Spider-man 3 is Around the Corner

Spider-man 3 opens on Friday, May 4th, and its arguably the most expensive film ever made, with an estimated cost anywhere from $350 - 500 million.

As of this point, fandango.com and movietickets.com are reporting tickets are already selling triple what Spider-man 2 did, a whole week before the movie hits theaters.

With the third installment being released shortly, the cast and crew have spoken out on possibilities of a fourth film, rejecting some comments made earlier as to whether they would indeed continue with the series.

Sam Raimi, the director, on the subject of casting said, "I would have to make that choice based on what the story is and what the characters are. It would be very hard to be involved without Tobey and Kirsten for me at least."

Regardless of who is involved in the franchises future, it will undoubtably have a future. Marvel Produver, Avi Arid said, “You have to look at it as Spider-Man is over 40 years old, in so many media from animation to comic books to graphic novels, maybe Broadway, video games, probably the most successful video games of all time. So the character is bigger than all of us. I think we’d rather continue of course with Sam and the whole team. We’ve been together for a long time. The fact is that the character will endure. Spider-Man survived, believe me, bankruptcies, bad economies, you name it. And it’s around and alive and bigger than ever."

Ironically, it is rumored that bootleg copies of Spider-man 3 are already available on the streets of Beijing.

Puts the Bud in "Buddy-Cop Movie"

'Hot Fuzz'

Running Time: 2 hours 1 minute
Rating: R
Directed by: Edgar Wright

For Grindhouse, Wright guest-directed an incredibly ridiculous and funny trailer for a fake movie Don't. But that was just a teaser for Hot Fuzz.

Hot Fuzz can be described as an action-packed comedy but it really can't be put into any set category. It is its own thing, a completely original movie (just don't get offended because it makes fun of all American cop movies).

The movie centers around Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), an over-achieving policer "officer" who is transferred from London to a rural town for showing up everyone in the police department with over 400% more arrests than the next leading officer. He's so good that he makes everyone else look bad, inlcuding the Chief Inspector (Bill Nighy).

At his first night in the "perfect" town of Sandford, he cleans out the local pub of youths and ironically arrests his soon-to-be partner Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). The town is crime-free, but Angel refuses to believe it. He later says to Danny, "There is always something going on."

The story starts when people in the town start dying, and Angel is the only one who believes they are connected. He is persistent to find the killer with the help of his action-hungry partner and cop movie buff, Butterman.

The fast paced nature of the film (similar to the editing of Shaun of the Dead), makes the mood seem very light and funny, like it were overdramatizing events. It never stoops to the typical dirty jokes are now just a result of laziness and going for the cheap laughs. The jokes are fresh and clever. Would you expect anything less? It's a British comedy.

The dialogue is witty and sharp. And there are priests and grandmothers with shotguns and automatics. For the sake of not ruining any jokes, you'll have to take my word that this is one funny movie.

If you've seen Wright's Shaun of the Dead, then you pretty much have an idea of what you are in for, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's without a doubt a terribly fun movie, one that should not be missed.

A Shot of 70s Pulp to the Veins

'Grindhouse'

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino
Running Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
Rating: R

Jars of testicles. Severed limbs. Faux trailers with Nicholas Cage and Machete, one angry Mexican. A machine gun leg. Ship's mast on a white 1970 Dodge Challenger. Grotesque jelly blood. Helicopter decapitations. And of course, Tarantino's dialogue.

All things that you can find in the "fully loaded" double-feature film Grindhouse, things you don't want to want to see. As a homage to exploitation films from the 70s, featuring extreme gore, nudity, and just about anything that can be included in the category "sensational," this film takes past culture and and slams it full speed into the present.

The film captures the essence of being at a "grindhouse." Before each film starts, the screen turns red and the outline of a panther appears, accompanied by its growl, reading: "Age Restricted." In between the films are three fake trailers and images of food as if concessions were being served in the intermission.

But what really creates the atmosphere is the grainy footage and how it gives the effect that it is exposed to plenty of dust and is being projected onto a deteriorating screen. Lines go through the screen while you can hear the sound of reels changing, and even occasionally, a reel will go missing. One second will be a sex scene and the next a BBQ joint will be on fire as an onslaught of zombies approach.

This happens in the first film, Planet Terror, Robert Rodriguez's outlandish zombie film. The plot has something to do with Osama Bin Ladin and biochemicals, but no one really cares. What matters is that there are zombies and zombies eating brains.

It follows El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez), Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan), and Dakota Block (Marley Shelton) as they fight to stay alive. It's untamed and uncontrollable. I think saying it has a "chick with a gun for a leg" says it all.

Ironically, the "chick with a gun for a leg" (Cherry Darling) helps pace the film. After zombies chewed her leg off, Cherry is left with one leg. Being a pessimist and a person with over sixty useless talents, all of which are numbered, she goes through interesting character development that leads up to the climax in which El Wray thrusts the gun into her, no pun intended.

Planet Terror is as much a comedy as anything else, with some of the most sadistic humor. In one scene, Dakota tries to escape a zombie-infested hospital and attempts to open her car, but her hands are numb. So she slides one hand behind the handle and tries to push the button by kicking it with her heel, only to slip and snap her hand. Another time, Dakota gives her son, no more than ten years old, a gun as she leaves him alone. He shoots himself in the face almost immediately.

The second film, Death Proof, is Quentin Tarantino's car derby/serial killer bonanza. It is considerably slower and less gory than the previous film. To fully enjoy it, you need to be able to appreciate the art of dialogue and the building of tension.

Death Proof is a homage to slasher films. Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) stalks groups of girls and carefully plans the kills. Although how he kills them is always the same: with his car.

There is a lot of down time and leading up to the kills. Some may think all the dialogue is boring, but it really makes the payoff that much better. Tarantino actually makes the dialogue more interesting than anything else. There is one scene in which Stuntman Mike tells a girl in his car that she shouldn't have said she was going right because she is going to start getting scared that he is turning left.

For Stuntman Mike, Kurt Russell is perfect. He gives one of his best performances as an obsessive, twisted, charming, and mysterious serial killer. He knows when the be serious and when to be ridiculous. Ever want to see Kurt Russell cry? Well you can now.

I personally feel as though Tarantino's film is superior to Rodriguez's, due to its storytelling. Tarantino also approaches his film as someone who has seen and is versed in the films he is paying tribute to. However, to the credit of both directors, they both set out to recreate a fresh look at "grindhouse" films from the 70s, but created something else entirely.

Overall, the sum of the film is greater than its parts and has become one of the most entertaining films I have ever seen. It's one wild and fast ride. Movies like this certainly aren't made anymore. But then again, I don't think they ever were.