I was a little confused in that it looked very much to me that they were projecting SPIDERMAN at 1.66. I would have chalked it up to my misjudging it, but at least two of the trailers had letterbox borders on top and bottom, which reinforced my conclusion that the trailers were hardmatted at 1.85 and they were projecting the feature at 1.66. Why this would be, I cannot even guess.

I enjoyed the film and I thought the first half was the more interesting -- I thought the whole discovery process was very well done and Peter was played and directed with a quiet curiosity that was engaging. Although as said elsewhere, his reaction to his uncle's attempt at understanding him was a unexplained and disconcerting. It seemed harsh, almost cruel for no apparant reason. Something wind up on the editing floor that shouldn't have? It was good seeing old verteran actor Cliff Robertson back on the screen.

I thought the digital effects were integrated well, although as John P. said, they were a bit softer than the rest. There were times when Spiderman was doing his building hops that he looked like a cartoon placed in a live background, which is exactly what CGI is, but I mean more than that -- he looked like an animated Disney cartoon character. But that was only for a few moments here and there and it didn't really distract from the overall effect. The sound was terrific, evidently the people running the Astor Plaza haven't yet figured out how to compromise that yet. I found the film's score to be adequate for the moods of the scenes, but it had no memorable themes -- something that almost all classics have.

My one strong objection was to that final fight between Spiderman and poor Willem Defoe in that silly mask; it was begging for an editor. It went on and on -- who needs to see two characters viciously bashing each other to a pulp for ten minutes -- and at one point it was so violent that I actually looked away in disgust. It really was quite gratuitous. Funny, you would never see two women bashing each others faces in, but for guys, superheros especially, it's perfectly OK. But then again, we live in a male-bashing culture, so who cares. Anyway, it could have been edited down to half the length and we all would have gotten the point.

As for the audiences that are unruly and causing a disturbance, I lay that right at the feet of the theatre operator. You are paying $10 for a ticket, that should entitle you to a well patrolled, safe environment. It is the exhibitor's responsibility to have adequate ushers and security personnel to deal with the type of situation you describe. As much as I am with Will for telling people to be quiet or to get off the effin phone and WATCH THE EFFIN MOVIE, a patron shouldn't have to be put in that position. There should be theatre personnel checking the rooms for just those conditions. Years ago ushers would walk the isles and aim flashlights at people who had their feet up on chairs or who were talking. In today's multiplexes a constant presence of even a single usher per screen would be financially prohibitive. Understood, but there is no reason why during the course of the screening security personnel could not walk into each room, looking for problems. Sometimes the presence of theatre personnel, even for only five or ten minutes in the theatre, changes the way groups act. Once a theatre gets a reputation for zero tolerance of inappropriate behavior and that troublemakers will be ejected, you'd be surprise how different people will act. On the other hand, give them an environment where they are basically left to their own devices without any question that no theatre personnel will ever be seen, well that just encourages the kind of inconsiderate behavior that's been described. I had to walk round the entire theatre complex to find a single person to complain about the focus problem. This was the last show and it seemed like after the film started, the entire theatre staff went home. Patrons sense that. The rowdy ones sense it even more. So, yes, there are people who will act like animals unless there are trainers present, but it is the theatre's responsibility to provide the trainers, not letting it fall to the poor patron to take up the chair and the whip.

When people are behaving inconsiderately, walk out and demand your money back. And tell them why. Ask them why there are no theatre personnel to be found and why none were in the theatre to remove the annoyance. Being subjected to idiot patrons is just as much a reason to demand a refund as is an out-of-focus picture or bad sound. If enough people did that, management would soon get the word. They will find that it is easier (and cheaper) to throw out the thugs (they don't get refunds) than to have dissatisfied patrons walk out demanding their money back.

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I was a little confused in that it looked very much to me that they were projecting SPIDERMAN at 1.66. I would have chalked it up to my misjudging it, but at least two of the trailers had letterbox borders on top and bottom, which reinforced my conclusion that the trailers were hardmatted at 1.85 and they were projecting the feature at 1.66. Why this would be, I cannot even guess

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The Spiderman show I saw had a letterboxed trailer, I think it was "Bad Company".

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That final fight got to me too. Not so much the visual, but the audio was like a foley artist went psycho on the stage. Several times i've had the volume up in the booth while i was working elsewhere and listend to that jumble of "oof, ah, grr, umph" for ten minutes.

I too noticed three frames with cap code in the second reel. I hope they come up with a less noticeable way to include that information. I don't think that the average viewer will notice it, but I did. It isn't horribly distracting, but it certainly doesn't help.

I saw the movie at the Megastar 16 in Maple Grove. This was my first experience at one of their theaters, and since they have a certain reputation around here, I was quite curious to see how things were run.

It is one of the most attractive theaters I have ever been in. It is very well decorated, and doesn't have all of the bright, gaudy colors everywhere as most theaters do. There was a sign on the door that said that they were hiring, so just out of curiousity, I asked the girl in the box office if they were hiring projectionists. She said that they were only hiring for floor staff, and that they never hire projectionists, but that the floor staff people work their way up to the booth. That didn't make me too confident about the presentation of the film I was about to see.

MegaStar

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This would be previews of scope films presented in its whole form and not cropped down for 1:85 presentation. The last time I saw this was a flat preview of THE 13TH WARRIOR. Why its done I do not know, but it is done.

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