Ms. Howard, avoid bridges at all costs

Anyone who knows me will find it easy to believe that Unbreakable is one of my favorite movies from the past five (I guess six now, damn freaking new year) years. I was amazed that a Hollywood studio exec would let anyone make such an excellently paced superhero movie that had almost no superheroics in it at all. I've been a fan of M. Night Shyamalan since then. I had been semi-impressed with The Sixth Sense (I saw it after it had been hyped to the ceiling, which might explain my more subdued response), and I really liked what he did with Signs. I also enjoyed his most recent movie, The Village, quite a bit. I felt it was not as strong as Unbreakable or Signs, mostly because the plot twist was more transperant. However, the story is compelling and well told, and the visuals are extremely good as well. With a cast that included powerhouses Adrian Brody, Walking Phoenix, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver, one of the most notable performances was from Opie's daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard. The performance was good enough to earn her the role Nicole Kidman gave up in Lars Von Trier's sequel to Dogville, Manderlay.

But AICN has just announced that BDH has been cast in her greatest role to date, as Gwen Stacey in Spider-Man 3. In the comics, Gwen Stacey is the sweet and beautiful Girl Next Door that Peter Parker wanted all his life but had significant trouble getting. In other words, the character that Mary Jane became in the movie. In the comics, Mary Jane Watson shows up later when Peter's Aunt May tries to set him up with her friend's niece. MJ is movie-star gorgeous, with a wild party personality. She flirts with Pete who still wants Gwen, but then the Green Goblin throws her off the George Washington Bridge. When Spider-Man catches her by her ankle with his webbing, her head snaps back and breaks her neck and she dies (sound like a tragic version of the ending of the first movie?). Pete of course ends up with MJ, but Gwen's death is an influence on him that's eclipsed only by the memory of his Uncle Ben. It'll be very interesting to see what they do in the movie. I'm very excited to find out.

It's also ironic that they cast Kirsten Dunst, a blond, as the redheaded MJ, and BDH, a redhead, as the blond Gwen Stacey.