Podcast 187 July 2012: What did you think?

[BD]

Three podcasts edited this week. Only one more to go.

The opening song is here.

[iron_patriot]

Regarding the mutant rat, it probably lost the lizardness after an hour, like Doctor Connors did.

Oh, and a defense for the crane scene: I just looked out of the window, and I saw four cranes that can if turned the right way, can be swung from. And Manila isn't as huge as Manhattan.

[Aziz]

I like how Gwen reacted, not too teenage like
And yeah, that scene with people banding to aid Spider-Man is very face palm like

Something extremely wrong in SM2: Mary Jane, she sucks, she downright sucks, and I like Dunst as MJ in the other two movies, she's all the time "Oh Peter, you suck for not being in my play as you promised. Jerk" then she leaves her wedding to be with that jerk. PUMPKIN BOMB HER

Bertone's theory: Comic stuff, never a movie stuff
Spider-Man Now Movie

[Wombat 909]

Something extremely wrong in SM2: Mary Jane, she sucks, she downright sucks, and I like Dunst as MJ in the other two movies, she's all the time "Oh Peter, you suck for not being in my play as you promised. Jerk" then she leaves her wedding to be with that jerk. PUMPKIN BOMB HER

That always bothered me, John Jameson was a decent guy, did nothing wrong and he gets left alone at his wedding of all places, publicly humiliated. MJ was a total bitch in that movie.

And Bertone's attempt to put both the movies together was hilarious.

[stevejrogers]

Something extremely wrong in SM2: Mary Jane, she sucks, she downright sucks, and I like Dunst as MJ in the other two movies, she's all the time "Oh Peter, you suck for not being in my play as you promised. Jerk" then she leaves her wedding to be with that jerk. PUMPKIN BOMB HER

That always bothered me, John Jameson was a decent guy, did nothing wrong and he gets left alone at his wedding of all places, publicly humiliated. MJ was a total bitch in that movie.

And Bertone's attempt to put both the movies together was hilarious.

I always did have a The Graduate vibe at the end there. Probably even more so, even though it is NEVER BROUGHT UP AGAIN in III! Then again MJ and JJJ never do have scenes together in III so it can be seen as something resolved in Off Screen Land.

Speaking of Off Screen Land, have Avi, Breevort or anyone else been called on their "oh this will tie in" BS?

Kind of reminds me of a reversal of the hype that Kevin Smith was doing for his Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back film, where he was going on the record in interviews saying "yeah, you'll have no problem seeing this film if you haven't seen Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy or Dogma (all the films he had made up to that point in the J&SB/View Askew (his movie production company) verse)"

Then the movie hits, and it's clear that you probably should have see...eh...at least Mallrats and Chasing Amy, those are probably the two heaviest referred or called back to films in J&SBSB, and Smith is called out on his bull, and he says "Yeeeaaaaaaah, I was saying that just to bring in a larger audience!"

[FSUSpiderFan]

Something extremely wrong in SM2: Mary Jane, she sucks, she downright sucks, and I like Dunst as MJ in the other two movies, she's all the time "Oh Peter, you suck for not being in my play as you promised. Jerk" then she leaves her wedding to be with that jerk. PUMPKIN BOMB HER

That always bothered me, John Jameson was a decent guy, did nothing wrong and he gets left alone at his wedding of all places, publicly humiliated. MJ was a total bitch in that movie.

And Bertone's attempt to put both the movies together was hilarious.

I always did have a The Graduate vibe at the end there. Probably even more so, even though it is NEVER BROUGHT UP AGAIN in III! Then again MJ and JJJ never do have scenes together in III so it can be seen as something resolved in Off Screen Land.

Yeah, that was a bitch move but at least JJJ was stuck with the check.

[DarkKnightJared]

Something extremely wrong in SM2: Mary Jane, she sucks, she downright sucks, and I like Dunst as MJ in the other two movies, she's all the time "Oh Peter, you suck for not being in my play as you promised. Jerk" then she leaves her wedding to be with that jerk. PUMPKIN BOMB HER

That always bothered me, John Jameson was a decent guy, did nothing wrong and he gets left alone at his wedding of all places, publicly humiliated. MJ was a total bitch in that movie.

And Bertone's attempt to put both the movies together was hilarious.

I always did have a The Graduate vibe at the end there. Probably even more so, even though it is NEVER BROUGHT UP AGAIN in III! Then again MJ and JJJ never do have scenes together in III so it can be seen as something resolved in Off Screen Land.

Speaking of Off Screen Land, have Avi, Breevort or anyone else been called on their "oh this will tie in" BS?

Kind of reminds me of a reversal of the hype that Kevin Smith was doing for his Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back film, where he was going on the record in interviews saying "yeah, you'll have no problem seeing this film if you haven't seen Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy or Dogma (all the films he had made up to that point in the J&SB/View Askew (his movie production company) verse)"

Then the movie hits, and it's clear that you probably should have see...eh...at least Mallrats and Chasing Amy, those are probably the two heaviest referred or called back to films in J&SBSB, and Smith is called out on his bull, and he says "Yeeeaaaaaaah, I was saying that just to bring in a larger audience!"

You know, I think I vaguely remember hearing on the commentary for SM2 that they were semi-referencing The Graduate with the end, especially after Peter starts swinging away and MJ give a look that is supposed to make us think she's thinking, "Did I make the right decision?" But I don't think that was shown on the screen since, frankly, while Raimi is GREAT with cinematography and effects, I don't think he's good at directing actors into subtle, nuanced performances at all. As for in 3...well, I guess you could say that it comes back when the two start having problems, but I think that had more to do with Peter being influenced by the Emo Suit and Harry's manipulations than anything.

Funny thing--Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back was sort-of the first Smith film I remember seeing, and I enjoyed it despite not knowing all the references. I guess it works for some but not for others.

Anyway--EPISODE THOUGHTS:

My Grade on ASM: I'd say B+, definitely. It's a cool kind-of alt take on Spidey, ala the Ultimate Spider-Man comic. In fact, I kinda wish they flipped it around a little more, so that it feels more like a different take on the world.

On the crane scene...I think it was done better than some of the supportive stuff in the previous movies, because it actually contributed to the plot, and we actually get to see how Peter's acts as a superhero inspires others to be heroic as well. The stuff in the Raimi movies just felt like half-assed feel-good nonsense.

On shutting up about comic book casting--I'm with you Kevin on Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.

I was someone who enjoyed the original Raimi movies when they came out...when I was 13. After rewatches, I'm sorry, but it just doesn't hold up well for me anymore. I honestly think it's more to do with Raimi than anything, since I can't really get myself into most of his movies at this point. I totally get the "it's not BAD, but this is the Spider-Man I wanted to see" line.

"I don't think anyone likes Gwen Stacy if you've read her in the comic." I like her in Spider-Man: Blue, that's kind-of my favorite take on her in the 616 universe.

As for not catching the thief--I think that's something we're going to see later. From what I've heard, I think that they have a three-movie arc in mind for the character.

On the guy who was VERY excited about the Lizard transformation--I'm sure there's a long, complicated, official name for that fetish, but I'm sure I'll be put on a list if I google it.

Good episode.

[BertoneBeatle]

"I don't think anyone likes Gwen Stacy if you've read her in the comic." I like her in Spider-Man: Blue, that's kind-of my favorite take on her in the 616 universe.

This is going to sound pretentious and I apologize.

But to me BLUE isn't Gwen it's "idolized after death through rose tinted glasses Gwen". To me there are two Gwen's in the 616 (clones nonewithstanding)...the Gwen before issue 121 and the Gwen afterwards.

The Gwen before issue 121 could not communicate with Peter and would rarely tell him what she was thinking (she the Prowler issue where she left for London)...while Peter regularly thought she was cheating on him with Flash Thompson (see every other arc of the Romita era). They always fought or had the other upset and were barely holding on during the final days of their relationship.

The Gwen after 121 was a sweet virginal princess who was would have married Peter and lived happily ever after if she hadn't died.

But your mileage my vary, my take on her is just my perspective and isn't canon.

[DarkKnightJared]

"I don't think anyone likes Gwen Stacy if you've read her in the comic." I like her in Spider-Man: Blue, that's kind-of my favorite take on her in the 616 universe.

This is going to sound pretentious and I apologize.

But to me BLUE isn't Gwen it's "idolized after death through rose tinted glasses Gwen". To me there are two Gwen's in the 616 (clones nonewithstanding)...the Gwen before issue 121 and the Gwen afterwards.

The Gwen before issue 121 could not communicate with Peter and would rarely tell him what she was thinking (she the Prowler issue where she left for London)...while Peter regularly thought she was cheating on him with Flash Thompson (see every other arc of the Romita era). They always fought or had the other upset and were barely holding on during the final days of their relationship.

The Gwen after 121 was a sweet virginal princess who was would have married Peter and lived happily ever after if she hadn't died.

But your mileage my vary, my take on her is just my perspective and isn't canon.

I can definitely agree that Gwen was idolized in Blue, and it's probably not a perfect, one-to-one take on her, but I think there's a spark of what she was in the original comics in there. In the beginning she definitely had a bit of aloofness and mystery to her, and the more the two got to know each other, the more of that sweet, kind nature came to the foreground. Of course, the book directly invalidates that "virgin" part of it.

[FSUSpiderFan]

"I don't think anyone likes Gwen Stacy if you've read her in the comic." I like her in Spider-Man: Blue, that's kind-of my favorite take on her in the 616 universe.

This is going to sound pretentious and I apologize.

But to me BLUE isn't Gwen it's "idolized after death through rose tinted glasses Gwen". To me there are two Gwen's in the 616 (clones nonewithstanding)...the Gwen before issue 121 and the Gwen afterwards.

The Gwen before issue 121 could not communicate with Peter and would rarely tell him what she was thinking (she the Prowler issue where she left for London)...while Peter regularly thought she was cheating on him with Flash Thompson (see every other arc of the Romita era). They always fought or had the other upset and were barely holding on during the final days of their relationship.

The Gwen after 121 was a sweet virginal princess who was would have married Peter and lived happily ever after if she hadn't died.

But your mileage my vary, my take on her is just my perspective and isn't canon.

Actually there are three 616 Gwens. You got the last two the boring but beautiful Romita Stacey and the perfect love corpse Gwen. You forgot the vindictive b!t(h Gwen of her brief time in the Ditko era.

I think Emma Stone has made the best Gwen ever. She took a boring character and breathed life into her. I will actually be sad when Emma's version of Gwen meets her fate. They are going to have a hard time finding an MJ that can out do her charm. Can we clone Emma to play both characters? I didn't give a crap when Gwen's dad (the one note Dennis Leary) kicked the bucket.

I think Brad said the absence of JJJ and the Bugle was a problem and I agree. They could have found a way to not redo the origin and instead introduce more of Spider-Man's world.

I agree with Chris, the crane scene was such a rip off of the New Yorkers helping Spidey in the first movie. The original scene felt good after everything NYC had been through with 911. This time it was just plain cheesy.

I agree with the guys when they said Uncle Ben's death seemed like a formality and you never really felt it's impact.

I really enjoyed parts of this movie which gives me hope for the next two. I do hope they improve the costume next time, don't leave so many plot threads like they were forgotten.

[DarkKnightJared]

If we're going to go with outside the 616, I think a nod should be given to Ultimate Gwen, especially since a good amount of her, especially her family/father, comes from it.

And honestly, I didn't miss the Bugle and JJJ at all.

[FSUSpiderFan]

If we're going to go with outside the 616, I think a nod should be given to Ultimate Gwen, especially since a good amount of her, especially her family/father, comes from it.

And honestly, I didn't miss the Bugle and JJJ at all.

How so? Ultimate Gwen has more attitude but how is her father from there?

I think they were afraid no one could live up to J.K. Simmons amazing performance as JJJ.

[DarkKnightJared]

If we're going to go with outside the 616, I think a nod should be given to Ultimate Gwen, especially since a good amount of her, especially her family/father, comes from it.

And honestly, I didn't miss the Bugle and JJJ at all.

How so? Ultimate Gwen has more attitude but how is her father from there?

I think they were afraid no one could live up to J.K. Simmons amazing performance as JJJ.

Her dad was much younger and heading the manhunt for Spider-Man, as I recall. The only difference was that he was killed by a Spider-Man impersonator, not by a regular super-villain.

And yeah, it's hard to think of who else could pull of JJJ. I'm sure they're almost tempted to do what they did with the Bond franchise and just have him roll over into the next franchise like they did with Judi Dench.

[iron_patriot]

JR was right about Emma Stone and Garfield not looking like teenagers. I was just watching Superbad and this:

looks so different from this: