Superfluous Rants

I am still alive. Just been very busy keeping up with the usual trivialities of life. Blogging has to be benched for now. In the meantime, enjoy the awesomeness of Wilbur Sargunaraj.

Interesting post on SHH! regarding Christopher Nolan’s involvement with the Superman reboot project and the upcoming sequel to The Dark Knight.

Geoff Boucher of L.A. Times' Hero Complex had a chance to visit Christopher Nolan in the editing suite for his upcoming sci-fi thriller Inception, and of course, he couldn't pass up an opportunity like that without asking about Nolan's plans for his Superman reboot and Batman.

There was a lot of excitement a few months back when Nolan's name was mentioned as the "godfather" of a Superman reboot at Warner Bros., and speaking on the decision for the first time, Nolan told Boucher that his involvement with the Superman franchise came about from them having reached an impasse on what to do with their third Batman film and David Goyer having an idea of what could be done with the Man of Steel:
"He basically told me, 'I have this thought about how you would approach Superman. I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I've never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get Emma and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.

As mentioned previously, Nolan would act as a producer for another director, which has yet to be determined as they develop the script. From there, Nolan's involvement may be similar to Peter Jackson's on District 9 as he moves onto the third Batman film. He didn't have a lot more to say about the Superman reboot except that he did have an appreciation for what Singer tried to do in connecting his film to those of Richard Donner:
"A lot of people have approached Superman in a lot of different ways. I only know the way that has worked for us that's what I know how to do."

It's suggested that like his two Batman movies, the Superman story will take place in a world where Superman is the only superhero, so one probably can't expect this Superman to meet Christian Bale's Batman or either character to be involved with a future Justice League movie.
"Each serves to the internal logic of the story. They have nothing to do with each other," Nolan told them.

Eventually, the Nolans and Goyer got over the earlier impasse with a second Batman sequel, and things are certainly moving forward on that third movie. Nolan wouldn't confirm any of the dozens of internet rumors about who might play the villain but he did say:
"Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story, and in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story. We have a great ensemble, that's one of the attractions of doing another film, since we've been having a great time for years.

[SuperheroHype]

Just watched the premiere of the new IM2 trailer on Jimmy Kimmel. The briefcase suit up is wicked (see below) and Iron Man sparring with War Machine looks interesting. Counting down days till May 7.

Watch it in HD here.

Congratulations to Kathryn Bigelow and Hurt Locker. Quality has triumphed over quantity.

Both Argentina and Spain were victorious in their pre-World Cup international friendlies today. Gonzalo Higuain scored the only goal for Diego Maradona’s Argentina against Germany while Spain easily beat France by a score of 2-0. Elsewhere, England had to come from behind to beat Egypt 3-1 at the Wembley. Peter Crouch scored twice and now has 20 goals in 37 appearances for England. Crouch is definitely someone to look out for in South Africa. While not a definite starting choice, he will be very impactful off the bench.
From what I have seen of the Argentina match, the final score of 1-0 didn’t do the side justice. They could have easily scored a couple of more goals. It was really good to see Maradona finally prefer in-form Higuain over Sergio Aguero. I still don’t understand the inclusion of Juan Veron however. I feel someone like Inter’s Esteban Cambiasso would be a better choice in the midfield. Either ways, this was one of the better showings by Maradona’s side and a win against Germany will definitely boast the team morale going into the World Cup. On a side note,  Angel Di Maria is pure awesome, it was magic every time he had the ball. I understand ManU and Chelsea are going to fight to sign him this offseason.
Finally, Spain continued their formidable run thanks to two first half goals from David Villa and Sergio Ramos. Despite a few initial threats from France, the game was all Spain. I was glad to see Vicente del Bosque using Fernando Torres only for one half as he just came off the injured reserves for Liverpool.
Overall it was a satisfying day of international football, a great prologue of things to come in the summer from South Africa.

Despite starting off on a tragic note and amidst fears of bad weather and protests, the city of Vancouver was able to overcome all hurdles and successfully host the 21st Winter Olympics. For 17 days the city was exceptionally hospitable and welcoming to athletes and visitors from all parts of the world. And they did it the Canadian way! Humble and modest yet loud and fun.
Canadian athletes were remarkably extraordinary at these games by hauling 26 medals in total including a record breaking total of 14 golds – the most by any nation at the Winter Olympics.
And of course, there was the domination of hockey. Both men’s and women’s hockey teams were able to win gold medals. The women’s team successfully defended their title for the third time in a row while the men’s team reclaimed the gold after a poor showing four years ago at Turin. The best part about both these victories were the fact that they both came against the United States of America. We definitely showed the world that the game of Hockey belongs to us.

As I followed these Olympic games and especially during and after the hockey gold medal game, I realized how much more this event has meant for Canada. Men, women, boys and girls of all ages and different backgrounds came together and cheered for the nation in unity. We cheered when Alex Bilodeau became the first athlete to win a gold medal on Canadian soil and we gasped when Parise tied the hockey game with mere seconds left.  And then we took to the streets after Sidney Crosby netted the game winning goal. We waved our maple leafs, we sang O Canada, we high 5-ed strangers, we even climbed a traffic sign or two. We did this together, in unison as part of one of the greatest country on this planet. Vancouver 2010 truly has been the coming out party for Canada as a multicultural nation that promotes equality and harmony.
And thus I thank the city of Vancouver and the province of British Columbia for bringing the world to our backyard but more importantly, for bringing the nation together from coast to coast, sea to sea.

Below are a few pictures from the massive celebration on Yonge Street after the gold medal hockey game.