Today is the first day of the annual Metropolis Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois. (The first was in June 1979, but it was canceled in 2020, so this is the... 46th?) And this year they've got Dean Cain! (For the third time.)

However, if you think that you're going to go just to shake Mr. Cain's hand and tell him hos much you enjoyed Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, think again.

Per supermancelebration.net:

Must I purchase an autograph or photo when I meet the celebrity?

While the celebrities love to meet their fans and hear their stories, there is an expectation from their accompanying managers that everyone in the line will want to purchase an autograph or selfie.

So know that Mr. Cain is really a super nice guy, but his manager.... Grr. What a dick.

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Kryptonite

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Today, while researching how Ron Howard made the decision to quote the myth and not the facts of "Houston, we've had a problem," I realized that more time has passed since the release of the movie Apollo 13 than had passed between the actual events and the movie. By several years, actually.

I distinctly remember thinking about how long ago the JFK assassination was when Oliver Stone made his movie about it while I was in high school. That was just 28 years since the event. It's been 34 years since the movie came out.

And don't even get me started on how I thought the year 1955 was the ancient past when I watched a particular movie released three decades later in 1985, itself now four decades in the rear view mirror.

Obviously, both the past and the future are much closer than I thought.

There's nothing I can do now about my younger self's misimpressions, but obviously I am past due in reevaluating how I interpret the effects of the passage of time on living memory. Maybe the events in that galaxy far, far away didn't happen quite so long ago as I once imagined.

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Superman #18, Sept/Oct 1942

Super-mansplaining.

In addition to its timeless cautionary tale about underestimating lying Nazi scum, Superman #18 also has a message for members of the Supermen of America Club. Using their Superman Secret Code card and "Code Mars No. 3" (which is an easily cracked simple Caesar cipher substitution where the offset is 3 letters to the left), club members learned "STRENTH, COURAGE, AND JUSTICE WILL SEE US THROUGH!" Democracies might be gullible, but at least no one can make us use spellcheck!

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You can currently buy a 30-count box of these on Amazon for $18.49 (a mere 62¢ a pack!):

Please note that those are "candy sticks," not "candy cigarettes." The distinction is important, not because candy cigarettes are illegal in America (they are, in fact, very legal,^[1] so legal, in fact, that most of the world's supply is made here^[2]), but because Superman hates smoking so much, he once killed a cigarette peddler.^[3]

^[1] Per Wikipedia: "In the United States, it was reported erroneously in 2010 that the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act [of 2009] bans candy cigarettes. However, the law bans any form of added flavoring in tobacco cigarettes other than menthol; it does not regulate the candy industry."

^[2] Per Thrillist.com: "These days the manufacturers of candy cigarettes are small and secretive. New Jersey-based World Confections Inc. is the primary manufacturer, and the only big one left." And yes, World Confections Inc. is the manufacturer of these Superman Candy Sticks.

^[3] Rest in Peace, Nick O'Teen. I posted video of the assassination on June 5, 2018).

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FYI: My power is out. Again. Estimated time of restoration is 3 hours. No one can blame a tornado today. Apparently, the power can't even stay on through some light rain anymore.

UPDATE: It's back on! And in just a shade under two hours. They're getting faster.

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39/2471. Alcatraz Island (1937)
According to IMDB, "This was the first film set in the prison on Alcatraz Island," and it spends a lot of time showing us how high-tech the prison was for its day. Otherwise, it's a pretty standard prison story.

40/2472. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
I got the feeling that everyone involved wanted to get together and make a Beetlejuice movie, they just weren't sure what the plot should be. It's quite a narrative mess, which is okay enough for those who relish Tim Burton's trademark take on horror. I admit that I was very much charmed by the unexpected climactic musical sequence built on Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park." (I assume the superior Richard Harris version was too slow to dance to?)

41/2473. Force of Arms (1951)
"Force of Arms" is not a great title for a hybrid "war is hell" romance mash-up. But William Holden is, as always, real good as the Joe struggling through his PTSD.

42/2474. The Case of the Black Cat (1936)
If you spend this entire Perry Mason movie waiting for the black cat to show up, you'll miss out on everything else: there is no black cat. It's actually the housekeeper's cat, and even then, it's mostly just a plot device to get Mr. Mason involved in the eventual court case.

43/2475. The Set-Up (1949)
This is a very, very good boxing movie that covers all the usual bases (love of the sport, gambling rings, corruption, long-term damage, etc.) that also manages to play out in real time. Recommended (assuming you can stand watching grown men hit one another in the face over and over).

44/2476. The Case of the Howling Dog (1934)
Perry Mason fans on the Internet say this is the best Perry Mason movie, and they might be right. I mean, at least this case has a howling dog.

More to come.

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Welcome to the 19th annual Wriphe.com Superman Month!

This year, the hype is real, as James Gunn's much anticipated Superman movie is just around the corner. Are you all excited? Am I excited? Are we excited?

No, seriously. I'm asking. I don't know.

In full disclosure, I still haven't watched any of the trailers. (Have there been more than one?) Nothing personal, Mr. Gunn, but I just don't care for trailers. Some of them give away too much, and others are just plain misleading. Personally, I prefer to make my decisions based on poster art.

Yeah, okay. I'll probably watch that.

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