Click for full size version to view. The marketing brilliance of this will probably be lost on the upper management.

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As a child, my cape sometimes was replaced by a baseball bat to be He-Man, or a belt to be Batman, but by the time I was 25 I grew out of such childish things and just stuck with Superman. I currently have a Superman bed set. And not the one that I had as a kid.

So needless to say, I’m a big Superman fan. Never much of a comic book reader, but the cartoons, Lois and Clark, Smallville, Superman I-IV, and then…Superman Returns. What was supposed to be the beginning of a Superman reboot turned out to be a clunker with a metrosexual Superman who liked a cruddy Lois Lane and fathered an illegitimate child.

With such great superhero movies since X-Men, it was sad to see the one with the most potential ruined. Some might say it’s Batman, which to this point has been the best, but Batman has a rich set of villains and a dark side. Making Superman a 4-star affair like The Dark Knight would be a much more difficult accomplishment.

So the news today is that Dark Knight helmer (and all around genius filmmaker) Christopher Nolan will be guiding an all-new reboot of the Superman franchise. With a string of failures (Superman III, Superman IV, Superman Returns) and some ill-conceived reboots that never got off the ground in 1990s, this will be a monumental undertaking.

According to the article:

DC Comics stalwart Superman to soar again on the Big Screen, and the studio has turned to Chris Nolan to mentor development of the movie. Our insiders say that the brains behind rebooted Batman has been asked to play a “godfather” role and ensure The Man Of Steel gets off the ground after a 3 1/2-year hiatus.

So which direction will he take it? The Superman story is much trickier than Batman due to the different source material, as Deadline Hollywood (where the story originally broke on the new reboot) explains..

Batman was rebooted according to Frank Miller’s film noirish take on Batman. But there’s a big difference between Superman’s cinematic incarnations and comic book version. Warner Brothers and DC Comics for a long time weren’t sure which version they liked better. The cinematic version has been squeaky clean, occasionally campy, and has more-or-less unlimited power except when confronted with Kryptonite.

The comic book version has some limits on his powers, can be darker, and fights aliens a lot more. Shortly after Dark Knight hit it big, fans assumed that Superman would be taken to the “dark” side as well. That’s because Warner Bros mogul Jeff Robinov stressed post-Dark Knight that “we have to look at how to make these movies edgier”. One of our insiders interpreted this to say: “He meant more sophisticated.”

Doing something based on the comics is risky..it’s not the Superman of Christopher Reeve (the best to date) that we know. And then there’s the currently running Smallville. While mostly dumb, they have chosen the perfect actors for the roles of Clark Kent (Tom Welling), Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Lois Lane (Erica Durance) and even many of the supporting cast. With good writing and effects, they could easily lead the new franchise..just would have to drop the entire Smallville story.

For me it’s all something to look forward to, especially if Christopher Nolan does take the reins. You don’t even want to see what types of things Tim Burton had in mind with Nicholas Cage in the lead role.

Full story at Deadline Hollywood.

No thanks.

I thought I’d do some quick reviews of movies that are available on demand for Netflix. The pickins are a little slim, but if you’re like me you forget to mail back the movies you just watched for about 3 weeks. I think I just mailed back a movie that I had gotten when it was a new release – Ghostbusters II.

This week, I watched stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan’s Beyond the Pale on Netflix instant watch. If you’re looking for some decent comedy, it’s solid the whole way through. You’ll recognize Gaffigan but you won’t be able to put your finger on where. He plays side roles in a lot of comedies, TV shows, and late night shows. He was also the guy in Super Troopers that was the recipient of the “meow” game.

Gaffigan’s style of humor is fairly dry, and is astonishingly “clean.” He mostly jokes about food and himself. In fact, about 80% of the routine is about food. Some great stuff, though, including his famous “Hot Pockets” sketch. You’ll be laughing out loud..especially if you’ve lived off Hot Pockets at some time in your life.

He also does this odd thing where he says what the audience is thinking in the middle of his bit and its pretty funny as well.

His routine is filmed in Chicago’s historic Vic Theater and runs a brisk 72 minutes. Though there are only a few true gut busters, there aren’t really any dull moments. There’s something in there for everyone, especially if you find it disturbing what, and how much, we eat as Americans.

If you’re looking for a good laugh any day of the week, you could definitely do worse.

* * * out of 4 stars

Check out a scene from the act below…one of the few not about food.

Although I was a very reluctant and late starter, the miracle of Hulu and Netflix got me caught up for last season’s 24 and it quickly become one of my favorite shows of all time. Plenty of moral wrangling, action, and plot twists go great with Jack Bauer – definitely the greatest action TV character of my time. The gimicky real-time filming actually is what makes the show great.

An early look at the first 4 hours of 24 was posted up over at The Live Feed and it looks like this season is going to be a pleasant return to form for the show. If you don’t watch, check out the back-to-back season premieres on Fox later Sunday Jan, 17. If you do watch, you’ll want to keep doing so.

As always, the biggest trick with “24″ is presenting the familiar plotting and twists for an audience that’s been here many times before. Though this season’s assassination storyline is familiar, the execution is strong and grounded in realism juuuust enough — at least, so far.

Click here for the full Early Look at 24 Day 8.

The premise – and the reason I didn’t think I’d like it – is a set of 3 families dealing with the modern day troubles of the issues caused by broken families. It seemed too stereotypical – the old guy who has a 30 year old wife, and that wife is technically the mother of his 40 year old daughter. The dad who is just one of the kids who tries too hard, and the gay couple whose dad isn’t too approving. Thought only about 40 minutes of laughs could be squeezed from that premise (if any) and then just rehashing the same awkward jokes over and over.

I was completely wrong, and the show has actually gotten better with each episode. Definitely check it out. I’m not even sure when it comes on, but I know that it’s on Hulu whenever The former Al Bundy is classic, and the show has a lot of heart. Besides all the laughs, each episode deals a lot with the issues families have with acceptance, but not so much for their specific character issues, but more applied to general issues everyone can relate to – whether your family is intact or not. So far as good as the Office in my mind – which is saying a lot.It has some tints of that and Arrested Development, but less edgy with much more plot.

four out of five stars.

Wondering if your new favorite shows will make it until next year? Check out the list below, posted from www.aintitcool.com

These shows (not new) are safe:

Dancing With the Stars
Wife Swap
Supernanny
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
America’s Funniest Home Videos
Brothers & Sisters
Desperate Housewives
Grey’s Anatomy
Ugly Betty
Bachelor
Boston Legal – final season
Scrubs – final season
The Big Bang Theory (pre-season order)
Criminal Minds
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Two and a Half Men
Cold Case
Without a Trace
Ghost Whisperer
Numbers
Survivor
Amazing Race
How I Met Your Mother
The New Adventures of Old Christine
The Unit
Chuck (pre-season order)

Heroes
The Biggest Loser
Deal or No Deal
The Office
My Name Is Earl
ER – final season
30 Rock
Law & Order: SVU
The Simpsons
Family Guy
King of the Hill
American Dad
Prison Break
‘Til Death
Bones
House
America’s Most Wanted
Don’t Forget the Lyrics
COPS
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader
Gossip Girl
One Tree Hill
Smallville
America’s Next Top Model
Supernatural 

GONE:
Do Not Disturb (Fox)
Opportunity Knocks (ABC)

ON THE BUBBLE:
Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)
Easy Money (CW)
Everybody Hates Chris (CW)
The Ex-List (CBS)
The Game (CW)
Hole In The Wall (Fox)
In Harm’s Way (CW)
Life (NBC)
Lipstick Jungle (NBC)
Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox)
Valentine (CW)

MORE LIKELY TO CONTINUE BEYOND CHRISTMAS:
Eleventh Hour (CBS)
Eli Stone (ABC)
Gary Unmarried (CBS)
Kath & Kim (NBC)
Knight Rider (NBC)
Life On Mars (ABC)
My Own Worst Enemy (NBC)
Private Practice (ABC)
Privileged (CW)
Samantha Who? (ABC)
Worst Week (CBS)

Don’t see your show? Complete (and highly colorful) list at the link below.

http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/10/red-canceledblu.html