Up, Up, and OK
Indignity Vol. 5, No. 127
REVIEW DEP'T.
Clark Kent Changes Into Something Good Again
Superman (2025)
Directed by James Gunn
THIS NEW SUPERMAN movie is directed by James Gunn, who makes a certain type of comic book movie. For example: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), The Suicide Squad (2021), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). These movies do not take a lot seriously, even though they have moments of emotion and grim pathos, especially Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, oof.
What’s great about the new Superman movie is zero time is spent doing flashbacks about how Superman got to Earth, blah blah, etc. We get all the stuff about Superman’s life on Earth, but it’s chopped up better so that you hardly notice it, and we get all the Daily Planet newspaper stuff, Clark Kent still has a job, ace reporter Lois Lane is excellent, and it all works. This flick gets right into Superman fighting Evil, and it’s the best Bad Guy, Lex Luthor, who totally fucking hates Superman, and not just because Superman gets in the way of Luthor’s nefarious schemes and stuff, there is a solid fundamental hatred fuelling the malefactor, in addition to the regular Greed and stuff.
Superman looks bright, like freshly-printed comic book, and it is one of the most comic book-y movies ever made, without trying to break stuff into panels and use giant words on the screen for sound effects, this thing is turning its own pages and not stopping for us to catch up and figure anything out as it zooms along. It’s rated PG-13 for slam-bang violence and some bad words (but not the F-word), and it’s not three fucking hours long, the running time is 2 hours and 9 minutes, what a relief.
There was sort of a little bit too much talking at the beginning, but that goes away, and you get to see Superman up against it, not a lot goes his way, but he’s Good, so you want him to win. There is also a nutty chaotic-good super dog and some super robots (they all wear capes) and a few mild surprises for comic book enjoyers, who will see that director Gunn is laying the foundation for a whole new universe based on some minor and/or not tremendously appreciated characters who also work for Superman’s comic book company.
This is a solid comic book movie, a welcome distraction from reality, and a great argument-starter for comic book nerds. Would see again, because I forgot about it as soon as I walked outta the theater.
WEATHER REVIEWS
Bethany Beach, Delaware, July 14, 2025
★★★ Outside the dark, shuttered bedroom, full burning daylight had already taken hold. Before the lifeguards started, when it was time to spike the umbrella into a spot on the sand, the sun was raising a sweat under the t-shirt and on the upper lip. After breakfast and the change into swim clothes, a return to the beach found the high tide growling and frothing ominously in its final push toward land. It wasn't far out, though, that the swells became predictable. One again the air was clear and hazeless; the water was thick with rotting, waterlogged plant matter and grimy feathers and broken bits of crustaceans. An osprey flew over with a pan-sized fish in its grasp. Gradually the tide fell back and the run of shallow surf grew longer. There were rumors, and an occasional sighting, of jellyfish. In the afternoon, a bank of western clouds made it possible to work at the table on the deck for a while. Then a cloud slipped off the sun and it was necessary to rotate over to a chair under the eaves. A thin shred of cloud went by quickly, under a higher white cloud, fissured with blue, that seemed not to be moving at all. Breezes gusted erratically over the basketball court in the long extra daylight.
EASY LISTENING DEP'T.
THE INDIGNITY MORNING Podcast is on vacation! Here is the Indignity Morning Podcast archive!
TOM SCOCCA
ADVICE DEP'T.
HEY! DO YOU like advice columns? They don't happen unless you send in some letters! Surely you have something you want to justify to yourself, or to the world at large. Now is the perfect time to share it with everyone else through The Sophist, the columnist who is not here to correct you, but to tell you why you're right. Direct your questions to The Sophist, at indignity@indignity.net, and get the answers you want.
SANDWICH RECIPES DEP'T.
WE PRESENT INSTRUCTIONS in aid of the assembly of a sandwich selected from Encyclopedia of Cookery; 1001 Recipes, Menus & Rules for Modern, Scientific and Economic Cookery (Vol. 4), by Eugene Christian and Molly Griswold Christian, published by the Corrective Eating Society in 1920, and available at archive.org for the delectation of all.
VEGETABLE SANDWICHES
Toast
Tomato
Cucumber
Green pepper
Mayonnaise dressing
Lettuce
On the buttered toast place a lettuce leaf, mayonnaise dressing, slice of tomato, a bit of chopped green pepper, then more mayonnaise, a slice of cucumber, more lettuce and dressing. Press the second piece of toast firmly over the first. Cut crosswise and serve.
If you decide to prepare and attempt to enjoy a sandwich inspired by this offering, be sure to send a picture to indignity@indignity.net .
SELF-SERVING SELF-PROMOTION DEP'T.
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