OK, "Spider-Man 3" opens up with a Midnight showing, so off we go to the Regal in Middleburg Heights. Of course, jacked up by Diet Mountain Dew. Gale and I put the chaperone hats on, and were accompanied by Shaun, Kevin, Phil, Phil's girlfriend and some other youngin'. Tickets purchased early helped, because when I arrived at 11:30, they had a line for ticket holders that extended around the corner of the strip center. It was shown on multiple screens and you were assigned one at time of purchase. We had #4, which turned out to be great, as maybe only 25-30 people were in that one. So, it wasn't a mob scene and we dominated with 7 in our group. Kevin started at Crocker Park, before he realized we were several suburbs over from there, but made it in time for the start.

The movie itself was pretty good, not the greatest. Lots of love in the air. In the bathroom afterward, one guy asked, "How'd you like the musical?". BTW, if you're looking for Cleveland, pay attention to the movie. A glimpse here and there, but not much that you could tell. Maybe 30 seconds worth and that might be generous.

The movie was terrific from the standpoint of enough pauses in the dialogue to add your own commentary, and that added to the enjoyment. For instance, the James Franco character, the New Goblin, ends up in the hospital after a fight with Spidey. So, Peter Parker's out in the waiting room and the doctor tells him about the condition of his friend, etc. But as Kevin put it, he never says, "Hey, you know your friend, what's the get up with those rocket boots and that sorta Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtle outfit?". I mean no one seemed to mind. And when Spidey puts on that black alternate jersey, forget it. That means bad things are gonna happen.

And it seemed when the New Goblin and Spidey wanted to be mean, they would just scrunch up their nose and squint. Look for that in your daily life. Tobey Maguire would also have his hair parted differently and did some asinine strut that Peter Parker would think was cool, but was far from it.

Of course, as the most tortured of the superheroes, he had a lot of angst in this one. His life is falling apart, he's meaner, seeking revenge and on and on. Of course, the New Goblin wants to avenge his father's death and you have Flint Marko, aka the Sandman, running around. That means cool CG effects, lots of action, and people making choices, yes, choices, in the movie. It was so mushy near the end, Kevin and I had napkins to do the fake crying bit.

Maguire and Dunst and Franco were the same. Aunt May had a bigger part. Topher and Thomas Haden Church were decent enough as the villains. Bruce Campbell absolutely kills in a small part as the maitre'd at a French restaurant. Certainly not the best of the bunch, but it is Spidey, so you have to see it on the big screen.

Meal of Links

Elvis Costello reissued his early catalog again. This time, actually winding up on iTunes. About time.

David Byrne chats about the science of music. Lengthy, but worth the read.

Who knew that it was National Masturbation Month? The Masturbate-a-Thon heads, so to speak, to San Francisco near the end of the month. It's all for charity.

Exercise Yard

I think Mark Cuban's head is gonna splode. The Warriors beat the Mavs in an historic series, as a #8 beats a #1 in a seven-game series for the first time. Charley Rosen breaks it down.

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36 Across: "Stoned Soul Picnic" songwriter (4 letters) Answer: Nyro