TonyReynolds

I always looked forward to Tuesday nights to see the latest installments of the three stories. Of the three, my personal favorite was "Stop Susan Williams"...and it was great fun watching Susan Anton as the heroine getting herself out of every situation thrown at her. I was very disappointed when NBC cancelled the series (at least "The Curse of Dracula" ended beforehand; the whole purpose of that was to begin a brand-new "Cliffhanger" story while "The Secret Empire" and "Stop Susan Williams" conclude and another new story would circulate in place), but at least I got the chance to see the full-length movie version of "Williams" (as "The Girl Who Saved the World"). I would love to see this show again...maybe Sci-Fi Channel would consider rerunning it for awhile.

It was said that it took Hollywood 18 years to bring Spider-Man to the silver screen, and I'm glad that it did. With the exception of a few quirks concerning the CGI effects, this is by far the best comic-book adaptation ever. I didn't believe it myself when I first heard that Tobey Maguire was to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man, but then, before and after watching the film, it made good sense. It just didn't seem plausible for someone like Ben Affleck, for example, to play a bookish, nerdy teenager transformed into a "marvel" superhero (although he does gets his chance with Daredevil, so I'm told). All the other actors were first-rate: Willem Dafoe, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst and Rosemary Harris...but for me, the standout performer was J.K. Simmons (Schillenger in HBO's "Oz") as J. Jonah Jamison. He was so crabby there should have been more of him! Let's hope he gets more screen time in the sequel! I loved seeing Spidey swing his way through New York...and we're with him for the ride! If you should see this movie again (and I'm going to), stick around during the closing credits...you'll hear the original theme song from the '60's cartoon playing!

...despite the fact that they made him a blonde... It's true that while this film is a visual departure from the Disney version (as it should be, IMO), it does have some elements that make it enjoyable nonetheless. The songs ("In the Little Toy Shop", "Goody Good Morning" and "Doin' the Impossible") are very decent and fun to listen to. Then there's the combination of a classic fairy tale and the space age (Pinocchio saves the Earth from Astro the flying whale). Throw in Arnold Stang (Nertle the Turtle), some scary intergalactic mutants, an atomic blast, and you've got...well, a decent 60's animated movie about a puppet saving the world.