The Great Debate

Life does get harder when one has kids.

Tom Waits is touring. Tom Waits rarely tours. It's basically a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The closest place he is playing to us is Akron, OH. I've been to Akron-it ain't pretty. In fact, it's downright depressing. Driving 5 hours to end up in Akron sounds like a death sentence.

But the challenge lies in trying to organize my sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and Mike and I to try to go see this concert and find childcare. We do not have relatives close by (except those attending the concert) and we are sufficiently antisocial enough so that there is no one we can leave her with. I suggested a cat carrier for Maddy-then we could just keep her in the car while we go to the concert. Michael nixed that idea. Can't imagine why.

We have this problem with movies too. Understand that Michael and I met in a movie theater-in the projection booth no less. We both worked at the theater and saw movies for free constantly. In fact, that's honestly all I remember doing before marriage. We stopped going as much when they stopped being free (read: we got real jobs) and since Maddy has been born I have only seen two movies in the theater.

Which brings me to Superman Returns:

But first I need to make some things clear:

1) Although I like Superman, I am no expert-I've read only a handful of comic books, most from the 60s, a few Jeph Loebs, and an Alan Moore. I think I have seen all of the Superman movies-I even vaguely remember seeing Quest for Peace in the theater in Puerto Rico. Most of my Superman knowledge comes from conversations with Mike. So I might not know what I am talking about.
2) I recognize and appreciate that Superman is hard to do. Superman is a Boy Scout. He is perfect in every way and is therefore not very interesting. His lack of imperfection is the most alien and disconcerting thing about him. Furthermore, he is hard to believe in nowadays. Give me a brooding Batman or a goofy Spider-man any day.
3) I didn't hate the movie. I was just completely not impressed.

Things I did not like about Superman Returns:

-While Brandon Routh did an OK job as Superman, his movement was overdramatic. I think this was the director more than the actor. If I had a drink every time Routh landed and did a 3/4 turn, I would have been drunk an hour into it.
-Lois Lane looked way younger than I do-and she has a five year old and won a Pulitzer? Pulitz-ese.
-Christ imagery. Don't get me wrong, I totally dig this stuff-when it's subtle. I do not appreciate someone beating me over the head with a cross, yelling "Do you get it?!?! We are talking about Jesus!!" The bits with Marlon Brando sending his only son to save the world, the overdramatic fall to Earth in the cross pose, getting stabbed in the side...it was a bit too much. It worked in Spider-man, it worked in The Matrix, it did not work here.
-Singer should have started from the beginning. Really, making Superman 3 twenty-some years after the fact does not work. People need to be reintroducted to Superman, like Raimi did with Spider-man. You need to be reacquainted with his superpowers, his backstory, etc...I saw Superman Returns with my sister-in-law who claimed to have never seen any of the films, read the comic books, did not know anything about Superman. Surely there is more people like her out there and I wonder how the movie sat with them.
-Michael (who did like the movie) says that it did seem to have a lot of baggage. I totally agree. The set was 1930s inspired, the technology futuristic, but there were hints of the 70s all throughout. Overall, I don't think it worked.
-Parker Posey. I didn't think she did a bad job, but I also didn't think her character was needed. This was one of the problems with the old Superman movies-Lex Luthor was not scary. He had the personality of a used car salesman. In this one, Spacey did a great job as Luthor and had the ability to be a great supervillain. However, by acquainting himself with dumb chicks like Posey's character, he diminishes his potential to be a truly challenging villain.
-The Richard character. Does James Marsden realize the only way the writers are going to get out of this bind is by killing him off? Oh well. If I didn't hate Cyclops so much, I might be more sympathetic.

By the way, superhero films I do like? X-Men, X-Men 2, Spider-man, Spider-man 2, Mystery Men (my guilty pleasure), and, the best one of all, Batman Begins.

My sister said I said something really funny about my plants tonight and that I should blog it, but I can't remember what it was, so I won't.

Maddy was playing with something on the floor tonight. It was an ant. I can't win.