Man of Steel

[Howard Hael]

I'd really, really like to pan this movie, but it wouldn't be fair, because
I slept though at least a half hour of it, and it's possible there was some
great stuff happening during that period which made up for the rest of it.

I can say, though, that 90% of what I saw when I stayed awake was just
awful. Faithful enough to the original story to hamstring the possibility
of going in interesting new directions, but not faithful enough to the
1930s gee whiz spirit to create any nostalgic fun. Just grindingly,
brutally stupid in so many ways.

[Dover Beach]

Howard Hael <howar...@notmail.com> wrote in
news:XnsA1E1A7029E491ho...@94.75.214.39:

Good to know. I guess I'll wait for the RiffTrax, then.

[Howard Hael]

Dover Beach <moon.b...@mail.com> wrote in

> Howard Hael <howar...@notmail.com> wrote in
>

>> I'd really, really like to pan this movie, but it wouldn't be fair,
>> because I slept though at least a half hour of it, and it's possible
>> there was some great stuff happening during that period which made up
>> for the rest of it.
>>
>> I can say, though, that 90% of what I saw when I stayed awake was
>> just awful. Faithful enough to the original story to hamstring the
>> possibility of going in interesting new directions, but not faithful
>> enough to the 1930s gee whiz spirit to create any nostalgic fun.
>> Just grindingly, brutally stupid in so many ways.
>
> Good to know. I guess I'll wait for the RiffTrax, then.

I wanted to yell at the makers to just watch The Incredibles so they'd
have had a clue how to make this movie. It's got the bad Dances With
Wolves / Postman version of Kevin Costner, not the good version of Kevin
Costner from Bull Durham, and when Bad Kevin Costner starts delivering
lines Full of Significance, watch out.

[bill van]

In article <XnsA1E294EB08639ho...@94.75.214.39>,

I thought Dances with Wolves was transitional for him. He'd done some
good to decent work before then, and made mostly crap (my conclusion
after seeing a couple of bad ones and reading reviews of others) since.
He had some flatulence in his DwW performance, but other aspects of the
production made it watchable.

Now, his presence in a movie is all the reason I need to avoid it. It
would take some terrific word of mouth to change that.

bill

[rroger]

On Jun 17, 8:45 am, Dover Beach <moon.blanc...@mail.com> wrote:
> Howard Hael <howardt...@notmail.com> wrote innews:XnsA1E1A7029E491ho...@94.75.214.39:

Since all people are different with different tastes, etc. and you're
a grown adult, why, Dover, don't you go see it and decide for yourself
whether or not you like it?

[bill van]

In article
<b68531f6-367b-4ab6...@o10g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>,

With that attitude, I'd end up seeing every crappy movie that comes
along, and I like only a small fraction of the movies that are released.
I much prefer to rely on the opinions of friends and/or reviewers that I
have learned to trust.

So far, what I've read and heard of Man of Steel doesn't make me want to
see it. Maybe when it shows up on free television. And I'll keep reading
and listening. I will sometimes see a mediocre movie with superior
special effects.

bill

[Snidely]

On Monday, bill van exclaimed wildly:

> In article
> <b68531f6-367b-4ab6...@o10g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>,
> rroger <raus...@aol.com> wrote:
>

>> On Jun 17, 8:45ï¿œam, Dover Beach <moon.blanc...@mail.com> wrote:
>>> Howard Hael <howardt...@notmail.com> wrote
>>> innews:XnsA1E1A7029E491ho...@94.75.214.39:
>>>
>>>> I'd really, really like to pan this movie, but it wouldn't be fair,
>>>> because I slept though at least a half hour of it, and it's possible
>>>> there was some great stuff happening during that period which made up
>>>> for the rest of it.
>>>
>>>> I can say, though, that 90% of what I saw when I stayed awake was just

>>>> awful. ï¿œFaithful enough to the original story to hamstring the

>>>> possibility of going in interesting new directions, but not faithful

>>>> enough to the 1930s gee whiz spirit to create any nostalgic fun. ï¿œJust

>>>> grindingly, brutally stupid in so many ways.
>>>
>>> Good to know. I guess I'll wait for the RiffTrax, then.
>>>
>> Since all people are different with different tastes, etc. and you're
>> a grown adult, why, Dover, don't you go see it and decide for yourself
>> whether or not you like it?
>
> With that attitude, I'd end up seeing every crappy movie that comes
> along, and I like only a small fraction of the movies that are released.
> I much prefer to rely on the opinions of friends and/or reviewers that I
> have learned to trust.
>
> So far, what I've read and heard of Man of Steel doesn't make me want to
> see it. Maybe when it shows up on free television. And I'll keep reading
> and listening. I will sometimes see a mediocre movie with superior
> special effects.

I've seen reports that it made a terrific haul the first weekend.
We're more than 18% of the way to the 2nd weekend, so I'll be listening
for updates.

/dps

--
Killing a mouse was hardly a Nobel Prize-worthy exercise, and Lawrence
went apopleptic when he learned a lousy rodent had peed away all his
precious heavy water.
_The Disappearing Spoon_, Sam Kean

[bill van]

In article <mn.8d567dd68a25ea3c.127094@snitoo>,

Snidely <snide...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Monday, bill van exclaimed wildly:
> > In article
> > <b68531f6-367b-4ab6...@o10g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>,
> > rroger <raus...@aol.com> wrote:
> >
> >> On Jun 17, 8:45�am, Dover Beach <moon.blanc...@mail.com> wrote:
> >>> Howard Hael <howardt...@notmail.com> wrote
> >>> innews:XnsA1E1A7029E491ho...@94.75.214.39:
> >>>
> >>>> I'd really, really like to pan this movie, but it wouldn't be fair,
> >>>> because I slept though at least a half hour of it, and it's possible
> >>>> there was some great stuff happening during that period which made up
> >>>> for the rest of it.
> >>>
> >>>> I can say, though, that 90% of what I saw when I stayed awake was just

> >>>> awful. �Faithful enough to the original story to hamstring the

> >>>> possibility of going in interesting new directions, but not faithful

> >>>> enough to the 1930s gee whiz spirit to create any nostalgic fun. �Just

> >>>> grindingly, brutally stupid in so many ways.
> >>>
> >>> Good to know. I guess I'll wait for the RiffTrax, then.
> >>>
> >> Since all people are different with different tastes, etc. and you're
> >> a grown adult, why, Dover, don't you go see it and decide for yourself
> >> whether or not you like it?
> >
> > With that attitude, I'd end up seeing every crappy movie that comes
> > along, and I like only a small fraction of the movies that are released.
> > I much prefer to rely on the opinions of friends and/or reviewers that I
> > have learned to trust.
> >
> > So far, what I've read and heard of Man of Steel doesn't make me want to
> > see it. Maybe when it shows up on free television. And I'll keep reading
> > and listening. I will sometimes see a mediocre movie with superior
> > special effects.
>
> I've seen reports that it made a terrific haul the first weekend.
> We're more than 18% of the way to the 2nd weekend, so I'll be listening
> for updates.
>

Me too. But the first weekend tends to be based on anticipation created
by advertising, rather than the responses of people who have seen it.

The main criticism, if memory serves, has been that the people who
brought us the last Batman series with the dark side to his personality
are using the same blueprint for the new Superman series, and that the
dark side is not appropriate to any previously known aspect of Superman,
who was always a sunny-side-up kind of superhero.

bill

[Dover Beach]

bill van <bil...@delete.shaw.ca> wrote in
news:billvan-B870DF...@news.shawcable.net:

>
> The main criticism, if memory serves, has been that the people who
> brought us the last Batman series with the dark side to his
> personality are using the same blueprint for the new Superman series,
> and that the dark side is not appropriate to any previously known
> aspect of Superman, who was always a sunny-side-up kind of superhero.
>

I loved the first Christopher Reeve Superman. Maybe I was just the right
age, or something. The subsequent Reeve sequels were okay-ish. Haven't
really cared much for any of the other iterations.

[Howard Hael]

bill van <bil...@delete.shaw.ca> wrote in

> The main criticism, if memory serves, has been that the people who
> brought us the last Batman series with the dark side to his
> personality are using the same blueprint for the new Superman series,
> and that the dark side is not appropriate to any previously known
> aspect of Superman, who was always a sunny-side-up kind of superhero.

Minor spoiler, I guess --

There were some bits in the beginning where Superman was an alienated
guy wandering through jobs on edge of society trying to hide his true
powers, and I thought those scenes weren't bad. And I thought the first
time they showed him as a kid freaking out about his powers was done
pretty well. But the movie kept loading and loading on the double
backstory for both his birth parents and his adopted parents and the
movie just sank under the weight of trying to be so heavily mythic and
personal.

This is a case where I wish the studio accountants had said to the
director "I know you want to make a 2:25 movie, but we're budgeting you
for a 45 minute cut. Time to start thinking about how to tell the story
a whole lot smarter and more economically, because we're not giving you
anywhere near the budget you want."