Nothing New Under the Sun

It was with great horror (okay, mild annoyance at myself) that I returned to comments by Dan Jardine at Cinemarati and saw a striking resemblance to some ideas I expressed on Superman Returns.

While I doubt I’d be accused of plagiarism, it’s clear that Dan planted a seed in my brain, and I should have cited him in my essay.

He wrote:

“I wonder about his purpose on this planet. Is his raison d’etre really to save people whose breaks [sic] have failed? Are there no larger problems he could tackle? Also, ... the film gives some lip service to the notion that Superman’s heroics will act as inspiration to humans, who might then improve their own lot by upgrading their behavior to match Superman’s. Yet, can you point to a single character who makes any significant step forward toward heroic levels of greatness other than Superman?”

So if you disagree with my assessment of the movie, blame him.

Leave a comment

I'm a LAMB

  • bt_assoc_grey.jpg

Recent Entries

  • Box Office Power Rankings: November 14-16, 2008

    Does it make sense to get out of the way of a certain blockbuster? Or should studios try to tap into a market being unserved ...

  • Fixed Favorites

    For the first time since fall 2006, I updated the 100 Favorite Movies feature of Culture Snob. Thirteen movies were added, and 29 went away. ...

  • Box Office Power Rankings: November 7-9, 2008

    It was odd to read these two things within a few minutes of each other: On Role Models: “[T]he kind of movie you don’t see ...

  • Box Office Power Rankings: October 31-November 2, 2008

    The consensus that Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Clint Eastwood’s Changeling were poor performers — the weakest Halloween weekend in a ...

  • Thomson Twinge

    “Have You Seen ... ?” David Thomson’s “Have You Seen ... ?” A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films is the book that I’d been waiting ...

Most-Read Entries

Recent Comments

  • I don’t disagree, but I think there can still be subtlety in a character with a hard surface. The performance might indeed be honest, but ...

  • I think the reason Taylor Hackford directed Jennifer Jason Leigh to deliver through clenched teeth is that her character, after years of abuse, no longer ...

  • Kudos on your inclusion of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” This film always seems to be criticized more and more as it ages. However, its ...

  • TRANSIT is one of best shorts I ever seen. Piet Kroon and Ian Harvey are together in a new movie: “Not the End of the ...

  • Two reasons I revere Martin Scorsese are: The tempo of his films and his compassion for characters on the fringe. His love of film ...

    Mike Reid
    My Movie Life
Close