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Post by tombitd on Jul 24, 2010 7:00:10 GMT -5
though Roth was a complete embarassment in trying to mimic Reeves rather than making the character his own). To be fair, Routh had no choice in the matter--he was playing Superman in Bryan Singer's attempt to painstakingly recreate the Donner films, which meant he was instructed to play it like Reeves. Routh has proven himself to be a decent actor since, and I almost wish he could play Supes again and let his interpetation shine through.
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Post by james on Jul 24, 2010 8:25:34 GMT -5
Routh has a role in Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe.
I liked Superman Returns very much. I thought that trying to recreate elements of Donner's film wasn't a great idea, but I did like Singer's way of composing shots, and there are some images in Returns that are better than anything in Donner's film. I thought that Superman saving Lois in the airplane was better than the helicopter scene from the 1978 movie. And I grew up watching the earlier film; I saw it many times. I still think Singer did it better. Donner's Metropolis looks like New York in 1977, but Singer's looks like a timeless mix of modern and older styles. I think Singer has a much better "camera eye" than Donner.
James
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Post by Eddie Love on Jul 24, 2010 9:35:32 GMT -5
though Roth was a complete embarassment in trying to mimic Reeves rather than making the character his own). Routh has proven himself to be a decent actor since, Yes, he was terrific as Shaw on CHUCK. (I loooooooooooove CHUCK.)
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Post by Derrick on Jul 24, 2010 10:35:12 GMT -5
I just did some further research and am going to check some of these Shell Scott books out. A very influential (on me) spy novel from my early teen years was William Golden's MARATHON MAN. An excellent, suspenseful book, which was made into an even better film by John Schlesinger. Golden wrote a sequel, BROTHERS, several years later that didn't quite work for me. BROTHERS would have worked much better if Goldman had used a new character as his lead instead of resurrecting Scylla (played in the movie "Marathon Man" by Roy Schneider) In both the book and movie, Scylla was the next best thing to being disemboweled and it's kinda hard to recover from that.
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Post by Eddie Love on Jul 24, 2010 10:54:59 GMT -5
I just did some further research and am going to check some of these Shell Scott books out. A very influential (on me) spy novel from my early teen years was William Golden's MARATHON MAN. An excellent, suspenseful book, which was made into an even better film by John Schlesinger. Golden wrote a sequel, BROTHERS, several years later that didn't quite work for me. BROTHERS would have worked much better if Goldman had used a new character as his lead instead of resurrecting Scylla (played in the movie "Marathon Man" by Roy Schneider) In both the book and movie, Scylla was the next best thing to being disemboweled and it's kinda hard to recover from that. I wish Goldman had kept writing novels, instead of becoming a professional guru on the subject of screenwriting. I loved all his books as a teenager, he may have been my first favorite writer in that I read whatever he wrote regardless of the genre -- so that included his door-stopping stabs at serious fiction. Plus his non-fiction book THE SEASON is probably the best book about Broadway ever.
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Post by grubl on Jul 24, 2010 11:12:38 GMT -5
James, I think that you hit on one of the major problems with SUPERMAN RETURNS when mentioning it's strengths. Singer spent so much time and energy hitting all the anticipated fanboy marks and filling it with such beautiful iconic images (Superman hovering above earth, the homages to ACTION COMICS # 1 and to Alex Ross, and many more) that he forget to give us an enjoyable, smooth and coherent film in-between. And I'll give you that artistically and technically the airplane rescue was superior to the helicopter rescue, but it carried nowhere near the emotional weight and impact. I didn't even remember it (airplane scene) until you mentioned it, but almost everyone who saw SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE in the theatre loves and remembers the helicopter scene fondly. It was one of those moments that inspired almost universal chills. And, to be fair to Routh, this is probably the only film that I've seen him in, so he may well have been hamstrung and a better actor than this as some of you are saying.
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Post by grubl on Jul 24, 2010 11:16:58 GMT -5
Yes, Derrick, I agree. By bringing Scylla back (in BROTHERS), Goldman kind of trashes the earlier, much better novel. Also, I could never get my head around those exploding kids. It didn't seem to fit into the universe that had been set up at all.
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Post by Derrick on Jul 24, 2010 11:49:19 GMT -5
Yes, Derrick, I agree. By bringing Scylla back (in BROTHERS), Goldman kind of trashes the earlier, much better novel. Also, I could never get my head around those exploding kids. It didn't seem to fit into the universe that had been set up at all. I think you hit it right on the head. Whereas "Marathon Man" was a realistic spy thriller, the plot/story of BROTHERS was much more pushed into the realm of pulp action/adventure bordering on sci-fi. Not that I object to that, given my writing preferences. That's why I think Goldman would have been much better off with a brand new protagonist that fit that universe much better. But I guess because Goldman decided to say; "the hell with it" and bring Scylla back he might as well go whole hog.
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Post by geekarino on Aug 2, 2010 12:18:50 GMT -5
I've never watched it again since first seeing it, though I'm tempted to after hearing the episode you did on it. I recall it as capturing a bit of the outlandish flavor of the Tara King season. (There were giant, colorful teddy-bears walking around, no?) I thought both the leads were a bit off, Thurman more-so -- she always seems to be a little artificial and just working too hard. In those days, with her English accent, she came across as very drama school, although she looked spectacular. Fiennes was good, but I thought he was too leading-man handsome and erect. The genius of MacNee, for me, was that he epitomized the bowler-hatted Brit, but conveyed a kind of hale likability at the same time. There's nothing pompous or stuffy about Steed. Yes. One of the set pieces involved Connery and the scientists he hired meeting in secret dressed as different colored teddy bears to keep each other's identity from them. And yes--Thurman was thoroughly awful. She never was convincing as Peel; you hit it right on the head with your calling her artificial. I keep thinking that the director's original choice for Peel--Nicole Kidman--was a much, much better fit. Joanne Whaley Kilmer would've been the perfect choice for Mrs. Peel. She's gorgeous and British to boot.
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