Adam’s January Clusterfilm Project (AJCFP) - Cluster #1: A Super, Saucy Beginning

Adam: Hello, everyone! Believe it or not, I ran into an issue in the very first cluster. One of the films I was going to watch (The Apartment, the Best Picture winner from 1960) didn’t work in my DVD player or my laptop. I borrowed it from a friend, so technically it’s not mine anyway, but I needed to watch it before sending it back and now I can’t. This setback should put me at 30 films instead of 31, but luckily I realized I hadn’t watched my copy of the “bootleg director’s cut” of Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness, so I’m back at 31! Hooray!

Now, let’s get reviewing. I wanted to start things off light (though my Spider-Man 3 review is anything but brief), so here’s the first cluster of films and reviews. Feel free to skip any you aren’t interested in reading. The way this project is set up is so you can take little review-shots, or just down the whole thing. Here we go!

The theme of this cluster: superheroes and saucy comedies.

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Adam’s January Clusterfilm Project (AJCFP) - Cluster #1: A Super, Saucy Beginning

Army of Darkness: The Official Bootleg Director’s Cut

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Spider-Man

Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 3

Easy A

Army of Darkness: The Official Bootleg Director’s Cut (dir. Sam Raimi, 1992)

My first review is the “official bootleg edition” one of my favorite films, and the third in the classic Evil Dead trilogy. This is the film where Bruce Campbell, as Ash, is sent back in time to a medieval land, and must venture to find the Book of the Dead in order to return home to modern times and rid history of the Deadites and all of their evil. In this particular version, which is 16 minutes longer than the theatrical cut, we get…pretty much just more of what we already know and love. The action scenes are a bit longer, but other than that, there really isn’t a whole lot of new material that I noticed. Well…except for the alternate ending. But said ending is actually not as good as the theatrical one, despite being the original ending, because we don’t get the legendary “hail to the king, baby” line that has become a staple with fans of the series (and fans of Showbread, my favorite band). So when it comes down to it, I’ll probably still watch the theatrical version (which I also own) as opposed to this one.

But listen up, you primitive screwheads! All that aside, this is still the hilarious, creepy, campy film we know and love. I laughed aloud again and again, even though I’ve seen this movie more times than I can count. The quotable lines still got me (“This…is my boomstick!”/”Yo. She-bitch. Let’s go.”/”You found me beautiful once!” “Honey…you got reeeaaaal ugly.”) and the stop-motion and prosthetic effects still hold up against CGI, despite the campy 80’s-90’s feel. Overall, this is still one of my favorites and the original Evil Dead trilogy still ends with the silliest, and somehow still most epic, of the three films. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’m always down for an Evil Dead marathon. Hail to the King, baby.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (dir. Kevin Smith, 2008)

If you’ve never heard of this movie and are taken aback to see such a title, then yes, you read it correctly. This comedic gem, and one of Kevin Smith’s most overlooked films, is actually one of the sweetest and most realistic romantic stories I’ve ever seen. It follows penniless lifelong friends and roommates, Zack Brown (Seth Rogen) and Miri Linky (Elizabeth Banks), as they realize they have no other options to raise money for their bills than to make a pornographic video and sell it. So they find a producer, camera operator, and of course, actors, and begin their quest to, as the title supplies, make a porno. (At this point, I feel the need to mention how silly and easily offended American audiences can be, and that the people who can’t see past the title and “vulgar” premise resulted in the title being shortened for the DVD release to simply Zack and Miri. Just…just stupid. The title is Zack and Miri Make a Porno, because that’s what the movie is called. Zack and Miri dumbs it down to a diluted safety, and that’s silly.)

Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “…you said this was realistic” and you’re right. ‘Common people making pornography because they feel they have no other means of income’ isn’t that common of a situation. But the realistic nature to which I referred earlier is actually about the relationship between Zack and Miri. They grew up as best friends who harbored feelings for one another and could never actually bring them out. And watching this lifelong secret force its way out is adorable.

Okay, enough about the story (normally I’d never say that, but I’m on a space crunch with these reviews). I need to address how absolutely fantastic Smith’s use of music is in this film. The scene where the on-camera porn-sex between Zack and Miri is supposed to happen has one of the best uses of music in a comedy I have ever seen, and the dialogue of the climax (ha) of the film is heartstring-yanking, and another reason why Kevin Smith is a dynamite writer.

Overall, I highly recommend this film if you enjoy the output of Kevin Smith, Judd Apatow, or any of “those kinds” of comedies. If you can get past the high amount of vulgar language, sex jokes, and nudity, you will find that Zack and Miri Make a Porno, like all of Kevin Smith’s films, has a sensitive center under its signature profanity, and a big, beautiful heart. But if you cringe every time you hear the dreaded “f-word,” then skip this movie. The message won’t mean anything to you if language is your main concern. But I think that’s why Kevin Smith has such a unique style: he makes films for the people who enjoy crude humor but want something more with the message. And that is exactly what Zack and Miri Make a Porno is.

Spider-Man (dir. Sam Raimi, 2002)

I’ve been looking forward to rewatching this trilogy for years, and when I finally started it, I noticed an entirely new film within the familiar lines and shots and sounds. It’s probably been close to five years since I’ve seen any of the Spider-Man films from the early 2000’s, and in those five years I’ve learned a lot about reading film, the way the movie business treats blockbusters, and I’ve become a Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell fanboy. All three of those things radically changed the way I saw this film, and I must say I love it even more than I did in 2002.

Now, I know a lot of the die-hard Spider-Man comic book readers are upset with Raimi’s adaptation, and I respect that. But as a standalone superhero film (before superhero film was a genre that saturated the market) it’s totally great. The writing is strong and brings a lot more subtle things from dialogue full-circle by the end of the film than I remember (the “don’t tell Harry” line actually got me to raise my eyebrows). The direction is an almost night-and-day “blend” of Raimi’s campy, creepy, cartoony style and Sony’s early-2000’s blockbuster (including two wretched songs during the end credits…), yet this somehow doesn’t seem inconsistent with the tone, and I love that. Both styles are present and balanced. Danny Elfman’s score is quirky, yet heroically epic. The effects are sort of dated, but it doesn’t hinder the enjoyment of the overall package. Maybe I’m just nostalgic for a time when there weren’t expanded cinematic universes for every comic book character ever, but this took me back to a simpler time, when I could watch a superhero movie and just be stoked that I was watching Spider-Man fight baddies.

One thing that I simply must address is the fact that this film has the unique history of being filmed before and released after the 9/11 tragedy, especially being set entirely in New York City. There were a few scenes (specifically the parade bombing) that shocked me with the fact that I don’t remember an uproar happening around the release of the film, besides some trailer and poster recalls. I do, however, remember people lining up to see this movie multiple times. Perhaps America was drawn to a NYC-centric superhero, and perhaps this explains the abundance of American flags and other such imagery in the other two films. Either way, the effect September 11^th, 2001 had on film absolutely fascinates me, and Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man film is such a vital part of that study.

Anyway, to wrap this review, I just want to say: Spider-Man is awesome. Watch it again, quote along, and remember a time when superhero movies were special instead of dime-a-dozen. Plus, with cameos by Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell, you really can’t go wrong. I am so excited to watch Spider-Man 2 now…

Spider-Man 2 (dir. Sam Raimi, 2004)

Widely considered the best of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, Spider-Man 2 tones down the silliness and amps up the character development and thrills in this action-packed sequel. Where the first film is a little awkward (since the actors are supposed to be in high school, but totally look 25), this one starts two years after the first concluded, so everyone looks a little more natural. Peter Parker bounces between jobs when he’s not web slinging through the city, Mary Jane is a successful actress (a dream she revealed in the first film), and Harry Osborn has taken over his father’s empire…and eventually, his villainous persona. The growth of the characters, even Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson, all feels very natural and real. But the main reason why this film is considered so superior is our new villain, Doctor Octopus. He begins as a well-intentioned scientist, out to change the world with renewable energy, but when his dream and the love of his life are taken from him in the same moment (and with the help of some sinister mechanical arms), madness overcomes him. In this way, he becomes the best-motivated and most sympathetic villain in the entire series, especially compared to the Green Goblin in the first film.

In terms of overall filmmaking, this is superior to the first, since it aged much more naturally. (I also realized while watching it that it came out the same year as my favorite film of all time, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which Kirsten Dunst also acts.) It’s the easiest to watch of the three (you can tune in at any time for any amount of time and be entertained), the action scenes are bigger but not laughable (the scene with Doc Ock on the train is still just as thrilling as it was ten years ago), and the blockbuster feel is much more confident. However, the overt Sam Raimi-isms are less noticeable, which as a fan of Raimi was slightly disappointing. It makes up for it during the operation scene, which has all the classic attributes of a Sam Raimi films: continuous punch-ins, cheesy screams, weird shots and angles, and terror. The best part is when the surgeon reaches for the chainsaw…if that’s not a direct reference to Evil Dead 2 then I don’t know what is.

So, as a blockbuster, Spider-Man 2 is much better than its predecessor. But as a Sam Raimi film, it’s less quirky, campy, and comical. That said, Bruce Campbell’s cameo in this one is much better than the first, and when it comes up in conversation, I still side with the people who claim this film is better than the first effort. Personally, I don’t know which of the first two I would choose as superior, but I do know that I’m about to watch Spider-Man 3, and my expectations have never been lower. My Spidey-sense is tingling.

Spider-Man 3 (dir. Sam Raimi, 2007)

I’ll open this review with a statement that will either make you question my entire opinion on film and make you stop reading anything I write about movies ever again, or it will make you want to read the rest of this review (which is what I hope). Here it is: Spider-Man 3 is one of the most misunderstood, and one of the best, superhero movies I have ever seen. I’m not kidding.

In case you don’t know why this statement is a big deal, let me catch you up: Spider-Man 3 is regarded by the general public, most film critics, and the majority of Spider-Man fans, to be one of the worst superhero films of all time. People often rank it up there with X-Men Origins: Wolverine in terms of how bad it is, supposedly. Well I’m here to tell you that these people are, well, not wrong but simply are watching this film with a perspective that will actually make you hate it (except for maybe the Spider-Man comic book readers…those guys ‘n gals are always gonna hate it).

The reason Spider-Man 3 is so misunderstood is the same as it is with most other misunderstood films (Sucker Punch, Spring Breakers, and Cabin in the Woods to name a few), and that reason is simply the perspective of the moviegoer, as well as the public’s own viewpoint. If you watch Spider-Man 3 with knowledge of the source material, or high expectations for a sweet long Venom fight, then you are going to be sorely disappointed. And that is precisely what happened when this movie hit theaters. I know this because I was one of them. I’ve spent the past seven years (yes, it’s been that long since it came out) trashing this movie because of what I remembered about it: a lame Venom story, too many villains, a total miscasting of Eddie Brock, liberal deviation from source material, and everyone’s favorite, Emo Peter Parker. But the problem was I looked at the film not as what it was, but what I wanted it to be, and I didn’t bother scratching beneath the surface. If I had, I would have realized that this is not your usual Spider-Man blockbuster. So strap in, suit up, and throw everything you know about Spider-Man out the window, except for what you know about Sam Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films. You need that stuff.

The rest of this review is pretty much entirely spoilers, so skip ahead if you haven’t seen this movie yet.

The movie opens with Peter Parker telling us how great his life is as Spider-Man; the people love Spider-Man, he’s got a steamy shawty (that means girlfriend, if you aren’t hip like me), and life is good in the world of Peter Parker. At first glance, this seems cheesy and overall just awful. It’s presented so poorly, or so I thought, and a set up for a surely wretched viewing experience. I was so wrong. What’s actually happening here is setting up the entire basis for the beginning of Peter Parker’s character development in this film, which is an obsession with celebrity ego. Peter has become a celebrity through Spider-Man, and he is soaking it up. Who wouldn’t? Especially someone who’s been a socially avoided “nerd” his whole life? This parasitic attitude rears its ugly head as Venom, a symbiotic material that crashes to Earth, right next to Peter and Mary Jane sharing a tender moment at the beginning of the film. What a freaking metaphor, guys.

This celebrity ego builds until Spider-Man is awarded the key to the city, presented by Gwen Stacy (his lab partner, and a much bigger role in the comics than in this film, which is why you needed to throw that stuff away for this one since she’s not that important here). Mary Jane, Peter’s girlfriend (and potential fiancé, as we find out his plans to propose early in the film), is at this event, and Peter knows this. However, when Spider-Man is awarded the key to the city, the crowd cheers for Gwen to kiss Spider-Man, and Peter succumbs to what the crowd wants despite what Mary Jane will feel. This places much tension on their relationship, for obvious reasons. Then we have Harry Osborn, who has had his memory temporarily erased from a Green Goblin fight with Spidey at the beginning, which warms him up again and makes him far friendlier to Peter and Mary Jane (proof that lust for revenge can blind you to your friendships). When Peter starts to shut Mary Jane out, Harry moves in as a friend to support her, and a connection is remade from when they were together in the first film. Add to all of this a photography rivalry between Peter and Eddie Brock, Gwen’s boyfriend, as well as a big reveal of Uncle Ben’s actual killer, a man named Flint who becomes The Sandman after being caught in some radioactive sandbox after a prison break at the beginning. This is when Peter’s ego starts to get too big, and also when the Venom parasite takes over Spider-Man.

See, in this film, Venom represents human nature’s lust for revenge and selfishness. When things go wrong in our lives, oftentimes the first response is revenge, and this film is a beautiful example that this response is simply wrong. Peter succumbs to Venom and a string of horrible and strange events follow. The first being Spider-Man’s attempt to murder Flint, Uncle Ben’s killer, out of revenge. When Spider-Man thinks he has succeeded, he tells Aunt May, and she’s not quite as happy as he expected, because she’s a moral rock who knows revenge and wishing death on another person is morally wrong. Peter begins pushing Mary Jane away, and when Harry regains his memory, as well as his own lust for revenge, he kidnaps Mary Jane and forces her to break up with Peter. This is the catalyst for the infamous Emo Peter bits. Peter completely lets Venom take over him, and terrible things happen. He reveals Eddie Brock’s photography as fake, steals Gwen Stacy’s affection only to use it against Mary Jane, beats the tar out of Harry, and has an utterly terrible hairstyle. In the story, these parts are heartbreaking. In the movie, these parts are hysterical. They are so much fun to watch. Ridiculous, sure, but fun to watch, just like the other two Spidey flicks. It ends with Peter actually hitting Mary Jane, which resulted in me involuntarily saying some things at the screen. Oops.

Just when everything seems at its lowest point, and Mary Jane is lying on the floor, she asks, “Who are you?” and Peter says, “I don’t know.” In this moment, he realizes he has been wrong all along, and flees to a church to fight the Venom. The bells ring and he rids himself of it. However, Eddie Brock is in the very same church, praying for the death of Peter Parker and succumbing completely to his own revenge. How appropriate that in this moment the Venom falls to him now, and he becomes the Venom that everyone wanted to be awesome but felt disappointed. However, when watching it with this perspective, it makes perfect sense. Heck, even the casting doesn’t bother me anymore. Topher Grace did a great job.

This is where we build to the climax. The Sandman wants revenge on Spider-Man for foiling is plans to help his sick daughter (which made him sympathetic, kind of obviously) and Eddie as Venom wants revenge on Peter for ruining his life. Peter apologizes to Harry and asks for his help to face off against the two other villains. All of this leads to a huge fight in the middle of New York City, and a rebirth of Spider-Man as a hero, and as an icon, and the rebirth of the villain of the film actually being revenge, ego, and pride. The icon rebirth is hilariously represented by Spider-Man jumping in front of an American flag all patriotically, which is important since these films could be read as making statements about Americans’ attitude towards 9/11 and the wars that followed, and how we as the public often need an icon to rally behind. Hence: Spider-Man, an imperfect but well-intentioned hero.

The fight rages on in big ol’ Hollywood blockbuster fashion, for a really long time and with splashes of comedy from J. Jonah Jameson. Towards the conclusion of the fight, Peter realizes that Venom doesn’t like noise and pries the Venom from Eddie (after telling him about how revenge is wrong, appropriately), but right before Peter throws one of Harry’s Goblin bombs to destroy Venom, Eddie jumps back into the Venom and dies as well, meaning of course that the pursuit of revenge and pride will result in one’s downfall and demise. Oh, and Harry is stabbed by his own glider (like his father in the first film) which is another revenge metaphor. Mary Jane tends to Harry while Spider-Man faces the Sandman, or more importantly Peter faces the man who killed Uncle Ben. Peter forgives Flint, and he disintegrates into sand, the both of them finally free. Harry dies in Peter and Mary Jane’s arms after forgiving Peter and vice versa.

In the end, the messages in the film are as follows: revenge is wrong, forgive your enemies, and put others before yourself. These three messages are the most blatantly anti-American, transparently Christ-inspired, and politically/religiously ballsy things I’ve ever seen in an American superhero film. With the dissipation of the Sandman, we are getting Peter forgiving the man who essentially drove him to become a hero, which makes Spider-Man even more of a hero, but also if we read Spider-Man as America and The Sandman as the people who attacked New York, it becomes an even more poignant moment, as the dehumanized villain (war) falls away into sand with an act of forgiveness to the seemingly unforgiveable, and the only way for us to move on as a country is to forgive and stop the violence. But hey, maybe that’s just my own personal beliefs getting in there. Anyway, as the film ends, everyone forgives everyone who wronged him or her, except Eddie who died because of his pride and need for revenge, and Harry, who shows the ultimate sacrifice of love by laying down his life for his friends. It’s beautiful. The film ends with Peter reconciling things with Mary Jane, not with an overblown Hollywood proposal, but a simple dance between lovers who overcame their differences. Credits.

End spoilers.

Do you see what I’m saying here? This is hardly a Spider-Man film in the comic-book-based sense, but it is a movie about heroism unlike any other. For these reasons, I’m begging you to give this movie another shot if you don’t like it. Seriously. It might be my favorite in Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, and is definitely redeemed from the unfair perspective and opinion I’d given it before. This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite superhero movies of all time.

My apologies for the length of this post, but this right here is why I write about movies. Film can truly change one’s life and perspective about the problems and feelings they have toward other people, and that’s what matters in the end.

Easy A (dir. Will Gluck, 2010)

This nice little teen comedy showed up at the best possible time for it to do so. Emma Stone’s career was really taking off thanks to Superbad (which Gluck also directed) and Zombieland specifically, and some less-successful ventures like The Rocker and The House Bunny. People were talking about her, yet everything she was in that was worth watching was rated R. With the release of Easy A, moviegoers could enjoy the witty, adorable, and endearingly awkward brand of humor that Emma Stone is known for, yet didn’t have as much of the raunchiness or gore that the first two I listed have. This movie exploded. The humor is along the vein of Mean Girls and Pitch Perfect, both of which are films that spawned a massive cult fanbase, and Easy A fits alongside both of them nicely.

If you haven’t seen it, it follows a high school girl named Olive who feigns losing her virginity to satisfy her friend’s pestering, but then it spirals out of control into “Olive’s a slut” all over school, especially after she fakes having sex with a bullied gay boy to cease his torment (which is actually a really good statement about how society tells us that having meaningless sex with a girl makes you “more of a man” than being a gay man, as well as how high on a pedestal we put a woman’s purity until she seemingly “loses” it, and then she becomes of less value. Stupid society). It’s a really funny, and actually quite a smart little comedy. Emma Stone is all kinds of charisma here, which doesn’t seem out of place when we see her parents, wonderfully played by Stanley Tucci (the man is a king, I tell you) and Patricia Clarkson. Amanda Bynes plays a hyper-religious girl who carries a really great and unexpected statement about religion that this movie makes almost effortlessly. Ultimately, it has a very sweet cliché ending, despite tackling some very serious issues (homosexuality, divorce, religion, STD’s, unfaithfulness, sexism), and this film isn’t going to change the way future filmmakers make comedies or anything, but it’s an entertaining, adorable, funny, quotable ride that is absolutely worth seeing. Especially if you’re an Emma Stone fan like I am. And I really am. Oh look, she’s in a corset. Bye.

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Thanks for reading, everyone! Tune in next week for the second of my five-part film project, Adam’s January Clusterfilm Project!