INCOMING TRANSMISSION: Superman 75th Anniversary Animated Short

Intercepted footage of Zack Snyder and Bruce Timm's SUPERMAN: 75TH ANNIVERSARY ANIMATED SHORT.

The two-minute short goes through nearly every incarnation of Superman since Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the character.

Superman was originally conceived as a super-villain in 1933 by Siegel and Shuster, who were still in high school. The pair later re-envisioned Superman as a hero and was introduced in Action Comics #1 in 1938.

DATABASE ENTRY: Pay Attention to Zatanna

INCOMING TRANSMISSION: Making Man of Steel Score

MAN OF STEEL - HANS ZIMMER CRAFTING THE SCORE

Intercepted footage of Hans Zimmer working with his team to create the soundtrack for Zack Snyder's Man of Steel.

Dem drums!

Man of Steel Begins & A Well-Timed Air Conditioner

Unlike Christian Bale in Batman Begins, Cavill doesn't get all the best character-driven scenes that establish Superman's backstory in MAN OF STEEL BEGINS (2013). But, Cavill does do his best with what David Goyer and Chris Nolan--the two guys who wrote Batman Begins--are giving him.

And note that I'm calling the film "Man of Steel Begins" because after Chris Nolan successfully "rebooted" the Batman franchise with Batman Begins, the title of every franchise reboot and origin story afterwards must end with "Begins."

Between his ability as an actor, his charisma, and his heroic beard and abs, HENRY CAVILL IS SUPERMAN. We all just sort of wish he had more to do on screen, is all. And, like Superman, the rest of the film is well cast, but they also don't have that much to do in a sloppy narrative structure with flashbacks tossed all over the place. The flashbacks were framed well in Batman Begins, but not so much in Man of Steel Begins.

At least director Zack Snyder knows how to make shit look cool and that's one of the biggest things the film has going for it. Man of Steel Begins has a great cast and looks cool. Coming out of the cinema, you'll believe a man can make a Dragon Ball Z movie; those are the types of flying fisticuffs you get in Man of Steel Begins, even if the 30-40 minute third act action sequence does become a bit tiresome and your eyes go dry from watching shit blow up.

On a related note: there's a great scene during Man of Steel Begins when Clark puts on the suit for the first time to become Superman and tries to hone his powers by flying. Homeboy concentrates and launches himself into the air, the music swells, I hear a roar, and feel this strong gust of air blowing over me.

"Wow! This is amazing 4D!"

As it turns out, the AC just kicked on in the cinema right above me as Superman began to fly.

INCOMING TRANSMISSION: Man of Steel on Graham Norton

THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW (2013) - SEASON 13, EPISODE 11

Intercepted footage of the Man of Steel special of the British talk show.

Everyone swoons over Henry "Fat" Cavill, Amy Adams is just being her adorable ginger self, and Russell Crowe tells awesome stories and dick jokes. Then, to top it all off, there's a ginger sandwich with Adams and Katy B.

TRAILER: Man of Steel XXX

Vivid's latest superhero porno directed by Axel Braun. Ryan Driller returns as Superman. It looks like the costume budget is more than most pornos.

Joining Driller in this porn version of Zack Snyder's Man of Steel is Eli Cross as Lex Luthor, Giovanni Francesco as Batman, Kimberly Kane as Wonder Woman, Kirsten Price as Lois Lane, Samantha Ryan as Lana Lang, Sasha Knox as Livewire, Skin Diamond as Silver Banshee, Alan Stafford as Angle Man, Eric Masterson as Dr. Fate, Kendall Karson as Zatanna, and Billy Glide as Bizarro.

Zatanna isn't even a Superman character, but I welcome her--especially if Kendall Karson is playing her. Skin Diamond is good, too!

INCOMING TRANSMISSION: "Superman: The Movie" Documentaries

Intercepted footage of three short documentaries about the making of Richard Donner's SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978). They can be found on DVD and Blu Ray copies of Superman: The Movie.


TAKING FLIGHT: THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERMAN

This portion recounts how the Salkinds convinced Warner Bros to let them produce an A-list Superman film, attaching Mario Puzo, Marlon Brando, and Gene Hackman to the project, and one phone call to Richard Donner on the toilet made history.


MAKING SUPERMAN: FILMING THE LEGEND

Stories behind shooting two Superman films at the same time and the controversy over the Salkinds squeezing Donner out of the director's chair. And, I don't care what people say, I like '70s Margot Kidder regardless of her bipolar disorder.


THE MAGIC BEHIND THE CAPE

The crew explains the visual and special effects techniques used in the late '70s to make Superman work. A lot of scale models were made and Superman's costume was changed to a different shade of blue because the costume would have conflicted with the color of the special effects blue screen.

35 years later, MAN OF STEEL brings Superman back to cinemas in a new light on June 14th.

INCOMING TRANSMISSION: Superman Unbound

SUPERMAN: UNBOUND (2013)

Intercepted transmissions from the 16th DC Universe Animated Original Movies. It's directed by James Tucker and scripted by Bob Goodman, based on the Superman story arc "Brainiac."

I still prefer Tim Daly as the voice of Superman, but Matt Bomer isn't too bad. The film did make me wonder if it was a coincidence that there were gay references about Clark Kent's lifestyle because Bomer is gay.

INCOMING TRANSMISSION: "Knight Time"

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (1998) - "KNIGHT TIME"

Intercepted transmissions from the 43 episode of the series, written by Robert Goodman.

There was nothing I could do about the subtitle failure.

The episode is a crossover with Batman: The Animated Series. Superman comes to Gotham and fills in as Batman because Bruce Wayne has mysteriously disappeared.

INCOMING TRANSMISSION: Star Trek Into Darkness/Man of Steel

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Trailer #3


MAN OF STEEL Trailer #3

Both of these were released online hours apart last Moon's Day. Fanboys all reacted like this:

"MaBoy" of Steel

I searched "MAN OF STEEL TRAILER 3" on my PS3's YouTube app. Two letters into typing, I found this on YouTube:


I was distracted by legs for the next 15 minutes.

INCOMING TRANSMISSION: Superman & Seinfeld

THE ADVENTURES OF SEINFELD AND SUPERMAN (2003)

Barry Levinson directed these two short films starring Jerry Seinfeld and Patrick Warburton, as the voice of Superman.

Superman turns 75 today and, in looking back, is there a better way to remember Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's American icon than these extended American Express ads?

DATABASE ENTRY: Superman Shots

SUPERMAN III (1983)

It's rough being a Man of Steel.