Superman III

This fan-made trailer for Superman III [1983] edited in the style of a horror movie is pretty cool! And it got me thinking about how that film truly holds up compared to the other three Christopher Reeve Superman movies.



I'm still fond of Superman III. People bash it for being too comedic due to Richard Pryor's character and for having a weak villain in businessman Ross Webster; or simply not having Gene Hackman return as Lex Luthor (whose role in Superman II was minimal next to the Kryptonian supervillains).

But I liked Pryor's Gus Gorman character and enjoyed Robert Vaughn as the villain. And while the comedic scenes are light in tone, I think their contrast with the dark tone of other parts of the film may artificially make the film seem "campy" to some.

The villain's sister (Annie Ross) being robotized by the super-computer scared me good as a kid, as evidenced in the video above. And while that scene may not scare me now, Clark Kent's fight with his "evil Superman" half in a junkyard is still creepy to watch.

Superman III has a number of memorable scenes and being a memorable film is, in my opinion, arguably better than being a "good" film that no one can remember anything about. While many such movies may be of the "so bad it's good" variety, most memorable scenes in Superman III are good.

While I'm not alone in thinking Superman II [1980] is the best of the Reeve films, a lot of people really only discuss the first two in such a discussion. That's fair enough, but in doing so, the third film often just gets lumped in with the fourth, which is just unfair. In spite of or because of Reeve's efforts in coming up with a socially relevant story about nuclear weapons, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace [1987] is just a bad movie.

Actually, I believe I like Superman III more than I do Superman [1978], if only because the latter's awful ending literally made most of the second half of the movie not matter. Which is even more of a shame due to how great the first half of the film is, from Kal-El's birth on the doomed planet Krypton through his years growing up in Smallville as Clark Kent.

Anyhoo...

Marvel's Agent Carter cancelled

I only watch six shows on television. Of those six, if I had to choose only one to keep watching, it would be Agent Carter. Why, aside from the fact that the writing and acting are wonderfully above the plain? Because it stands out from practically everything else on television. Without it, television will be lesser. Not just less enjoyable and less interesting; simply lesser.

Ideas for walls come crumbling down ...

I was recently asked if I was "open to new ideas". The answer is definitely yes, as I even see potential in at least discussing ideas that may "stupid" to some people, if not outright "crazy". The phrase "thinking outside the box" is a personal favorite of mine.

So far, this post may seem quite positive or upbeat; but from here on it gets gloomy. Sorry.

I also consider myself an "idea man". However, I've never been a leader. That's not a bad thing at its most basic, but after years of wandering nowhere (quite literally), I'm lost as to what exactly I want to do with myself, and even more so about how to do so.

I've now discovered that not being a leader has mutated into not even being able to lead myself; even with regards to making simple one-time decisions that will have little to no future effect on my life or the lives of others.

I live in a house of fear, built on a foundation of self-doubt, and covered in a roof of resignation.

Award Shows *sigh*

When The Martian won the 2016 Golden Globe award for "Best Film - Comedy or Musical", I realized that the "best of" picks of a small-town, one-person film fanzine (for example) are likely just as if not more valid than any major award show's selections, and the fanzine has a lot more integrity.

That, in turn, led me to finally come to the conscious realization that the major award shows have long been about keeping Hollywood in suspended animation, and mainstream movies in the driver's seat with regards making all the money, money, money. Together, these two "standards" have held back people and progress in the movie industry in many, many ways - from simple creativity to who gets to be involved and how.

And the awards themselves - the golden statuettes - are mere window dressing. The real "prize" these shows give out is the right to put "Academy Award nominee" or "Golden Globe winner" on future trailers and video releases. And not just for the films in question, but any future film or video release or television show; no matter how weak the connection. "From [i.e. produced by] Academy Award winning director...", "starring Golden Globe nominee...", and so on.

I personally would like to see a new kind of film award event, where every award category features five winners, five runner-ups and five honorable mentions; all announced at the event. The winners would all get to speak, maybe even the runner-ups. If not, the runners-up would at least be given a video spotlight, along with the honorable mentions.

This would go a long way towards stupid things* like The Martian winning "best comedy or musical", because they (the Golden Globes) wanted two dramas to get win a "best film" award. (Or accidentally promised to the people behind two different films that they would win "best film". You'd think they could at least rig the drama vote so it would be a tie, and both films would get an award; and, more importantly, they'd both be able to put "Golden Globe winner" on their Blu-ray release.)

* The "stupid thing" being a drama winning as a "comedy or musical". Having some humourous moments and a great pop-music soundtrack doesn't make a film a comedy or a musical. And I personally liked The Martian quite a bit.

Anyhoo...

Movie Review - 36-15 code Père Noël [1989/France]

Finally! My second IMDb movie review (following 2013 "sharkploitation" TV flick Avalanche Sharks) - the 1989 Christmas thriller 36-15 code Père Noël from France. Like the former review, I thought I'd share this one here as well. Though more to add content to the blog than for the sake of readers. *crickets* oꞈọ

I can't remember if I actually checked the spoiler box when I submitted this to IMDb, but when it showed up it had the "may contain spoilers" warning at the top. Though, in my opinion, the closest thing to a spoiler (in the last sentence) barely counts. Well, here we go...

I looked everywhere for this film before finding it on YouTube. No sub-titles, and my french is rusty (Maritime Canadian french, at that), but it's not very dialogue heavy. I also found a Spanish dub on YouTube, since the video cut off before the very, very end. There was only 30 seconds left and then the credits, accompanied by "Christmas" by Bonnie Tyler. (Best known for "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and apparently very popular in France.)

The hair, fashion and technology seen in the film is quite dated, the last of which is most notable since it is a key element to the character of "Thomas". The miniatures used for the mansion were lacking, and some of the set pieces were a little weak or odd. But the direction and cinematography was very good, as were the performances by the boy, grandfather and "Santa". In fact, I don't recall a middling performance by anyone in the film.

This is a good example of a film that would be perfect for a remake due to the dated look and weak set pieces. The most difficult thing to replicate, however, would be how believable the characters acting and dialogue is, even in such an unlikely scenario. Despite trying to be as gung-ho as his movie idol "John Rambo" while trying to protect "Papi" and himself, the film gives us a wonderful look at how truly afraid he really is. Which makes him all the more brave as he stays proactive throughout the ordeal.

The only thing I'm really disappointed about, aside from the fact that this film has never been given a DVD release, is that that the IMDb cast list in incomplete. As listed in the end credits, the dog (listed as "J.R." I believe) was played by Canaillou. Oh! And this film, despite being more of a thriller and some characters actually meeting their end, is actually much less violent than Home Alone.

Hope you enjoyed the review, since your options for seeing the film are very limited. Though I read that there may be a DVD/Blu-ray release in 2016. There's no image for the film on IMDb, so here's the original poster in all its late-80s glory ...

Wait? Didn't I just say it's never been released on DVD? Well, I guess I was wrong. However, I have no idea when this DVD was released and if it's still available. And a quick search of Amazon and eBay only found the soundtrack, posters and one, lonely VHS tape.

While this sleeve is in french, it's from LK-Tel Video, a company from Argentina (I believe). There is a Spanish dub, as evidenced by my review, and I've read there's a german dub. My online wanderings have shown me german covers/posters for the film, but I've yet to see one in english.

Anyhoo...