Superman Returns:

That was fun, though I don't know if I'd see it again. I thought Brandon Routh did a pretty good job; I felt like I knew who he was, as both Clark and Superman, and I could see the differences between them. The moment that Jessica mentioned, when his glasses fall off as he's helping Lois gather up the things from her purse, was nicely done and helped bridge the gap between Clark and Supes. Most of the time that Superman was on screen, he looked so airbrushed or CGI'd that it really added to his alienness; it was a little distracting, but I think it worked well for Superman. Routh's acting, similarly, was just off enough to have the same effect.

As for the rest of them, I liked both Kate Bosworth and James Marsden more than I expected to, but overall Jimmy Olsen might have been my favorite character.

One deeply geeky question: Is Zool a Superman thing? Because in the scene where Superman crashes into the field behind the Kent farm, there's a shot of a Scrabble board in the house and the word "Zool" is spelled out. I don't know if that was intentional or not (it was actually spelled ZOO L, with the space before the L, which formed the beginning of another word) .

As in "there is only Zool"? That's from Ghostbusters.

Ghostbusters is "Zuul." Googling shows there's an Amiga game called "Zool," so if it's a ref it's tres obscure.

I thought it was just a random result of the tiles shifting.

As in "there is only Zool"?

Yeah, that's what I meant. Is it really spelled "Zuul"? I know I've seen it spelled "Zool" before.

I thought it was just a random result

You're right. I just didn't remember where it was from, so I didn't know if it was an intentional reference or not.

Re: Zool I didn't see zool but I could swear I saw "alienation" on the Scrabble board

Superman Returns – Saw it again. Liked it better on reviewing. (Loved the Spider-Man 3 trailer, but I digress) As for Zool *** I thought I saw "alien" but it may have been "alienation." Something tells me there were a lot of interesting words on that Scrabble board. I'm sure some enterprising fan will break list them somewhere. ***

Somewhat relatedly, I saw Superman again yesterday (still love it, saw more flaws this time) and afterwards, I couldn't remember if the city is ever actually named as Metropolis. On Luthor's map, I could only see New York -- and I was looking for Gotham and Metropolis this time -- and thinking back, I can't recall a single scene where someone says "Metropolis."

Anyone with a better memory than mine able to confirm one way or the other?

It is. Man, my visual memory is flaking on me, but I think, for sure, the wharf was Metropolis Port/Wharf/Docks. I can remember seeing it somewhere else...perhaps on the side of one of the boats. And a vague memory of hearing it in a news report.

It's definitely Metropolis. I'm not sure if anyone ever says it, though I think they probably do in some of the news reports, but I saw the name on a few signs too.

edit: or, what ita said.

Superman Returns – *** I remember Metropolis on a sign at the wharf too. Also, I think it may have been on the masthead of the Daily Planet, but I'm not sure.

Also, looks like quite a bit got cut from the final movie, including scenes where Martha encourages Clark to go back to the paper and find his place back in the world. I think the movie would have benefited if those scenes had been in there. ***