.

He was wiped out during the crash of Wall Street. “I was not drinking to dream dreams of power,” he says. “I was drinking to forget.”

Then he had an epiphany, the “room lit up in a great glare,” and he discovered a higher power. He decided one drunk needs another to talk with. Fortunately, he met up with Dr. Bob (Smith) in Akron, Ohio. They agreed to work together. On June 10, 1935, Dr. Bob took his last drink – and Alcoholics Anonymous was in effect born.

Back in New York he decided to publish a book. That led to them formulating a 12-Step program that allows one to conquer the obsession of drinking. The group didn’t even have a name. “We just called ourself a bunch of drunks trying to get sober,” recalled Bill.

“Groups began to spring up everywhere, like mushrooms.”

Bill felt he’d been placed on a “completely illusional platform.” He experimented with LSD. He formed a relationship with Helen Wynn, a woman who helped him deal with his depression. He died of emphysema in 1971, begging for a drink. Doing battle with his personal demons to the end. He had been sober for 36 years.

Along the way, we hear from AA members with parallel stories. They are identified only as Mel B. or Tom W or Mitch K. Note: In the interest of anonymity, AA members interviewed in the film are shown mainly in shadow.

Bill Wilson has been included in Time Magazines’ “100 Most Important People of the Century.” But he spent his life facing his obsession, introducing himself simply as “I’m Bill. I’m a drunk.”

srhoades@aol.com