At The 5-2: "Went Right" by Pete Simonelli

This week a poem of urban renewal by Brooklyn's Pete Simonelli.



Submissions are open for 5-2 guest editor Charles Rammelkamp through Saturday, June 15.

Steeling Myself

As I await the June 14 release of Man of Steel, Variety reports its budget was $175 million, with an additional $150 million spent on marketing. Warner Bros. motion pictures group president Jeff Robinov has predicted it will be the studio's best performer ever, but I worry that its high price tag will put a crimp in profits. 2006's Superman Returns grossed $391 million, but cost $363 million after marketing.

I could see Man of Steel as a world-beater if this were 1978, when Richard Donner's Superman attracted fans of heroes who weren't getting movies. In 2013, with each superhero movie expected to outdo the last, I doubt Superman surpasses Marvel's The Avengers or Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.

Sick

Read my poem "Sick" today at Martian Lit.

At The 5-2: "Flight" by Matt Forrest Esenwine

The 5-2 begins June with a poem by New Hampshire poet and voiceover artist Matt Forrest Esenwine.



Follow Matt on Twitter @MattForrestVW.

Submissions are open for 5-2 guest editor Charles Rammelkamp through June 15.

New Look, Same Blog

The new background reflects New York's first heat wave of the year. While I was at it, I flipped and shortened the sidebar to make the yoga practitioner visible. I still visit many sites no longer in the sidebar, but I doubt you scrolled my entire blog to find them. As always, if a site catches my eye, I'll link to it in a post. Any site I visit regularly will make the Links page.

Action!

For comparison's sake:


Real Action Heroes Superman Returns (2006) action figure (image from The Superman Homepage)



Mattel's Man of Steel (2013) Superman action figure

The first five comments are reaction to the first photo.

THE BROKEN PLACES by Ace Atkins

Atkins' third Quinn Colson novel is out today. Here's my Amazon review. I have a longer one coming to Crimespree Magazine.