We went to see Superman Returns in the 3D iMax theater today. I had never been to an iMax, much less a 3D iMax. The 3D iMax previews were amazing (both cartoons). That is the kind of stuff that would get me back into movie theaters more often than our once per year. Other than that factor, we enjoy our home theater much better. Superman Returns ended up being better than expected. I didn’t think the folks the casted for Clark/Superman and Lois would be all that good, but they really did a good job. I expected Kevin Spacey to do great, and he did. He didn’t do as complex of a Lex Luthor as I had hoped, but did a better job than Gene Hackman. They added in just enough little snippits from the first two original Superman movies which added a nice bit of humor and nostalga. The character of Superman/Clark was a bit flat and Clark was maybe a bit too goofy at times…but the guy did an amazing job of looking like he was really Christopher Reeves acting as a goofy Clark Kent. Oh, and his new boots are silly.  Both Lois and Clark seem way too young too.  I think they also overdid the Jesus/Da Vinci Code theme. There is this distant, disembodied father and a son sent to earth (because they are simple creatures, they are good at heart and need a savior) who is different than everyone else.  A modalistic relationship between the father and son also pops out…”The father becomes the son…”
Then Superman keeps talking about being a savior, and when he does something really significant, he falls to earth with his arms outstretched as if he were on a cross…and then there is a deathish and resurrection scene…oh, and then there is his human sin and Lois as Mary Magdeline. Anyway, it was a bit thick, but I left the details out so as not to spoil anything.  There is a nice surprise that goes a different direction than the comics, but it’s fun anyway.
The 3D was nice in the few scenes they used it. In the normal live action scenes, it looked a bit like a layered popup book instead of real 3D, but the rendered scenes were spectacular. I think the iMax theater goofed up and forgot to turn it on at least twice because there were only three scenes in the entire movie in 3D and to my understanding anytime he was in the cape and doing action stuff, it would be in 3D…and no 3D was a bummer. Overall, we enjoyed it and are glad we went to see it in the theater.

We purchased our tickets to see Superman Returns at the iMax in 3D today!  We opted for the second showing, but hey, it’s still pretty early in the game.  This will be our first movie in the theaters this year and my first iMax ever.  We’re looking forward to Wednesday the 28th!  Or, at least I am.

We just got back from a neat week in NC and VA.  We got to see everyone and had a very special time with almost the entire Story clan at the seaside service at N. Topsail.  On the way home, we stopped by to help the Rowletts begin packing up.  Little Kaela sure is growing up to be a cutie.  If our little girl is half as good and happy as Kaela, we’ll be very excited.

Congratulations to Lydia who is now big sister to Levi Josiah (1:22 AM Wednesday - 4 lb 15 oz - 18″) and Ephraim Zechariah (1:24 - 4 lb 9 oz - 18″) Schmidt!  Oh, and, congrats to Eric and Heather too.

Thanks to Dr. Cutrer and A Woman’s Choice Clinic we got introduced to our daughter today! She wasn’t bashful at all…the first view we got looked like she sat on a copier! We were even able to get a good 3D shot of her face.