Summer 2010's next box office bomb brought to you by M. Night Shyamalan

[Smooth Groove]

Superman Returns wasn't horrible like some think it was but they really wrote themselves into a corner with that love triangle.  It still befuddles me how the bosses green-lighted Lois Lane living with another guy while trying to pass off Superman's child as the finance's kid.

[Cheebs]

Superman Returns wasn't horrible like some think it was but they really wrote themselves into a corner with that love triangle.  It still befuddles me how the bosses green-lighted Lois Lane living with another guy while trying to pass off Superman's child as the finance's kid.

I kind of feel bad for Bryan Singer, Superman Returns wasn't great but it was enjoyable. It seems like his career has all but died since then. He was a rising big shot before that. Kind of shocked he has failed to do anything of any importance since then since there was a time when the studios seemed to be masturbating to his name.

[Cheebs]

It was barely a Superman movie. It felt more like it was was Bryan Singer's nostalgic obsession with Richard Donner put in movie form that happened to have Superman in it.

[The Fake Shemp]

I agree with Cohen, it sucked. Singer has never been able to show that he can hack it as an action film director, so it's tough to find work doing tentpoles if you don't have the chops.

[Phoenix Dark]

Superman Returns>Batman Begins

[Great Rumbler]

Superman Returns>Batman Begins

:hippolol

[Phoenix Dark]

Not my fault the man children wanted a brain dead action flick instead of a character study of Superman

[Diunx]

Superman Returns>Batman Begins

And here we...go.

[Great Rumbler]

Not my fault the man children wanted a brain dead action flick instead of a character study of Superman

Yeah, Superman as a creepy stalker and home-wrecker is compelling cinema.

[WrikaWrek]

The thing that really bugs me about Returns, is how full of itself it is. Superman doesn't throw a punch in the whole movie.

And the son storyline....well at least he threw a piano at a guy....did better than his dad.

[The Fake Shemp]

Oh, Maurice.

[Himu]

Superman sucks period.

[Himu]

...

What?

Superman sucks. He's boring: he can do anything and everything but his weakness is a rock? What a homo. Everyone in the story is a distinguished mentally-challenged fellow: Clark always disappears when Superman comes around, I wonder who he is! At least Peter Parker has a good excuse "haha I took pictures of Spiderman! How can I be Spiderman?" Not to mention he only really takes his glasses off and puts on tights. Clark Kent is a fucking boring character in general. Oh wow, a journalist, who is completely shallow and never really has an interesting life or tale. Spiderman is popular because the average person can relate; he's not some rich shmuck. He's just a guy who's trying to get by and has completely wasted his potential who can't seem to ever satisfy his family. He's no Batman, who doesn't give a fuck about anyone, and does things his way and is ALWAYS interesting and badass.

Superman and Clark Kent are devoid of any personality whatsoever. I haven't seen Superman Returns yet, but I assume it sucks because it has Superman in the title.

The only Superman related things I ever liked, were the awesome WB cartoon, any Justice League cartoon, and those 1930's Fleischer cartoons, SOMETIMES the 1990's serial drama on ABC Lois and Clark: The Adventures of Superman.

Batman >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Superfuck
Spiderman >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Superfuck
Cyclops >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Superfuck

Superman sucks ass is and is by far the worst mainstream superhero. The only character who's remotely close, but still quite far away is Gambit.

[Phoenix Dark]

Superman does suck, but I still found SR fascinating. He's pretty much the most powerful being on the planet, so seeing him beat the shit out of costumed freaks wouldn't exactly be entertaining. But, seeing him put in emotional situations where all the physical power in the world was irrelevant? That's interesting, and truly the heart of Singer's film - which will no doubt become a cult classic in the years to come.

[Himu]

Superman does suck, but I still found SR fascinating. He's pretty much the most powerful being on the planet, so seeing him beat the shit out of costumed freaks wouldn't exactly be entertaining. But, seeing him put in emotional situations where all the physical power in the world was irrelevant? That's interesting, and truly the heart of Singer's film - which will no doubt become a cult classic in the years to come.

That sounds interesting.

Superman is the most boring character ever because he has no weakness. And when he takes down people it's not in an LOL Fist of the North Star way either. He's not badass about it, he's THIS IS MY DUTY about it, which puts me to sleep.

The only way to remotely make Superman an interesting character is by tearing him down limb by limb, not through physical strength, but mentally and emotionally. A world where his shitty super strength and super speed and super x-ray peekin' through the girls locker room vision are all useless sounds like my cup of tea, because I fucking hate Superman.

[Phoenix Dark]

Superman does suck, but I still found SR fascinating. He's pretty much the most powerful being on the planet, so seeing him beat the shit out of costumed freaks wouldn't exactly be entertaining. But, seeing him put in emotional situations where all the physical power in the world was irrelevant? That's interesting, and truly the heart of Singer's film - which will no doubt become a cult classic in the years to come.

That sounds interesting.

Superman is the most boring character ever because he has no weakness. And when he takes down people it's not in an LOL Fist of the North Star way either. He's not badass about it, he's THIS IS MY DUTY about it, which puts me to sleep.

The only way to remotely make Superman an interesting character is by tearing him down limb by limb, not through physical strength, but mentally and emotionally. A world where his shitty super strength and super speed and super x-ray peekin' through the girls locker room vision are all useless sounds like my cup of tea, because I fucking hate Superman.

Exactly. There's little sense of suspense or interest watching Superman destroy robots. But, put him in the real world and suddenly he becomes interesting. He may be unstoppable, but he can't read minds - he can't prevent every crime from happening. Yet the populace might not look at it this way, and would blame him whenever a tragedy occurred. That type of guilt and mental anguish must tear at a man who's job is to protect man kind.

If I want to watch explosions I'll put on Transformers. I'd rather have Superman in a psychological drama. How does the world's most powerful being deal with emotion? It's a shame some people aren't interested in this

[Himu]

So the people who dislike Superman Returns do so because it's not the usual vapid shit shit they come like () about Supes?

[Stoney Mason]

Singer is another dude imo who creates over-rated stuff.

The praise for those first two X-Men movies always baffles me a bit. Not that they were bad or anything. They probably are above average when it comes to the genre. It just says something to me when people want to elevate those two movies into the "special" category.

But that's just my opinion.

That last Superman movie was mainly just boring. Plot wise it also didn't make much sense but then honestly hardly any of these superhero movies do.

[Himu]

X-Men 2 wasn't all that hot imo. I liked the first one more.

imo there's Superman 2, TDK, Batman 1990, TMNT1 and there's everyone else.

[Cheebs]

Quentin Tarantino said Superman Returns is the best super hero movie ever made so Maurice has a pal in that view.

[Cormacaroni]

How much help did Nolan get for The Prestige?  I thought it was a very mediocre film. 

Pretty solid little movie I thought, lower tier Nolan (although that isn't saying too much) but one of the better movies that year. Haven't seen it since I saw it in theaters though. He wrote that with his brother and there were producers other than himself involved. Inception is written and produced by him solo.

Well, he adapted it from the book. It's not like it sprung full-formed from his godlike brow.

[Ichirou]

The Prestige novel and film are very different, though.

[Cheebs]

The movie is better than the book.

[Great Rumbler]

If they wanted to make a good Superman movie, then they'd adapt Superman For All Seasons. Or get a supervillain that isn't totally lame and overused.

[Human Snorenado]

Quentin Tarantino said Superman Returns is the best super hero movie ever made so Maurice has a pal in that view.

Great endorsement:  loved by a coke addict and a 20 something black man that has never known the touch of a woman.

[chronovore]

It is M. Night, so all bets are off, but I figured The Last Airbender was kind of a sure thing, at least enough to provide a mediocre product. He got a $150 million budget, a popular source with plot lines and characters already laid out, and an emphasis on action place of an intricate plot with deep characters. I certainly didn't expect it to end up this BAD. But, again, it is M. Night.

You could say all that about the Golden Compass (plus it has a bear in a suit of armor wrecking shit!) and that was apparently bad too.

Learn 2 movie, Hollywood.

Golden Compass wasn't bad, it just wasn't particularly good. It's similar to David Lynch's Dune, in that it's not sufficiently coherent if you're not familiar with the source material.

...Hm. I guess that actually does make it a bad movie.

[Ichirou]

I'm sorry, PD, I actually like Superman, and I thought Superman Returns blew.  It was a horrible movie.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Superman the character isn't interesting, but I like shit like Bizarro World and Mr. Mxyzptlk

[Great Rumbler]

A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.

[Stoney Mason]

A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.

There is a fear in these super hero movies that going off to other planets and introducing some of the more crazy characters will turn off mainstream audiences. Hence why Superman keeps fighting the very human Lex Luthor in movie after movie.

[Great Rumbler]

A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.

There is a fear in these super hero movies that going off to other planets and introducing some of the more crazy characters will turn off mainstream audiences. Hence why Superman keeps fighting the very human Lex Luthor in movie after movie.

Lex Luthor, in the movies, is pretty boring. It was okay the first time around, but the second time? He had the exact same basic plan, some crazy idea to make a bunch land that he could sell to become rich. It would be more interesting if they went the same route as the series/comics and have Luthor either be a wealthy businessman or a wealthy businessman AND the President.

But what the Superman movies really NEED is a supervillain that's actually a threat to Superman, but they seem really hesitant to do that.

[WrikaWrek]

Superman can be interesting when he is written as a more human like character than Jesus Christ the 2nd.

[Stoney Mason]

Lex Luthor, in the movies, is pretty boring. It was okay the first time around, but the second time? He had the exact same basic plan, some crazy idea to make a bunch land that he could sell to become rich. It would be more interesting if they went the same route as the series/comics and have Luthor either be a wealthy businessman or a wealthy businessman AND the President.

But what the Superman movies really NEED is a supervillain that's actually a threat to Superman, but they seem really hesitant to do that.

Ultimately I agree in both counts. They need an actual villain that can challenge superman. But they've made superman so unbeatable in the movies that is very difficult. Especially since they keep trotting out the kryptonite gimmick.

[Cheebs]

A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.

I rather have a origin story in which Lex Luthor is the bad guy and he has a land scheme.

[Great Rumbler]

A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.

I rather have a origin story in which Lex Luthor is the bad guy and he has a land scheme.

*reported*

[Purple Filth]

Lex Luthor, in the movies, is pretty boring. It was okay the first time around, but the second time? He had the exact same basic plan, some crazy idea to make a bunch land that he could sell to become rich. It would be more interesting if they went the same route as the series/comics and have Luthor either be a wealthy businessman or a wealthy businessman AND the President.

But what the Superman movies really NEED is a supervillain that's actually a threat to Superman, but they seem really hesitant to do that.

Ultimately I agree in both counts. They need an actual villain that can challenge superman. But they've made superman so unbeatable in the movies that is very difficult. Especially since they keep trotting out the kryptonite gimmick.

They could go with the doomsday story (where he "killed" superman) but i don't think they would want to end the movie on a sad note

[TakingBackSunday]

Superman Returns got literally no reaction from me.  I went to the theater, watched it, and when the credits rolled I was just like "ah, okay."  Walked out and forgot about it since.

Wasn't good, but wasn't shockingly bad either.  Just entirely forgettable.

[Smooth Groove]

Superman getting beat within an inch of his life would make a compelling film.  At the hands of lesser writers, Superman is boring because the audience never find him to be adequately challenged.  The beating doesn't have to be from Doomsday but please just leave the Kryptonite out of it.  Kryptonite was, as the young un's would say, played out 20 yrs ago.  

[Cormacaroni]

Mr Mxyzptlk is perfect, as Mandark pointed out once before. Supes is vulnerable to magic, and it opens the door for all sorts of wacky (but family friendly) hijinks. The visuals could be insane. Give it to the guys who made Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs!

And if you need scary and powerful - Brainiac is the obvious choice.

[Ichirou]

Superman getting beat within an inch of his life would make a compelling film.  At the hands of lesser writers, Superman is boring because the audience never find him to be adequately challenged.  The beating doesn't have to be from Doomsday but please just leave the Kryptonite out of it.  Kryptonite was, as the young un's would say, played out 20 yrs ago.  

The Death of Superman comic books were pretty awfully written anyway - just six books of Superman and Doomsday hitting each other, with no dramatic visuals or any of that.  It was just a street brawl.

I'd like a fairly epic death for Superman.  Have him die saving the planet, or even more poignantly, the life of a single person he loves, like Lois.

[The Fake Shemp]

The Death of Superman is a cool concept, but poorly executed. It is prime source material for a good film adaptation. There are a few ways you can make the character legitimately interesting. I have a few ideas and judging from Goyer's comments in interviews, I think he has similar ideas.

[Ichirou]

WB should hire you.  You'd be cheaper than Goyer, and you could use Evilbore as a sounding board for your movie ideas.

[The Fake Shemp]

I'm working with a production company that has a first-look deal with Warners. I would love to somehow spin that into a few contacts there. Warners is easily the best studio in town for filmmakers right now, but that kind of thing is cyclical.

But - yes! - I would be cheaper than Goyer, and if I had to be honest, his stuff is probably my ceiling.

[Cheebs]

Warners is easily the best studio in town for filmmakers right now, but that kind of thing is cyclical.

Warners is crazy (in a good way) in the type of freedom they are giving good directors. Nolan with Inception obviously with Cuaron now as well. Alfonso Cuaron outside of Harry Potter has not had a box office hit and Warners is giving him a gigantic budget to shoot a large cgi-heavy sci-fi epic that is his original creation (though it helps he got Downey Jr. in the lead). What other studio would do that?

[Cormacaroni]

What is Cuaron making?

[Great Rumbler]

What is Cuaron making?

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/FX-Company-Spills-Details-About-Alfonso-Cuaron-s-Gravity-19061.html

[Ichirou]

I'm working with a production company that has a first-look deal with Warners. I would love to somehow spin that into a few contacts there. Warners is easily the best studio in town for filmmakers right now, but that kind of thing is cyclical.

But - yes! - I would be cheaper than Goyer, and if I had to be honest, his stuff is probably my ceiling.

You should try to write an outline, see what you could do with the concept.

[The Fake Shemp]

For Superman? That would be a waste of time. Goyer has that all locked up.

[Ichirou]

Just as a creative exercise, I mean.

[Smooth Groove]

Willco, you could sell the script for the inevitable Superman porn parody. 

[Great Rumbler]

David S. Goyer...I'm not really big on him. He's been involved with some movies that I've liked [Batman Begins, Dark City], but it seems that when he's working without a strong creative force his work is a bit lacking.

[Beezy]

Do we know how bad The Last Airbender did yet?

[AdmiralViscen]

Wasn'[t a complete disaster but its take fell every day of the weekend so it won't be around long.

[Great Rumbler]

Do we know how bad The Last Airbender did yet?

Not bad enough.

[The Fake Shemp]

David S. Goyer...I'm not really big on him. He's been involved with some movies that I've liked [Batman Begins, Dark City], but it seems that when he's working without a strong creative force his work is a bit lacking.

He's a solid writer. His screenplays are clean and concise, and he's always working with a great concept. But his screenplay is only as good as the crew that surrounds it; meaning that he'll never be able to carry a film on his writing. And to be fair, that's how it should be - film is a totally collaborative art form.

Goyer approaches screen writing from that angle, and because of that, he'll never focus creating a masterpiece or anything. He leaves some stuff intentionally blank for the production. I dig it.

EDIT: Mainly because if I had to compare myself to anyone, it's Goyer.

[chronovore]

OK, so we should never ever let you direct then. Goyer's Blade: Trinity was a sack of diarrhetic crap from start to finish. I'm all for watching Biel do sexy battle gymnastics, and I even like Ryan Reynolds. But that movie was horrible. And he interviews himself in the extras section of the video; I think he blew past his ego budget.

[Great Rumbler]

He's got a really bad track record with directing.

[The Fake Shemp]

He's a terrible director, but most screenwriters are. It's easy to think that you can visualize a film one way and have the basic skill set to execute it behind the camera, but reality is entirely different.

... I'm not saying Goyer is a great person. I think he's kind of full of himself, but he's a solid writer. He'll turn in a solid draft that won't make or break your film. And if he's under assignment, he'll meet the deadline. He's a solid studio guy, the kind I can only hope to emulate.

His best stuff are scripts that he turns in and hands over to another writer to flesh out. But if you want to make a tentpole flick from the ground up, I would give him first draft every single time.

[The Fake Shemp]

And to elaborate, Goyer's weakness as a director is that he has no one to filter some of his misjudgments, which usually get jettisoned from rewrites in any other production. Instead, he can dial it up a notch and has a lot more creative control, which I rarely think is a good thing for any artist.