1 írts Entertainment
Clackamas Print 5
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
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dram|> of Peter Park^hapg- grudge against the web-sjinger movie s
bled its way har
considered. this
'n8 up his tights, or any other and yet another tension-filled hazardly through the balanc
lutelvMmazing -
element o(jthe prior.sequel. jlo plot surrounding Mary Mie. % between thewiginal story and
stly superü to the i|st install^
be fair,however, Spider-Mc^2
That’s a whopping five plot- i|he Green Goblm. This instal
ent, and n too far pehind the
Three villains. Five plotlines. set the bar unrealistically high, lines in a franchise that previ- ment, on the otfiefcgnd. man
cond. If the franchis^ were to
One monumental success for Moreover, that movie didn't ously had.at most, three simul- vers carefully through a
nd here - iBdoesMlfcve to,
everyone’s friendly neighbor havgj
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t it could - fedey could gloat
ber of interconnects Wfcion-
hood Spider-Man.
tying up loose
lems of gying
lobse ends
11’s the miracle prthis movie, ships and events withj
bat he survive! the com
dible
Traditionally, theihird movie while coping with several brand really. »he first Spider-Man
logy eurse unscathed.
in a comic book franchise tends new plots.
¡0 be a disappointment. Just take
At the beginning I
a rook at X-Men: The Last Stand, of the new installment,
Batman Forever and — arguably the much-maligned and
the worst of the bunch - 1983’s misunderstood Spidey
Superman III.
of past movies is long *
At first glance, Spider-Man gone: the city loves him
J seems poised to follow its now, and-evin J. Jonaw
third-child predecessors into the Ljanlison can’fcall him at
land of movies.that fans pre W°ok anymore (as much
tend don’t exist. Third moVies as he’d like fo). He’s
of this genre typically hit giant preparing to propose to
potholes -* and plot holes — in M ot Jane, who’s found
the form.; of too many VRlains, her own success star
too many convoluted plotlines, ring in the premiere of a
money-grubbing studio interfer Broadway. musical. And
ence and the absence of what-^ ^pn top of all that, the
ever talented director made the web-head fe about to^be
first two movies successful.
issued the key to the <^y.
Unfortunately^
Spidey’s latest encore skill
fully swings its way around such all downhill from there;
foibles: Sam Raimi returns to between iconic Spidery
the franchise for a third time - a Man staples such as the
tare feat for directors of comic black symbiote, The 1
book films - taking on the chal Sandman and Eddie 1
lenges of numerous villains and Brock - the man bet- |
dangling plotlines and weaving ter known as .Venom
them into a surprisingly orga - Spidey’s life is already
nized and intricate story.
thrown into turmoil.
It is true that Spidey 3 fails
fiWernet Photo
But then there’s still .
to surpass the majesty of Alfred the ongoing storyline of Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) strangled and at the tnercy of supervillain Venom (Topher Grace) in
Molina as Doctor Octopus, the former pal Harry Osborn’s the lastest movie in the franchise, Spider-Man 3, which opens on May 4.
77ie Clackamas Print
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ektor haunts audience with music
7ZÏ71
J
egan Koler
•e Clackamas Print
■The unconventional turns
linstream as the MTV teens
Im to plead for the talented
[her than the flashy.
[Arguably the most popular
land-coming alternative art-
| Regina Spektor, played to a
Id-out Crystal Ballroom last
lek.
lit is encouraging that an art-
llike Spektor can sell out a
hie like the Crystal Ballroom,
lich holds about 1,500 people,
la week. A quick look at the
Iney being asked for last-min-
I tickets on eBay is a credit
Iher blossoming mainstream
leal.
[rhe money would have
In worth it, because at the
r change of light
[sound, the crowd
[uld go nuts and
|n die down, and
L do the same thing
fr and over again
[two hours. It was
extremely excited
livd for • a small
bng woman who got
[ start listening to
isettes of Queen and
[Beatles in commu-
[Moscow.
Spektor, who emi-
[ted from the Soviet
ion to the United
les in 1989, self-
fased her first two
inns in 2001 and
12. entitled 11:11
[ Songs. By 2004,
| had signed with
I Records and came
[with Soviet Kitsch.
ier earlier albums
a smorgasbord of
g styles and genres. SPEKTOR
She has the range to sing almost
anything and she opts for shak
ing things up and experimenting
with what her voice is capable
of. It is possible that she has
turned off a lot of mainstream
listeners with her obscure lit
erature references and random
moaning and warbling; they
missed out on a lot.
Spektor’s latest album, Begin
to Hope, released last year,
includes new recordings of older
songs and a few songs that are
more MTV-friendly than songs
from her other albums. Even
though it seems she has been
working with a more traditional
song formula, her pieces are
still as moving and novel as
when she first started.
Despite the success of Begin
to Hope, Spektor sang many
of her earlier songs to start
out with, including hilarious
renditions of “Music Box” and
“Baby Jesus.” She also wowed
the audience when she sang
“Poor Little Rich Boy” while
playing piano and drumming on
the chair next to her in perfect
unison.
She left her makeshift one-
man band, for a few songs, to
try a couple of sets on her gor
geous aqua electric guitar, but
not before she asked sweetly
that the weed smokers please
cease their smoking before she
“barfs.”
After she forgot the lyrics
to “That Time” for the second
time, she laughed and said, “I
blame this on the weed smok
ers!”
After playing a particularly
chilling version of “Summer
in the City,” she bowed and
left the stage only
to be galled out
for a much desired
encore.
Spektor,
who
has
often
expressed admira
tion for The Beatles,
played a slower and
softer version of
John Lennon’s song
“Real Love.”
Spektor ended the
night with the fan
favorite “Samson”;
it seemed that the
fans were not going
to let her leave
without singing this
song.
For an artist that
. had a hard time sell
ing tickets in Portland
last December, she
certainly had her
fans in Oregon on
their knees begging
for more this time
Internet Photo
around.
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