Rainbow links

As mentioned, I ran my second 5K on the 22nd. This one was tougher than the previous one because it had more hills—not big ones, but the kind you might find along the trail of a dense and wild park, which is where the race was.

Only two days before, I tripped and fell while out jogging. The worst I got was some scratches and scrapes, especially on my wrist, but my left foot was sore and I feared whether or not I’d be able to run. Fortunately I had some thick sneakers that protected my feet well, and by the time race day came along the soreness had reduced. Then, the night before the race, I had to call the cops on some loud neighbors on the street level, partying very late. I never thought I’d be grateful for the end of summer if it meant the end of Saturday night parties. Am I getting old?

Virginia arrived late to the race; almost thought I’d missed her, but she made it, and we spent the rest of the day together. I wasn’t in as much pain as I thought I might be after the fall, but we ended up doing a lot of walking and as I write this (the 23rd), my feet and legs are sore again, but I’ll live. She’s convinced me to try one more 5K this year, so I’ll decide on one soon.

——————

The doors to the Kew Gardens Cinemas have been repaired and the place looks like a car never crashed through into the lobby and I am relieved. Maybe I was too worried, but I’ve seen enough footage of other drivers doing the exact same thing to other buildings (here’s just one example), causing more damage and actually hurting people, to not assume the worst. And I want the Kew to survive. I’m glad it will.

——————

So after all the things I said about it last month, I ended up missing Super Size Me 2. I only have so much money and I can’t see everything. Oh well. I still stand by my defense of director Morgan Spurlock, though, and I hope he’s sincere in his desire to change. Maybe the movie will come to cable.

More after the jump.

Supercalifragi-links

So I spent my Thanksgiving morning freezing my ass off as I ran through Flushing Meadow Park.

Why? I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

For the past month, I had trained for running in a 5k race. I had mentioned to Virginia recently how it was a long-time fantasy of mine to run in a marathon. Failing that, though, I would settle for something simpler, like a 5k. I was just talking idly; not being serious.

So she found online a month-long training program specifically designed to prepare one for a 5k and sent it to me. I looked it over and figured what the hell. If nothing else, I would do it for her.

Race conditions are very different from training by oneself. I didn't hear the starting signal on account of the host's microphone not working well.

When everyone took off, I was conscious of this being A Race for the first time. My head was in the wrong place and I ran like I was competing, which was all wrong for me. Plus, the course began with a steep-ish hill. It took me awhile to focus and settle into a pace.

I tried keeping up with these two women with whom I played leapfrog: I passed them, then they passed me, and so on. Near the end, they passed me and stayed ahead. I wanted to catch them one last time, but I came up short. That's okay, though. I still beat my previous time by a minute!

I spent the evening with Virginia and friends in Manhattan — a "Friendsgiving," I guess. It was one hell of a day overall.

------------------------

Once again, look for my piece on Anthony Mann & John Alton in the next issue of the film noir newsletter The Dark Pages, due out December 20.

Writing the article was a real education. I learned more about noir in general than I knew before, particularly by watching the movies. I plan to write about some of the ones I watched here, so look for that.

--------------------

Real life has delayed Anna's guest post. It's been pushed back to this month.

More after the jump.

Ready link one

So here's an editorial Lynn shared with our filmgoing group on Facebook, in which the author eulogizes the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas as a place that brought the Upper West Side community (of Manhattan, that is) together socially. He wants to keep the art-house theater alive, which I agree with, but he suspects the affluent boomers west of Central Park won't bother going to the Angelika or the IFC or the Film Forum because they "notoriously do not go below 59th street [sic] and certainly not below 14th."

I was going to write about how contradictory this attitude is (these people can afford to take an Uber to Houston Street), but then I thought about the Kew Gardens Cinemas here in Queens, and how I'd feel if it went out of business. Like the Lincoln, it specializes in independent cinema for an older, tasteful audience. I don't live in Kew Gardens, but I live close enough to it that I feel like that theater is "mine," in a sense.

Still, I'm a crazy movie fan who will go anywhere for a movie, so I'm the exception. For a quiet, off-the-beaten-path neighborhood like Kew Gardens, I'm convinced the author's statement is much more true. MOMI screens indie films, of course, but really, the Kew is the place in all of Queens for indie cinema (they have more screens, for one thing), and I can totally see the neighborhood there turn to Netflix in the absence of the Kew much more than the UWS, who still have multiple options (relatively) close at hand, unlike Kew Gardens.

So maybe I am challenging the UWS attitude after all. The closing of the Lincoln is a great tragedy, but they were not the only game in town. I understand the loss of the social atmosphere, but UWS residents aren't the only ones who love indie films, and if they were to take that trip downtown (Google Maps estimates it takes 27 minutes to drive from the site of the Lincoln to the Angelika), they might meet some more.

------------------

I saw The Shape of Water a second time last month, with Sandi. She pointed out something I didn't realize (mild spoiler alert, I guess): the musical sequence late in the movie is an anachronism: the dance is a homage to an Astaire/Rogers movie (I forget which) from the 30s, but the song is from the 40s. You probably knew that already, but I didn't, so let me have this moment, okay?

-------------

Still time to get in on the Time Travel Blogathon with Ruth and me next weekend. We've got a terrific lineup of films on tap, so I'm looking forward to this one a lot.

The Queens World Film Festival is this month; if you're in town, do yourself a favor and stop by for a night or two if you can.

Links after the jump.

Disastrous links

If I were to guess, I'd say most of us knew, or at least suspected, sexual harassment existed within Hollywood and either accepted it as fact or perhaps assumed there were channels through which someone could go in order to combat it - SAG, for instance. 

If there's any justice, this current wave of exposure will have repercussions beyond the film industry because it is by no means limited there (as long as it doesn't morph into a witch hunt); what I wanna talk about, though, is how do we, the movie-going audience, move on from here?

When I talked about Bill Cosby earlier this year, I had said I have too many good memories of him on television for them to be easily erased by the mountain of accusations leveled against him. On a fundamental level, this feels right. Kevin Spacey's career as a Hollywood actor may be finished, but no one's gonna erase American Beauty from the record, or The Usual Suspects or Seven; he still did excellent work in those and other movies.

Flawed people are capable of great works of art. Should discovering the flaws negate the work? I say no. Barbara Stanwyck was a right-winger who was rabidly anti-Communist and she is still my favorite actress.

I think we, the audience, have to be very careful not to look upon movie stars, or celebrities in general, or anybody in the public eye, really, as role models. Back in the studio era, it was easy to fall for the myth of the star as a larger-than-life demigod, because that's how they were sold to us -- but it was as much a lie then as it is now.

We need to draw a line in the sand that separates our respect for movie stars as entertainers from admiration little different from idolatry. That's not easy... but I think it's necessary. We just don't know who these people really are anymore. We never did.

-------

The novel is done! This draft, anyway; the next phase is revision, but I won't start that until next year. I have a fairly good idea of what needs fixing, and of what needs to be researched. I'll know more once I get feedback from my beta readers (I want four, but I'll settle for three).

Once it's DONE-done, as in proofread and strengthened, will l I try to take it to the big publishers, or will I self-publish it? Still don't know for sure. I'm reading so many writing blogs, learning all kinds of things about the industry and Amazon and e-books and this and that... It's safe to say it'll be awhile before I decide one way or another.

-------

This has been a hard week for me, so I'm gonna talk about two new movies here instead of giving them separate posts: 

- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was quite good. Frances McDormand's character is justifiably angry over the lack of justice for her murdered daughter, and that anger threatens to consume her, but we run out of movie before we discover how far she's willing to go. That was deliberate on writer-director Martin McDonagh's part; I'm still not sure how I feel about that, but regardless, this is a dream role for McDormand and she nails it.

- Coco comes a year after another animated movie set in a foreign culture about a young guitarist, Kubo and the Two Strings, but Pixar takes a different approach, using a holiday, the Day of the Dead, to define this world, the way it works, and how the characters act within this world. I was unfamiliar with the specifics of the holiday, so I had to really pay attention to understand why X does Y and how that will lead to Z, but it was so worth the effort. The opening act was a new Frozen Christmas short featuring the magic snow golem Olaf, and I hated him within the first two minutes. I'm in no hurry to see the original film.

Links after the jump.

A Rita Hayworth Primer

Hollywood's Hispanic Heritage Blogathon es un evento dedicado a celebrar los logros de los latinos en la industria del cine a lo largo de la historia, organizado por Once Upon a Screen. Para obtener una lista de bloggers que participan, por favor visite los enlaces en cualquier sitio.

Fargo

The Reel Infatuation Blogathon is an event devoted to favorite movie characters, hosted by Silver Screenings and Font and Frock. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the links at either site.

Fargo
from my VHS collection

Larry wasn't born with the brains God gave a duck but he was my brother and he shouldna oughta died like that: shot, left in the snow in the middle o' the night. I told him to stay on 71 when he called me: "Stay on 71," I says, "that'll take ya to I-94 and I-94'll take ya to Minneapolis." Don't know how he ended up in Brainerd, but that's Larry for ya - and all on account o' him and his girlfriend needin' to go to that damfool Three Stooges film festival.

I went to Brainerd to... you know, identify the bodies and all. Long drive from Billings.

I got there and went to the police station and that's where I met Sheriff Marge Gunderson.

Unbreakable

The 2017 Great Villain Blogathon is a tribute to the greatest, most sinister and most memorable antagonists in film history, presented by Speakeasy, Shadows & Satin and Silver Screenings. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the links at any of these sites.

Unbreakable
from my DVD collection

Elijah Price? Dude, there's no way he did all the things they say he did. I mean, if he were a billionaire like Lex Luthor, he could've afforded it. If he were a mutant like Magneto, he'd have the physical power, for sure. Hell, if he had some crazy-ass weapon, like Captain Cold's freeze gun or Weather Wizard's wand or like any of a million other small-time hoods, he could do some damage, at least. Price? He was some guy in a wheelchair.

I should know. He came into my comic shop one night!

Okay, before I get into that, let me say something up front: that so-called "superhero" from the papers? The one they say dropped a dime on Price to begin with? Lamest. Superhero. EVER. I remember reading about how he saved those girls from that psycho who had them tied up - and hey, he did a great job there - but a poncho for a costume? Seriously? I'll admit, the hood gives him a certain Moon Knight kinda look, or maybe even the Spectre if he were drawn by Mike Mignola, but it's so... ordinary. He doesn't even have a cool chest emblem like Daredevil or Nightwing that crooks can shoot their guns at instead of his head because, y'know, superstitious and cowardly.

Sorry. Needed to vent about that.

But dude! Lemme tell you how I met Elijah Price - or should I call him "Mr. Glass"? (Semi-dorky, yet kinda catchy, alias. I could imagine a Batman villain with that name.) The boss had left a couple of hours earlier. I had just completed the pull lists for that week, and I was goofing around on the Net, in a Marvel chat room, trying to convince this one douche bag why a Spider-Man movie where he has organic webshooters is the worst idea in the history of bad ideas. (Raimi better not mess it up further.)

I must have been pretty focused because I didn't hear Price come in. I saw his head near the adult comics section but I was too into my flame war to bother with him. I do recall kicking out of the store a couple of kids who thought we sold Donald Duck comics. What did they think this place was?

Anyway, I look up at one point and it's twenty after and I realize I gotta get ready to close! I finished off my douche bag opponent with a brief but detailed summation of the importance of Peter Parker's technical and scientific knowhow to the Spider-Man mythos - along with a gratuitous insult about Douche Bag's mother - and shut down the computer.

I didn't notice Price was in a wheelchair at first. He struck me as being more like the Chief from Doom Patrol than Professor X, at least at first - maybe because of his funny hairdo? He hadn't bought anything. I tried to hurry him along. I was hungry and wanted to stop at Popeye's on my way home before they closed.

Fifteen minutes later and he's still there. He's all quiet and brooding, like Bruce Wayne thinking about his dead parents. You know how it is when customers come in at like, five minutes before closing and take forever to decide what to buy? That had happened to me twice last week!

Enough was enough. I grabbed the handles on his chair and pushed him towards the door, because he wasn't doing anything other than sitting there, not even reading.

Then get this! He jerks his chair to the side and smashes into a table! He does this two more times, causing comics and displays to fall. Finally, I said forget it. I'm calling the cops. Let them deal with this mofo.

Just as I'm calling, though, he finally decides to buy a comic! It was an old issue of Sentryman, of all things: a Captain America knock-off from one of those second-rate publishers from the 70s, Charlton or Gold Key or Dell or one of those. I told him he was better off getting a Simon/Kirby Fighting American trade paperback, but he wanted Suckyman instead.

You know the rest. The police cuffed him later on, after getting tipped by Poncho Man, and the whole story about what Price supposedly did broke in the papers. I went to that art gallery of his, Limited Edition, before it closed permanently. I didn't even know it existed.

There was no one there but some old black lady, but check this out: he had all this original comic art on display. I saw a Curt Swan Superman page, some Neal Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow covers, some Buscema Avengers, even some pages by Chaykin and Starlin - and wouldn't you know it? There was even a Sentryman page.

Price's trial starts next Monday. They say he'll probably plead insanity. I dunno, dude... he's a comics fan. He's one of us. There's just no way someone who reads stories about heroes, people risking their lives to protect the rest of us, can be evil.

Is there?

----------------------
Previously:
Superman II
Robot Monster

New release roundup for September '16 and links

Well, you didn't think I stopped watching new movies last month, did you? I would've loved to have devoted entire posts to these films, but instead I'll give you the Reader's Digest version:

- Southside With You. Who woulda thought someone would make a movie about how the President and First Lady met? Or that it'd be this good? Rookie writer-director Richard Tanne forged this screenplay from all the bits of information publicly known about how Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson met, in Chicago in 1989. He gets two terrific performances out of Tika Sumpter and newcomer Parker Sawyers. The result is a smart and warm romantic drama that makes you forget who these two young people will eventually become.

- Kubo and the Two Strings. In an industry that continues to equate animated film with middle-of-the-road, celebrity-voiced, CGI pablum that teaches the same old lessons over and over again (and I may have more to say about this soon), this movie was a welcome change of pace. Amazing things are being done at LAIKA Entertainment out of Portland, and Kubo is the latest example. More than the stop-motion animation, which is incredible, this movie had a little bit of an edge; a story with character-based humor and not cutesy jokes; a measured pace that didn't need cinematographic acrobatics and rapid-fire editing; and an engaging story where the celebrity voice actors... acted! LAIKA, you have my attention. Keep up the good work.

- Sully. By now, I think, we've come to expect Tom Hanks to excel in a role like this, so while saying he was great may not be original or creative, it's no less true. He just was! Cpt. Sullenberger's miraculous airplane landing on the Hudson River and subsequent board hearing made for a thin movie, but I'd still say it was worth seeing to see how Clint Eastwood recreates the event. I admit, I was trying to pick out where he used CGI and where he didn't, and maybe that threw me out of the movie. Still, it's not like we don't know the ending. Maybe that's the problem with many of these "ripped from the headlines" movies: trying to inject a feeling of suspense into tales everyone knows. I dunno. Regardless, this was good.

- Hell or High Water. Bonnie and Clyde meets Margin Call in this tale of West Texas bank robbers in the post-Bernie Madoff era. Never heard of Brit director David Mackenzie before, but he and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan put together a rock solid crime movie with memorable characters. There's a pervasive feeling of betrayal towards an economy, with the banks as its representatives, that failed the people in this story, and not just the bank robbing brothers. Even the minor characters are shaped by this attitude, which makes for some pleasantly surprising moments. Jeff Bridges does his best Sam Elliot impression as the Texas Ranger on the hunt for Chris Pine and Ben Foster, both of whom are also very good. Great soundtrack as well. Saw this at the Cinemart in Forest Hills and got to test-drive their new luxury recliner seats. They're just like the ones AMC uses, only without AMC prices!

And I've even got some links for ya:

Jacqueline talks with Aurora about movies.

Raquel reviews a doc that tries to uncover who made the first film.

Fritzi reimagines Star Trek as a silent film.

Danny has seen about 8000 movies and ain't done by a long shot.

Did you ever wonder what the deal was between Norma Desmond and her monkey?

On screen masking and why it's important for movie theaters.

Awhile back, I wrote about a documentary in the works about cargo biking. Now, at last, there's a trailer.

Courtesy of my pal Michael Neno, here's a look at a Star Trek convention program from 1976.

Thanks once again for joining me for my Star Trek month. Numbers-wise, I did okay. I hit my minimum pageview goal for the month (barely). I had thought so many consecutive posts might have an effect on the pageview counts of individual posts, but that doesn't appear to be the case. When I began WSW, I remember thinking I had to provide content as often as possible no matter what, but there was no way I could sustain that pace. Props to those who can. 

My monthly series on Star Trek today will continue to the end of the year, and then that'll be it - at least, until the next time I get a hankering to write about one of the movies or something. And of course, I'll talk about the premiere of Discovery in 2017 (though now it won't be until May).

I need a break, so I'm gonna take one. See you in a week.

Sixx

It's hard to believe this little corner of the Internet has been Home Sweet Home for the past half dozen years. Though WSW hasn't led to fame, fortune and Girls Girls Girls for me yet, it has still meant a lot. Thank you for reading and for indulging my Wild Side whenever I write experimental or silly movie posts. I couldn't have gotten this far Without You.

Run Lola Run

Run Lola Run
seen @ Celebrate Brooklyn, Prospect Park, Brooklyn NY

This is a story.

Last Thursday I went to Prospect Park's Celebrate Brooklyn festival to see the German movie Run Lola Run. I took the G train. A street musician entered the subway car at the Carroll Street station. He had a violin. Right before he began to play, though, he sat down, holding his stomach. Then he threw up onto an AM New York someone left on the floor.

A pair of guys who looked like they were a couple came over to the musician. They propped his feet up. I heard one of them say he was a med student. He asked the musician questions about his health, who he was, that sort of thing. At the Smith/9th Streets station, the med student's boyfriend ran for the conductor, and sure enough, the train was delayed. There was nothing I could do for the guy, and the med student looked like he had things under control, so I got out and walked to Prospect Park.

The films of John Ford... in haiku

The Grapes of Wrath

Moving to Cali,

No one gives Fonda a break.

Bad times? He'll be there!

How Green Was My Valley

That's right, it beat Kane,

But it's an excellent film,

So get over it!

The Searchers

A word to the wise:

If the goal ain't worth the search,

it is not to blame.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Legend? Or the facts?

In this information age,

The former's losing.

-------------------

Previously:

The films of Howard Hawks... in limericks

Creature From the Black Lagoon

The Universal Blogathon is an event celebrating the films of Universal Studios, presented by Silver Scenes. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the link at the host site.

Creature From the Black Lagoon

YouTube viewing

In the grand tradition of Universal movie monsters, one of the greatest, and at the same time, one of the least understood, is the amphibious terror known only as the Creature from the Black Lagoon. In this rare and exclusive interview conducted over Skype, I had the opportunity to get to know this unique, yet deadly monster as we discussed his sixty-plus year career in Hollywood as well as his future plans with the studio that made him a star.

Wide Screen World: I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. I realize how reclusive you tend to be.

Creature from the Black Lagoon: Well, it ain't that I'm reclusive so much as - ah, who am I kidding? You're right; I don't get out much. But I don't get many requests for interviews anymore, so there's that too.

WSW: What about the other monsters? Do you see them much?

CBL: Nah, most of them can't be bothered to come down here, the bums! [laughs] Actually, Wolfie and I still send each other Christmas cards. And I guess I wouldn't know if the Invisible Man's ever been here or not, would I? [laughs] That's a joke.

WSW: I thought so. Y'know, I was surprised to learn that you're online.

CBL: Actually, I'm talking from an Internet cafe not too far from the ol' Lagoon. Gentrification's happening here too, can you believe it?

WSW: Wow.

CBL: The Studio rented the place out for today, though, so it's just me and a couple of baristas, but I come here sometimes if I need to use the computer. The locals know me; they respect my privacy, though that may change if more yuppies start coming in. They wanna build condos here! Condos! I remember when this whole place was nothing but a swamp!

WSW: So, what do I call you? I know some people refer to you as the Gill-Man. Do you have a given name, or --

CBL: No name.

WSW: Really?

CBL: Never needed one. Although the Studio tells me I should come up with something. They say I need to "brand" myself for the 21st century. So how do you feel about, say, "George," or "Doug," something like that?

WSW: I... think it's a start.

Cinematic World Tour: The Young Girls of Rochefort

The Young Girls of Rochefort

seen @ Battery Park, New York NY

Greetings from...Rochefort?!

Where on earth is Rochefort, you ask? It's a seaside town on the west coast of France. See, I was flying to Paris to watch the Tour de France, but Freddy, my pilot, ran into some engine trouble, and we had to set down on an airfield about fifteen miles outside of Rochefort so he could take care of it. You don't wanna know how scared out of my mind I was!

I shouldn't have been, though. Freddy's flown all over the world and I totally trust him, but he's the kinda guy who likes to make flight conditions sound worse than they actually are, so he looks that much better when it's all over and he's settled the plane down.

So what's life in this one-horse town like?

Kinda peculiar, actually.

A Liebster hat trick

Thank you, Paddy, for this latest incarnation of the beloved and well-traveled Liebster Award (my third), and let me take this moment to say how much you and your blog have meant to me in the almost-five years I've been doing this. I consider you an inspiration as well as a friend, and I'm deeply grateful for all you do, so thanks for just being around.

Okay, enough of that sappy stuff! Let's answer Paddy's questions...

1.  What is your favourite book? I can't pick one. But if I had to pick one, today I'll go with Ball Four by Jim Bouton.

2.  Who is your desert island director? Why? That's easy.

3.  If you had a choice, would you live in the past or the future? Definitely the future, so I can live on the moon and have all the cheese I want.

4.  Who is your favourite performer to lip-sync to? Whichever one whose songs I know all the lyrics to.

5.  Cats, dogs or lizards?

 Does he count as a lizard?

6.  Where do you get the majority of your news? Print? Television? Online? Definitely online.

7.  Which juror are you in 12 Angry Men? Probably the guy who was eager to make it to the ballgame.

8.  Your favourite holiday? Why? New Year's Eve, I guess, because it's an excuse to stay out late and party.

9.  Do you play a musical instrument? Sing? As a matter of fact, I played keyboard in high school. Fancied myself the next Billy Joel, but I only wrote a couple of forgettable songs and did a lot of covers. I leave the singing to my sister.

10. What are the first three films you would induct into your personal Film Registry? You mean my Blue Ribbon films, perhaps? I dunno. Pick three from there.

11.  Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi?

"We come to him for help, and he tries to shake us down. Besides, he said I looked like Boris Karloff!"

I did this last time, so I'm gonna try it again: here are eleven statements about me. Only three of them are true. Guess all three and win a cookie!

- Back in college, I once dyed my hair blonde after losing a bet. No, you may not see the pictures.
- I jog for about a couple of hours on the weekends. That's about the most I can manage!
- I saw someone get shot in my neighborhood last year.
- I played a chess grandmaster once and almost beat him!
- I can't snap, no matter how hard I try.
- I met Susan Sarandon in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- I "owned" a car for about two weeks and drove it deep into Nassau County once, even though I don't have a driver's license!
- I've recently started eating french fries with mayo. Better than I thought!
- While living in Columbus, I lectured to a high school art class.
- I recently joined a second writing group, one devoted to genre material.
- My sister is going on an audition for The Voice next month.

Any takers? No one solved the previous one, either...

Cinematic World Tour: Black Orpheus

Black Orpheus

YouTube viewing

Greetings from Rio! 

I had gotten an invite from my pal Le to a party to celebrate her new book. So my pilot re-fueled the jet, loaded up the bar, and we flew down to her neck of the woods in Brazil!

The party was great! I was really excited to meet Le in person for the first time. But then she told me that Carnaval was about to go down in Rio in a couple of days.* I said, well, hey, as long as I'm already down here - let's go!

Desk Set

The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon is exactly what it says on the tin, hosted by Margaret Perry. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the link at the host site.

Desk Set
seen online at YouTube

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Battle Royal: The gangsters

METRO-COLUMVERSAL PICTURES

IN ASSOCIATION WITH RADIOMOUNT BROTHERS

PRESENT

A FREEWHEELIN' FRACAS OF RAUCOUS AND RIOTOUS RACKETEERS!

IT'S THE CLASSIC MOVIE

************BATTLE ROYAL!!!!!!************

A TITANIC TUSSLE OF CINEMATIC CROOKS AND CRETINS, IN WHICH YOU DETERMINE NOT ONLY THE WINNER, BUT THE COURSE OF THE FIGHT ITSELF!!!!

WHO THROWS THE FIRST PUNCH?

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WHO FIGHTS DIRTY?

AND WHO'S THE LAST MAN STANDING?

THE BATTLE IS IN YOUR HANDS!!!!!!!!

LET'S MEET THE COMPETITORS:

Superman II

The Great Villain Blogathon is a tribute to the greatest, most sinister and most memorable antagonists in film history, presented by Speakeasy, Shadows & Satin and Silver Screenings. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the links at any of these sites.

Superman II
from my DVD collection

Ladies and gentlemen,

the President of the United States.

This is your President. On behalf of my country, and in the name of the other leaders of the world with whom I have today consulted, I hereby abdicate all authority and control over this planet to General Zod. Only by following all his directives will the lives of millions be spared.

There have been numerous reports over the past few days that describe the general and his associates as having participated in wanton, destructive acts of terrorism across the country. I wish to state unequivocally, and for the record, that these reports... these reports are exaggerated and grossly distorted by the media. Let me take a few moments now to explain to you why the general comes not as a conqueror of humanity, but as a liberator, a savior from the, um... from the true threat to our planet... Superman.