We Don't Need Another Hero
Every week when it comes time to pick a new renter I do so with a mix of anticipation and caution. I'm excited, because I like to find new blogs to read (see yesterday's post) who also, I'm not gonna lie, are interested in reading me. I find this to be the fun part of the BE program.
But the more and more renters I get, the more I get let down. I don't get these renters who rent out space and don't even say hey, thanks for letting me crash for the week, not even in a response on their own blog which yes, I do visit my own renters, too. It's creepy. At the end of seven days they go their way and I go mine.
This week's renter was a tough call to make but I went with Smile If You're Lying. There are three reasons I went with her:
1. I love the half truth/half lie concept of the site.
2. She adopts random lyrically references when naming her posts, a lot like someone else I know.
3. She already commented, before she was even chosen as a renter.
So there you have it. Please go visit Smile If You're Lying for me. And I hope by choosing her as a renter the no comment curse has been lifted!
CUE ACTUAL POST NOW...
When I went to edit this post I realized it had already been edited for me. Basically a huge chunk of the intro was missing and since I wrote it so long ago, I don't remember what I said. I only remember that it was good. Damn good. Just take my word for it.
What I'm talking about here are my belated feelings about the movie Superman Returns. I begrudingly saw this movie a little over a month ago now. I use the word begrudingly because it's an action movie and as any non action movie goer will tell you, action movies are just too long these days. So by chick flick conversion standards, any action movie is equal to two of my own.
Of course I was pleasantly surprised to find that Superman Returns didn't make my sigh in my seat nearly as much as I had expected it to. The catch here is since it wasn't that horrible for me, it must have been only eh to the real die hard action fans out there.
Without going ahead and ruining the movie for you (though since it is five weeks later and you should have seen it by now if you really wanted to that badly) I will say I'm surprised that fans of the genre had to do this "one step forward, two steps back" type of thing with the storyline since I heard that Lois learned Superman's real identity in a previous installment. I have seen bits and pieces of earlier editions but to be honest, I couldn't tell you the difference between any of them. If you want to draw a venn diagram, however, on Grease vs. Grease 2, I'm so your girl.
And while we're on the subject of identity, what is up with no one making the connection between Superman and Clark Kent anyway?! I know that's half the fun, but simply wearing a pair of glasses does not a geek make, though nearly every teen movie made in the eighties would argue otherwise.
Another slight disappointment for me was the technological progress the genre has made. See the world has changed a lot since the last time we saw Superman. There are cell phones and ipods and laptop computers. There are also many traffic tracking devices that could help spot Superman on say, Doppler Radar. They really didn't use any of these things to their advantage. But perhaps the most crucial hole was the laid back treatment of Superman's actual transformation. For years Clark transformed himself in the nearest phone booth but as we all know, real live phone booths run few and far between these days. So instead he opts...for an elevator. There wasn't even a snide one liner about it in sight. Ho hum.
But despite the way it may sound, there were things I liked. For instance, I liked that they picked an unknown actor to play Superman. Sure, it was a little bit creepy watching a guy who, to me, looked EXACTLY LIKE A COMIC BOOK COME TO LIFE and a LOT LIKE CHRISTOPHER REEVE. But then again, isn't that all the more reason that he was perfect for the role?
But it wasn't long before reality came a knockin' at the door. Kate Bosworth was entirely too young to play Lois Lane. I'll buy that Superman doesn't age. After all, he IS Superman. But Lois Lane is just a regular chick who happened to hook up with the man who can leap tall buildings in a single bound. In other words, even superheroes hoes have to age gracefully.
Finally, I hated the kid in the movie. Apparently his name is Tristan Lake Lebau. I can't trace ancestory of nepotism from his name, but I know it has be to be in there somewhere. There had to be a zillion other child actors out there that would have been so much better for the role in so many ways. But then again, I grew up in an era that revered the likes of Macaulay Culkin, so anything is possible.
So in summation, let's recap how I felt about Superman Returns.
Good acting, not so good casting. Not an unnecessary overabundance of special effects, not an acceptable amount of realistic effects.
Oh, and there's Kevin Spacey.
But the more and more renters I get, the more I get let down. I don't get these renters who rent out space and don't even say hey, thanks for letting me crash for the week, not even in a response on their own blog which yes, I do visit my own renters, too. It's creepy. At the end of seven days they go their way and I go mine.
This week's renter was a tough call to make but I went with Smile If You're Lying. There are three reasons I went with her:
1. I love the half truth/half lie concept of the site.
2. She adopts random lyrically references when naming her posts, a lot like someone else I know.
3. She already commented, before she was even chosen as a renter.
So there you have it. Please go visit Smile If You're Lying for me. And I hope by choosing her as a renter the no comment curse has been lifted!
CUE ACTUAL POST NOW...
When I went to edit this post I realized it had already been edited for me. Basically a huge chunk of the intro was missing and since I wrote it so long ago, I don't remember what I said. I only remember that it was good. Damn good. Just take my word for it.
What I'm talking about here are my belated feelings about the movie Superman Returns. I begrudingly saw this movie a little over a month ago now. I use the word begrudingly because it's an action movie and as any non action movie goer will tell you, action movies are just too long these days. So by chick flick conversion standards, any action movie is equal to two of my own.
Of course I was pleasantly surprised to find that Superman Returns didn't make my sigh in my seat nearly as much as I had expected it to. The catch here is since it wasn't that horrible for me, it must have been only eh to the real die hard action fans out there.
Without going ahead and ruining the movie for you (though since it is five weeks later and you should have seen it by now if you really wanted to that badly) I will say I'm surprised that fans of the genre had to do this "one step forward, two steps back" type of thing with the storyline since I heard that Lois learned Superman's real identity in a previous installment. I have seen bits and pieces of earlier editions but to be honest, I couldn't tell you the difference between any of them. If you want to draw a venn diagram, however, on Grease vs. Grease 2, I'm so your girl.
And while we're on the subject of identity, what is up with no one making the connection between Superman and Clark Kent anyway?! I know that's half the fun, but simply wearing a pair of glasses does not a geek make, though nearly every teen movie made in the eighties would argue otherwise.
Another slight disappointment for me was the technological progress the genre has made. See the world has changed a lot since the last time we saw Superman. There are cell phones and ipods and laptop computers. There are also many traffic tracking devices that could help spot Superman on say, Doppler Radar. They really didn't use any of these things to their advantage. But perhaps the most crucial hole was the laid back treatment of Superman's actual transformation. For years Clark transformed himself in the nearest phone booth but as we all know, real live phone booths run few and far between these days. So instead he opts...for an elevator. There wasn't even a snide one liner about it in sight. Ho hum.
But despite the way it may sound, there were things I liked. For instance, I liked that they picked an unknown actor to play Superman. Sure, it was a little bit creepy watching a guy who, to me, looked EXACTLY LIKE A COMIC BOOK COME TO LIFE and a LOT LIKE CHRISTOPHER REEVE. But then again, isn't that all the more reason that he was perfect for the role?
But it wasn't long before reality came a knockin' at the door. Kate Bosworth was entirely too young to play Lois Lane. I'll buy that Superman doesn't age. After all, he IS Superman. But Lois Lane is just a regular chick who happened to hook up with the man who can leap tall buildings in a single bound. In other words, even superheroes hoes have to age gracefully.
Finally, I hated the kid in the movie. Apparently his name is Tristan Lake Lebau. I can't trace ancestory of nepotism from his name, but I know it has be to be in there somewhere. There had to be a zillion other child actors out there that would have been so much better for the role in so many ways. But then again, I grew up in an era that revered the likes of Macaulay Culkin, so anything is possible.
So in summation, let's recap how I felt about Superman Returns.
Good acting, not so good casting. Not an unnecessary overabundance of special effects, not an acceptable amount of realistic effects.
Oh, and there's Kevin Spacey.
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