It was a sad weekend in Hollywood when Cliff Robertson passed away at the age of 88. Who is he you ask? Well he is no other than Uncle Ben from the 2003 film ‘Spiderman.’ He also boasts an impressive resume that includes an Academy Award for best actor in 1968 for playing a mentally disabled man in ‘Charly.’ In honor of Cliff Robertson, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight one of his quotes as the initial subject of our new ‘Memorable Quotes’ column.

While Sam Raimi’s ‘Spiderman’ was a box office and critical phenomenon that spawned numerous sequels (and now reboots), there was one line in particular that was talked about for awhile even years later.

“With great power, comes great responsibility.” Sure Uncle Ben was really referring to puberty, but the metaphorical meaning that linked it to Peter’s recent Spiderman abilities was perfect. This line is the overall theme throughout all 3 ‘Spiderman’ flicks (and will probably show up again in the reboot).

So in honor of ‘Spiderman,’ Uncle Ben, and the late Cliff Robertson, please watch the clip below! Fast forward to 1:05 for the actual line.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What’s your favorite quote from ‘Spiderman’ Banters?

Summer 2011 is in full effect with the premiere of Thor, starring Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman and directed by Kenneth Branagh.  Not since the original Iron Man has such a great combination of comedy and action been brought together on screen. Thor is a complete action packed thrill ride split between scenes on Asgard (magical realm) and Earth, but drops the perfect dose of laughter along the way. That’s the beauty and charm of these Marvel  movies.  For every scene of Hemsworth flexing his muscles and kicking ass, there is an absurd one-liner that he delivers to keep things light and fun.

Despite a trailer that looked like crap, Thor truly delivers. Not only is the film incredibly beautiful to look at, to the credit of CGI effects and 3-D technology put to good use, it is full of engaging characters that connect well to its audience. I think that can be a testament to both Hemsworth, who definitely has long-lasting star power, and the man usually known for his shakespearian charisma, director Kenneth Branagh.  Here, Thor succeeds where previous comic book hits (Iron Man, Spiderman 1 & 2, X-Men 2 ) succeeded in that the characters, not the effects, commanded the movie.  What makes Thor different from the previously mentioned films is that it is set in a magical realm (‘Asgard’ – Lord of the Rings & Star Wars fan alike will truly be impressed by the way) yet somehow does not lose its audience to typical science fiction/fantasy hooplah that many of these films fall victim to.

Thor, the norse god of thunder and son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), king of Asgard, wields his extraordinary power through his special hammer (‘the Hammer of Thor’).The film takes us straight into Asgard, a beautiful and fantastic realm, where Odin continues to test Thor to determine his worthiness of becoming king one day. Well Thor’s arrogance gets the best of him as he brings Asgard to the brink of war against an old foe, the froth giants, and Odin casts him out as punishment. Thor finds himself on Earth where he falls for beautiful scientist, Natalie Portman, and begins to understand the type of character required of a king.  Eventually he returns to Asgard to battle his enemies and restore order to the realm.

While I definitely enjoyed the film, I have a couple  qualms worth discussing. One, the romance between Portman and Hemsworth happened much to quickly.  One second Thor crash lands on Earth, the next moment Portman’s character can’t take her eyes off him. While love may happen that quickly for some, let’s not forget this is a Marvel movie. It just seemed forced. The second was that not enough scenes happened on Earth. Asgard, though visually incredible, commanded too much of the movie. I would’ve like to see Thor gain his worthiness in much more dramatic fashion. I rarely say this, but this movie should’ve been 20 minutes longer as Branagh should have further explored Thor’s learning process on Earth. You don’t learn the integrity of a king overnight…but I guess Branagh was dealing with a strict two-hour limit.

Putting those qualms aside, Thor is definitely a blast of a film.  Hemsworth has the body of a WWE wrestler and the charm of a Hollywood star. Together that is a deadly combination. I even dragged the Bantress to this film and she walked out very happy, a sign that this film has wide appeal. Let Summer 2011 begin.

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Let’s think about this for a second. Sam Rami, Tobey Maguire, and Kirsten Dunst were all cut from the fourth film because they were too expensive. (Kisten Dunst more so because she was awful.) They wanted to hire a “younger” Spiderman/Peter Parker. A little math here. Younger = cheaper. Then it seemed like “younger” became “unknown.” Unknown = even cheaper that younger. So it seems like, if you have a relatively unknown Spiderman, the rest of the cast doesn’t necessarily need to be super expensive actors and the budget can shrink considerably. So thus is the new Spiderman.

The impressive thing is that the studio has not necessarily compromised talent. At this point, we all know that the role of Spiderman has gone to Andrew Garfield who has shown us he can act in that little film called The Social Network. (It’s about that Facebook thing.) That and he received rave reviews for his performance in the independent film Never Let Me Go. Independent? Indie?

Okay, let’s get indie. Alongside Garfield are two people who bring some “cred” to the franchise. First off, Emma Stone. If you didn’t know, Stone is red hot right now. Hollywood’s new “It” girl, if that’s still an actual thing. She had her first leading role in Easy A earlier this year, which I didn’t exactly love but proved she could carry a film. Also, EVERY OTHER FILM SHE DOES, SHE PLAYS AN INDIE DARLING. She’s the bombshell for the nerdy generation.

Then there’s Rhys Ifans. Ifans has been in everything from Notting Hill to Pirate Radio, and always steals the show with his biting sarcasm and charming nature. Apparently this means were going to have a very well spoken, British villain. Indie!

So who’s directing this thing? Marc Webb. Perhaps (only?) known for his work on last year’s super hip (500) Days of Summer… Okay, Marc Webb is super indie. (There is also a rumor Zooey Deschanel may have a part, but I’m not holding my breath.)

Spiderman is going to be hip. Really hip. (There are even talks to get Sally Field and Martin Sheen in as Parker’s aunt and uncle. Retro throwback?) But I can’t say I mind. I’m glad they’re trying to do this thing a little cheaper and a little edgier because, well, Spiderman 3 was horrendous; offensive to the entire franchise. So, Spiderman reboot, do something creative. You have all the tools to do so.

What do you think? Do you like the new direction or you want the other guys back?

I want to start off this article correcting something on my previous post “Gary Ross Saves Untitled ‘Venom’ Project + Spiderman 4 News” from October 8^th. I would just like to say that I was wrong about Spider-Man 3 being a good superhero movie. I rented the film again this weekend and found that I did not like it as much as I thought I had. I apologize.

Last week, bombshell Rachel McAdams was rumored by Mania that she had met with producers of the Marvel sequel Spider-Man 4 to play Black Cat, the girl who meets Spidey while trying to break her father out of jail. But later the same day this rumor was started, Slash Film posted a response saying that a reader had sent them a link that stated that some of that story was true: that Sam Raimi is already casting for the movie and they’re looking for a female lead. But it’s not confirmed, however, that the said lead will be Black Cat. According to The Observer, British actress Romola Garai, whose roles have been minimal in barely-a-blip-on-the-radar movies Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Amazing Grace and The Other Man has also auditioned. Slash Film also notes that she’s only a few years younger than McAdams, predicting that she could in turn play Tobey Maguire’s character’s upcoming love interest.

Although November 16^th, in a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Rachel McAdams has squashed the rumor that she would play Black Cat.

“That’s a total rumor, I have to say,” the actress, who will next be seen in the Dec. 25 action-adventure tentpole Sherlock Holmes, tells EW. “I was hanging out in Toronto the other day and someone came up to me and said, ‘I just heard you’re doing Spider-Man 4.‘ And I said, ‘Really? No one told me!’ It’s not true.” A rep for Sony Pictures concurs: “It’s an Internet rumor, as so many things are these days.”

Sources with Hey U Guys say that Black Cat is indeed in the screenplay for Spider-Man 4, but her role is being changed to the daughter of the new boss at the Daily Bugle and, get this, now one of Spider-Man’s villains. It’s also being said now that both Sony and McAdams are lying to us, and that since Garai is so similar in age with McAdams, that she was originally in talks for the role.

This is ridiculous. For one thing, the screenplay sounds like garbage if it doesn’t stick to its original comic book origin. And wasn’t Bruce Campbell supposed to play The Lizard in the next Spidey installment? Something’s not right here. Like I said about Depp’s involvement in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, someone who plays a much bigger part in production of Spider-Man 4 needs to step in and clear things up for us.

in 2007. I thought that the first two installments were mediocre, proving to me that good superhero movies just couldn’t be made anymore. But when I saw the third film, I was blown away! It was so much better than the other movies; I saw it twice in theaters, which I don’t believe I’ve done to anything in recent memory except for The Hangover and Ratatouille The Flock movie .

So yeah, I guess you could say that I’m a Sam Raimi fan, and yes I want another Spider-Man The Relief of Belsen buy Chances Are video movie to get made. No-duh that was going to happen (and it’s set to release on May 6^th, 2011), and even more sequels are planned after that, which I actually don’t want by the way.

The spin-off flick for the Spider-Man villain Venom has been talked about seemingly forever, with little to no answers as to whether or not is was actually happening. Screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese wrote two drafts of the script before doing Zombieland, according to /Film. Jacob Estes of Mean Creek fame was also asked to come up with a draft before them. Nothing more after that though, so is the Venom movie really no longer happening? Don’t write it off so quickly.

It appears that Sony is currently negotiating with Gary Ross (Pleasantville

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, Seabiscuit Guess Whos Coming to Dinner dvd ) to rewrite the screenplay and maybe even direct.  Ross co-wrote the upcoming Spider-Man 4 and says that he will move on to the untitled Venom

download The Bridge to Nowhere movie project when his work is complete with Spidey 4.  Tobey Maguire, Spidey himself, starred in both of the previously mentioned Ross films, and it makes sense that he is attached to this. Probably not a good idea for Wernick and Reese to get writing credits anyway if this movie is supposed to be serious. I loved Zombieland, but Marvel movies are more action than comedy (did you see The Incredible Hulk?)

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Topher Grace, who I can’t stop picturing as Eric Forman from That ‘70s Show, starred as Venom in the third flick, but no word on his appearance in the spin-off. The aim is to start from the beginning with the character, not from where he ended in Spider-Man 3. According to Heatvision, Sony had no comment on this story. I’m all for this one. You really can’t make a bad superhero movie, and this one sounds pretty good. Unless you count Watchmen

, but I couldn’t figure out what the hell that was supposed to be.