  Daf at the Movies: Spiderman -- Tobey Maguire was brilliant - in Ciderhouse Rules. Not in S'man, where he made a reasonably compelling geek, but didn't manage to work in the wise-cracking aspect of his character very well. I just kept thinking "this is NOT Peter Parker". And KD as MJ - uh uh. The real (Stan Lee version) MJ is a saucy, vibrant woman. KD can't seem to get past high school sweetie-pie.
Neve Campbell (Mmmm...) would've been way better. Plus, she's a REAL redhead... or at least a more convincing fake. All that being said, it WAS entertaining. Nice job updating the "Why I fight crime" story. And the special effects were cool - not so much believable as effective-in-transporting-us-to-comicbookland. Mothman Prophecies -- Excellent drama.
Edge of our seats (well, it was a drive-in, so not exactly) through the whole movie. Richard Gere was great, in a not-your-usual-Richard-Gere role. So was the female lead (not Deborah Messing, but the blonde cop, whose name I didn't catch). Not the kind of thing we would have ever picked to go see (double feature with Spidey), but a really thought-provoking film, exciting script, quality cast. DVDs: Seven Year Itch -- Way dated. Marilyn Monroe is NOT the star of this, but is excellent as a foil for the lead's (forget his name) flights of fancy.
OTOH, the lead, reprising his Broadway role, continued to play to the cheap seats, and hammed it up way too much. And his wanderings into fantasyland, sort of a "Walter Mitty discovers sex" concept, were borderline inanity. Still, if you love all things Marilyn, there's some stuff to like. The Producers -- Mel Brooks' best work, and one of his earliest. Especially nice because he hadn't discovered his "formula" yet, so he actually told a story, without stopping for asides or cheap laffs. Mostel and Wilder were brilliant, but the story was the real star.
Ken Mars and Dick Shawn were a little over the top, but it added to the fun. Ching, if you're skipping Mel's stuff 'cos it's all so predictable, SEE this one. One of the funniest movies ever made. It is, however, a 60's movie, and not a 70's movie, so there's a lot of hopelessly outdated looks at sexual roles. They don't ruin the movie, though, and are surprisingly "reminiscent" of some scenes from Austin Powers. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World -- Hahahahaha!
Great slapstick humor, filled with everyone-who-was-anyone in early 60's comedy - including, again, Dick Shawn. Spencer Tracy was great, Milton Berle (reminding me, oddly, of Jeff Goldblum), Mickey Rooney, Ethel Merman, Jonathon Winters, Phil Silvers - all brilliant. Cameos from stars like Jerry Lewis, the 3 Stooges, and Jim Backus add to the fun. This was the basis for last year's Rat Race (haven't seen yet). It's long, but definitely worth the time. Daf 
