Three Down, More To Go?

It's been three years since this exercise in meaninglessness started. Since that time, the stature of this little blog has grown with the stature of Dusty Baker as a manager Jim Hendry as a General Manager Denis FitzSimons as a CEO of a Fortune 500 Corporation Brittany Lee as a classical actress.

We've come to the attention of the MSM. We've had some of our material lead to "debates" between other sites. We've even made a few friends along the way. It's been an enjoyable rdide, even if the main topic of discussion hasn't always been so.

Given the anniversary, we thought we'd focus on something much more interesting than the Cubs today. Oh, sure we could talk about Phil Rogers and his suggestion that, of 6 billion people on the planet, there's no one in his mind who would be better than Dusty Baker to manage the Cubs.

We could talk about how Scott Eyre says he doesn't want Dusty fired. Then, we could remind everyone that perhaps the reason WHY Eyre doesn't want Dusty fired is because Eyre said that he wanted to play for Dusty because Dusty runs a loose clubhouse with few rules. We could then point out that Eyre said nothing about playing for Dusty because of a chance to win.

We could talk about how some intrepid bloggers predict that the Cubs will lose two of three to the Mets, and then, when that happens, suggest that it may be time for a change in the Cubs manager. We would then ask, "If the Cubs are meeting expectations and, having met them, a suggestion is made that a change may be in order, wouldn't that mean that there was an expectation to suggest change previously so that expectations could be exceeded?"

Nah. We'll pass on all that today. After all, the focus of this site is entertainment. That's what sports is from the spectator perspective, right? Unscripted entertainment. Well, let's focus on the scripted side today.


Bryan Singer really, really tried to deliver a good Superman movie. Superman Returns is not one. It seems that they started with one story and finished with another. Clearly, the story from the start was a 9/11 story. Even Superman's spacecraft evokes the images of the destroyed Twin Towers (note: Why does Superman need a spacecraft as an adult?). Superman leaves and the world falls apart. Now he's back. Do we embrace him? Get angry for leaving? That's an interesting story.

But, halfway through the movie becomes a fairly typical Christ story. Sadly, that's a story that's been told many times in allegory, and done much better than this. The big ideas are lost. No thoughts as to how a man from a destroyed planet could save another planet. Really nothing.

Another interesting idea was the idea of Supes with a kid. But by having the kid's father be a hidden plot point, the writers created a boyfriend for Lois Lane. That kept Lois and Clark/Superman from having a lot of interaction. That loses another good part of Superman: Can a man who is totally alone find love?

Some other thoughts:

Kevin Spacey looked bored with the role outside of the scene where he talks about what gods are. Brandon Routh was a serviceable Man of Steel. He gets kudos for being a fellow University of Iowa alum, but is still second fiddle to Gene Wilder in the "Favorite U of Iowa Alum Actor" category.

Lastly, Kate Bosworth. Her Lois Lane was, in a word, horrid. The two best Lois Lane's were Margo Kidder and Teri Hatcher. Spunk, feistiness and quick witted were their characteristics. Kate's Lois was slow, plodding, and tight lipped. I dunno if these were her choices or poor direction, but, regardless, bad all around.

All that said, it was good to see the Big Red "S" on the screen again. Singer simply tried too hard to replicate what Richard Donner did back in 1979. The little references to the original were nice (like the meteor from Addis Abbaba), but sometimes got carried too far. Routh's delivery of his (and Christopher Reeve's) line on the safety of air travel was overstarched collar stiff.

Here's hoping Superman returns again.