thebitterguy | Entries tagged with superman

Over on Mark Evanier's blog (which is such a great read, if only for his tales of the origin of Scrappy Doo) he reminds us that it's been 50 years since George Reeves died.

I remember that and I remember the great sense of shock my friends and I all felt. It wasn't the first time we'd heard a favorite TV person had died. Lou Costello had passed away three months earlier. But Mr. Costello's death was pretty normal and anyway, he wasn't Superman. The death of Superman cried out for twists and turns and a surprise ending...and while you played with all that, it was easy to forget how dreadfully sad it was. There was something about George Reeves on TV...some little twinkle and sense of humor that underscored his acting. When I've interviewed Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane to his Clark and Superman, I always ask her, "Was he has nice a man as it seems to us watching at home?" She always replies, "Even nicer." I think I'd rather remember than than the way it ended.

Reeves tenure as Superman predates... well, it predates me, significantly. I saw a few episodes of the show, but mostly I saw the Superman episode of I Love Lucy. Then there was the Afflect movie from a few years back.

Current Mood: sad

I really need to read one of Gordon Ramsay's non-cookbook books, if only to figure out why the heck he calls people "Donkey". Seriously, that's just... strange. On the other hand, maybe English douchebags just expect feelings to bruise when they feel like it, and don't need to make sense.

I have purchased the Hell's Kitchen iPhone game (See press release here), and it's pretty fun. I'm not sure what kind of game it is (a restaurant sim?), and have thankfully not fucked up so badly that Ramsay's screamed at me or called me any sort of beast of burden.

Last night I had to make an emergency Kitty Litter run because the cats had spent all Monday using approximately a handful of litter.

While I was there, I spotted a DVD rack in Ten Below, which is sort of a dollar store only instead of everything costing a loonie, everything costs under ten dollars. Clever, that.

So, while searching the DVD rack, I picked and chose some dvds. The most unfortunate choice was Terrrahawks, a Gerry Anderson series. Cynra is a big fan of Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, so I thought "Hey, that's an affordable price! I'm sure she'll enjoy it!"

Apparently, not. Hopefully they do take returns.

I did pick up a few other things that look interesting, including copies of The Kid Stays in the Picture and The Magnificent Seven. I look forwad to repurchasing them in Blu-Ray should I ever make the leap to that format.

I also picked up a copy of The Richard Donner Cut of Superman II. That means I can now return

redeem147's back to her and have my own copy to not watch.

I really, really hope it's better than the official SII, because when I rewatched it a few years ago... whew.

The oddest selection was a copy of Jimmy Macdonald's Canada, a CBC production that parodies old CBC productions. Once again, the perils of seeing something for sale for less than it would cost you to rent it. Hopefully it'll be good. I have high hopes, what with Theresa Pavlinek.

Man, you know what I just thought of that I hadn't in forever? The Superman 50th anniversary TV special. I can't remember 90% of it, but it seemed to hew between real and fantasy, talking over his career and his influence on pop culture.

I think, anyway.

The part I'm thinking of was about the rival newspaper in Metropolis who DIDN'T have Clark Kent working for them. They had the EiC talking about sure, the Planet has Superman on the front page every day, but we have... Jumble, That Scrambled Word Game!

I just really felt sorry for that guy.

You know, with the latest Superman movie coming out (no pun intended) today, a lot of big blue is flying through the mentosphere ( This one is less relevant, but has more swearing and is funnier). And a lot of people are spending a lot of words on it. "Oh, what is the MEANING of Superman? What does he represent? WHO is he?"

Do you have any doubt that I have an answer? Listen close: Superman means nothing.

Not a thing. He is a strong guy in tights. That's all. Written up by two kids from Cleveland (and Toronto) because they wanted to write about a really strong guy.

Okay, no. That's wrong. I shouldn' t have said it.

Superman means everything. Because what we get out of Superman is what we put into him. And each and every person out there puts a lot into him. Especially anyone reading this.

If you are an immigrant, or even the son of immigrants, you see the immigrant experience, someone coming to a new land where they're a stranger to make their mark. A shy reserved person? You see a shy reserved guy who's really the most powerful man on earth. A person with a strong moral sense? You see a paragon of virtue, who works tirelessly to do the right thing and keep his city, his country, and even his world safe. If you're all three, who knows what you'll see.

And, it's entirely possible, if you're a somewhat closeted gay man (it's a walk in with no door), you may see the dual life, buttoned down and reserved during the day, a whirlwind of colour and action at night, as possibly being reflective of some aspect of your own life, and may choose to direct a multi million dollar film with such subtext, although you may choose to eschew Canada's film resources for WB's sprawling Australian studios. Bastard.

But asking what the real meaning is is useless. Billions of people have, over the past 70 years, imbued Superman with their own meanings. There's no dogma here, no holy writ that says "HE is THIS!" He just is. He's like a boardwalk attraction where you put your head through a hole and get your picture taken. You see in him what you want to see in yourself.

Billions!

You know, I'm a deep down comics fanboy. I've got a feeling of fear in my gut after seeing the X3 clip.

But Superman Returns looks like it may be juuuust right.

Apparently, the fact that Superman is a Dick has earned its own site.

The best is the Seduction of the Innocent sub page. Starts with a classic, but goes on. Even gets some Archie stuff in there.

Current Music: Cake - The Distance

So cold. So very, very cold.

Actually, not THAT cold. It's the snow that pisses me off.

Last night was an adventure, to say the least. After a week and a half of not getting enough sleep, I had to decline

mr_weasel's GI event (a D&D game, not some kind of strange high fibre meal).

Snra. Bitter came to pick me up from work at six, but due to the delightful effects of snow (you have to drive slowly, you see), ended up arriving at 7:30. Ah, well. At least I got to enjoy a nice episode of Seinfeld. Jerry, what a wacky guy. Of COURSE Superman has a Super Sense of Humour. He has Super Ventriloquism, for the love of God!

I mean, imagine the hijinks you could get into with Super-Ventriloquism and a Super Sense of Humour. Heh. Absolute wackiness. "No, Mistah Premieh, you can kiss MY AHHS!"

That was supposed to sound like Kennedy.

I'd kill for a copy of the issue of Superman where JFK disguises himself as Supes. You know the one. November, 1963? Damn good timing, Schwartz!

Anyway, Snra. Bitter picks me up at seven thirty, and we head out on our long trek back to Mississauga. The highways were bad, so we decided to go overland. Traffic had diminished (few people go into commercial zones after hours, unless they're looking to beat traffic on main routes or going to dinner), but weather was consistent (crappy, that is).

So we went to dinner at the local Firkin pub (or at least a convenient one). They're lovely places, but it turned out that everyone in that particular commercial zone had had the same idea. The waitress told us that at one point, the customer volume was so high and staff was so low they almost ran out of plates. Amusing, I guess, if it doesn't happen to you. We nibbled on some appetizers for dinner (fried cheese is both yummy AND healthy!).

Home was achieved by almost ten, so we missed the new episodes of Angel & Smallville. Unfortunately, true, but life is not about TV.

I should remind Snra. that that wouldn't have happened if we had a PVR.

Have located a few Indian places for dinner on the 24th, and have a lead on a Karaoke establishment.

This morning, the drive into work was also bad. What should have been accomplished in an hour (my morning drive into work) took two, which meant that leaving the house twenty minutes early to remove overnight accumulation from Our Mighty Chariot was totally wasted. C'est La Vie.

(Intro: Paul Shaffer-esque jingle:
Spider-Man! Superman! Batman too!
It's time for Superhero MOooOOOvviiiiies!
Superhero Movies!)

Hey there, kids!

Well, you know that Spider Man's coming out today (you ever wonder why people were surprised when Northstar came out of the closet? Hell, I figure the normal response to a guy leaping around in tights is "you're NOT gay?", but I'm not even talking about that kind of closet).

So I thought I'd just hop on the wayback and talk about My Favourite Superhero Films!

(tttaaaa Daaah!)

#1: Superman II. My favourite. Sure, the first was good. But this one had him fighting supervillains, ripping apart Metropolis. The love story was lost on me then (and really doesn't make me that impressed now), but the superhero action rocks. Terrance Stamp as Zod just rocks. He gnaws on the scenery with Super strength. Damn

The Evil Kryptonians, BTW, weren't NEARLY as lame as Atom Man from IV.

#2: Batman. You know, this was my first inkling that fans are stupid. "Hey, Tim Burton's cast Michael Keaton! Didn't he make some comedies! Get them!" My greatest sadness in life (well, #23 on the list) is that I lost my 'Bite me, Fanboy!' button. Fucking fans.

So, yeah, it came out, made $50 Million, and we loved it. Even comic book store owners. I hate it when people talk and talk from behind a counter like it's a fucking pulpit. No, you goof, just because you figured out how many copies of Z-Dogs to order (wait, I didn't get one: You DIDN'T figure out how many to order) doesn't mean you aren't a total idiot!

Anyway, great movie. Nicholson as Joker, Keaton as Batman, and Billy Dee as Havey Dent (but DAMN, Billy Dee got white by Batman Forever).

#3. X-Men. They figured out that sometimes, you must get rid of the stupid stuff to make the story. So they had Wolverine and The Team. Maybe The Team will get more screen time next film. Maybe it'll be more Wolverine. Hey, who knows. It's cool, anyway.

And Hugh Jackman was still too tall to play Wolverine.

#4 Superman. John Williams, Marlon Brando, "You've got me? Who's got YOU?", Gene Hackman ("You don't have to tell ME about the fucking Superman movies!"). Yeah, baby.

#5: Blade. Because it was a Kung Fu vampire killah flick. The main villain sucked (okay, on WHAT planet can a vampire played by STEPHEN DORFF take out a vampire played by Udo Kier, who I believe IS a vampire? Not on MY planet, bucky!), but overall good flick. I still haven't seen the sequel, but the day is young.

Anyway, I'd continue on, but I don't really like anymore superhero movies (the Flash show was cool, though) and I have to catch a bus. Fucking commute.

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: I'se the Bye, by GBS