Showbits

October 10th, 2004, was a terrible day. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Christopher Reeve — who for the last decade had fought not only a devastating spinal cord injury, but also a lack of support, funding, and research into curing this condition for millions worldwide — passed away.

Made famous by the Superman movies, Mr. Reeve was known to many only by that role, overlooking his political activism, family values, and talented filmography. This diversity was captured in A&E's biography, as I discovered when I played the DVD to a classroom of high school students, who were surprised by how little they knew of this actor. Several other books and documentaries published both since Mr. Reeve's accident and his passing have added more details and layers.

I am writing this blog post about my personal hero not on October 10th, but today, because this is the day Superman would've been 57. I could write much more about how he has inspired me, and how he embodies what a role model can and should be. But I'll keep this short and celebrate his life, not his death, by sharing his 1979 appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson — in my opinion, one of the two funniest people of the 20th century. Mr. Carson passed away just three months after Mr. Reeve, but in this video, we can see them both as we remember them, in their prime:

Hat tip to the L.A. Times.

[Editor's note: I'm not in the habit of using Showbits to repost press releases verbatim. But this one comes from a fan club, not a corporation — and the club supports one of my favorite films of all time, featuring one of my favorite actors of all time. Thus, an exception follows.]

Somewhere in Time BIG NEWS! Our Annual "June 27, 1912" Newsletter…..

JANE SEYMOUR is expected to attend the Somewhere in Time Weekend at Grand Hotel in October (Oct. 26–28, 2007). This will be the 17th Annual SIT Weekend, and Jane's second time attendance. She has not joined us since 2002.

Jane will arrive on Saturday afternoon. She has made the SIT Weekend a stop on her book tour, for her new decorating book, "Making Yourself at Home" a very personal look at Jane's own home in Malibu, CA. The book features 150 color photos of every room in Jane's home…and includes tips on making your own home a reflection of your taste, with seasonal change suggestions, tablescapes, themes, etc.

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Yesterday, on the six-month anniversary of the theatrical release of Superman Returns, my friend Sir Harry (with whom I'd first seen the film that Friday) and I watched the newly-released Richard Donner cut of Superman II. I had thought my only problems with the Salkind version were the silly, non-canonical powers it gave the Kryptonians, such as levitation and cellophane shields. And those are gone in this update — but I find most of the other changes far preferable to the original as well, as Donner's approach is simply more respectful of the characters in ways I didn't realize Salkind's wasn't.

The Eiffel Tower scene is completely gone; instead, the Phantom Zone criminals make their escape in a fashion that suggests the first two Reeve films were not only shot together, but also meant to be seen together. Lois challenges Superman to save her without throwing herself over Niagara Falls; and Clark's true identity is revealed in a fashion that, though flawed, lends intelligence to Lois and finesse to the Man of Steel. The interaction between Kal-El and Jor-El also cements a tradition of passing the torch from father to son, as seen in Superman Returns.

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Released late last month was The Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition, containing 14 discs that detail every microsecond of the Man of Steel's existence, from his appearance in Action Comics #1 in 1938 to his silver screen revival in 2006 (which I don't understand how some people thought was a remake – duh).

Clearly not thinking, I eschewed this bounty, instead opting to buy Superman Returns (2-Disc Special Edition) and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut separately. I already have the Fleischer cartoons and the four-disc Superman box set released, what, six years ago now? as well as the Look! Up in the Sky (fantastic) documentary, released back in June. Why pay to get all that stuff again?

For the two items I bought last month, I paid the lowest I could: $35 total from Amazon.com. IOW, I got three discs for $35 when I could've gotten the ultimate tin of 14 discs for twice that ($70, for those of you reaching for your calculators). And if I already had seven of the discs, that's still seven more – $10/disc – I could've gotten.

Super-hindsight super-sucks.

Here's someone else's review of the new Superman II.

Did anyone else pick up any of Superman's multiple returns to home video?