Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Pre "Man of Steel" Superman-a-thon?

I am planning some sort of epic re-watching of Superman media in the lead up to this summer's release of Man of Steel.

I have several issues.

unlike Superman, I do not go to the moon to ponder.  I bore you guys.

1.  What do I watch?

I own:


  • The Fleischer cartoons
  • The original serials starring Kirk Alyn
  • The entire George Reeves series (6 seasons)
  • the four cycle movie series with Chris Reeve, including the Superman 2 Director's Cut and Superman Returns
  • Supergirl - yes, it's in continuity and it counts
  • the animated series from the 1960's
  • the animated series from the 1980's
  • Season 1 of Superboy
  • Season 1 of Lois and Clark
  • Superman the Animated Series, Justice League
  • a handful of DC/ WB Animation Studios direct-to-video movies like Superman Vs. The Elite
At one point I owned the first three season of Smallville on DVD, but a co-worker borrowed them, and her sister took them with her when she moved to Iowa, more or less making those DVD's her property.  Given my feelings about Smallville, I'm okay with this gap in my collection.


If I started watching all of this material today, took no breaks and got no sleep, I might finish by the time the movie was released.  And, between you and me, that Superboy TV series is terrible.

There's a lot of thinking to do here, as I could easily just watch the 6 movies in general continuity and call it a day, but is that fair?  Is that a REAL Super-marathon?  Don't I owe it to myself to watch every minute of this stuff ALL OVER AGAIN?


2.  Do I even pretend to host a marathon at my house under the certainly incorrect assumption anyone would actually join me?

Not even Jamie will sit through a 4 movie marathon at my place, and she lives in my house.  I can't really think of who on Earth would join me if I tried to make this "a thing", with a scheduled program of movies plus bonus shorts and episodes of the various TV programs.

I could program the HELL out of a Superman marathon, but I think this is going to be all me.  Probably after Jamie turns in for the night.


3.  If Alamo Drafthouse decides to do their own marathon?

If the Alamo does a marathon - something they might could do, then I'd want to do that.  I would be very much up for whooping it up with my fellow Super-Fans.  I can be almost certain that they wouldn't include the George Reeves series or a lot of the animated stuff expect between movies as clips, so it seems like maybe I should start over with that material rather than the big studio films.

But if they don't do a marathon - and I have no real reason to think they will - then I won't have marathoned the most easily marathonable part of the vast Super-Empire.



I welcome your Super Thoughts.

5 comments:

Simon MacDonald said...

Plan the marathon. Just do what you love doing. Since you love both watching movies and Superman, watching Superman movies is a no brainer. It doesn't matter if anyone else gets enjoyment out of it as long as it brightens your mood.

I look forward to your extended thoughts on the inclusion of Richard Pryor in Superman III.

Maxo said...

I'd say the Reeves movies, Supergirl and Superman Returns (a movie I like in spite of itself - Brandon Routh deserves more credit than he gets), and then pepper in your favorite episodes from the rest.

If I could afford it, I'd rent a theater at the Alamo and enjoy it all on the big screen!

J.S. said...

I'm not sure how much of the marathon I will watch, but I'll show up to check your pulse, hand you some wet wipes, and eat a few handfulls of your snacks.

J.S. said...

handfuls

Jake Shore said...

I would join you if I lived anywhere near the greater Austin metropolitan area. Perhaps we could do some kind of online/web marathon (?). As far as the marathon's content, I would stick to the stuff you like best, a best of or essential collection. I'm hoping to, if I find the time, to do some reviews of the essential Superman comics over the past 30-40 years on my blog leading up to the new film. Old hat for you, but I still have some people in my circles to convince of Superman's superiority as a hero.