The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

(Writer's note: Back from the dead. This thing has been resurrected more times than Lazarus. Had some motivation last night,and here's what came from it)

Oh, mild spoilers ahead. Read at own caution)

I think it would be an understatement to say that I am a huge Spider-Man fan.

My future. Source: Wikipedia.

He’s probably my favourite comic book hero (next to Batman). I’ve read the comics (I have reprints of Amazing Fantasy #15 and Spider-Man #50), grew up with the 90’s animated series, and saw the movies in theatres (Spider-Man 2 was a family movie night and some of the most fun I’ve had at the theatre). Heck, it’s a running gag among my family that I will end up as J. Jonah Jameson, demanding pictures of Spider-Man.

I could relate a lot to Parker in the comics. A regular guy, given powers, not sure what to do with them; He struggled to pay the rent. His social life was lacking. He didn’t get any respect from the media. But, he still soldiered on. Great message. I love Batman, but I can’t relate to Bruce Wayne. He has unlimited money, access to great equipment and a cool car. He’s wish-fulfillment, escapism.

Like most people, I watched the Sam Raimi movies and thought that Spider-Man 3 was lousy, especially coming off the greatness of Spider-Man 2. Too many plots, an unnecessary retcon, misuse of Venom and that goddamn dance scene in the middle. And Spider-Man 4 sounded worse in the planning stages (I sound biased, but early plans were to have the Vulture as the villain, and Anne Hathaway playing his daughter The Vultress. Even as a kid, I always found the Vulture a lame villain. A man in a bird suit is not a villain; it’s a mid-life crisis). Raimi and Sony butted heads over the direction of the project, and eventually Raimi left. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst followed suit. Sony then announced plans to hire a new director and reboot the series from the beginning, to keep the movie rights from reverting back to Marvel.

Reboot. One of the two dirty R words in modern day Hollywood (remake is the other one). It has become a symbol of the lack of creativity that people complain about in movies these days. Considering that this reboot would be released five years after Spider-Man 3, many people were not looking forward to it, me included. But, hey, open mind and whatnot.

Sony owns the rights to this poster.

I went to see The Amazing Spider-Man about a week ago and left the theatre impressed. Although there were flaws, I felt that it was an interesting take on the character and actually better than the original Spider-Man film released in 2002.

Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) portrays Peter Parker, raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben (Sally Field and Martin Sheen) after his parents mysteriously die when he was a kid.  Although intelligent, Peter is a loner at high school and a target for bullies. He harbours a crush on Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), a popular student who shares a similar passion for science, working as an intern at OsCorp for Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans). Connors worked with Peter’s father, and it is on a trip to OsCorp to see Connors that he gets bitten by a genetically engineer spider which causes many changes to him.

The biggest flaw in the movie we have to sit through the origin story again. If you asked someone how Peter Parker became Spider-Man, they could probably tell you exactly how it happened. Have a little respect for the audience Hollywood. Also, this version brings in Peter’s parents, has them die at the beginning, but then kind of drops it halfway through the movie (though in a post-credits scene, it is brought up again). However, the movie does pick-up significantly after the spider-bite, and several of the origin points were handled better in this version, such as Uncle Ben’s death.

I liked Garfield’s take on Peter Parker, portraying him as a socially-awkward loner but with a little bit of an edge present. It’s a more realistic (as realistic as you can get with a comic book character) and modern interpretation of Spider-Man. And once he gets the costume, he moves far ahead of Tobey. As far as I’m concerned, Garfield is Spider-Man. The main reason: his wit. Tobey was humourless. Garfield actually cracked jokes in the costume like Spider-Man would in the comics.

As for other performances, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy was a highlight of the film, portraying a strong love-interest who is not a damsel-in-distress like other comic characters. She has tremendous chemistry with Garfield, which adds to their scenes together. Ifans’ portrayal of Connors and his villainous alter-ego The Lizard was also a strong performance. He’s not a true villain, just a guy who makes the wrong choice. However, Denis Leary, in his small screen-time, nearly stole the show as Gwen’s father George, a police captain who does not approve of Spider-Man methods. It is in fact, his scene with Peter at dinner that helps set him on the path to being a hero.

The theme of responsibility is one of the key themes of Spider-Man (I think we can all recite the famous phrase from the comics) and I liked how the movie handles it with Parker. The entire movie, even before he gets his powers, builds to him accepting responsibility for his actions as both Parker and Spider-Man.

The action in the movie, performed with a lot of wire-work, was also better than the 2002 movie, which has not aged well visually. During Spider-man’s fights with the Lizard, it feels like watching one of the comics come to life with the way he moves and dodges attacks, throwing in his webs for good measure.

In addition, this movie features the best Stan Lee cameo in a Marvel movie.

The Amazing Spider-Man was a better movie than it had any right to be, considering the reasons for it being made. Despite a retelling of the origin story, the movie picks up significantly from there, with strong performances and action keeping it from becoming a cynical, mediocre cash-in, like many feared it would be. I hope that the sequel adds to the strong foundation that this movie built.

Review: Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

This is the first time that I will review an album for this blog, and I have chosen one of my top three favourite albums to be the inaugural review.  

Wilco formed in 1994 after the demise of Alternative country band Uncle Tupelo. Their first album, A.M. was criticized for being too similar to their previous sound. Their next two albums, Being There and Summerteeth showed hints of growth, merging their previous sound with more alternative/experimental rock elements. They've been dubbed the American Radiohead, pushing the boundaries of their genre, shunning simple categorization. While popular with critics, and having decent album sales, they weren't huge sellers like their new label president expected. Remember, this was in the early part of the 2000's, where it wasn't unusual for an artist to sell 1 million albums in their first week.

In 2001, shortly after recording of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was completed, Wilco came into conflict with Reprise Record's (A subsidiary of Time Warner) new president David Kahne. Kahne felt that they new album was horrible, was not marketable, and that if Wilco released it, they'd be committing career suicide. Lead singer Jeff Tweedy refused to budge or make any changes, resulting in Wilco being dropped from Reprise. The band managed to negotiate a buyout of their contract, which included the rights to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.  The band began to stream the record on their website after some tracks leaked, while touring and searching for a new label. They eventually settled on Nonesuch Records, another subsidiary of time Warner, finally releasing it in 2002. So, in essence, Time Warner paid for the album twice. Ridiculous, but that was the story of the music industry in the past decade.

So, the album had a lot of hype surrounding it, but could it live up to it? Who would be vindicated at the end, Kahne or Wilco?

"I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" opens the album. It is the second longest song on the album, at 6:56, and lets the listener know what they can expect. It's built around a simple three-chord guitar melody mixed with some electronic sounds juxtaposing the traditional with the avant-garde. Lyrically the song doesn't make sense at first, with lines "I am an American aquarium drinker" and "take off your bandage cause I don't believe in touchdowns," but it becomes more clear as the song builds to its climax, Tweedy saying "I'm the man who loves you" over feedback.  Wilco songs peak around seven minutes long, with more on that later.

The album moves back and forth between experimental rock pieces, songs that are more influenced by their earlier sound, and occasionally combining the two together. "Kamera" and "Jesus etc." are more traditional songs, but have strong songwriting to make them feel less like filler. In addition to being the most accessible songs, they are also some of the strongest tracks on the album. "War on War" and "Ashes of American Flags" start off like folk rock songs, but midway through, switch into something different completely, electronic effects taking over, completely changing the mood. The unsung hero of this album is Jim O'Rourke, who produced and mixed the album alongside the band.  Anybody can add electronics, noise, and samples to their songs, but it takes a skilled producer and mixer to make it sound coherent.

There is a flaw on the album, and it concerns the last two tracks, "Poor Places" and "Reservations." Remember earlier when I said that Wilco songs peak around seven minutes?   Otherwise, you end up with "Reservations", which is seven and a half minutes long, with over half of it being just noise. The first half of the song is fine, but the end keeps going on and on. Ideally, the track would have either been cut in half, or completely cut from the album. "Poor Places" however, feels more like an ideal conclusion to the album, ending with a loop of feedback and a sampled voice repeating the album's title. But, this complaint is minuscule, and does not reduce my enjoyment of this album.

Wilco won out in the end. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot finished high on many critic's "Best of the year list," was named one of the top albums of the decade by Rolling Stone magazine (#3 if I recall), and is also Wilco's best selling album to date, being certified Gold. I wonder if David Kahne was fired for kicking Wilco off the label. It's proof that many music executives are out of touch with what the public wishes to listen to, which is why overall sales have slipped. I know that we can't change the habits of most of the buying public, who prefer the musical equivalent of a Big Mac and Fries, but there is s a growing majority of people who like to be challenged by the music they listen to. They want something different from the norm, something that they haven't heard before. Start catering to that group.

This album is one of my top five favorite albums of all-time. Strong musicianship and lyrics, incredibly polished, hits an emotional core, and unlike anything I've ever heard before. Fans of Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Neutral Milk Hotel, or Arcade Fire should give this album a listen.