We are behind on our summer blockbuster viewing, and so only just caught The Amazing Spiderman at our local cheap/second-run theater. The verdict: I liked it! It had all the elements I like to see in a comic-book movie: fun, entertaining, good action scenes, good special effects, and generally holding to the feel of the comic characters (at least as far as I am familiar with them). There was all the youthful sarcasm and quips of Spiderman, plus a decent amount of romance. At first I had not been looking forward to seeing the movie, partly I think because the other trilogy is barely cold and already they are remaking Spiderman! Really! But this was a good version, with a different take on the characters than the other trilogy.
My primary annoyance with the movie is not the movie itself, but rather how it interacts with the trailer. The movie could be "The Amazing Spiderman: Don't Trust the Trailer." I'm aware that scenes from the theater version doesn't always make it to DVD, but I am always annoyed when there are scenes and lines in the trailers that don't make it to the theater! I can forgive the voice-over in the trailer that doesn't show up in the movie, but that's it. There are clearly lines that I don't recall ever seeing, and even a scene that is significantly different: the shadowy man who appears at the end questioning what Peter Parker knows about his dad is shown in more detail in the trailer than in the movie. In the trailer, we can actually see his face. In the movie, we barely see him at all, as he is hidden in shadows. The football field scene in the trailer also doesn't appear: we never see the coach talk to Peter at all.
The trailer also makes the movie very focused on Peter's parents, and the mystery surrounding it. The trailer would have us believe that everything Peter is doing, his entire conflict with the villain, involves getting information about his parents. This is not really true, however. Peter does meet the villain due to searching the past, and the past is a factor, but he seems more motivated by revenge for his uncle's death, and later by his need to protect innocent people, than by learning about his parents.
The movie was great, but it wasn't the film that the trailer advertised. This is something that happens from time to time, and it always irritates me. To me, a trailer should motivate me to watch the movie, but not by cheating and selling me a movie that doesn't exist.
Friday, August 31, 2012
For Charcoal
The other day my parents had to put our last cat, Charcoal (she was black, and liked to hide up the chimney when we practiced our instruments), to sleep. Her brother, Custard (he was orange and white) died a couple years ago of natural causes in the house, but she was lingering, and starting to suffer. She was the last cat that we owned from my childhood. I didn't fly home for the funeral (in fact there was no funeral), so instead I have written her this prayer/eulogy.
Almighty God, Creator of Heaven, and Earth,
Creator of all that is, including cats,
Thank you for Charcoal and her life.
Thank you for the joy she gave us, for the memories, for all the stories we have to share of her hairbrained escapades and her bizarre ditzy behavior, of her meowing constantly whenever we pet her, of her opening doors for her brother, and of her getting so involved in being pet that she fell over.
Thank you for being such a loving and creative God, and having so much creativity and power, that you bothered to make creatures that seem to exist largely just to keep us company and give us joy. Charcoal certainly did that, even if we did get frustrated with her fetish for dipping her paws in water glasses that were left on the table, and then knocking them over.
Thank you for her life, which was good and long and full of love. Forgive us (at least my brother and I) for tormenting her when we were young, but I hope she knew that we loved her. After all, I might have toyed with her by handing her empty cans of beans when she thought I was opening Tuna, but most of the time it was tuna, and seriously, what other cats ever got to lick tuna cans? Who drains tuna cans into bowls just so their cats can drink the juice? I mean, if she didn't know we loved her, I'm not sure what else we could do.
So thank you, God, for Charcoal, and for the memories, and all the joy and fun and love that she helped us share. May she rest in peace.
Amen.
Almighty God, Creator of Heaven, and Earth,
Creator of all that is, including cats,
Thank you for Charcoal and her life.
Thank you for the joy she gave us, for the memories, for all the stories we have to share of her hairbrained escapades and her bizarre ditzy behavior, of her meowing constantly whenever we pet her, of her opening doors for her brother, and of her getting so involved in being pet that she fell over.
Thank you for being such a loving and creative God, and having so much creativity and power, that you bothered to make creatures that seem to exist largely just to keep us company and give us joy. Charcoal certainly did that, even if we did get frustrated with her fetish for dipping her paws in water glasses that were left on the table, and then knocking them over.
Thank you for her life, which was good and long and full of love. Forgive us (at least my brother and I) for tormenting her when we were young, but I hope she knew that we loved her. After all, I might have toyed with her by handing her empty cans of beans when she thought I was opening Tuna, but most of the time it was tuna, and seriously, what other cats ever got to lick tuna cans? Who drains tuna cans into bowls just so their cats can drink the juice? I mean, if she didn't know we loved her, I'm not sure what else we could do.
So thank you, God, for Charcoal, and for the memories, and all the joy and fun and love that she helped us share. May she rest in peace.
Amen.
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