Superman Returns

You'll notice my strip is somewhat later than usual this week. That's because I CARE.

Seriously, I'm ridiculously psyched about Superman Returns, so I ended up putting a bit of extra polish on the strip. Oh, man. I absolutely cannot wait to see the movie. I mean, good grief! It even has it's own MySpace page, which doesn't make any sense, but hurry! Quick! You can be the movie's friend! Um, right. Anyway, it's gotten great reviews, and Bryan Singer, the director, has a good track record with the dorkiness. As I've said before, he seems to be the perfect mix of dork and director, capable of geeking out with the best of 'em, but also able to shut the hell up and cut his favorite stuff if it doesn't work.

PLUS, Marlon Brando's in the movie. Really. How COOL is that? Perhaps you've noticed: I have a bit of a thing about Marlon Brando. I even do a passable (though cartoonish) Brando imitation. Hmm. I wonder if I could record that and post it. I did just buy a headset for my computer -- I'll bet I could figure it out!

I'm pretty sure my Brando thing stems from the 1978 Superman: The Movie, in which he played Superman's biological father, Jor-El. I've always had spot of extra love for ol' Supes; not only did I grow up devouring the comics (thanks to my dad, who fed 'em to me as fast as I could eat 'em), but the first Superman movie mesmerized me. Literally. I'm thinking I'll do quickie auto-bio strip about it. I really should. If only I were made of PURE TIME.

I remember -- vaguely -- reports about Brando's million dollar fee for his role in Superman, an unprecedented amount at the time, and he got top billing for approximately ten minutes of screen time. Gene Hackman took second billing, and Christopher Reeve, the man who would become Superman for an entire generation, received third billing.

Anyway, I recently learned some stuff about Brando's performance, including the unpublicized fact that he refused to memorize his lines; instead he insisted on having cue cards pasted up all over the set. When he's looking down into the crystal rocket and delivering his final, deep, heartfelt speech to baby Kal-El? He's actually reading his lines. Ha, I say. Ha. Though I guess the million bucks they paid is finally paying off. Scenes were filmed for two movies at once, and unused-until-now Brando footage is being used in Superman Returns.

Now it's time to take a page from the Bryan Singer handbook and stop dorking out.

Just for a little while, though.

:C