75 Years of Superman

I have been  reading a lot about Superman lately because of the release of Man of Steel so I revisited the Superman classic movie from 1978 with Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and Christopher Reeve. I bet this was the only time Marlon Brando was in a comic book movie! This movie still held up, and was enjoyable, except I cringed at Margot Kidder's portrayal of Lois Lane as a damsel in distress that needed to be rescued all the time. 

I much prefer Superman on TV actually. I adored Lois and Clark ,because I am drawn to Clark Kent much more than Superman, as Clark  is vulnerable and a hopeless romantic. Talk about being swept off your feet, and  being on cloud nine, you can literally fly among the clouds with him!  I also liked that Teri Hatcher, as Lois, was the star of the show and a no- nonsense feminist. She and Dean Cain had a great chemistry.  I have recently started watching Smallville which showcases Clark Kent as a teenager, and explores the relationship between Lex Luthor and him before they are arch enemies. I am not sure why he only falls for girls with alliterative names. Lana Lang really?
I haven't read any of the Superman comic books but my jaw dropped to the ground when I found out that the very first comic book Action Comics (1938) is worth 2 million dollars. If only I had kept my Batman comics!  He helped establish the superhero genre.  I love that he is a superhero with the strongest moral code.

I really do sometimes wonder if there is any truth to the rumor that there is a Superman curse, but I hope not for  Henry Cavill's sake!  We all know  that Christopher Reeves died young ,after being disabled for 10 years prior due to a horse riding accident , and look what happened to George Reeves! He committed suicide at age 45. Brandon Routh has not had any bad luck yet, but he wasn't considered a very good Superman and hasn't had any real career trajectory yet. Dean Cain's acting career seems to have stalled as well.  Margot Kidder  has suffered from mental illness but denies that there is a Superman curse.

Hollywoodland is a fascinating biographical docudrama  starring Ben Affleck as George Reeves . I highly recommend it . There was some speculation it was foul play the private detective thought but it remains a  notorious unsolved mystery!

Finally, are you looking forward to seeing Man of Steel?  I have mixed feelings about it because it is the darkest one, and there is no Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, and there are apparently too many fight scenes.  I would like to see Russell Crowe as his  biological Dad, and Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as his adoptive parents.  I like Amy Adams but think she is miscast as Lois Lane.

Arrested Development Season 4 on Netflix

I am a huge fan of  smart,twisted sitcoms , celebrity cameos, Ron Howard, and Jason Bateman so Arrested Development  really is my cup of tea. I was singing Carly Simon’s  Anticipation all of Sunday May 26 . I watched  the first 2 episodes Monday morning.I thought they were ok but not as strong as the last half of Season 3.  Later in the week I watched up to season 6 when the laughs started to come fast and furious.  

I thought the cast all retained their comic timing although some aged better than others.  Jeffrey Tambor (Oscar)  and Jessica Walter(Lucille) looked exactly the same but I thought Maeby and Lindsay  had aged a bit . I always liked the comic timing and chemistry between father and son Jason Bateman and Michael Cera the best in the first 3 seasons and I continued to do so. The addition of Isla Fisher to the cast was a great choice  and I liked the episodes she was in the best , as Ron Howard was also featured in them.

I find the characters of Gob and Tobias the most annoying and not funny at all since the first season and that is why this sitcom isnt in  my Top 3 of all time.   I did like how each character had at least one story of their own  (Jason and Michael had 2 each) they were strong enough stories to stand on their own. Liza Minelli as Lucille2  always makes me howl with laughter as well.

I would say this series is definitely worth subscribing to Netflix for and I think it would survive on  specialty cable if it was released today. It would do well on HBO or Showtime was just ahead  of its time ! I hope it lasts until Season 10 and my rating is  ⅘.

The Internship subtitle should be Google is God!

The Internship Movie Review  

I was looking forward to this movie for  two reasons I love the  mellow laid back Owen  Wilson paired with the  high energy fast talking Vince Vaughn. I also  have  dreamed about  visiting the  Google  campus  in California  and this movie reinforced my belief it would be one of the greatest employers in the world. All food free in the cafeteria and  nap pods to take a catnap.

I was worried that all the funniest parts of the movie would be in the trailer as has happened with so many comedies in the past .  I shouldn’t have  worried . A  Quidditch game, brooms and all, has to be seen to be believed, and  the Harry Potter terminology   the teams  use to describe the rules of the game has Owen  exasperatedly  say  You are making me feel like I am back in math class again! What does this have to do with computers?

The guys are matched up with 4 22 year olds who are already world weary and cynical.  They have good reason to be as the job market  is not easy to break into , university or not, not like it was in the 80s .  They are not impressed with  having 2 newbies  who can barely use a webcam  and have never even heard of Instagram   until  the guys people skills and positive attitude actually help them start winning challenges , much to the chagrin of nasty British  intern ( Max Minghella) who was last seen in the Social Network.  I love the  80s film analogies sprinkled throughout the movie. I identify with them much more than Harry Potter or X-Men.

There  is a delightful romance between the gorgeous Rose Byrne ( Damages )  and Owen . It is not the typical meet cute situation and no silly misunderstandings occur.  Although its not completely realistic that  Google would hire  40 year olds without thoroughly checking their education and  computer literacy, the romance and all the friendships that develop through the movie  ring true.

John Goodman has a small role as the guys former boss , and is much funnier than he was in The Hangover 3 .  In short, this movie  was a coming of age movie both for the  20 year old interns and Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson who finally realized what they wanted to be when they grew up!

This movie is great for all ages  the audience I saw it was  mostly  over 50 and they laughed at all the computer  jokes and there is no bad language so its great to bring kids to as well.

I give this movie 5/5  any movie that makes me laugh so hard I have to take my glasses off and wipe the tears away deserves  this rating.  

Here is a  Google Plus hangout I watched live in February with Conan O’Brien as host