Thank you for voting in the - Which of these films do you
plan on seeing in June of 2012 – poll! The results to this month’s poll were
nearly as positive as last month’s, so it seems most of you were excited by
June’s movie releases as well. Of the fourteen people who voted, most were
interested in one film. The top vote getter for June was Prometheus which
received 11 votes (78%)! Coming in at a distant second place was Abraham
Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with 6 votes (42%). Close behind in third place was Snow
White and the Huntsman with 4 votes (28%). In last place was Brave with only
one vote. (7%).
Thank you all for voting on this month’s poll! There are now
fourteen of you who may consider yourselves Genre Guardian Generals! Anyone who
has seen Prometheus, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Snow White and the
Huntsman or Brave at the theater, please leave a quick comment here and let me
know what you thought of it.
THE JULY POLL!
Once again on the right column of this page, you will see at
the top of the column the next poll that I’ve posted. As always, this poll
includes the titles and release dates of all the major SF, Fantasy or Horror
films that are being distributed to movie theaters in the month of July for
2012. They are: The Amazing Spiderman (July 3), Ice Age: Continental Drift (July
13), The Dark Knight Rises (July 20), and The Watch (July 27). As always, I’d
appreciate anyone who reads GUARDIANS OF THE GENRE! to place a vote for any of
these films that you plan on seeing at the theater.
The Amazing Spiderman is a film that I am very much on the
fence about. Spiderman was my favorite superhero growing up and I read his
comics for close to 20 years (1966 – 1986). I liked the first Spiderman (2002) film,
but was less impressed with its sequel Spiderman 2 (2004) and disliked Spiderman
3 (2007). I never liked Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker or Kirsten Dunst as Mary
Jane Watson, so I’m pleased for the reboot as a chance for different actors to
play these parts. Andrew Garfield looks like Peter Parker, but an unknown 28-year-old
Brit playing an American teenager may be a bit of a stretch. In a good move, Gwen
Stacy is Peter’s love interest, which does follow the comic book’s chronology.
I do love Emma Stone, and she doesn’t look too far from the comic book
character’s look. This is director Marc Webb’s second feature film and I haven’t
seen his first, so fingers crossed that he will be able to pull off the visual action,
as well as the personal drama. The trailers look promising, so I will make an
effort to see this at the theater. I only saw Ice Age and didn’t like its
visual style or sense of humor, so I’ll be passing on Ice Age: Continental
Drift. The Dark Knight Rises looks visually amazing, but I’m in the vast
minority as not being a fan of Christopher Nolan’s Batman films. I think his
take on Batman is too dark and I don’t like Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne
either. I’ll watch The Dark Knight Rises on disc, just as I watched Batman
Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008) on disc. Lastly, The Watch is a sci-fi
comedy that could have been funny, but unfortunately, thanks to screenwriter
Seth Rogen, it is rated R and will no doubt be filled with the kind of raunchy
humor that made Superbad, Pineapple Express, and even the PG-13 rated Green Hornet
unwatchable for me. So that’s a big pass for The Watch for me.
Let me know what films you’ll be seeing on the big screen by
participating in this month’s new poll!
I know we don't always have the same tastes Doc, but I'm glad to hear you discuss your gut feelings on some of the upcoming films here.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I am excited about the new Noland film. I certainly understand an argument against these films particularly coming from a comic book fan like yourself. Nevertheless, I do look forward to it and Batman Begins really remains a favorite.
Now, Spider-Man, where do I begin?
I have to tell you that I have my concerns about the film even more than you.
When I see the trailers I shrug and never even watch them. I have absolutely ZERO interest.
I did like the first Sam Raimi SPider-Man a lot.
That was a terrific film. The second was good. I never saw the third and what bits I did see weren't that great.
But this reboot is all wrong or at least feels that way. It's like it's geared to a Twilight set.
The creature design on the Lizard looks awful. The efects in general look weak at best. It just looks lame.
Spider-Man should be an event and the people behind this one have designed a Spider-Man film that looks even less impressive than Daredevil.
Sorry to say, but it looks bad.
Just my take on it, but you got me going on it and I'm glad you shared your opinions on it here.
best - sff
Hi, Sci-Fi Fanatic!
ReplyDeleteAs far as not having the same tastes: That is what makes talking to you and other SF-F-H fans so interesting and why I love getting comments here at Guardians of the Genre!
You and most everyone else have loved the Nolan Batman films and I truly do understand your enthusiasm toward seeing The Dark Knight Rises – even if I don’t share it. Funny you should mention Batman Begins as a favorite, as that is my favorite of the two (thus far) Nolan Batman films. My history with Batman as a comic book character is not as deep as other superhero characters (I was always more of a Marvel guy than a DC guy even in my formative comic book reading days), but I have read dozens if not hundreds of Batman comics in the past 40+ years, so I feel I have a fair grasp of the character from that perspective. That is one more reason why I’m not a fan of Nolan’s, Burton’s and especially Schumacher’s ridiculous Batman films. While Batman’s comic book origins reflect its influence by the vigilante pulp characters popular in the day (particularly The Shadow), I prefer the less violent analytical-detective Batman of the pre-Miller Dark Knight era. When Warner re-boots Batman yet again, I can only hope for more of detective and less of the vigilante.
Wow! You really don’t like the look of The Amazing Spiderman film! I’m not sure I get the “It's like it's geared to a Twilight set” comment; unless you mean that it is aimed at teenagers and twenty-somethings, instead of older fans like us. If that is what you mean, you’d be right and that is just good marketing, because that is where the money is. If you mean that The Amazing Spiderman is going to spend the majority of its running time on romantic teen angst and melodrama, I’d say I just don’t get that from the three trailers I’ve seen so far. Also, Spidy the comic character was full of teen angst and melodrama; particularly as written by Stan Lee, but that is what made him so relatable to the (then) teenage me.
I assume you don’t like the lizard because he is done in CGI, instead of with costuming and prosthetics. The action scenes are the only ones in the trailer, so these are the shots we see. I’m hopeful that in the quieter sequences we will see a more human Lizard, utilizing the actor Rhys Ifans’ face and makeup effects. The Lizard in the comics was odd looking to begin with, because (I’m assuming) the CCA made them draw him with those stupid magenta-colored pants on all the time.
I think the reason that The Amazing Spiderman film feels less of an “event” is because it is still so soon since the last Spiderman film. It has only been five years between Spiderman 3 and this film and many feel that it was too soon for a reboot. I think the new Superman film (Man of Steel) is going to suffer a similar problem and there will have been seven years between Man of Steel (2013) and Superman Returns (2006).
I don’t think it looks bad, but I must admit that I am feeling oversaturated by super-heroic special effects of late, so it will take some damn fine directing, writing and acting (aka: The Avengers) to make The Amazing Spiderman more than just another cool film to look at. I’m hoping to see it soon – maybe even on its premier date of July 3rd – and if I do – good or bad – you can be sure I’ll be sharing my opinion of it here on Guardians of the Genre!
Thanks for the earnest comments, Sci-Fi Fanatic!
Fritz, this is a great question. The Dark Knight Rises first with Spider-Man second. ice Age because of my son and I won't be seeing The Watch for the reason you described. How could you not like Nolan? ;)
ReplyDelete- Maurice Mitchell
The Geek Twins | Film Sketchr
@thegeektwins | @mauricem1972
Maurice,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your films that you'll be attending this July.
I assume you are being facetious in your comments regarding Christopher Nolan; specifically his Batman films as I went into more detail than was needed in my answer to Sci-Fi Fanatics comments.