Showbits

[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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)