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We're not even going to pretend that the things we love most about superhero movies are the costumes, powers, villains and crazy fight scenes, but the best superhero movies are those that also have a heart. While "driven" superheroes like the Punisher and Batman may not have time for a love life, many of the more light-hearted superheroes do, and the on-screen depictions of their courting rituals often leave us with some pretty memorable imagery. Who can forget the scene in Richard Donner's Superman where Lois (Margot Kidder) flies with Superman (Christopher Reeve) for the first time or the upside-down kiss between Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) and Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man?
Mary Jane is out of the picture (literally) in director Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man, but Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) is back and in her rightful role as Peter Parker's (Andrew Garfield) first girlfriend. Little of the marketing material for The Amazing Spider-Man has really played up their love affair, but now we have a romantic new poster of the star-crossed lovers (read your comic books!), presumably perched atop a bridge or skyscraper overlooking Manhattan. It's a start, but Webb is going to have to try a lot harder if he plans on topping Raimi's iconic Spidey-kiss.
check out the new poster >> Posted 06.15.12 by BrentJS -
Actors use various methods to portray the characters they play on stage and on screen, but most attempt to draw from their own experiences and emotions whenever possible to help make their performances as "real" as possible. But, what experiences and emotions could possibly be of use when the task is to portray an angry 9-foot lizard with a prehensile tail? According to Welsh actor Rhys Ifans, his experiences with drug addicts helped inform his portrayal of scientist-turned-monster Dr. Curt Connors, aka the Lizard, in director Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man. That, and his own proclivity to smoke cigarettes and the resulting irritability he feels when he is denied his guilty pleasure for too long.
what did Ifans say about playing the lizard? >> Posted 06.13.12 by BrentJS -
Typically, you have to wait for the home video release of a movie to get a look at the behind-the-scenes footage known in the industry as B-roll, but more than 20 minutes of footage from the making of The Amazing Spider-Man was recently made available for viewing online, in advance of the movie's July 3rd opening.
Broken up into six individual videos, the B-roll footage peels back the curtain to reveal how director Marc Webb used practical effects to simulate superpowers whenever possible and also offers proof that new Peter Parker/Spider-Man Andrew Garfield did quite a few of his own stunts in the movie. Most of the main cast members — Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors, Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, Denis Leary as Capt. George Stacy — also appear in one video or the other. We even get to see Webb and Spider-Man co-creator and comic book icon Stan Lee yucking it up on the set.
watch the behind-the-scenes videos >> Posted 06.11.12 by BrentJS -
After putting the spotlight on Spider-Man's (Andrew Garfield) new movie nemesis in recent weeks — the latest still images, viral video, and featurette have all focused on Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) and his scaly alter-ego, the Lizard — Sony has decided to give the monstrous mutation a break and focus on the man behind the camera, director Marc Webb [(500) Days of Summer].
In the new "Limitless Inspiration" featurette, Webb briefly discusses his approach to making a complex movie like The Amazing Spider-Man, from his initial "feeling" about what the movie should be about to the selection of skilled actors like Garfield and Emma Stone, who can make "words on a page" into something "emotional" to the many artists he collaborates with and the state-of-the-art equipment and technology that allow for pretty much "anything you can imagine" to be made "real."
watch the featurette >> Posted 05.16.12 by BrentJS -
When The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb joined Twitter yesterday as @MarcW, he didn't bother to wait to start his social networking experience until after he had his identity verified with a little blue check mark as so many other celebrities do. Instead, he offered proof of his identify in his very first tweet, uploading an awesome still image of Andrew Garfield in repose atop a street light with the simple caption: "Peter Parker. Good Balance."
see the new image and posters >> Posted 05.12.12 by BrentJS -
Superhero fever was already reaching a fever pitch with The Avengers set to debut at theaters around the country at midnight tonight, effectively kicking off "Superhero Summer Part Deux" (last year being "Part Un," with Thor, Green Lantern, Captain America: The First Avenger, and X-Men: First Class all duking it out at the box office), but the new theatrical trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man that just dropped has comic book movie fans whipped into a bonafide frenzy.
The new trailer weighs in at a whopping 2:30 and contains the prerequisite amount of action one expects from a superhero movie trailer, but it's clear to see that Sony knew what they were doing in hiring director Marc Webb [(500) Days of Summer] to reboot the Spider-Man franchise because it also contains enough humor, romance and mystery to appeal to a wide range of moviegoers. For die-hard Spidey fans, the new trailer includes many awesome reveals, including a glimpse at Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) creating his web-shooters, the introduction of a mysterious figure who appears to be in league with Dr. Connors (Rhys Ifans), and the revelation that Connors' alter-ego, the Lizard, might simply be a "heavy" for Spider-Man to punch, with a "biological attack on New York City" the real threat.
watch the 'Amazing' new trailer >> Posted 05.03.12 by BrentJS -
It's pretty slim pickings for Spider-Man fans right now, as The Avengers pretty much dominates superhero movie news in advance of its nationwide debut in less than two weeks. Not counting the sluggish viral campaign, it's been more than two months since the last major piece of marketing material — the second trailer — for The Amazing Spider-Man was released.
In the absence of new materials, die-hard fans have had to satiate themselves on the snippets of new footage found in international trailers or try to decipher exactly what director Marc Webb meant when he said in a recent interview that "maybe it's not a radioactive spider" that gave Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) his superpowers. Thankfully, Columbia Pictures has released, via Yahoo!, two new teaser posters for the movie to give us all something to gaze at until Avengers mania dies down a bit.
see the new posters >> Posted 04.17.12 by BrentJS -
If your attitude toward director Marc Webb's upcoming Spider-Man franchise reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, is "been there, done that" because you've already seen the Sam Raimi-directed movies starring Tobey Maguire as ol' webhead, then you're in for a big surprise. The differences aren't just Spidey's (Andrew Garfield) girlfriend — Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) instead of Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst in Raimi's movies) — and villain — no Goblins here, just a big Lizard (Rhys Ifans). Webb also plans to explore the origin of Peter Parker/Spider-Man like never before.
Even casual Spider-Man fans know that Peter was raised by his Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen). But why is that? What happened to Richard (Campbell Scott) and Mary (Embeth Davidtz) Parker? Webb plans to delve into the mystery of the disappearance of the Parkers and examine how it shaped young Peter in The Amazing Spider-Man. However, he said in a recent interview with MTV that it will "probably" take "a few movies" for the entire story to be told. He also teased that he plans to change a few things along the way.
what did webb say? >> Posted 04.12.12 by BrentJS -
Sony's upcoming Spider-Man reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, will tread much of the same ground as director Sam Raimi's previous Spider-Man trilogy, taking Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) back to his high school beginnings and the infamous radioactive spider bite that turned Parker into your friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man. However, the reboot is also adding some new elements, including a mystery surrounding Peter Parker's deceased parents (Embeth Davidtz and Campbell Scott), Dr. Curt Connors' (Rhys Ifans) transformation into the Lizard, and Parker's romance with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Parker's first love in the Marvel comic books, the character of Stacy did appear in 2007's Spider-Man 3 (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), but, then, there were so many characters in that movie it's hard to remember.
While attending the recent WonderCon in Anaheim, Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb told NBC Chicago's Popcorn Biz that the relationship between Gwen and Peter will be an important part of the movie's story.
read webb's and stone's comments >> Posted 03.29.12 by Ryan -
Twentieth Century Fox may have stole the show at this weekend's WonderCon comic book and popular arts convention with its panel presentation for director Ridley Scott's Prometheus, which included the debut of an awesome new trailer and a new viral video, but Sony came in a close second with its own panel presentation for The Amazing Spider-Man. While Sony did not debut a new trailer for the movie, some "rough" new footage was shown and director Marc Webb and Emma Stone were on hand to discuss the movie.
Sony also used the gathering of comic book and movie fans to launch a new viral web campaign for the movie. Wanted posters featuring an image of Spider-Man were handed out to attendees and it included a phone number that directed callers to report sightings of the masked vigilante on WebbedMenace.com. The site does not have much content yet, but there is a cool news report-style video of Capt. George Stacy (Denis Leary) being interviewed by a Daily Bugle reporter about Spider-Man. Though Stacy supports Spider-Man in the comic books, the movie version does not appear to be a fan of ol' web-head, describing him as a "pest," a "dangerous individual," and a "masked criminal."
watch the viral video >> Posted 03.18.12 by BrentJS