Who I Am.

Amongst the monumental events of my youth are a couple obvious factors forming my personality, Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, by very closely behind that was Superman and Superman II. Much like the posters told me I would believe, I did believe a man could fly. I became obsessed with the image of heroism, who Superman was, and what he could do. Not too much later in life I learned who Richard Donner was and what it was that he could do. In fact I was only able to realize what I loved about the Lukes, Hans and Indys of those movies after Superman had brought what I love to a flashpoint of clarity. Combined with who George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were and what they did, my personality was formed, and that's who I am today and why I will one day create similarly moving moving images. Everything I loved about movies as a kid forms what I love about them today, and all of it is summed up in the tales of Superheroes. I am obsessed with tales of Superheroism and the last few years from X-Men 1 to Electra have been bliss. These are tales of legends, of Gods who walk. But no God who walks is greater than Superman, and nobody has directed the Gods who walk the way Brian Singer has. These are the factors that add up to create my excitement about Superman Returns, no figure has delivered what I love about the movies more than Superman, and no director has had such a clear grasp of what that is more than Bryan Singer, who's was similarly formed by Richard Donner's 1978 epic.

I say this all because the teaser for Superman Returns is now online and I am breathless. I am a kid again, and that is the greatest feeling that a director can impart. I get all the other messages, I get Cassavetes, I get Herzog, The French New Wave, The New German Cinema. I get it, but it's power doesn't move me that way this trailer does. This is a very exciting time, for a number of reasons, but one of them is feeling exactly as I did in 1980 waiting for the lights to go down and for Superman II to begin, because I believe a man can fly.