Spidy’s Webbed-Out Soap Opera
Don’t search for new DVDs each week. Stop by and we’ll tell you about the titles - even if they smell funny.
Spider-Man 3
The Webslinger’s third outing makes the common threequel mistake of piling on too many super-villains (in this case the Sandman, another Green Goblin, and alien tar-baby Venom), too many superheroes and way, way too much soap opera. As an FX blow-out, S3 is hard to beat. But the drama creaks, particularly when Kirsten Dunst is throwing a hissy fit over Bryce Dallas Howard. With cast commentary.
El Cantante
This Hector Lavoe biopic was doomed from the moment the words “Jennifer” and “Lopez” were attached, but judiciously fast-forwarding to Marc Anthony’s dynamic musical performances says everything worth knowing about the smack-addicted salsero. Skip the movie, get the soundtrack. Deleted scenes and docs. Don’t forget J. Lo’s other disastrous flicks.
My So-Called Life: The Complete Series
It only lasted 19 episodes, but this 1994-1995 series became intensely influential, thanks to the casting of unknowns Claire Danes and Jared Leto and an intelligent appreciation of teen lives. Buffy creator Joss Whedon tips his hat to Life in the accompanying book. Other extras include two Danes interviews and a 1995 roundtable discussion on the flop that’s become a TV landmark.
