Cognitive recalibration: A superhero you can believe in

I believe in superheroes! I can finally say it. I love superhero films and have watched almost all of them, even Mystery Men and the less said about that film the better. However I have never had that suspension of disbelief where I truly believed in the performance, except for maybe Christopher Reeve in Superman, but I was a kid then so it doesn’t count, especially as I was a kid with an overactive imagination. That's all I'm saying about the Superman incarnations by the way and I'm not going to even mention Fantastic Four, though Chris Evans was the only good thing in it.

Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man

That is until now. Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Homecoming... I don't know, it was like he was born to play the part. His dancing background playing Billy Elliot on the stage, which means he can sing as well as dance and act, making him a triple threat, certainly helps. His part in The Impossible was challenging to say the least and his is the character that stays with you long after the film is finished, such is the strength of his performance, not Naomi Watts, not Ewan McGregor and not even the tsunami. That performance was so realistic and he's done the same with Peter Parker, he simply is him. He makes you truly believe in him, not only as the teenage superhero, finally a real looking and acting teenager, but that it could be possible he could do those amazing feats. You didn't have just a montage of him figuring out his powers, the entire film covered that. He didn't have it all figured out and do everything right, in fact he pretty much screwed up the entire film too. He was a dork but a standard dork and not in a cutesy slapstick way. He was smart but not prenaturally intelligent. He was flawed in a very human sense, not a superhuman. What I'm trying to say is, he was wholly relatable, not a mass of characteristics, which made the film the most enjoyable out of all the superhero films. It helped that it was so playful, playing with the superhero tropes, with the comic references and a few in-jokes. Also, the villain had a proper arc and you understand why he became the super villain, not just for revenge or because he is simply evil.

Now, I can hear you say, what about Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield? Fine actors to be sure, but they were too old certainly (adults playing teenagers, it's never believable, just look at Grease), too sure of themselves (Spider-Man is constantly trying to find himself, he is a teenager after all) and too cool to truly play the part; as much as they tried to be geeks and Andrew Garfield particularly got the awkward dorkiness, they never overcame their inner coolness.

The MCU

Now, you’re interjecting with other superheroes. So here’s a rundown of the best; The Incredibles wins it hands down, but cannot be included as it's a cartoon. I love all these performances by the way, but they never make me believe in them as a superhero and I have a very vivid imagination! NB: I'm classing a superhero as someone who has super powers, rather than someone with a load of gadgets and is highly trained, like Danger Mouse. Batman for example being the exception that proves the rule of course.

Wonder Woman, I had to start with her and I hope she's the first of many and because she's the first, she's the superheroine who will spawn better films, but Gal Gadot being both beautiful and powerful; she trained in the Israeli military; she looked the part, but never quite got beyond the surface acting-wise, they just plonked her in situations and set-pieces and let them do the talking.

Hugh Jackman made Wolverine his own, which is amazing and he's by far the best thing about any of the X-Men films, but he isn’t Wolverine as he can't quite portray his berserker rage among other things.

Avengers gif.

Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth certainly look like Captain America and Thor and are great actors, but that’s it. They are icons, idols, figureheads, they represent abstract concepts so you never see the person underneath, but we may do in future films.

Tom Hiddleston embodies Loki and relishes the part, but you can see his joy underneath which is wonderful, but all too knowing.

Mark Ruffalo makes for an interesting Bruce Banner/Hulk and I’d love to see him in a standalone film, but the casting is too leftfield, which I adore, to be convincing.

Patrick Stewart was inspired casting for Professor X; he has the looks obviously, but also the gravitas, sly humour and air of authority. however he’s an actor’s actor, you can see his process. Same goes for Ian McKellen as Magneto.

Guardians of the Galaxy, what can I say. The most fun of the superhero movies as they accept their super powers completely, wholeheartedly enjoy them and in the case of Peter, SPOILER lets them go with a shrug. They don't hide their comic book credentials, they wear them with pride!

And finally the exceptions:

Tony Stark/Iron Man is Robert Downey Jr., not the other way round. Period.

Batman. No one has ever quite played Bruce Wayne and Batman and made both parts cohere; they were better at either one or the other, or average at both, sorry Adam West. Though Will Arnett as Lego Batman comes close!

LEGO Batman

Paul Rudd is perfect for Ant-Man, but that part was never going to be credible, especially as they’ve skewed it to comedy.

Honourable mentions go to:

Jessica Jones

Chronicle, which I haven't seen yet but looks brilliantly different, Black Panther which looking at the trailer is going to be amazing, Doctor Strange who Cumberbatch plays as an amalgam of Sherlock and Khan, the Disney (not Marvel Disney) movie Sky High, the deconstruction of the superhero movie Unbreakable, the "I don't give a damn" superhero movies Deadpool and Hancock, and the TV superheroes: Buffy the Vampire Slayer a superhero in all but name; all of the Misfits, if you've never seen it, watch it, it's... indescribable, incredibly raw and inconceivably crude; Heroes (the first season for Hiro, Sylar, Peter Petrelli, Claire and Isaac and Heroes Reborn which is something in itself); the inhumans in Agents of SHIELD, but the humans are better characters; Jessica Jones, the fantastic Krysten Ritter from Veronica Mars ably supported by David Tennant who you will never see in the same way again; Mike Colter in Luke Cage who could have been transported off the page, but hasn't got the acting range; Charlie Cox in Daredevil who erases that much maligned film from your mind; can't wait for The Defenders, which combines all three, plus *mutter* The Iron Fist; Dan Stevens in Legion, a bizarre series you just have to watch as it has to be seen to be believed; Stephen Amell in Arrow who is a great role model; another too cool geek Grant Gustin in The Flash; Melissa Benoist in Supergirl who is adorkable; all of The Legends of Tomorrow but especially Wentworth Miller; and The Tick, both cartoon and live action. I love you all and despite the extra time you have to play your superheroes, there's something about watching you every week in my living room which makes it too intimate; you can see everything they're thinking and feeling, making you believe in them less over time conversely rather than more, but by then, they're already in your heart.

Marvel's The Defenders

Or is it just me?

P. S. Bonus points for anyone who gets the reference in the title.

Flowers in the window

I feel very optimistic today and a Manic Street Preachers song is on my mp3 player, So Why So Sad, how ironic. It came on gradually, but it's built up so much that I now feel like dancing in the rain, going around hugging everyone and grinning so far from ear to ear, that I want to pass it on like Joker from Batman, without the fatal consequences of course. The main reason for my contentment is we've had stress management course today. I feel very relaxed, positive and in control. The Manic Street Preachers may be superb, especially You Stole the Sun from my Heart (I've hunted the song out on my mp3 player as the mere mention of it makes me want to listen to it), but the happiest song that always comes to my mind is Flowers in the Window by Travis. The story behind the writing of it is hilarious if not quite as happy; it features alcohol, drunk band members and a lonely Fran Healy. I'm thinking of it at the moment as I've just been on Youtube, enforced I might add by Cam23:



It may sum up my mood, act as shameless plugging for my favourite band and let me dwell on the 90's (again), but it also describes Youtube, look at the lyrics:

Wow look at you now
Flowers in the window
It's such a lovely day
And I'm glad you feel the same
Cause to stand up, out in the crowd
You are one in a million

Yes the single was actually released in 2003, but I'm trying not to be so pedantic; it's a symptom of stress for one and it's also just really annoying. The song lyrics are ironic when I think about them, because you are only one in a million on Youtube. All these people, all these videos, all these flowers in windows, it's overwhelming, but mostly overwhelmingly positive. These people simply want to connect. Although if you do become infamous because of it, like that poor lightsaber kid, it can be a curse as much as a promotional tool. Youtube is for watercoolers, a way of watching music videos, old comedy sketches and Jackass type antics. It's also a medium for indulging nostalgia, schadenfreude and fetishes. I've always been annoyed you can't download videos off of Youtube, but I've never had a blog I can embed them into before, this is brilliant!

Okay, this is why I don't go on Youtube. I clicked on a few of the Cam23 video links and then spent the next half an hour simply watching the suggestions that appear on the right-hand side. I barely watched the Lady Gaga video, was it intentionally that awful? Whose idea was that? And who thought to put it on Youtube? Americans have no shame. I found myself watching videos of Captain Kirk saying he should've been a librarian, Matthew Broderick singing a terrible librarian song and a Monty Python gorilla librarian sketch. The best one I found was the Cookie Monster in the library video, which someone's posted before. Sorry, I couldn't remember who.



I managed to refrain from delving into a Sesame Street nostalgia trip, somehow, even though I came across videos of my favourite character the Count. I managed to keep from looking up Muppets snippets as well, though I do have the Phenomenon video on my mp3 player.

Youtube may be separate from podcasts, but they are part of the same family; related but on the surface they seem to have totally different parents. Youtube is the equivalent of Bart Simpson, the "do what I feel like" kid: reckless, attention-seeking and brazen. Whereas podcasts are like Lisa Simpson: practical, informative and helpful with occasional moments of childishness. I am not speaking from experience as I have never watched or created a podcast, but I have been associated with them. The film magazines I avidly read advertise them; their writers always make them when they go to awards ceremonies, ComicCon and when they have something important to divulge. Podcasts are part of the Cambridge Film Festival, or they were when I did reviews for it, and I know my community radio station used to do them before they went bust as well. The station is back up and running now though, see. I'm afraid I refuse to use a Mac, iPods or iTunes or any Apple products on principle; I feel the same way about Apple as I do about facebook and Tesco. My views can be read here. There was a great recent episode of Futurama satirising web 2.0, Apple and the iPhone, or the eyephone as they called it:
I will definitely use Google docs, particularly when I do my presentation for TeachMeet. We've used it before at work for distributing timetables. I like the drawing function, but Paint is so much easier to use. I've just remembered, last Christmas, my brother set up a Google doc: a spreadsheet with each of our present lists on it. It was fantastic! We listed the things we wanted, their RRP, website links and everything. Then he added a column that was kept hidden where we put our names against the things that we wanted to get for each other so we didn't end up with two of the same thing. It worked really well and no one cheated and peeked, at least I didn't...

I've been very lax on the Calvin and Hobbes department and it's a particularly good one today.