Web of Lies: Your new Peter Parker?

He may have a superhero name, but Logan Lerman does not inspire a great deal of confidence in me despite having been supposedly cast as Peter Parker. Mostly because it looks like he has yet to get pubes. I get going younger, but was the second choice a fetus?
Spider-man, Spider-man, does whatever a spider can...provided that isn't driving a motor vehicle, consuming alcohol, or achieving "second base." Seriously, what's going to be the big romantic story element? Will Mary Jane check "yes, no, or maybe?" BREAKING NEWS: They've just cast Mary Jane.
I know my hopes weren't high for this reboot/relaunch/total clusterf**k going in, but this has done little to assuage my fears. I know it's all rumor for now, but they're going to have to make a splash in the toilet water soon if they want to hit their LOCKED IN STONE release date. There's nothing quite like realizing that you're a whole generation and as much as a decade away from seeing your favorite character show up in the movies in a form that doesn't work like ipecac. Le sigh.

Web of Lies: Sometimes, it pays to wait

The way this whole Spider-man reboot debacle has played out thus far, I decided to bite my razor-sharp, frequently flapping tongue yesterday when the interwebs freaked the eff out about rumors that Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) was the top choice to play Peter Parker.
I watched as site after site glommed on to the news and ran with it, bemoaning his age (dude is 17), his emo look (I chose a picture with lotsa hair but he is sporting a rather Effron-esque do right now), and his lack of experience (although he did just wrap a major movie with tons of effects). Turns out, waiting is sometimes a good idea, as according to today's THR, he's not the top choice. Both the studio and Lerman's own peeps are saying he's not the top candidate. In fact, the only person really talking about the possibility...is Lerman himself. In related news, I Ryan Syrek am also being considered for the role of Peter Parker. Somehow, I doubt that will catch on. Okay, so Lerman may still may be a candidate, he's just not the top one. I do think this shows that our worst fears are taking shape, however. Columbia does seem to want to Twilight this franchise by making it skew younger, featuring more romance than action, and keeping the budget somewhat slimmer, and casting rumors like this only demonstrate that stupid-ass approach. If you want to take some other unknown series out there and do that, it's fine with me. But there's no need to trash Spider-man like this. It's going to backfire. It really will. If you are satisfied making an $80 million production and getting $300 million back globally, that's cool. It's a nice return on your money. That said, if you want to make a good movie, spend $150 million and get back $700 million, all you have to do is not suck. This is a hard one for me to let go, but I'm learning quickly that this franchise is circling the toilet like a porcelain-phobic who has the trots.