Man of Steel Review

First let me say that I liked the movie, partly because it succeeded in disconnecting from 75 years of Superman on TV and film which even when it was pretty good wasn't that good and when it was bad was real bad. I can remember as a little kid watching the black and white television version and thinking that Superman was pudgy and not very tough. And even though the late 70s movie version was popular, Superman just wasn't a modern enough super hero. Not in the Marvel comic book sense. Not in the new Batman movie sense.

Man of Steel changed all that and pulled off a pretty good movie. Starting with Russell Crowe playing Jor-El at the end of planet Krypton's existence, to the young self-conscious Clark, to the tough but lovable and beautiful Lois Lane (Amy Adams). 

Criticism 1: Give a guy a new special effects toy and watch out. The special effects are impressive but how many times can you watch Superman and his enemies crash into buildings, cars, roads, and objet d'art. After the tenth 500 mph flying crash with special-effected demolition you get the point. There were no fewer than 25 flying wrestling matches that destroyed everything in their path.

Criticism 2: Does every action movie these days have to end three times? Superman beats the bad guys once, then they build a Gravitron and he causes that to fail, then mid-kiss with Lois, when you think we're coming to a close, General Zod shows up for a one-on one building destroying duel. It's just too long.

While I'm on General Zod, Man of Steel gets credit for establishing a bad guy with a believable motive. General Zod was great.

Taken as a whole and even given some minor annoyances Man of Steel is worth seeing. Superman (Henry Cavill) was likable, naive without being annoying, and well acted. Lois Lane was beautiful and charming . . . but I said that already.
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Video Games with Mom

My son sent me this. I think some things are just universally true.

Le Concert

 

If you like good music you are a step into liking—strike that—loving this movie.

But it’s not just the music, The Concert has all the constituent parts of a good film: it’s a story with a beginning. middle, and end; it has romance of a kind; likable characters; and yes, one compelling attribute: absolutely beautiful music.

The glue that binds the parts together is the kind of innocent bond between the two main characters, the beatific Anne-Marie Jacquet, the first violin, played by Melanie Laurent, and Il Maestro, Andrey Filipov, played by Aleksey Guskov. The Concert is a French film, a comedy, with the typical French/Italian wackiness that comes across as slightly annoying to me if it goes on for too long. It doesn’t here.

This is a good movie and the last 10+ minutes is uninterrupted musical enjoyment.

4 out of 5 stars.
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More Donut Talk: the Cronut

For those of us who can never get enough donut news:

The latest New York City food passion is the CRONUT, croissant dough formed to donut shape and deep fried. Dominique Ansel and his SoHo bakery make only 300 per day and sell out every morning as fast as the line will move. Limit: two cronuts per person.

Here's the New York Times link with other croissant variations, as well: New York Times

For a better story, and where I first read about the cronut, go here: Daily Beast. Worth watching: the embedded Vimeo has an interview with the pastry chef and snippets of customer comments.

Craft Beers: Doing the Numbers

My three sons are craft beer enthusiasts. Their father is not because my beer-drinking days have past, and because, I don't get it. I'll never be able to use the phrase "mouth feel" when referring to a beverage. They do.

But I like the "movement," the kind of 60's back to the garden, do-good-things-for-the-love-of-it kind of approach with a little of anti-establishment, anti-monopoly religious zeal thrown in. Tell a craft beer guy you'd prefer a Budweiser and you'll soon feel like the proverbial sinner at the church picnic.

From the June 7 The New Yorker Magazine post:

"As of March, the United States was home to two thousand three hundred and sixty craft breweries, the relatively small, artisanship-oriented producers best known for India pale ales, porters, and other decidedly non-Budweiser-esque beers. These beverages have become so popular that craft beer now represents thirty per cent of Costco’s beer sales..."

I believe it. When I was in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago I bought beer for my boys at the local corner market. Years ago the display shelves would have been lined with six-packs of Miller, Coors, and Bud, now they are lined with single bottles of craft beer with names like Dogfish, Victory, and Sierra Nevada. Hundreds of labels all neatly stacked in rows. Never mind that each bottle costs about three bucks each, and never mind that I used to buy a 12-pack of Natural Light for $5.97, this is what the 20 - 40 year old beer drinker is drinking.

Of course, Budweiser is paying attention and like any corporate bully will be looking to buy up the profitable bits of the business and some craft brewers will be looking to cash out and cash in. This is America after all. When I was 18, I never imagined the Beatles could be anything but revolutionaries, but I have heard the instrumental Musak version of "You Say You Want a Revolution" in a JC Penney's shoe section. It ain't right but it happens.

What I am saying is one never knows how something like this will mature, but however it grows up we can all enjoy a return to quality, to small business, big dreams, and the big adventure, and if I had half a chance I'd jump in with them. If you like numbers and charts the New Yorker has some catchy interactive charts with numbers for all kinds of artisan beer categories.

Click here: BEER