First Look: Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man

It may not come out until 2012, but here's the first look at Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man from Marc Webb's unneeded reboot of the film franchise...

While it's thankfully a tangible suit and not CGI like Green Lantern's costume (that's a rant for another time), I can't say I've very pleased with this... for one it just doesn't look like any other Spider-Man costume before it. Where's the webbing that looks like webs? The stripe that connects from the shoulders to the hands? The waistline? And why does it still not look like something that Peter Parker could make himself?!

Sure, the previous costume wasn't perfect, but with one look I could tell it was Spider-Man! It at least followed the design of the original look in the comics, aside from the silver webbing. But what the hell is going on here? What's with the spike design in what seem to be separate gloves? Why would you put a long narrow torso piece on a guy that's already tall and skinny? At least Toby Macguire was stout, the costume suited him, this just looks weird.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Spider-Man 1 and 2 are probably my favorite, most memorable superhero films, sure the third film was pretty bad, but there was no need to reboot it already. I'm bitter about it now, and I'll probably be bitter about it until a trailer comes out. But seriously, let's try making films of other superheroes before we start rebooting ones that were already fantastic...

The Social Network Review

Finally! A review that isn't for Fringe! It's been a really busy month or so for me lately, with work and class and what not, and I haven't gotten the chance to see many movies in theaters or play new games, but I got the chance this weekend, and saw David Fincher's latest film, The Social Network, based on the creation of Facebook. Amusingly enough, I watched Fincher's first film, Alien 3, for the first time the day before seeing this film, and the contrast was nice.

As many many of you know by now, The Social Network tells the story of Facebook's creation and it's subsequent lawsuits as based on the book, The Accidental Billionaires, by Ben Mezrich; and now say... interviewing the actual participants of the on-screen events. Having said that however, I believe scriptwriter Aaron Sorkin does a wonderful job of representing the three clashing points of view (Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, and the Winklevoss twins) equally, and ultimately leaving the final decision of right and wrong up to the viewer, regardless of how the actual events panned out.

One of the things that impressed me the most was the cast, not just because they're all younger actors and seemed to handle Sorkin's incredibly wordy script with ease (Jessie Eisenberg was especially spectacular in this sense), but also the physical resemblance to the people they portrayed. Of course I didn't realize this until after the fact, but I was shocked how similar everyone looked to their real life counterparts, except for Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker (founder of Napster), who surprised me with his ability to actually act, but really wasn't pulling off the nefariousness he was trying for. Also great though, was Armie Hammer, who played both Winklevoss twins and really pulled a Sam Rockwell by portraying equal but different characters on screen at once, and was one of the more fun performances to watch in the film.

Characters and script aside though, the part I loved about the film the most was the score, which I had no idea would be this good. In a somewhat Tron: Legacy fashion, an orchestra was not used for The Social Network's score, instead Nine Inch Nails frontman, Trent Reznor, did the score and it just blew me away because I wasn't expect it at all. The moody electronic pieces seemed out of place at first, but through the length and tone of the film it just works so damn well. Seriously, listen to this track, and tell me that Daft Punk shouldn't be worried for best film score of 2010.

To say I went to see this film reluctantly would be a lie, I had a mild interest to see it, but it wasn't on my "must see" list; so, I'm kind of surprised at how much I liked the film (awesome score aside). I've known David Fincher to make some decent films, particularly Seven and Fight Club (and don't hate, but I liked Alien 3 more than James Cameron's Aliens); but I've also known him to make some crap: Panic Room and Benjamin Button, I'm looking at you. So going into this I had no idea what to expect, but the combination of Fincher's directing, Sorkin's script, great performances by the cast, and Trent Reznor's awesome score really made this one of my more favorite films of the year, and if you haven't seen it, go do it, I don't care how loyal you are to Friendster.

Overall Score: 9/10

I'm Here review

This one's a bit of a surprise, as it's not a theatrically released film, nor is it a disc release film. It's exclusive to the web, and to 5,000 viewers each day, but it's beautiful. But, what is it?

I'm Here is a thirty-minute short film from director Spike Jonze (Where The Wild Things Are, Being John Malkovich), released and presented by Absolut Vodka, but despite that, the product never appears in the film, nor is it mentioned, so really you can take the film for what it is and not look at it as a commercial.

You can watch the film right now (hopefully) at http://www.imheremovie.com/ I say hopefully, because the way the film works is that it will only be screened for 5,000 people per day, and only at certain times. For instance when I tried earlier today there was a two hour wait, so I didn't bother. But when I tried later, it was just a 30 minute wait, so I just kept reloading the page until the time was up. And thankfully, once you get in, you'll never be kicked out until you close the page or reload, so you're able to have multiple viewings.



The film is a love story about two robots, Sheldon and Francesca, who live in Los Angeles. The robotic beings aren't very well accepted in society, so when the two first lock eyes, it's love at first sight. As I said earlier, the film is only thirty minutes, so it'd be unfair for me to give it all away. But I found it to be like a hipster version of WALL-E, but filmed in the same style and tone as Where The Wild Things Are. And considering I loved WALL-E, and found the filming style of Wild Things to be the only part I really liked, I'm Here really turns out to be quite the nice piece of modern cinema, both visually and emotionally.

What I really loved about the film, is that despite the fact that it stars robots, which are actually just the actors in costume with computer generated facial expressions (much like Wild Things' fur suits), it never once came across as unbelievable, because visually it was just accepted as real. It's so rare these days to see something science fiction like this, without tons of back-story and explanation given as to how they exist. Perhaps it was due to the 30-minute time frame, but regardless it wouldn't have been necessary.

I'm Here is a beautiful short film, and I just hope it gets a disc/digital release eventually, because I'd love to see to see it get more exposure than just here on my laptop in a web-browser. Do yourself a favor, and watch this movie.

Overall Score: 9.5/10

As a just because. Because I thank Absolut for giving this film a home for almost everyone to enjoy, free of charge. Because I'm glad Spike Jonze made a film that wasn't a big budget pseudo-adaptation of a beloved children's book, after having already done so. And because he made a science fiction film that deals with very human emotions, despite it being about robots. Loved it, because sometimes you just have to reward people for doing something different and getting it right.