Spidey's coming!

As President of an entertainment company, it is almost in my job description to watch television and go to movies - how can it get any better than that? Considering my company, Platinum Studios, is a comics-based entertainment company, it DOES get better as I pay particular attention to television shows and movies based on comic books and graphic novels. This coming weekend we will see the kickoff of the early summer movie campaign with the highly anticipated Spider-Man 3, the 4th comic-based film to premiere in 2007 following Ghost Rider, 300, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (all of which hit #1 in box office receipts at least one weekend in their respective runs!) And Spider-Man 3 should be the highest-grossing film of them all, especially considering the first two Spider-Man movies grossed just under $1 Billion in worldwide box office. This weekend, we get to see our spidey hero wrestle with his own dark side as well as the bad guys. The Plot Outline: A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge. While I'm too old to go stand in line at midnight and catch the 1st possible showing, I am going on opening weekend and I am really excited.

On a cool side note, my oldest daughter (now a 5th-grader - yikes!!) was in a private school for kindergarten back in 2002. Like most private schools, this particular school required a lot of parental involvement in the classroom, which is nearly impossible on a regular basis when both parents work. My daughter had one parent who she really loved hanging out with because he always came on parent reading day and he was her reading partner. All year, I heard about Sam reading this book or Sam sharing that story, but because I came to school on different days, I never met Sam. Near the end of the year, there was a classroom event where our kids showed off stories that they had written with the help of their reading partner and I got to finally meet the infamous SAM. Needless to say, I was speechless as I stood there shaking hands with my daughter's reading partner, Sam Raimi, the director of all three Spider-Man movies, among other amazing credentials. But the surprises didn't stop there - the day was May 3, 2002, the very day that the original Spider-Man was premiering -not just some ordinary day. I asked him why, of all days, he felt it was necessary to come to school on this particular day when there was so much going on surrounding the premiere of his movie, and he told me something I will never forget. He said "Work is just work. My son's education is important to me and I made a commitment to be involved as much as possible and whenever I can. I'm never too busy to be here for him."

If Sam Raimi can come to kindergarten on the opening day of the largest movie of his career (up to that point) to be with his son, I can NEVER complain about being too busy to come to a talent show, open house or any other event my kids have going on. "Work is just work. I'm never too busy to be there for them."

-Brian