Just before Christmas rumors began to leak out of Hollywood that Sam Raini’s Spider-Man 4 had run into trouble.  Nonsense, came word from Sony; the production is only on “holiday break,” all is well in Spidey-Land, and your favorite web-slinger will be swinging into your local multiplex on May 6, 2011 as planned.  

What a difference a new year makes.  Apparently, those rumors were true after all:  Variety is reporting that sources from Sony confirm that the production is on hold, perhaps indefinitely, and that a May 2011 release is now unlikely.

The reason?  It seems there are deep and perhaps intractable differences between Raimi and the studio regarding the quality of the latest script, the structure of the proposed plot, and even the choice of villain for this fourth outing.  Raimi is said to be keen on the Vulture, with John Malkovich to fill the bald baddie’s bird suit.  The studio, however, reportedly fears that the Vulture – an elderly character in the comics – is a poor choice of villain for a tent-pole, summer franchise film.  It’s unclear whom the studio would prefer, but clearly they are angling for more ‘hip’ than ‘hip replacement’ to bedevil Peter Parker’s alter ego. (more…)

Director and co-writer Sam Raimi’s ”Drag Me to Hell,” his first horror film since concluding the iconic “Evil Dead” trilogy with “Army of Darkness” in 1992, feels very much like a Sam Raimi horror film, but one hobbled with a PG-13 rating and slapdash script. The story of Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), an ambitious Los Angeles loan officer fresh off the farm with only a few days to shake a curse that could end with her being literally dragged down to Hell, is presented with the director’s signature style and wit, but lacks the intensity and memorable set pieces that make the adventures of Ash must-see viewing at least once a year.

In a depressingly bright and clinical bank, Chistine’s up for promotion to assistant manager and sees the opportunity to show her manipulative boss (The Great David Paymer) she’s got management chops when a grotesque old woman comes in to ask for a third extension on her mortgage. It’s only after Christine evicts her that she discovers the crone’s as batty as she looks and twice as vengeful.

Vengeance arrives in a parking garage, but a vicious beating isn’t enough to satisfy the old woman. She lays a curse on Christine that means plenty of disturbing and violent visions to come. (more…)