How’s your weekend everyone? Well it’s been quite a whirlwind week for me, but a fun one nonetheless. I didn’t get an extra day off for Fourth of July, but still a four-day work week is better than five 🙂
I did manage to see a fun play on Friday night, a French farce called Don’t Dress For Dinner. It’s actually the opening night of the theatre company run by my lead actor Peter Hansen, in which he also starred in with five other actors.
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I also got to see one of its rehearsals last week which was really fun to see. I had never been to a play rehearsal before and the fact that it’s a comedy is even more delightful to watch. Oh as if I hadn’t been busy enough w/ my film AND Kickstarter campaign, I also helped redesign his theatre website. (yep I need a vacation real bad!)
Saturday was a hot day, so after a scorching afternoon going to Art Crank in NE Minneapolis, we cooled off watching the new Spidey flick.
I have to admit I wasn’t all that enthused to see this so if it wasn’t for my hubby’s insistence, I probably would’ve waited for its VOD release. Fortunately it ends up being a pretty decent flick which is NOT an origin story, thank goodness!
It’s fun to see Peter Parker being a proper teenager and Tom Holland is perfectly believable in the role. Some of the banters between him and his BFF Ned (Jacob Batalon) seems too cutesy with all the ‘awesome’ which at times doesn’t ring true. But as the film progressed it didn’t bother me and they do have some fun memorable moments. Our young’un hero is far more eager to be a hero than in past interpretations but I’m glad actually gets to do something heroic and does it on his own account.
I hadn’t paid much attention to this film so I was pleasantly surprised to see Michael Keaton as the villain. He’s definitely one of the best villains in the plethora of Spidey movies I’ve seen over the years. My fave is still Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) from Sam Raimi’s Spider-man 2 and Keaton’s Adrian Toomes is right up there with him. I like villains who are more of a tragic character, not an all-out monster hellbent on destroying the world. I enjoyed watching Keaton as a cross between Batman and Birdman when he’s wearing the birdlike costume, but his character actually has some depth. There’s also a pretty bizarre father-daughter storyline here that I did not see coming.
The movie starts out pretty light, Peter’s fanboy-ing over Tony Stark also gets overdone, but the movie actually grows darker with a genuine sense of dread. I am however quite puzzled by the hype over Zendaya in this movie. Not because her acting wasn’t good but her character barely registers here to even make any impact. Yes I appreciate that she’s not just another love interest but I wish the slew of writers actually gave her something to do. The movie does hint that she perhaps will have a larger role in the inevitable sequels.
Despite me feeling blasé about this reboot, this movie ends up being pretty enjoyable. There are a couple of thrilling action sequences though the finale is still way too loud & bombastic. Casting-wise, Holland fits the role nicely and he seems to have fun doing it. There are fun moments of Peter poking fun at members of the Avengers which is in keeping with him being a 15-year-old kid. It was pretty fun seeing Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and his chauffeur/personal assistant ‘Happy’ (Jon Favreau) as part of the story too. I’m not exactly clamoring to see more of Spidey movies though, but I suppose if they gotta make ’em at least they don’t suck.
The weekend is topped off w/ my first time doing a podcast! It was fun being a guest for an episode of The Film Pasture, hosted by my friend Vern from Vern’s Video Vortex with film blogger Kristen Lopez. Vern was kind enough to invite me to discuss our picks of Top 5 Female Filmmakers and let me promote my short film Hearts Want which I can proudly say has a strong woman of color in the lead and done by a mostly-female crew.
I will post the podcast here once it’s up. As you know I’m a big supporter of women filmmakers and having just written/produced my first film, naturally I have even more respect for those who’ve made it in the male-dominated film industry.
Well, did you see anything good this weekend? If you’ve seen the newest Spider-man movie, what did you think?
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FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
I wanted to see the new Spider-Man and Baby Driver but I didn’t have access to a car but that’s OK as I got to see a couple of films from the Dirty Harry series, Tour de Pharmacy which is a fucking riot, and the first part of The Defiant Ones about Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.
Hope you get your car back Steven! Boy I haven’t seen Dirty Harry in ages. I did see an oldie-but-goodie ‘Sense & Sensibility’ which is always a good medicine whenever I’m feeling a bit melancholy.
Now that is a good movie to always watch. We all need a little Jane Austen.
Yes indeed we do! I’m so glad to hear you say that 😀
OMG I’m always on a look out for a good podcast so please do share, I’m sure I’d love it. And surely it would help with the Kickstarter campaign.
As for me, I’ve been mostly busy with non-stop guests at my home and catching up with my blog. Though have been watching The Office too (I’m loving it so much). I might be watching Spider Man or Baby Driver on wednesday (haven’t picked yet). So yeah, that’s it with me 😀
Hey Shivani! I will share the podcast once it’s available. I have never done it before so I might be blabbering about a lot, ahah. I hope it would make a dent on my crowdfunding campaign… we sure do need it.
Which version of The Office are you watching? The original or the US version? I think you should check out Baby Driver first, it’s nice to see an original (non sequel/reboot) movie once in a while.
I’m watching the US version and am currently on season 4. Absolutely loving it!
Will definitely make a point to watch Baby Driver! 😀
May I ask, how are you going to promote the film when it will be ready? Just curious as I’ve never been directly in contact with somebody who is making a film 🙂
ps. Oh as if I hadn’t been busy enough w/ my film AND Kickstarter campaign – the link here leading to Kickstarter is broken!
Hello there, thanks for your comment and interest on the film. Well firstly we’re focusing on getting the film completed first, which we can’t do unless we meet our Kickstarter goal. We would like to get it done by Fall of this year and will be submitting it to various film festivals.
Thanks for letting me know about the broken link. It’s fixed now, hope you’ll check it out and help spread the word about the campaign 🙂
Great! I wish you to succeed in finishing it. 🙂
Thank you!
I really liked Spider-Man (my review of it is up) and the rest of the weekend was pretty good. Watched some movies (100 Blocks, Deep Web, Overboard) and spent two hours on Saturday trying to get tickets for an Ed Sheeran concert in 2018 (I’ve grown to hate Ticketmaster as their site with a virtual waiting queue basically sucks). After finally being able to order them the concert was sold out, but luckily a second show was immediately announced for which I did get tickets. So the whole family is happy.
Hey Nostra! Man I haven’t gone to a concert in a loooong time. I don’t even know who I’d be willing to pay top dollars for, maybe Adele?? Glad to hear you did get tickets, when is the concert?
That’s the funny thing, it’s at the end of June 2018….so still have to wait almost a year to go see it. I’ll have to admit that the reason we’re going are my daughters as they really wanted to go, but I do like his music, so pretty sure I’ll enjoy it.
I just can’t get excited for Spider-man but with these kind of reviews I need to see it. Plan on it sometimes this week. Everything is just tiding me over till Dunkirk though!
Y’know I wasn’t either Keith, but my hubby wanted to see it. I’m just glad it didn’t suck! But yeah I’m super excited for DUNKIRK and War for the Planet of the Apes.
I didn’t really have any interest in the new Spider-Man either, didn’t care for him in last year’s Civil War. But I loved this new and maybe the best Spider-Man film yet, everything worked for me. Maybe because the last three Spidey films were so dreadful that I needed to see something light and full of humor in a Spider-Man film and this one delivered the goods.
Wow I’m surprised you saw and liked it Ted. But yeah I thought it was pretty good, the action was quite thrilling despite that bombastic ending. I also love Michael Keaton as the very human villain.
Homecoming does look pretty entertaining, Ruth.
I liked Spider-Man as much as I hoped I would. I agree that Keaton was right up there with Molina – Spider-Man 2 is still my favourite but Homecoming was a close second. Glad you found it bearable! There are way too many superhero movies so I think fatigue is setting in for most at this point.
Congrats on your podcast debut. I’m looking forward to hearing it. Hopefully I’ll get to see Spider-Man this weekend.
Look forward to checking out the podcast and seeing who your top five female filmmakers are. Hope Kelly Reichardt is in it’
I enjoyed Homecoming also Ruth, Holland and Keaton were great and Robert Downey Jr’s role fit in better than I thought it would. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 is still tops though!
Hi Chris! Yeah it’s a pleasant surprise. And the other Chris Evans also made some hilarious cameo 😉 I agree Raimi’s Spiderman 2 is still my fave too!
Haha indeed he did!