I’m usually not one to read non-sports blogs, but my wife has turned me on to a pretty funny site titled “Blogging the Bible”. Basically the blogger, a sporadically practicing Jewish author by the name of David Poltz, has taken it upon himself to read through the Bible and record his findings.
One of his early posts about Genesis Chapter 2 was particularly insightful:
2:18-24: Before God creates Eve, He brings all the animals to Adam, so that Adam can give all of them their names. This episode captures something fundamental about the male brain: our obsessive categorizing behavior. I once spent a whole spring looking at Washington, D.C., taxicabs to see if I could memorize every cab company—there are scores and scores of them—by the paint scheme on its cars. The bird-watcher, the stamp collector, the guy trying to visit every Starbucks in America—we are all re-enacting in a small way Adam's introduction to the animals.
You know, he’s right. Men list everything. Maybe it’s our gift from Adam – to categorize and chart everything on this green earth. Maybe this is why men like shows like ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption and FSN’s The Sports List.
Which leads us into tonight’s NBA draft. As any NBA fans knows, the draft is where teams futures are made (see 2003 - Wade, Dwayne) or lost (see 1998 – Olowo”Can’t he”, Michael). This draft doesn’t have a lot of superstars, but it does have quality players, which causes a lot of debate among fans.
Bill Simmons does a great NBA Draft Diary, and there’s no way I can come close to topping that, however I wanted to do my part to add to the draft hype. My plan was to list the top 10 draft day remembrances.
Unfortunately, while I could come up with a decent list, I couldn’t find the pictures and video to accompany the commentary. Where’s the video of Steve “Franchise” crying after being select by Vancouver or of Samuel Dalembert jumping out of the Madison Square Garden crowd to shake the commissioner’s hand? (Fortunately, I was able to find a photo of Jalen Rose’s gangster-red pinstriped “Crips 4 Life” suit).
Anyway, in lieu of that, I decided instead of focus on another love – comic books. Or in this case, comic book movies. With Superman Returns coming out today, I thought it would be fitting to highlight what I consider to be the greatest comic book movies ever made.
5. Blade. I’m sure some of you didn’t know that was originally based on a character created by Marvel. Blade’s been around since the late 70’s. What’s not to like about this movie? Great anti-hero (a Black guy, nonetheless). Good action. A believable story (as far as comic books go). And a memorable quote – “Some mickiefickies are always trying to ice-skate uphill.”
4. Batman – Mask of the Phantasm. Yeah, it’s an animated movie, but that doesn’t take anything away from this movie. Kevin Conroy does a great job voicing the Dark Knight. Alan Burnett and Paul Dini (the masterminds behind the animated characters in Teen Titans, Batman the Animated Series, Superman, and Justice League) are at their finest. And don’t be fooled; just because the movie is animated doesn’t mean that bad stuff doesn’t happen. People bleed. People die. And Batman get’s it on.
3. Spiderman – An all around great movie. If Tobey Maguire isn’t Peter Parker, then no one is. Kristen Dunst is a great Mary Jane. The action scenes look incredible; it truly looks like a man is swinging through New York City. Sam Raimi’s direction is top-notch. And Danny Elfman wrote a heck of a score (check out Farwell on the soundtrack).
2. Superman II – What! Superman II? Not the original Superman? Yup, that’s right. Superman II 
has its flaws, but overall the story is better that the original movie? Why. 3 words – “Kneel Before Zod.” As my brother often says, you can’t have a superhero without supervillains; as great as Lex Luthor is, it just doesn’t compare to 3 villains with Superman’s powers but without his moral fortitude. Don’t get me wrong, this movie has a lot of flaws. Richard Lester should never be allowed to direct movies again. Ken Thorne BUTCHERED John Williams’ score. All the comedy can be removed. Still, with its flaws and holes (explained here), it’s a solid movie. Chris Reeve was a good Superman and a great Clark Kent. Three scenes that will make you believe in the power of Christopher Reeve’s Superman/Clark:
1. Clark reveals his identity to Lois. He’s got on “Clark” clothes, but there’s no question that it’s Superman
2. Superman climbs from the bus wreckage, surveys the destruction around him, and flies off to the Fortress of Solitude
3. Clark and Lois together in the Daily Planet before the “Super Kiss” (FYI – The Superkiss deserves it own entry. I’ll have to write about later on.)
1. Batman (the 1989 version). This is a great movie. You actually believed that a man, with no 
superpowers, could dress up like a winged creature and fight crime. The set looks fabulous (new school technology with an old school/film noir look). Michael Keaton pulled off 3 characters – Batman, Bruce Wayne, and Batman without the costume (Bruce in the Batcave w/ Vicky Vale, Bruce at the site of his parents murder, Bruce in the Batcave reviewing video footage from 
the party). Elfman again creates a great score. Jack is great as Joker. Even Kim Basinger does alright as Vicky Vale.
Gotti!!!
Being young and uneducated in the ways of the world, I’m sure my answer was the ability to fly, or turn invisible (so that I could sneak into the girl’s bathroom), or time travel.
Though looking at the picture on the left, looks like Supes did a bit more than kiss. In fact, he's got one of those "What The 'Hey-Hey' Did I Just Do" looks on his face. Too bad he couldn't kiss himself so that he forgot about the whole deal.
