Gearing up for "Superman Returns"

That was fun.

Superman is also not supposed to have gotten younger after Superman II (when a portion of this movie takes place).

I think Cage could have pulled it off, the same way Christian Bale did with Bruce Wayne/Batman.

I think the biggest question I have is whether or not they'll deal with the absolutely moronic idea that people do not see Clark Kent as Superman, just because he's wearing a pair of glasses. I know my girlfriend doesn' scream bloody terror thinking someone else is getting into bed with her at night when I take my glasses off.

It's because she's thinking something else, isn't it?

Well, the DVD was just a compilation of the speaking tour he went on, mostly at various colleges. It was a great evening, well worth whatever I paid for the ticket. He told that exact anecdote pretty much word for word.

Matthew

"Effects" are becoming more seamless and just blended right into the movie. It's like being desensitized to violence. A lot of movies employ some really sophisticated animation so well integrated into the movie a lot of people don't even realize they're effects shots.

For instance, did you ever see any previews for Hoodwinked? The first thing I thought when I saw the trailer was, OMG, the animation and modelling are totally sub-par for a feature film. Granted, the animators could have been going for that low-tech video game look, but it wasn't obvious enough - such as with the way South Park or Bromwell High are animated for instance.

For King Kong, I thought the effects were decent and worked well with the picture, but I didnt' give them much thought or special attention. Which I hope was the point. Some people commented they looked "cheezy" or cheap. I didn't notice anyone raving about them being good.

George Lucas and a bunch of others tried to rally up some publicity for the last three Star Wars by talking about all the effects shots. Well, they didn't make the movies any better. And so many were so poorly executed they were painful to watch. All in all I don't think they were as groundbreaking or even as well done as movies that both came before and after them.

I guess that's it then. Effects have reached their peak. Anyone who tries to push effects even further will look too "Starwars Prequel".

I guess it is a good point that effects should blend into the movie. I thought many of those LotR "Massive" orcs were somehow acted at first glance.

Effects haven't reached their peak. Not by a long shot. I was definitely not trying to make that point. But we as movie-goers continually expect more and more before we consider something "mind blowing." Especially viewers that are technologically savy, IMO.

The capabilities exist today to create better effects than are demonstrated in most movies. So when something is weak, it stands out like a sore thumb. Like all the various throw-away shots they ended up using in the last three Star Wars movies that made what should have looked like natural human forms look like computerized plastic action figures being animated by stop-motion.

Take for instance all the clips I've seen of the new Superman movie. Everything looks good so far. Well blended and generally well thought out. Including the bullet to the eye. But I'm not jumping out of my seat saying "wow, can you believe that!? How is that possible? How did they do that?" - because it's all common place now and I know very well how they did it. Of course I still appreciate the artistic talent behind all of it. So I suppose now it's more akin to appreciating something like a painting. More for the artistic/creative instinct rather than the technological marvel.

But it's all a matter of perspective. Because when looking at some older productions, I *am* (still? now?) quite amazed. Simply by what they did with the technology of the time. In movies as well as so many other things - going back even to earliest recorded history.

I guess the rub for me is that the effects should be so seamless that rather than being noticable, they simply suck me further into the movie. The LoTR trilogy pulled this of amazingly well, I think.

That's exactly how things should be. Effects are there to complement the story and enhance a scene. If it's a fireworks show someone wants then they're better off watching a demo reel.

I have high hopes for Superman in this regard. Like I said, the effects I've seen so far have all been done in a way that makes them look natural (so you never have to think about them at all). LoTR was just about the best example ever.

Bruno