Superman Movie Minute – Metropolis Mail-Bag 2

SUPERMAN MOVIE MINUTE - Metropolis Mail-Bag 2

Fire and Water Network All-Stars Chris Franklin and Rob Kelly bring you SUPERMAN MOVIE MINUTE, where they analyze, scrutinize, and you'll-believe-a-man-can-fly-ize the classic 1978 film starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, and Marlon Brando, five minutes at a time!

Chris and Rob wrap up the first season of SUPERMAN MOVIE MINUTE with listener feedback from episodes 16-28, the announcement of the contest winner, their final thoughts on the movie, and what comes next!

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23 responses to “Superman Movie Minute – Metropolis Mail-Bag 2

  1. I would love to host an Eagles podcast. Easiest show around.
    “When Don Henley wasn’t too busy mailboxin’ groupies or getting caught in a hot tub with underage girls, he was murdering this little ditty!”

    “Today’s topic is ‘Whose the biggest jerk in the Eagles?: A 40-party maxi-series.”

  2. *applause, applause* Super-job on a super podcast, Chris & Rob! I’m so glad you’re continuing with specials and for Superman II. I’ve enjoyed hearing your observations and hearing your podcasts have brought back great memories.

    Back in the day, I did enter DC’s first Superman movie contest, with my dad’s encouragement. I could only afford (or perhaps didn’t want to clip out & ruin any more of my comic books) with the entries, so I opted for just the 5-letter, minimum requirement “C-L-A-R-K” submission, but was one of the many that didn’t win.

    I was in 5th grade when Superman: The Movie came out & it was released on my birthday (December 15th). How perfect was that – or so I thought. My dad wanted to take me weeks later, when we’d be visiting family in Detroit over Christmas holidays. Crushing! I had waited for this movie since I heard it was being filmed; it’s star had the same first name as I did. (I didn’t know of a “famous” person named Chris when I was that age.) What news I could get of it were only black and white pics here and there and whatever was printed in DC Comics prior to the movie’s release. I remembering watching Siskel and Ebert (when the show was on PBS) giving it a favorable reviews with two “Yes”s (this was before they did “Thumbs up” or “Thumbs down”) so that gave me some optimism.

    When I got to Detroit, pessisism crept back in. A day before I saw the movie, my dad took me to a comic book store called “Comic City” on Gratiot Ave. (now long defunct) and I overheard two guys behind the counter talking about it. I HAD to eavsdrop and moved closer to the counter, looking through back issue boxes with titles I had no interest in just to hear what they were saying. The one guy who had seen it seemed to like it, but said the movie reminded him of the ’60s Batman tv show – in a bad way. He said Hackman and Beatty were playing it for laughs. “Was it THAT bad?” the other asked. “Well, no; but bad enough – and Hackman wasn’t bald throughout the movie.” I thought to myself “Lex Luthor not bald? How can this be? What else could be wrong in the movie?” I got a couple back issues, an Action Comics #346 and an Amazing Spider-Man #57 for $3 and left a little dejected.

    The next day had some good news: My dad had the foresight to get tickets in advance. Some bad news: I was told other relatives would be joining us; my mom, my sister, two uncles, an aunt, and a couple cousins. Our family never did big family outings before; this was unprecedented. “But they don’t like Superman,” I thought to myself. “What if this movie sucks and really is played for laughs? I’ll be a scapegoat if the others don’t like it.” Suddenly, I felt as if there were stakes involved; maybe I’d be consoled if this wasn’t any good.

    That very cold evening, we got to the Mai Kai theater (now defuct) in Livonia (a suburb). The venue was a classic place, a huge lobby and our tickets were printed the size of how you’d see a concert ticket today (not a small stub) and someone went to the trouble of printing the movie’s logo on the ticket – just like the poster, but of course, smaller. I wish I had kept my stub. I overheard our showing was a sell-out, but by some miracle, we all managed to sit in the same row. The screen was the biggest I had ever seen up to that point in my life. I want to say this was in 70 mm, but I can’t be sure. All the seats filled up and the lights went down. Finally, showtime.

    Hearing my mom laugh with the audience when Clark Kent grimaces at the pay phone looking for a place to change into Superman was worth it alone. Seeing a woman in a row in front of us stand, raise an arm and cheer when Superman got out of the revolving door which led the audience to applaud floored me like no other movie experience I had. The audience applauding again when Superman caught the falling helicopter already AFTER catching Lois put an exclaimation point on it – and the movie wasn’t over. After seeing Hackman in different with different wigs, I got the joke and thought we wouldn’t see Lex bald until the very end – and it turned out just that way. As a kid, when you can predict something correctly in a movie for the first time, I got some nice satisfaction from that.

    Everyone in my family loved the movie; it was great experience. When we got to my uncle’s place, the 11 o’clock news was on and they their movie critic on giving his review of Superman. He looked like the comedian Professor Irwin Corey and with a self-satisfying smugness, proceeded to say he didn’t like the movie. Our family was stunned hearing this. Ah, well. No matter what anyone could say, they couldn’t damper the experience we had.

    Thanks for letting me share! Looking foward to the next podcast – whenever it may be! Thanks again for a great job with it, Chris and Rob!

    1. Great story Chris! Such vivid memories. It’s so great that you remember it so well. There’s nothing quite like having an engaged theater audience who reacts WITH you, and makes it okay to cheer, and laugh, etc.

      Thanks for the kind words!

      Fellow Chris

  3. To paraphrase Jimmy Olsen, “Way to go Superman Movie Minute!”

    I can’t wait to hear what you guys have planned for next time. I’d try to peek at the secret compartment in your indestructible capes to find out, but this podcast must be made of lead…I sort of have a problem seeing through lead.

    Up up and away!

    “Groovy” Mike

  4. I’m so happy that there’s going to be a Superman II Movie Minute *and* special episodes of Superman Movie Minute! 😀 Congratulations on a job well done and thanks again, guys!

  5. Thanks for this project guys! I loved reliving this movie and hearing everyone else’s ho7hts. Look forward to Superman 2 movie minute.

    You need Frank on as a guest for the ‘planet Hoo-ston’ part.

      1. Richard Lester’s from Philadelphia. Part of the long line of American directors who convince the public that they’re from the UK by affecting a pretentious posh accent (see also: Christopher Nolan.)

  6. Thanks again for this show, Rob and Chris. You and all of your guests really brought a new level of appreciation to a movie that I already held in pretty darned high esteem. Looking forward to you doing the same for Superman IV. I mean, II.

      1. There’s a couple of more Superman-related episodes in The Daly Show. Susan Eisenberg appears as you-know-who, and oh it’s great!

  7. Congrats, guys! Thank you for a great podcast!

    I must say, I prefer “fly-izes” over “fly-zes”. Awkward-sounding words are funny.

    Get some rest, and looking forward to Superman Two-vie Minute!

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