I just watched a Superman movie in the theatre, how great is that?

And it was pretty good too. The film didn't grab me in the way that I hoped it would, but it still had plenty of moments where I thought, "Yes! Exactly!" So yeah, I liked it verymuch.

I will put up a real post with actual content in a couple of days.

I never have conversations like this with my Dad

Sweeeeet

This may be the greatest thing I own:

To anyone wondering whether I’ll change now that I wield the most powerful weapon in the universe, I say, of course not, other than occasionally getting out of tight jams by conjuring a giant, glowing- green boxing glove or two.

6.6.06

(via The Grand Comics Database)

Things

I spotted a couple of links from BoingBoing that I thought you should see. The first is the full text of Stephen Colbert's commencement address at Knox College a couple of days ago. Here's a sample:

But the best reason for me to come to speak at Knox College is that I attended Knox College. This is part of my personal history that you will rarely see reported. Partly because the press doesn’t do the proper research. But mostly because…it is not true! I just made it up, so this moment would be more poignant for all of us. How great would it be if I could actually come back here—if I was coming back to my alma mater to be honored like this. I could share with you all my happy memories that I spent here in...Galesburg, Illinois. Hanging out at the Seymour Hall, right? Seymour Hall?

The whole thing is funny, but if you're going to be a jerk and not read it all, here's the bit from the end that matters:

you are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what’s going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say “yes.” And if you’re lucky, you’ll find people who will say “yes” back.

Now will saying “yes” get you in trouble at times? Will saying “yes” lead you to doing some foolish things? Yes it will. But don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying “yes” begins things. Saying “yes” is how things grow. Saying “yes” leads to knowledge. “Yes” is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say “yes.”

And that’s The Word.

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The other item that caught my eye was this dude who was so offended by the way the Thing looked in the Fantastic Four movie that he made a Thing suit out of actual rock:
At his site he gives a walkthrough of how he put it together. The whole exercise makes me rethink my approach to media, seeing as my response to movies I don't like is usually to just bitch and moan. A bad movie has never inspired me to do a project.

On a side note, I don’t think I mentioned that I watched Fantastic Four a month or two back, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. It was bad, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn't the harbinger of the apocalypse like I was expecting. The Human Torch and the Thing are both fun to watch, and, in places, the sheer awfulness of the movie is entertaining in itself. I can’t recommend going out and getting the movie, but if you do, go in thinking that it's going to be godawful, and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

X-Men: The Last Stand

Saw the X-Men movie a few days ago and I thought it was adequate; better than the first, but not as good as the second. I’m not going to list through the plot holes that bugged me, because the real problem was that I never connected with the movie. I realized part way through that I would have found ways to excuse all the problems I was seeing had I been more engaged with the film. This move had a lot to live up to, and part of the reason it never clicked with me may have been because I think the second one was the best superhero movie ever made (it’s not my favourite superhero movie, but I think it’s the best one so far). The movie delivers what the trailer promises, and if you liked the trailer you'll probably like the movie. I was lukewarm on the one and wound up being lukewarm on the other.

That said, I agree with Mike over at Progressive Ruin who notes that the fact we got three X-Men movies that are watchable is miracle, anything more than that is just cake. I may post more detailed thoughts if/when I wind up seeing the movie again, probably when it reaches DVD.
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I don’t know how I managed to miss this Juggernaut video that everyone but me seems to have seen. The first half is funny, and although it gets less funny as it goes on, the delivery on the Juggernaut's last line kills me.

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Finally, in these two images artist John Byrne recreates a pivotal scene from the original story that inspired the Phoenix portions of the movie. The images are both the same drawing (by Byrne), inked by different people, the first by Byrne and the second by George Perez. The contrast between the two is an interesting look at how big a part inking plays in the look of comic art.