Movie for the night: Spider-Man!

Took the MARTA with my friends to Phipps to catch Spider-Man. We got there late enough for the 7:45pm but too early for the 10pm. I was adamant on not wanting to watch the Clowns instead (even if it had Samuel L. Jackson, the film seemed as interesting to me as Changing Lanes). So we settled on the 10pm show. At the ticket counter we found out that there was a 9:15pm screening, which we promptly got tickets for, before walking out for dinner at the Bucket Shop Cafe a block away. The good weather for the day had progressed to a cold night, forcing us to sit in. I was already kicking myself for missing the season finale of The Simpsons and the grand finale of the X Files (which I had lost interest in a long while ago, ever since Mr. Duchovny upped and left for a movie career that never existed) {slashdot: The Truth Revealed} {the X-Files timeline}

Dinner delayed us enough so that we switched to the 10pm show. After a stock of previews (including the cool MIIB and the atrocious Mr. Deeds [Winona Ryder with Adam Sandler????]), Sam Raimi's slick commercial spiel launched off with some cool titles (predictably incorporating the web and pieces of spider web in them). I followed three comic book heroes a lot: Superman, Spider-Man and Batman. Of the three, Superman was the least believable, since he was (a) not of this earth (b) super. Batman was the most believable, because he had no super powers, was human and had his own share of the problems of everyday life (of course, he was a playboy, which distanced him a bit from the common man). Spider-Man was a cross between the two: the super powers he had as a result of a bite from a radioactive spider were not too fancy -- they only augmented his senses and abilities (if we forget the wall climbing bit, of course). Add teenage angst to the cauldron and the fact that his "gift" seems more of a curse to him (the deaths of Uncle Ben Parker and Gwen Stacy), and we have the trappings of a good engaging comic. Apart from a few liberties (which were more acceptable than the outrageous campy liberties that Superman took and the unfortunate ones that Tim Burton took with Batman), the film sticks to the established comyth (that's comic myth) pretty well. As soon as I get some more breathing time, I'll key in a few more thoughts. For now, check out the Spider-Man comics database to brush up on your Spidey basics and clear the cobwebs of your mind.