Man of Steel Answers: Why Didn't Zod Terraform Mars?

MAN OF STEEL Answers:
"Why didn't Zod Just Terraform Mars?"

Warner Brothers Pitcures' MAN OF STEEL has had an uphill battle to gain comic book movie fan audience acceptance since it took its first shaky steps to create a unified DC Comics Cinematic Universe. Many people know that this film is supposed to be the first of this new concept of a unified film mythology and it seems right that Superman (comic’s first “super-hero”) be the one who starts it. Nothing before it, not the beloved “The Dark Knight”, “The Green Lantern” (thankfully), nor, sadly, I know, the many “awesome” new television series are a part of this new DC Cinematic Universe.

Almost from the day it opened “Man of Steel” has been criticized for its departure in depicting Superman as the unwavering icon of righteousness that stands for truth, justice, and the American Way we remember from the comic book. Despite the fact all the fans, audiences, and critic stating that is what they find most boring about the character. It is made clear in the movie that we are not dealing with that character, but with the beginnings of that character. Still, the criticisms are leveled.

Criticism is leveled at almost all aspects of the film, from costuming, (No underpants on the outside!) to its overuse of action, (despite fans wanting Superman to “punch something.”), to its superficial alterations to Superman’s origins, (No crystalline palaces!) and mostly of his perceived behaviors, with the biggest controversy being that Kal El kills Zod. But the precedent of Superman killing stalwartly evil enemies has been long set in the comic books and, even in the vaunted movie Superman II. (No the “Donnor Cut” does not count. It’s ridiculous that Superman would turn back time, twice. Then, every Superman movie should end that way then.)

Most of these critiques can be easily answered. Why did he kill Zod? Because Zod put him in a position where there was no other choice. Why was Metropolis so decimated by their fight, possibly killing thousands of fictional people who never existed? Because when two super-powered, indestructible beings fight, that is what happens. They cannot just bounce off of walls. Just because these things came at the end of the movie, does not mean there will not be consequences. I hope. One of the things I particularly dislike about the recent flux of superhero movies is that there are no consequences to their actions. But that is an article for another time.

Possibly the third biggest critique leveled at “Man of Steel” is usually referenced as a “plot hole”. Which is the question this writing attempts to answer: Why didn’t Zod just terraform Mars?”

It is considered a plot hole because if Zod had just done that, Metropolis would have escaped destruction and those thousands of lives would not have been in danger to begin with. But, like those other critiques, this one can also be answered simply: Why didn’t Zod just terraform Mars? Easy, he couldn’t.

Thank you. Thanks for your time and reading this-wait. What, you need an explanation?

Well, to begin there are two main reasons why he cannot do this, one technical and the other is philosophical. Before you get worked up that the film never showed us these reasons, I answer, Snyder did. First, I present the Technical reason. There is an axiom in filmmaking that gets pounded into you as you study screenwriting: Show it. Don't say it. Meaning that if you can visually show the situation rather than having two or more characters give expository dialogue in a scene, then, you show it visually.

What has been shown in Snyder’s “Man of Steel” is the absolute failure of Krypton’s terraforming program. Indeed, we have all the visual evidence we need to confirm that Krypton's Terraforming for Colonization efforts were failures. Zod says it himself, when after escaping the Phantom Zone and going out in search of other Kryptonians; "Everywhere we went, we found only death."

In the following montage we see all the planets they came to, showing dead World Engines dead Kryptonians, and planets without atmospheres. Yet, somehow, this, as obvious as it was presented, (So obvious that I would have been laughed out of Screen Writing I at Columbia College Chicago, had I made this mistake.) Krypton’s terraforming failures, ironically, failed to register with audiences. So we know that terraforming Mars was then completely out of the question then, because like all of their outposts, it too would have failed. Before you make claims that they only failed on a societal level, once again, it is shown that some of the dead Krytonians are in space suits. So are Zod and his crew, because the planets are uninhabitable. Meaning that the World Engines failed to produce the desired affect and that was what led to the collapse of the outposts.

Now, knowing what a terrible failure terraforming is in this universe, we can then see that Zod's conquest of Earth via terraforming with the World Machines was a really BAD IDEA. It was doomed to fail and not only would he have killed every person on Earth in the process, he would have doomed that last of the Kryptonians who were with him due to their limited resources, thusly, he would have killed off the entirety of Kryptonian culture as well. If Zod simply took over the Earth and adjusted his survivors to the environment, then, cohabitation or conquest would have been within easy reach. “This is another plot hole,” you find yourself saying. No.

Zod could not do that either because of the Philosophical Reason.

Zod and Jor El were friends once. But something drove them apart. Their past relationship is mentioned many times during the film. What drove them apart were the differing philosophies on how to save Krypton. For Zod, its failure was due to the degenerate bloodlines contaminating their society, bringing it to a weakened state of governance. He is not looking at the bigger picture. He is only looking at the idea that force is the way to save Kryptonian culture. For Jor El, it was not that simple.

The world is about to end and yet everyone is ignoring that fact. (Sound familiar?) JorEl knows, he knows, that Krypton’s time is up. To recreate Kypton would be to recreate its failures and prejudices. But he wants to try and make the next generation of survivors aware of their failures. Jor El mentions that he had been looking for a suitable planet for a long time. Meaning his further research beyond terraforming was to look for instead, habitable worlds to colonize. Which is why he was adamant about "Looking to the stars".

You see? Jor El was not trying to save Kryptonian Society; he was trying to save the species! Failure of their society left no hope for the planet or the culture to continue on other worlds but the species could live on somewhere else, to start anew with differing rules, historical knowledge, and a real chance at surviving the wilds of other environments. His son’s natural childbirth changed those rules: a procreation program for another planet where they will not suffer the same failures in the philosophies of governing themselves or establish class before a child is born without the chances and choices to determine their own destinies. This, to JorEl, is what led Krypton to its demise. With his plan, they can make up a new society for themselves without adhering to the old world. These ideas are what drove the wedge between Zod and himself.

Zod saw the small picture of degenerate bloodlines, need of purity, of the survival of the culture through those old means of creating life. You see? Zod needed to terraform Earth as a sort of “Fuck You” to Jor El’s philosophy and Jor El’s plan to save Krytonian culture through integration. What drives Zod to overlook simple conquest of the Earth is the aspect of personal philosophical revenge that plays out.

Zod wants to terraform Earth, even if he cannot see, or, maybe he is unwilling to see, the terrible results it holds for his people. He needs to show Kal El that his way is the correct way and maybe using Jor El's relocation plan and selected planet to do so will lend greater credence to that in some aspect that only seems to make sense to himself. But Kal can see right away that this is wrong. Kal is still a Kryptonian here, but his being undecided about his place in the world suddenly finds focus when the only home he has ever known is threatened. Kal El, the Kryptonian becomes Clark Kent and when he must decide which culture to save, he then becomes child of Earth.

But Zod's true failure was that he was so damn adamant about NOT GIVING UP THE PAST. Sounds mighty familiar to me. His unbridled madness to recreate the Historic Krypton again blinded him to seeing the potential of this new planet and possible futures. This is how Jor El saw the earth as a world of potential beyond the failures of Krypton. Kal El realizes this as well. So does Zod when he sees that Jor El’s philosophy of starting again on Earth taking root his son when Kal El proclaims, “Krypton had its chance.”

Which is then why Zod vows to destroy every human once Kal El thwarts his plan. We see how this philosophical defeat affects Zod, it drives him to madness, to paraphrase, “That is the sole purpose for which I was born. My soul. That is what you have taken from me.”

“I'm going to make them suffer Kal, these humans you've adopted. I will take them all from you, one by one.” It breaks Zod, mentally. It drives him mad to the point of murderous destruction. Then, through the following fight, we see Zod’s changed nature and belief that he needs to conquer Jor El’s philosophy through genocide, which leads ultimately to putting Kal in a position where he needs to ends Zod’s life. So it become less about Superman flying off to an empty location to keep humanity safe, but having no choice but face the threat right there, to end that threat as quickly as possible. But this also means breaking his final connection to his past self as a Kryptonian, a connection whom, ironically, turns out to be Zod himself.

So we have seen how absolutely wrong Zod was about everything about trying to “Save Krypton” and how his fanatical devotion to such a wrong-headed ideology breaks him mentally, turning him into a genocidal maniac that it fell upon Kal El to have to kill to end that threat. Maybe we can see some real life parallels in this?

With the recent release of the trailers for the upcoming “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice”, it seems that Warner Brothers Co. is taking into account what happened in “Man of Steel”, most especially, the destruction of the climactic end, as well as, touches on the fear espoused by Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) about how the people will fear Kal El. Excellent stuff for a follow up, though I am not so sure now about the contrived conflict with Batman now in light of all this. I hope they do not gloss over this to have Batman take over the story.

The teasers and trailer lead me to believe that “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” could be a great follow up to “Man of Steel”, a great continuation of the growth of Superman – it is just not going to be a good Batman story. While I was one of the first to champion the addition of Batman so early on in this cinematic universe, the casting of Ben Affleck has taken the wind from my sails in my excitement about the movie.

Now it seems that the ramifications of “Man of Steel’s” destructive conclusion will be pushed off to service the Batman Versus plotline. But when you see the Batplane mowing down exploding cars in the trailers, I am sorry to say that we do not care about all the destruction in the end as long as it is philosophically justified, or, championed by a Batman. When the destruction of the enemy is justified by a Batman’s actions, does that not make him as fanatical as Zod? I digress.

Zod was operating on a failed premise: the resurrection of the Historical Kryptonian culture on Earth through terraforming. His fanatical zeal for this ideology is what brought about his death at the hands of Kal El; that he could not see, or chose not to see, that terraforming the Earth using such failed technology as the World Engines would doom the surviving Kryptonians from the start. By proceeding with such a failed plot, did they make Kal El decide definitively that he is a child of Earth and pushed him to defend his home, thus setting him on his path to become the hero we all know....

Humbly submitted,

Ernest M Whiteman III

January 2016

The One Left Standing is the Winner: Best of 2013

Wisdom of the Sages Reviews
2013 Best of Stuff Lists

All right, here we go. Here we are at the past the last day of the Gregorian calendar for 2013. As always, I am here to recount for you Dear Readers what I thought to be “the best” of certain media. Why are we always looking back? Why do we only measure our lives in the “good” stuff that happens to us? We forget that the world will go on uncaring, and we will in times passing, be unremembered and unspoken of. But, as Joel Hodgeson says about looking back at the past “You always know what you’re going to say.”

So, in that spirit, let’s begin this shall we?

TOP MUSIC BUYS of 2013

I did not buy any mew music in 2013. Nothing interested me.

So, that’s it for music. I did not buy anything new but have been of late listening to old albums via YouTube. Maybe in my old age I am falling into that age-old condition called “Nostalgia.” But I can only recall the new Man of Steel theme having any sort of impact.

Shall we move on to the printed page? Again, this has not been a prosperous year. But I have been able, much to my enjoyment, been able to acquire new books. This year, as always, it is not about what came out this year but what I bought or received:

Top Books of 2013

World War Z: Max Brooks (re-read): I only reread this because my little girl, to whom I borrowed it to, returned it unread. She has so much other reading to do but she promises to borrow it again. But upon this reading, also done in preparation for the feature film adaptation, I came across ideas that helped formulate my own in other regards such as Native Art, hypocrisy, politics and education. For those who have not read this, it is written as a series of interviews done after World War Z, a large zombie epidemic that has raged around the world. It is the humanity of the survivors speaking that is at the forefront of the tale, done in contrast to other zombie media, which sort of celebrates the crumbling of humanity, the ability for man to kill other humans, guilt-free.

From the first outbreaks, to humanity’s solutions and final struggle, how that thread of humanity must remain. Great book. It is probably the only zombie media I enjoy.

A Song of Fire and Ice: Book Three – A Storm of Swords, George RR Martin – I got the first book as a birthday present and the second for Christmas, since it follows hard upon. And I breezed through both inside of two months. Back in February, while reading “A Clash of Kings” (Book Two) on the train, I noticed this fellow across from me with his own book and with the recognizable green cover of “A Storm of Swords” on the seat next to him. I thought the book was his. But he gets off after a few stops and leaves the book. I even point and ask if it was his. He said “Nope.”

The next guy that gets on and takes the seat simply takes up the book and puts it on the floor. So, I grab it, look it over, it is used but in good condition. So I take it home and once I finish “A Clash of Kings”, I read this.

Many consider “A Storm of Swords” to be the strongest of all the books because so much happens, the death of major characters, weddings galore and the rising of characters in the North and across the Narrow Sea. I do recommend the first three books of the series.

A Song of Fire and Ice: Book Four – A Feast for Crows, George RR Martin: This was the only book I purchased of the series. For what I know, this book came after a long period from the last book and while it does continue the stories in a very detailed and dense way, it does suffer from the typical thing when something becomes popular and is then rushed to cash in on the popularity while trying to satisfy fans. Probably the weakest book of the series as nothing major happens.

A Song of Fire and Ice: Book Five – A Dance with Dragons, George RR Martin: By the end of March 2013, I had finished this book, having read the five books of the series in four months, as well as reading “Three Kingdoms” again. This carries on the stories left out of the fourth book and is told in sort of parallel to it. The thing is that after much of the revelations and events of the first three books, everything seems to have come to a standstill. Every character is locked into a location and is unable to make moves or progress as character and is simply dealing with plot points to get to the next book “The Winds of Winter”. It could be that Martin is mentally prepping us for the long winter of the next book as, as the Starks constantly warned, winter comes and all the characters in the realm are stuck in their places. We’ll see. There are some revelations and new characters appear. I hope the next one regains that old tone and pomp.

Star Wars and History, edited by Nancy R. Reagan & Janice Liedl: This is a series of essays by various authors that tie Star Wars mythology to actual world history. I checked this out of the library and have been working on it for a while. Most of the lens is European and in its essays on the People’s War focus on the Vietnam and Revolutionary Wars without any insights into Native American resistance. I even checking the appendix and there are no listings for any kind of tribes, chiefs or Natives in general. All in all, it is a good read if you are into history. I will keep reading.

Three Kingdoms, attributed to Luo Guanzhong – Still reading this. This time the four-volume edition. I have not come across any new versions but am looking into buying the 2010 CCTV series and the series of graphic novels. I really enjoy this book. I will be buried with a copy….

So, now we move from the printed page to motion pictures. Before I get into this year’s list of Best Movies, I like to look at the DVDs I acquired this year, not only new ones released this year but anything I bought as well as a way of revisiting movies from past years and give them a second look or a more thorough review. And, here we go:

Top DVDs of 2013

Game of Throne – Season Two (Purchase) – Being such a fan of the books came only through a love for the series first. Meaning, I am no true ASOIAF fan. But I am a fan of the books and TV series. This was a long awaited purchase, as I do not have cable or satellite to view “Game of Thrones”. SO, I have to rely on the DVD’s to catch up. This was a good season but we also start to see the parting of the ways from the books, which are so dense in detail and storylines that a full season of a series can scarcely keep up. The episode that many enjoy is the Ninth Episode (Which is the crux of every season) and the Battle of Blackwater Bay and Tyrion’s defense of King’s Landing. Filled with great characters, spectacle and drama. I am looking forward to the third season. So, look for it here in next year’s Best Of post.

X-Men 2: X-Men United (Purchase) – Just another re-purchase. I missed this one. It is one of the best superhero movies out there. Seeing it again re-ignites my joy for it.

U2: Live from Boston (Purchase) – I never owned this DVD and only got this recently. I have always enjoyed U2 and any phase they were in. For me, the best of U2 is always the current album. But it is great to see their older stages like the Elevation Tour.

Coriolanus, rental – I love this version of Shakespeare and Ralph Fiennes’ direction. A great movie.

On the Ice, festival – One of the best films I saw in 2012. Once I got the DVD via the FNFVF submissions. I played it non-stop in my place. I watched it several times before having to send it back to its producer. Look for it on next year’s list.

Beasts of the Southern Wild, rental – The other best film of 2012. I rented the video and watched it many times before returning it. Look for it on this list again next year.

I did rent a lot of current releases on DVD such as  “A Place Beyond the Pines”, which was boring, “Gangster Squad” which was also boring and indie stuff like “The To-Do List” which had a sweet message at the center of its crude humor but nothing really stood out to me enough to make the lists. All right, now that we have those out of the way. Let’s recap some of the movies I was looking forward to this past year. It is always a good excuse to revisit some that you enjoyed but didn’t think were the best and to critique the films you thought to be pretty bad. So, without further ado:

THE TOP 10 FILMS I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO FOR 2013 – A RECAP:

1. Man of Steel, dir. Zack Snyder – (See Below)

2. Gravity, dir. Alfonso Cuaron – (See Below)

3. Pacific Rim, dir. Guillermo Del Toro – A movie about a world that builds giant robots to fight kiaju? What is not to love? Apparently… A lot.

4. Unforgiven, (Yurusarezaru mono) dir. Lee Sang-Il – Did not get a US release. Looking forward to seeing this get a US release without the Weinsteins getting their re-editing hands on it.

5. Stand Up Guys, dir Fischer Stevens – It was good to see Walken and Pacino try acting again for a change. It was fun and warm.

6. The Grandmaster, dir. Wong Kar-Wai – (See below)

7. Star Trek Into Darkness dir. J.J. Abrhams – I was right. He is Khan. And, it sucked.

8. Much Ado About Nothing dir Joss Whedon – I was disappointed.

9. To the Wonder dir Terrence Malick – I was bored.

10. Journey to the West dir Stephen Chow – Don’t know if this will ever get a US release. Oh well. Another Asian DVD purchase to add to the list.

The Maybe’s of 2013:

The Assassins – Zhao Linshan, Haven’t seen this one. It will be a DVD purchase, though it is on Netflix.

Evil Dead – The remake no one wanted. While I did enjoy this one on a visceral level, it was a typical horror movie – but a well-made, gory horror movie. There are those typical Raimi sycophants that think that the originals were erased from existence because this one didn’t have the “low-budget charm”. Then, don’t watch this and watch your Blu-ray for the hundredth time. Geez.

World War Z – Zombies are the most useless of horror creatures. This movie became the zombie equivalent of zombie movies. Useless.

Monsters U. – Didn’t see this once and lost interest in it once it came around to theaters. Pixar needs to up its game again beyond sequels. Please, NO ‘The Incredibles’ sequel. Do a different superhero story.

Despicable Me 2 – Char and I were right. It was about Gru getting a girlfriend and completing their family. As much as I enjoyed it, I wish there could be a story about an adopting dad that is just about an adopting dad and how he comes to balance his career and children. The idea of what constitutes a family is changing. But most of the time, it forces fathers out of the picture. Gru should have been trying to raise his girls in light of his super villain career maybe even trying to integrate them. That would have made a richer sequel to see how his girls at first embrace the villain lifestyle then begin to change Gru into a super hero. I don’t know.

The Wolverine – This is the SIXTH film to feature this character, this time transporting him to Japan. I lost interest when the series got science-y and shiny. I would like to see a down and dirty Wolverine movie, where he is the anti-hero we have come to know in the comics. Not the angst-filled, mopey crybaby he’s become. From what I hear, the fight with the ninjas wasn’t all that it was hoped to be. Now, Wolverine will be the main focus the “X-Men: First Class” sequel, “Days of Future Past”. Man.

So, there you go, my thoughts on films that I was looking forward to this last year. I was about 30% on the films I liked in the Upcoming Films of 2013. Poor showing 2013. But, there are many not on the list that I did see and whom others had great opinions about. What did I think of them? Well, here you go:

The Others of 2013

Well enough of that. So, what did I think were the best films this past year? Okay, here’s what you are waiting for. (I think.):

The Disappointments:

Pacific Rim (See above)

World War Z (See above)

The Worst of 2013:

The Life of Pi: What a crock of shit. Great visuals and 3D, but what a load of shit. I am not afraid to say that aloud.

NTL: Macbeth:  Not really worth it. I should have tried for the HAMLET projection instead. But the sexy Alex Kingston made it interesting even though in this version of the play, Lady Macbeth really doesn’t do anything.

Star Trek Into Darkness: They really dumbed down Star Trek into a typical sci-fi action movie. Now I get what the diehard Trekkies were mad about. Star Trek has de-evolved into high gloss trash. You ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO “TURN OFF YOUR BRAINS” TO WATCH STAR TREK. You are supposed to engage them. To waste all that creativity and good will bought by the 2009 movie on a Khan rehash and junk science. Then, to have Simon Pegg tell me to fuck myself for not liking this shit? Another Ego thinking they know “what Star Trek is.” Brand packaging at its finest and we all fell for it. I am done with Pegg’s future efforts. Sorry.

Good Day to Die Hard: Bruce Willis has successfully rebooted the Naked Gun Series already, thank you very much….

Spring Breakers: It thought it was all right. Nothing but the typical crime story but with the added novelty of Disney Starlets running around in bikinis and a strong performance by James Franco, there really was nothing more to it. Sorry. I was one the fence about this one. But after much consideration I cannot really care about this movie.

EW3’s Top 8 a’ Twenty Thirteen Movies

Sorry, I didn’t see “Her”, “Fruitvale Station”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Inside Llewyn Davis”, “American Hustle”, “Before Midnight”, “Upstream Color”, “Blue is the Warmest Color”, or “Francis Ha”, so maybe I lost all my credibility in picking the “best” movies of the year. But, I also did not watch “Iron Man 3”, “Thor: The Dark World”, “Catching Fire”, “Monsters U”, “The Hangover III” or “The Wolverine” either. I guess what I’m saying is that it is all subjective at some point.

This has been a pretty slow year for me, movie-going-wise. I haven’t the funds or the interest in general to see much of the fare put out there. Plus, the big disappointments of Pacific Rim and Star Trek Into Darkness put me off of the summer blockbuster. So, without further ado, here are the Top EIGHT movies I saw this past year:

8. Based on theatrical experience:

Rifftrax Live: “Starship Trooper”

Rifftrax Live: “Night of the Living Dead”

Rifftrax Live: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor

The primary reasons these are bundled together is the sheer enjoyment and participation of the audiences. You have had to have seen these with an appreciative audience. To hear the laughter of the Rifftrax events, to hear the gasps and cheers for The Doctor is something that cannot be forgotten. I really enjoyed these events in the theater. “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” now holds a special place in my heart for both taking place on my birthday and seeing it with Bonnie and Char. That is a great memory.

7. Man of Steel directed by Zack Snyder: After seeing Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole I was a bit reassured that Zack Snyder could handle a mythology and flying. The trailers look great. I cannot believe people are dismissing this because he isn’t wearing red underwear over his suit. Look, I enjoyed it more than any other blockbuster because I enjoyed the mythology and the ending, where it looked like something that would happen IF two super-powered beings fought in the middle of a large city. I love the fanboy hypocrisy of their crybabying for a Superman that punches something, then crybabying about how boring it is and that all they really wanted was a good story and characters. Sorry fanboys. You got what you wanted. Choke it down.

6. Deceptive Practices: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay directed by Molly Bernstein: An excellent documentary about the career of magician Ricky Jay. It was great to follow along in his career and see the old footage of the masters he studied with. A great little film.

5. Jurassic Park 3D (20^th Anniversary Re-release) directed by Steven Spielberg: Now, this, this, is how you do a Special Anniversary Rerelease. The 3D was great and they did not update any effects. Char, who went with us, and never saw it in the theater, was struck with how scary it actually is on the bi screen, which is a great testament to the power of the big screen.

4. Gravity IMAX 3D directed by Alfonso Cuaron: I have been ever impressed with Mexican filmmaker Cuaron. He made me a fan of the Harry Potter series, his Y Tu Mama Tambian made me feel I can still make it as an “ethnic” moviemaker and his Children of Men is an unsung masterpiece. You can read what Ithought about it here.

2. F for Fake (Rescreening) directed by Orson Welles/Hamlet (Rescreening) directed by Kenneth Branagh: I know, I know. But in a year of BIG disappointments at the movies, seeing these both for the first time ever on the big screen in a huge 70mm projection are true highlights of the year. I loved the scope of HAMLET and “F For Fake” is one of my all-time favorite films. I recommend seeing them on any screen.

1. The Grandmaster directed by Wong Kar Wai: What more can I say about this film? Most certainly will not be nominated for Best Picture, or even Best Foreign Language Film. Of course, all of the so-called action aficionados will bitch but who cares? It is an excellent film. Read my review here.

Top Ten Films I am Looking Forward to in 2014

1. Big Hero 6 – November 7, 2014: I know absolutely nothing about the MARVEL COMIC Big Hero 6. But the animation in this teaser trailer looks absolutely amazing. This is probably my most anticipated film for 2014. I cannot wait to see it on the big screen.

2. Interstellar, dir. Christopher Nolan – November 7, 2014: With the recent teaser trailer. As one review put it, if you are already asking questions, not only about the film but the state of the world, then you have to look forward to seeing this film. I am an unapologetic Nolan fan and every film seems to be an event in itself. Hoping he dazzles us again.

3. The Wind Rises directed by Hayao Miyazaki – February 28, 2014: Reportedly Miyazaki’s final film about one of Japan’s pioneers of aviation. This looks touching and deeply personal. If it is his last, I hope he goes out on top.

4. X-Men: Days of Future Past – May 23, 12014: Enjoyed “First Class” more so than any other X-Men movie and I have some good hopes for this one though I am a little tired of Wolverine, the movie Wolverine that is. But how can you not want to see the bridging of all the X-Men movies? I am there.

5. The LEGO Movie – February 7, 2014: The Lego video games have brought Char and me great enjoyment and we find their humor something charming in the games. This movie looks incredible, with some great voice talent Morgan Freeman AND Will Arnett in one move? The voiceover world will explode with the awesome! Plus, the computer graphics are so good, it looks like they were using actual Lego pieces! Looks fun.

6. The Monuments Men, dir. George Clooney – February 7, 2014: “Ocean’s Eleven” set in WWII based on a true story. Clooney as a director is hit and miss with me – enjoyed “Good Night and Good Luck” and some things in “The Ides of March” but never saw “Leatherheads” or “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” because they never interested me. But since not a whole lot of movies are really interesting me in 2014, then this will have to do for now.

The Maybes:

Guardians of the Galaxy – August 1, 2014: Of all of the connected Marvel Superheroes movies, this is the one I think I am actually looking forward to, because it is a superhero team because it is not yet attached to the stinking "The Avengers". Let’s face facts: after The Avengers, what’s the point of single superhero movies anymore?

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – August 22, 2014: I may see this because I would like to think that Robert Rodriguez still has SOME passion for making movies. Though I would like to see something a bit more personal form him one day….

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – July 18, 2014: Liked the first one and am looking forward to the eventual rise of LAWGIVER!!! (Oh, Lawgiver….)

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – January 17, 2014: I liked the old Jack Ryan series with Baldwin and Ford. Seeing the new reboot directed by my fave Branagh is something pretty cool. Branagh tries everything, which is why he is my favorite.

The “I Don’t Knows”

Godzilla: I hope they don’t miss the point and make this fun and thrilling. Every Americanized film seems to lose its heart. But what most want is seeing Godzilla destroy a city, breathe fire and fight another monster. I’m sure they will get what they want with this one.

A look forward to 2015

A far-seeing look to NEXT YEAR:

Batman versus Superman AKA Man of Steel 2

Star Wars Episode VII AKA NERD RAGE EXPECTANCIES

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD! AKA “No Mel, No Max” fanboys angry because their mancrush is not returning to a beloved series about murdering people with cars.

Ant-Man: This one looks interesting and fun because, like the “Guardians of the Galaxy” it is not fucking attached to any “The Avengers” movies yet, meaning it has potential to be some other than a fucking half-finished prequel.

The Fantastic Four: Another Marvel comic book movie to succor the movie snobs.

Jurassic World: Another sequel to succor the movie snobs.

Terminator: Another reboot to succor the movie snobs.

Avenger 2 AKA The Most Awesome Thing Ever, Shut Up! To succor the movie snobs.

Question: “Does ANYONE see a pattern here?”

Thanks for sticking with it this far. I know some pretty expected selections, but hey, maybe I threw a curve at you here and there. Let me know what you think. I’ll see you here next year.

Until Next Time…

2014 Ernest M. Whiteman III