Little fluffy clouds

[alexsarll]

Hurrah, the calendar and the climate are both agreed: it's Spring! Which after a week and weekend of that incessant, spirit-sapping, confining-to-quarters rain, is very much what I need. And this evening I get to walk through Stroud Green proper - which is always at its best on Spring evenings and Autumn mornings - because it is on my way to a very handily placed talk on Xanadu by John Man.

The weekend: busy. Friday was Bou Tea then Poptimism then the first Cheeze & Whine, which surprised me by being how clubs used to be, ie strangers coming - but then actually dancing and getting into it and flirting with your mates. Because as much as I like the sprawling, overlapping webs in which I often move, sometimes it's refreshing to have an evening that's a bit more...exogamous? Then back to TOTP Towers where apparently I spent an hour shouting about Menswear, then fell asleep. Sounds like me. I also insisted that xandratheblue read All-Star Superman. She was not the weekend's only victim, either. Since I've mentioned it, that goes for all of you too. It's not that Superman is necessarily dull, it's just that until this nobody had ever done him right before.
On Saturday I was essentially ruined. I staggered out for drinks and then a party but was present in body more than mind; by the end of it I was so shattered that I took the lazy and profligate decision to get the bus back even though I was only in Seven Sisters. Poor show. Sunday saw me recovered, ish, just in time to get messed up on Space Raiders and cans at SF Film Day. Iron Man is still as good as I thought it was, Blade Runner gets better every time I see it even if the Final Cut is barely any different to the Director's, and the Star Trek prequel/reboot was a lot better than I expected given I hate Star Trek. I was only really interested in watching it for Simon Pegg, who was of course excellent, but Karl Urban as McCoy was possibly even better, and I love how they get around the problem of prequels by establishing early on that the actions of the film have altered the timeline - hence, jeopardy is restored.
Then we finished up with some crazy-ass Justice League set on Apokolips which meant explaining Jack Kirby to people in between giggling about Highfather 'communing with the Source'.

Comments

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

It's not that Superman is necessarily dull.

Yes he is.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

You also need to read All-Star Superman. He is essentially Jesus done right.

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

You've mentioned it before, I still don't believe nor trust you on this issue. :P

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

You should, for I am wise.

[steve586.livejournal.com]

He's totally right, Pippa. Superman bores the shit out of me, but All-Star Superman is as good as comics get.

[xandratheblue.livejournal.com]

I totally fell asleep reading it, though that might have been the 5 hours sleep for the last...forever and reaching a 24hr day.

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

Now I feel torn between something like a good and bad angel on each shoulder. Both telling me to do something my stubborness is against.

I will leave you and Alex to fight over which angel you wish to be. :D

[moleintheground.livejournal.com]

It's fucking brilliant.

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

I trust you Ed! Maybe I will steal someone's copy!

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

He's right this time! All-Star Superman is kind of awesome.

[vertigoranger.livejournal.com]

All-Star Superman *is* entirely awesome. Except for the Bizarro bit, which is merely interesting.

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

Sigh, I guess I have to conceed on this one. I just hope Sarll is not right about anything else. :D

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

That did suffer a little from not being done-in-one like everything else bar the arc plot. But it was still among, well, the 12 best Superman issues ever.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

Karl Urban is insanely good in that film.

i like the way no-one is really impersonating anyone apart from him - and it's only because Deforrest Kelley was far and away the best bit of the originals. Every film needs a grouchy southern gent sarking it up!

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Sylar was sort-of impersonating Leonard Nimoy at times, which is especially weird when Nimoy's there too.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

He;s the least good, though, weirdly. Chris Pine does a great job of being Shatner without copying Shatner, but maybe doesn't have enough to do with that in this one. With a bit of luck the next one will re-introduce Khan and everyone can high five forever.

[hoshuteki.livejournal.com]

If the next one reintroduces Khan then everyone will be COMMUNING WITH THE SOURCE forever.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I wonder, did Kirk ever get to commune with that green alien girl's Source?

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

and if so, is there film of it?

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

She was rather cute.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

Good quote from the actress, too!

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

That has reminded me that I need to see GI Joe at some point.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

And I'm here to assure you that you really, really don't.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Have you seen it? That bad? Even Eccleston?

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

I saw some of it, before I realised I had better things to do with my time. Maybe it gets better throughout, I can't claim to be the expert.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

That would be ace, though I would imagine we'll get Klingons first. Indeed, I was surprised they weren't the antagonists in this one.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

Too easy to deride, I reckon. It's all played very cleverly away from expectation, while hitting enough 'Wrath Of Khan' grace notes to make the faithful geekgasm. Indeed, Leonard Nimoy all but introducing himself with the line "i have been and always shall be your friend" gets me every time.

It's my dream ticket though, like the writers went, "man, but star trek is tedious rubbish, but that old series was camp goodness and the best of the eighties movies kick ass, so why don't we jettison everything else and restart those?". Those guys are wise.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

Ah, it would seem it may be in the running already.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Nice. And yes, I think I pretty much agree with your assessment up there. It's interesting how Batman Begins also went with relatively obscure villains for the reboot, and did well - whereas Superman Returns went straight to Lex Luthor, and didn't.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

Which is a shame, 'cause when Kevin Spacey got it right "WRONG!" he was great.

But yeah, I think it's relatively logical - You need audiences to be familiar and comfortable with your reinterpretation of the protagonists before you give them a reinterpretation of antagonists who are equally iconic. Arguably, had The Dark Knight come first, it may have been overwhelming.

In the superman case, however, I just reckon Bryan Singer didn't have the script he needed - the cast (Lois aside) were just as effective as the best of the Star Trek reboot cast, only there was nowhere new for them to go, other than into domestic drama. Yeah, 'cause that's what made Superman II so awesome...

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

There was the additional problem that there are several different versions of Luthor and nobody seemed clear which one he was meant to be playing, 'cos it varied scene by scene. I was half-expecting him to whip out a ginger wig for five minutes, or hop inexplicably into a purple and green battlesuit...

It wasn't just that they had nowhere new to go, it was also that they went actively against the character. Superman gets a girl pregnant and fucks off across the galaxy? Superman? And then spends much of the climax of the film in bed? These are schoolboy errors.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

Fair points all. At least we're agreed that they spaffed it up the wall.

i would really like Brandon Routh to get a second crack at it though. I thought he was great.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

and yeah - the stuff you highlight i had in my 'family drama' bracket. What the fuck were they thinking?

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Routh was very good when he had the material, agreed. There was about 40 minutes of gold in there - the 'plane rescue first and foremost. Alas, I don't think you come back from that sort of crash with the same lead. See also - George Clooney, who by all rights should now make an excellent Batman. Never going to happen, though, for one obvious reason.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

Nipples.

[moleintheground.livejournal.com]

It just fucking blew. There's not a frame of excitement in the whole film. NOT ONE.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

No, that's going too far. It's not Elektra or Batman & Robin. There aren't *enough* frames of excitement, sure, but there are glimmers which make the overall sagginess that much more disappointing.