The Whore of both John Williams and the Son of Jor-El.

First off, I had my wisdom teeth pulled this past Monday. It hurt. Not at the time, but during the past few days of recovery. If I haven't been doped up, I've been a crankybutt to everybody. To that, I apologize. :)

Moving on...

This morning I finally caught the trailer for the Superman Returns movie due out June 30th this year. I was trying to decide if the new score they used was done by John Williams or not. If you're not a movie nerd such as myself, the name of 'John Williams' might not sound familiar, but I can almost guarantee that you've heard his music. The "buh-bum, buh-bum" of Jaws, the trumpets of the start of Star Wars, the pulse-raising score of Indiana Jones, even the music for Harry Potter let you know this wasn't just some kid's movie... the guy has a mile-long list of great music he's done, all geared so specific to the genre on which it was based. I checked out IMDb and as it turns out the only thing they are using is Williams' original main title from the 1978 movie.

This saddens me a bit. It's the most important song, surely, so I should be happy somewhat. I know that while the guy is nearing retirement, I believe he's still got a lot of new stuff in that head of his. Used to be, you could tell it was a William's score just by the horns. When "Jurassic Park" was in the theater, it was obvious that he had scored it. However, when "Catch Me If You Can" came out, and the opening sequence starts with the marumbas and then the light, flirty jazz clarinets play, I was surprised to learn that it was his as well. Which just shows that he can do rousing blockbuster-style fanfare and still bring it back inside a dimly-lit bar with some soft and melodic flutes.

IMDb shows that he is scoring 4 movies alone in 2007, so he's not slowing down, but it makes me scratch my head about the new musical director pick for the new Superman movie. Part of the iconic bundle of Kal-El is that you have the blue tights, the big red "S", the hair curl on the forehead and when you hear the horns at the intro, you know it's the Man of Steel. The 'new' guy is John Ottman, and is far from being new to movie soundtracks. He's done quite a bit himself, and cranked out some good background and title tracks as well. 'The Usual Suspects' and 'X-Men 2' among them. I'm just...well, disappointed.

Maybe I'm getting older, settling into my ways. I want my Indiana Jones to be Harrison Ford forever. I want my Van Halen singer to be Diamond Dave. I want my Coke classic, I want my FedEx spokesman to be that guy that talks fast, I want my MTV and most of all I want my Superman music to be from John Williams, dammit!

Having said all that, I am stoked for the movie to come out. Supes was far and away my favorite hero growing up. Sure, Spider-Man was a dorky kid, so maybe I could have held out for a radioactive spider bite to turn me into a superhero. Batman had to watch both his parents killed, but I wasn't wanting to go that far to be a force against darkness. Supes was just himself. And Superman had it all, speed, strength, that awesome x-ray vision... But to me, his coolness came not from having all those things, but rather from having all those things and not being a dick about it. Clark Kent was never one to boast or brag about what he could do, always subdued and meek. The man was humble to a fault. He didn't use his powers until he had to, and then he used them very well. And he stood for the three things any patriotic person could get behind, "Truth, Justice and the American Way"

Indeed, Kal-El. Indeed.

Click here for proof that music can help you believe a man can fly...