I find myself strangely uninterested in the new Spider-Man movie. My affection for the character faded about the time Stan Lee stopped scripting his comics. (I don't question that talented, brilliant writers and artists have done great stories since. They're just writing about a guy I don't particularly care about.) I also have an unrelated, natural reticence to patronize anything with that much advertising and promotion behind it. What seems to happen with "the new, hot movie" is that I put off seeing it the first weekend because everyone's going to see it, and I don't want to fight the crowds.
Then, by the second weekend, I've seen so many articles and talk show appearances and clips and reviews that I feel like I'll overdose if I go see the film. (For a time, at parties, I used to discuss current releases with people, just to see if they'd figure out that all I'd seen were the talk show clips. No one ever did.)
Then, the third weekend, there's usually a new blockbuster opening and I have no desire to go to the theater and fight that crowd to see the previous blockbuster. Then, week four, they're already talking about releasing the film on DVD and tape, so I figure it's no longer time-sensitive and I might as well wait and catch it on HBO…which I rarely do. I still haven't seen any of the Batman movies. Or any of the Superman films after the second one. I only saw X-Men because I was working for Stan Lee Media at the time and they had a big afternoon screening for the entire staff and passed out free lunches. (I was bored silly and would have walked out on it, had I not been sitting in front of Stan.)
The maddening part is that every time a comic book movie comes out, people I encounter all assume I've not only seen it but that I camped out overnight to be first in line. They're already starting conversations by saying, "So, what'd you think of the Spider-Man movie?" One even asked, "How many times have you seen it so far?" When I tell them I haven't seen it even once and am in no hurry, they act like I've just revealed some dire illness. No, I tell them; I just don't see what the rush is. At the moment, it's not a movie, it's an event. If it sticks around long enough to become a movie and there's nothing more promising on the marquee, maybe I'll catch a matinee. Eventually.