The Amazing Spider-Man

"Do you have any idea what you really are?"

Just ten years after the first of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy the series is rebooted with English actor Andrew Garfield actor taking over from Tobey Maguire as the masked vigilante Spider-Man/school kid Peter Parker. Parker is a normal teenager living in New York. He lives with his aunt and uncle (Sally Field and Martin Sheen) due to his parents unexplained late night desertion of their son when he was a child. Peter is in love with fellow classmate Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and shunned by most of his class. After discovering his father worked with Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), Peter helps the scientist with a regenerative formula which could help Connors to re-grow a lost limb. While at Connor’s offices, Peter is bitten by a genetically engineered spider and gains new strength and skills. Following a harrowing personal loss, Peter uses these skills to track down a criminal before turning his attention to a new threat – The Lizard.

Before watching Raimi’s trilogy again recently I thought that it was far too soon for a Spider-Man reboot but after watching and reviewing them for GB Posters I came to the conclusion that I was ready for a fresh look at the series; a more grown up and modern look. The Amazing Spider-Man definitely feels more grown up than Raimi’s trilogy and it has overcome many of the problems that those films had. That being said, it is far from perfect.

A Night in the Show

For Chaplin’s 12^th Essanay film he turns to familiar ground by partially recreating a sketch he first performed in Fred Karno’s theatre company. Chaplin takes the part of two characters. The first is Mr. Rowdy, a working class theatre attendee who turns up drunk. The second is Mr. Pest, an upper class theatre attendee who also shows up inebriated. Both characters get in the way of other audience members and impact on most of the on stage action before one ends the show for good.

The film begins very promisingly with some superb ‘business’ from both of Chaplin’s characters. Rowdy walks down the isle of the dress circle and continues to walk off the edge, having to be hauled back up by other audience members while Pest first cuts in the ticket queue before changing seats much to the annoyance of those around him and finally has a fight with the musical conductor. Unfortunately the rest of the film doesn’t quite live up to the opening five or ten minutes and the volume and quality of the jokes tail off slightly before a return to form in the final minutes.

Somewhere

A newly famous actor Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) spends his days drinking, taking pills and having casual sex with a string of beautiful women while residing at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Occasionally he will be called to give an interview or sent to a photo shoot with a co-star but usually he has his days to himself, sometimes hanging out with his school friend Sammy (Chris Pontius). One day he receives an unexpected visit from his eleven year old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) whose stay challenges his lifestyle.
 

The film can be seen in a semi autobiographic sense as director Sofia Coppola spent much of her childhood following her father Frances Ford around the world for film making and press. Cleo can be seen as a version of herself while Johnny is the archetypal star for whom life has become easy and boring. The main problem with the film is that we, the audience, are meant to feel sorry for Johnny but I did not.

Meek's Cutoff

In 1845 a small band of settlers travel across the Oregon Desert under the guidance of Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood). What was meant to be a two week journey is stretched to five as the group begin to wonder if Meek actually knows the way. With food and water scarce and tensions running high, the settlers’ chance upon a local native, capture him and attempt to get him to lead them to water. Will they find it? Will he actually lead them to it? And, will they ever make it across the desert?

I’ve become quite a fan of modern Westerns recently and have really enjoyed the likes of The Assassination of Jesse James, There Will Be Blood and True Grit amongst others. Meek’s Cutoff shares little with those films though other than its time in history and genre. This is a film about the isolation of the old west and the physical and mental pain that one must go through in order to continue the expansion west. Unlike most other Westerns, this is also told from mostly the female perspective.

His Regeneration

A tough criminal gets in to an argument in a dancehall which escalates into a fight. When the criminal is shot he is aided by a mysterious woman and recovers. Once he recovers he burgles a house but gets a surprise which puts an end to his criminal path.

This is a bit of an oddity amongst my Charlie Chaplin – Essanay box set in that it isn’t a Chaplin film at all. Instead Chaplin has a credit as ‘slightly assisted by’ and has a very brief cameo in front of the camera too. The film was actually directed, written and starred in by Chaplin’s boss and co-head of Essanay Gilbert M. Anderson (Broncho Billy).

For a Charlie Chaplin fan this is one to ignore as Chaplin is on screen for all of thirty seconds. He tries to push his way to the front of a queue, is sent back and then gets pushed around when people start dancing. The film itself is forgettable and features a confusing and slightly dull storyline. Its saving grace though is its acting which feels remarkably real and natural compared to Chaplin’s regular cast. It is this that saves it from the depths of being a one star movie.    

3/10

Seven Samurai

"I've got nothing out of fighting; I'm alone in the world"

During the late sixteenth century a poor farming village hires seven masterless Samurai to help to combat a group of forty bandits who return each year after harvest to steal their crop. After much searching the farmers eventually discover a wise and experienced Samurai called Kambei (Takashi Shimura) who agrees to not only help them but also find six more Samurai to protect the village.

Along with Kambei the villagers recruit a band of warriors which includes the young and untested Katsushiro (Iaso Kimura), a skilled archer called Gorobei (Yoshio Inaba), Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi) – a solemn and stone faced master swordsman and my favourite, the drunk and unpredictable Kikuchiyo (Toshirō Mifune). Along with Heihachi and Shichirōji they become the Seven Samurai. I hadn’t seen this film before now but had always been aware that it was considered one of the best films of all time. While I’ve definitely seen a lot of films that I prefer, I can understand why it is held in such high regard.

Shanghaied

A ship owner intends to scuttle his ship and asks his Captain to round up a crew. The Captain in turn hires a Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) to help him ‘Shanghai’ (forcibly conscript) some sailors. This backfires for the tramp though as he himself is Shanghaied. On board ship the Tramp attempts to help out with a variety of different tasks but unsurprisingly is useless at all of them. Meanwhile the ship owner’s daughter (Edna Purviance) has stowed away aboard ship in an attempt to stop the crime of scuttling and save her lover, the Tramp.

After the wonderful highs of The Bank, this film was a huge come down. It is by far my least favourite Charlie Chaplin film to date although there are inevitably some good moments to be found.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

"Andy... that's Mom and Dad's store"

Two brothers (Phillip Seymour Hoffman & Ethan Hawke) in very different situations but both desperately in need of money decide to rob their parents Jewellery store. As you’d expect the heist goes wrong and leaves one family member dead while the others try to come to terms with the consequences.

I don’t want to give anymore away than that as spoilers are like a minefield with this film. It is presented in a non linier way with scenes chopping back and forth through the narrative, often from different perspectives. It’s never difficult to follow though. While the back and forth storytelling was interesting I didn’t feel that the different points of view made a difference. I had never heard of this movie and was recommended it by our building’s concierge. As a result I didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised when the excellent cast popped up on screen. Each time a new character came on screen I was thinking “ooh its Hoffman, ooh it’s Hawke. Ooh Albert Finney’s in this. And Rosemary Harris. Ahh, Marisa Tomei (with her contractual topless scenes). Cool, Amy Ryan. Ah, nice one it’s Michael Shannon”. The cast is excellent. The film however isn’t.

The Bank

A janitor in a bank (Charlie Chaplin) has a crush on a secretary (Edna Purviance) who is in love with cashier (Carl Stockdale). Chaplin mistakes a present sent from Purviance to Stockdale as being for him and when his advances towards Purviance are laughed away he becomes depressed. Despite being a terrible janitor, Chaplin becomes the hero (or does he?) when he foils a bank robbery.

This film took me a little bit by surprise. I was expecting a slapstick affair with Chaplin getting into the sort of trouble that Buster Keaton did in his film The Haunted House but this is a much more rounded piece than pretty much anything Chaplin had done before. Chaplin spends more time off screen than in any of his previous Essanay films and instead of being in front of the camera, fooling around, allows his characters and story to propel the film along. That isn’t to say that Chaplin is a side character or not funny. He is still the central character and produces some great comedic turns.

The Versatile Blogger Award

Gary at Head in a Vice recently, and very kindly chose me for The Versatile Blogger Award. I don't really know much about this but was flattered to be considered nonetheless. There are various rules that come with this award, some of which are fun, others less so. Here they are. 

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 10 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award; and link to them.

2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.

3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.

4. In the same post, share 10 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

5. In the same post, include this set of rules.

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

Here are some blogs which I've enjoyed over the last six months or so that I've been blogging.