“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is the kind of film everyone wants to see before anyone else.
On its first day in Cagayan de Oro on July 29, even the early SM Director’s Club screenings at 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. were almost full. The only seats left were in the front row, the kind where you have to crane your neck at the screen. Naturally, no one wanted them.
Luckily, I found one vacant seat for the 12:15 p.m. show in the higher rows. It wasn’t my preferred spot, but who was I to complain? One seat left, and it felt meant for me. I think I had the same seat number for “Wicked: For Good.”
That’s what happens with potential blockbusters. Avid fans line up with excitement, and cinemas wisely make the most of the surge, hopefully making up for the ho-hum ticket sales of other films in this age of Netflix.
This year’s “Spider-Man” came with a gimmick: a tumbler that changes from white to red when filled with a cold drink. It features Spidey’s eyes and the Spider-Man logo. My first thought was, ice-cold tequila, anyone? SM Cinema posted the perk on Facebook, and one comment read, “deadpool o spiderman?”
I watched “The Odyssey” on Monday and “Spider-Man” two days later. I should have reversed the order. With “The Odyssey” as my point of comparison, “Spider-Man” paled slightly. Not because my arachnophobia has transferred to the film, but because after being overwhelmed by “Odyssey,” I expected something even greater.
And then there is the real multiverse crossover: newlyweds Tom Holland and Zendaya, fresh from playing Telemachus and Athena in “The Odyssey,” now back as Spidey and MJ. It gave me that strange feeling of living in both worlds at once.
Still, Spidey delivers as always. There were scenes that made my jaw drop, much in the same way “One Battle After Another” did. And all this talk about jaws probably makes you wonder if I am referring to “Jaws.”
While lining up for “Odyssey” on Monday, a senior guy asked me what I would recommend. In case you have been hiding under a rock, the first screening on Mondays is free for senior citizens. The Director’s Club, however, offers only a discount, not free admission.
I told him “Odyssey” was the film to watch that day.
He said, “How about ‘Spider-Man’?”
I said, “It starts on Wednesday, so you can catch it next Monday.”
He asked, “So what should I watch today?”
I said again, “Odyssey.” Then I asked what he had watched the week before.
“Mga espada man to,” he said. Swords.
“That’s ‘Odyssey,’” I told him.
By then the other seniors in line had joined the conversation, saying "Odyssey" made them fall asleep. I confessed that I, too, tend to doze off in movies these days.
It turned out every senior in that line had already seen “Odyssey,” so they needed an alternative. There was only one film they were all considering: “I, Object.” One of them commented on the poster, “Naa may silhig.” Perhaps that broom was already giving viewers a clue about what the film is about, much like Spidey’s costume tells you what his film is about. Otherwise, a moviegoer might just say, “Identity unknown.”
Spoiler alert. At least it’s not “Location unknown.”
