![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
My week
Dinner
On Monday night I went to the Orbit Restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower. The view is quite lovely on a clear winter's night and the food is amazing. They've added an unnerving feature to the lifts since I was last there though--besides the glass walls from which you can see the cityscape drop away, they've now got a glass panel in the floor. OK, it's 38cm thick and stronger than concrete but I got as far away from it as I could and refused to look down. "It's like taking off in the space-shuttle!" Greg said gleefully. Orbit? Shuttles? I just hoped that if we got stuck no-one would try to throw me out.
Spiderman 2
Today I went to Spiderman 2. Poor Peter Parker, but I do love that the guy comes from a working-class background, lives in a cruddy apartment, has trouble being a superhero and holding down a job, can't pay his rent or his phone bill, and that he can't really help his own aunt keep her home. I suppose that's as realistic as superheroes get, and there were times my eyes got a bit misty. Otto Octavius was wonderful; it's odd to think the last time I saw Alfred Molina, he was a shy nerdy Welsh undertaker. The SFX were stunning and exhilarating, especially Doctor Octopus's augmentations, but I have some questions:
- Why are Peter's aunt and uncle old enough to be his grandparents?
- How did immersing a sustained fusion reaction in the water drown it?
- Why didn't the radiation from a small sun kill them?
- Why the hell do people take babies and toddlers to a film like this?
- Why do they still sell stuff in cellophane bags so loud they can drown out the soundtrack?
I was a very warlike little tomboy and loved the old B&W classics on afternoon TV. After the film I bought a boxed DVD set of four favourites:
- The Dam Busters
- The Colditz Story
- The Cruel Sea
- Ice Cold in Alex
no subject
no subject
no subject
I feel for you on the Spiderman 2 viewing. There was a young child in our audience who talked incessantly during the last ten minutes or so. There were several annoyed comments in his direction, to no avail. His guardian made no attempt to take him out, either, or shush him.
As for the radiation/water-destroying fusion thing, I just tried to suspend the laws of physics for a time and distract myself with other things. Ooh, look, kiss! Then again, maybe that small sun is still burning beneath New York Harbor, and will produce a new Godzilla mutation.
Alfred Molina was perfect as Dr. Otto Octavius - physically and character-wise. He was never a true villain to my mind, like Dr. Connor who became the Lizard while trying to regenerate his arm. They both were given backgrounds that made them far more empathetic than Mysterio or The Vulture, Sandman or Electro. The Green Goblin was a true villain, and his son, a mad, sad boy who could never rise from his father's shadow.
I think Aunt May is Peter's mother's sister, but my comics canon is old and incomplete. Perhaps there was a generation gap. My mom is fifteen years younger than her sister. Uncle Ben's last name is Reilly, IIRC.
no subject
Me too; whichever side I was on felt like the moving side. I was also intrigued about how they get power to the outer ring bit--they use a slip-ring.
His guardian made no attempt to take him out, either, or shush him.
Neither did the those of the babies and toddlers who cried, ran about, chatted, and burped. One father even kept explaining stuff to his toddler, quite loudly. I moved twice but the brats were everywhere. They got very restive during the quieter scenes; I think there should be a minimum age for a lot of these films, though that wouldn't stop teenagers making one hell of a racket with crisp bags. Grrr.
He was never a true villain to my mind
No, he wasn't, just not strong enough to stand up to the AIs and the lure of success. Molina's a brilliant actor who is different every time I see him, and is amazing with accents. I liked how the AI arms showed expression with very little too. The film was a pleasure except for the viewers.
Perhaps there was a generation gap.
Maybe! I've known families with large gaps between siblings, one of them 30 years!!! I'd say there were 50 years between Peter and his aunt and uncle, when 25-30 would be more the norm.
I've never read the comics, going instead for British ones like Beano, but the films have captivated me. I'm looking forward to a third one; Harry knows who Spiderman is now and though he knows who his father was (someone who almost killed him along with the others) he's sure to be seduced by all that power.