I am, therefore, very, very grateful that P-C has the same opinion, since I don't think he has any of the same buttons.

I have different buttons. Let me see if I can hunt down the review I posted way back when. If I wrote one.

Ah, here it is:

Spider-Man 2 is so awesome it makes me cry.

On a technical level, it's fantastic, the special effects seamlessly integrated so that Spidey doesn't look like a computer-generated webslinger but a man with the grace and flexibility of a spider and Doc Ock's tentacles don't look like animated limbs but sentient metal. Spidey's moves are off the hook, and the action sequences are those great kinds that make you recoil and duck and tense up. There's even a French Connection-esque chase scene.

But it's the script that really shines, that inspires critics to dub it the Best Comic Book Movie Ever. It dives into what it really means to be a superhero, to live a double life. How your two identities bleed into one inseparable persona, despite your wishes to the contrary. That, yes, with great power comes great responsibility. Peter's abilities become a metaphor for our own natural gifts, our aptitudes, and how they shape who we are and what we do. Do we turn our back on a possible future because it doesn't seem desirable to us? How do we choose what to do with what we've been given?

In addition, it dips into the nature of heroism, why we need it, why we choose it, and that we often find it in the most unlikely places. Even heroes need to be saved, sometimes.

Beyond the emotional impact it has on me personally, it's a perfect example of what a sequel should be. Like an episode of an arc-heavy television show, it builds upon the events of the previous installment. I loved how for much of the movie, Harry's antagonism towards Spider-Man is not made explicit. Viewers of the previous movie understand, and non-viewers can wait and figure it out. Also, the movie has serious balls when it comes to Peter's secrets. I don't know how much of it is canon, but I respect it. The events of this film set up the next one. This is the way you do comic book franchises.

Doctor Octopus is a much cooler villain than the Green Goblin. Aunt May is awesome. I can no longer see James Franco as anyone but Daniel Desario. J. Jonah Jameson still rules. Any complaints I would have about the movie would be minor.

In conclusion, Stan Lee's line is "Look out!"

As for husbands not "letting" wives do [whatever], honestly these days, I think that's a I'm-using-you-as-a-cop-out-okay-honey routine

I know I externalize money guilt onto Tom like WHOA. Like, I'll say that Tom will be pissed that I got this, and it's not that I'm not "allowed" to spend, but we have a budget, and I have to respect it, and I've mentally given Tom the thankless job as budget taskmaster because it is so hard for me to be self-disciplined. I think Hec probably caught a couple of my money guilt things when we were all out shopping on the Haight, cleverly disguised as "Tom's gonna be mad about THIS!"

It's not fair, and he doesn't deserve that. I am trying to be more responsible with money, but I guess I still rely on external cues more than my own choices/consequences.

Bah, I suck.

In the circle of women I knew in PA, it was completely acceptable to trashtalk their husbands, which really threw me.

This is one of the good things that I took away from the freak-ass church. My non-church friends who were married would often snipe at each other in public (and the wives sniped at the husbands as often as the husbands sniped at the wives, so it wasn't a husband-abuse thing), and trashtalk each other behind their backs.

So it really made an impression on me that the married folk in the FAC didn't publically bitch at each other, and didn't trashtalk each other in private. They *did* have fights, but they kept it to themselves, and not in front of a group of people. And they'd talk about their problems with close friends, but not in a trashtalk way.

That always impressed me, and it's something I mean to do if I ever acquire a spouse of my own.

Insanity! I usually like Willem Dafoe but he was way too broad as the Goblin. Compare and contrast with Molina's soulful Doc Ock.

Too BROAD?!? It's a comic-book movie! Not a Bergman movie!

Also the Spidey-Jesus imagery of 2 was way more compelling than Unca Ben's death scene.

The Jesus imagery made me roll my eyes for ever and ever. It SO didn't work for me. Because, as I said, it's a comic-book movie! No Jesus imagery! (Frankly, I think Jesus imagery in any sort of movie is a cliche.)

That was definitely a point against it in my book.

Oh Nora, I so wasn't talking about you!

(Or anyone, here.)

This is my mother. And if he won't leave her, then she's never going to change.

I guess my point was that, in my particular history, what seemed like unreasonable and bitchy behavior - well, it was bitchy, but not actually unreasonable.

I'm trying to think of an example that won't require mounds of backstory. But it's simple stuff, like refusing to ever give a straight answer to requests. I.e., "could you pick up the dry cleaning on the way home?" gets you "yeah, I can probably do that." Nothing, right? Except - totally unhelpful. If you can't, say so. If you can, say so. Either would be fine. This way, I have no idea if you'll do it or if I need to make other arrangements.

I'm not talking about a situation in which there might be actual logistical uncertainties so that you couldn't say for sure whether you'd make it before they close. This is not wanting to commit in advance of knowing - I don't know, whether you'll feel like it. It's a control thing at heart. And say it's not something usually insignificant like drycleaning, says it's picking up the kids, or meeting the train, or stopping to get a prescription; maybe it's about whether the kids can have the car on Saturday or if rides will need to be arranged.

Then you multiply that kind of behavior over many years, and suddenly someone's flipping their lid over a silly question - "are you going to be home on time on Tuesday?" or something, and to all appearances it's the person bitching and moaning who's the unreasonable one, not the poor man who only said "well, I'll try."

All of this is way to long a way of saying, uncomfortable as it is, it's hard to know who's actually doing the provoking and sniping when a relationship is showing its ugly side. And that's really just a general statement, since obviously I know nothing about Raq's friends or Jars' mom or any other specific cases. I'm just using my own history as a example, not meaning to imply any universality.

Oh Nora, I so wasn't talking about you!

No, I know. It's been bugging me since I did that to the extent I did in SF. In front of people! (not only Hec but Tom's boss's wife!) I'm so ashamed.

also, premenstrual. Let us not forget that.

Bah, I suck.

You so do not suck.

Frankly, I think Jesus imagery in any sort of movie is a cliche.

[insert snarky Passion of the Christ joke here]

Ignoring the Spidey and relationship conversations cause they make my head go explody.

I have returned to my OTT (one true tag). I think by now y'all know who I am/was. Anyway, UPS has my laptop "out for delivery". It should be at my house ANY TIME NOW.

I am NOT A PATIENT PERSION.

Oh dear.

Computer-ma, love!