Eleven am is late in my book. Waking up any time after 10am is considered lazy. My excuse? If I have to confess, it is the fact there was little on my agenda. I would have wasted away those hours watching music television and idle chat on-line. So to save myself from this, I spent those extra few hours in bed. So inspired, I racked my brain to find something to do. My breakfast consist of a cup of tea and two chocolate cookies. Then I headed off to clean the car. It was badly over due. When I got home, it was nearly 2pm and I was still looking for something to do. Noting that Superman III was to be screened on BBC One, I wondered if I had would have the time to relive one of the more comical comic book movie adoptions from my childhood. My mind filled with all those classic scenes. With few people on-line, my family out for the afternoon, I decided to get comfortable in my new leather chair and watch the movie in full. My PC was on for a while, during the opening credits, while I read up all the trivia on IMDB. That is one site, you could spend a lifetime browsing and still not get enough. Reeve was about to return for his third and penultimate crusade in the cape and I had to watch, so the PC went off.
Which is your favourite Superman movie? The purists among you will select II, just as Star Wars fans will always select Empire Strikes Back. While I tend to agree (on both accounts) there is something that has to be said for this third instalment. Sure, they did go for a comic feel but there are darker components than both the first movies combined. (After all it was going to be called Superman versus Superman.) But there are lighter touches, as when Clark attempts to get his groove on at the high school reunion. Richard Pryor steals the show, playing the computer genius but always coming across as the comic hero, with his excellent one liners and facial expressions. The script was so well written, that as Gus he was able to transform into a general and and travelling water salesman.
Ironically Superman II was on Sky Movies 1 starting midway through this screening. For Christmas I bought the double disc set for myself. I know it is sad, but I used the vouchers I received for leaving my first post uni job. One day, when I had nothing to do but wait for 2005 to come around, I popped the DVD into the player and watched the movie. Unfortunately, something stopped me watching it in, full so I watched the remainder a few days later. My favourite part is at the end when Clark Kent returns to revenge Rocky. (Would a superhero, really take revenge?) My favourite moment, is after smashing the wannabe tough guy into the pin ball machine, he turns over to the cafe owner and says, “I’ve been working out!”. Magic. It is those moments that make movie going such a great experience. (Plus Kent trying to get his groove on at his reunion ball!) I could watch that moment again and again. Incidentally I did, on Sky Movies, while I was busy polishing my shoes.
The long weekend was drawing to a close. I did something I had not done for several months. It is used so little that I have come to forget that we have a family computer. Some housekeeping was well over due, e-mails to download and the updating of AVG. With a few hours to waste away before my favourite soap came on, I decided to watch the premiere of Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed , on Sky Movies 2. Some good clean fun to fill in a void. What was wrong in that? No one could complain with that. I had not seen the original but I would rather not go down that road. There are several dozen movies I should have seen that I have not seen. I will get around to it, some time.
As I got into the movie, I noticed the first song, which played briefly when Seth Green’s character laid his eyes on Velma, played elegantly by Linda Cardellini. It sounded beautiful but I did not get the chance to note the name or any of the lyrics. I made it my mission to hunt down this track and listen to it in full. Thinking it was going to be an easy task of looking down the track listing of the official soundtrack over at Amazon. Unfortunately it was not to be, so it meant returning back to the Internet Movie Database and scrolling through several pages of the message boards. Finally, four pages into my search, I found exactly what I was looking for. Although screening each post for the word ‘song’ proved a difficult task. Eventually, the title, ‘The Way’ by Clay Aiken. What a beautiful moving song. I was speaking to Pooja on Skype and sent her the song to listen to. She agreed with me. Just when I was lacking the energy, the drive to move ahead, I longed for inspiration, I’ve found the song.
There’s something bout how you stay on my mind,
There’s something bout the way
that I whisper your name when I’m asleep
Oh girl no. Maybe its the look you get in your eyes.
Oh baby its the way that makes me feel to see you smile.
And the reasons they may change but what i’m feeling stays the same.