July 12, 2025 • 8 mins
ICYMI: ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ Presents – Mark Rahner’s review of the new DC Studios release “Superman” in ‘The Rahner Report’ - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app & YouTube @MrMoKelly
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Later with Mo Kelly on demand from
KFI A M six forty Kelly, Mark talks about pontificates
about pop culture.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Ron and Report with Mark Ronner.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
It's Later with Mo Kelly. I'm k F I A
M six forty live everywhere on the iHeart App. I'm
Mark Ronner. This is the Runner Report and this portion
of the show is live because Superman's brand new in theaters.
I was on board with this Superman movie from the
first trailer that showed him after he'd just got his
ass kicked and called Crypto the super Dog for help,
and it doesn't disappoint. Here is some of the trailer
(00:50):
featuring Lois and Clark.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Talking, are you being serious right now? Yeah? You've let
me interview you as Superman? Sure, ready, let's do it. Cronkite, Superman,
(01:13):
Miss Lane. Recently you've come under a lot of fire
for some it's a lot. Today.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
The Secretary of Defense said he was going to look
into your actions.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
That's funny. My actions.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I stopped a war.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Maybe not, maybe I did.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
In effect, you illegally entered a country.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
This is how you're going to be I'm not the one.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Being interviewed Superman.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Did you consult with the president?
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Now you seemingly acting as a representative.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And doing good. I would question.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Myself in the same situation and sider the consequence.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
People we're going to die.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Okay, that's all you get. I don't want to spoil anything.
This Superman reminded me of the more whimsical era of
Superman comics. However much I liked Henry Cavell, the movies
they stuck him in were weirdly dark and just not
suited to the character. This one's lighter, but still has
plenty of action. It's from James Gunn, who gave us
the Three Guardians of the Galaxy movies from Marvel Peacemaker
Suicide Squad, and he's now the boss of the DC universe.
(02:27):
He seems to get this stuff. This isn't the story
I would have written. It doesn't have the characters I
would have used. It's not even I'm not even sure.
I liked every bit of the casting, particularly Ma and
Pa Kent. But it's well done. It's lots of fun,
It hits some strong emotional notes, and David corn Sweat,
who's only thirty two, is terrific in it. I hope
he's Superman and a bunch more movies and doesn't get
(02:48):
short changed like Cavill did. Rachel Brosnahan from The Marvelous
Missus masl Is Lois Lane spunky and cynical. This is
not her movie. Nicholas Holt is Lex Luthor. Nathan Fillion
is a green lantern. Not the green lantern the Hal
Jordan that we grew up with, but Guy Gardner, the
ahole green lantern with the bowl cut. Kind of an
inspired choice. Gun throws us some curves with this movie.
(03:10):
We also get a hawk girl or a hawkwoman or
a hawk lady who shrieks like a hawk whenever she's
in battle, which is hilarious yet also kind of cool.
There is a mister Terrific who's a super genius with
lots of little flying balls that do stuff. And I
never thought I'd see Metamorpho the element Man in a
movie because he's just too silly, but we get one here.
(03:31):
This movie is unashamed of being from a comic book.
It's got Superman, robots in the Fortress of Solitude, lots
of things you never thought you'd see or wouldn't have
seen in the nineteen seventy eight Christopher Reeves Superman movie
that we all love, even if they had the special
effects at the time to do it. Remember the tagline
for that one in nineteen seventy eight, it was You'll
Believe a Man Can Fly. That was a message for adults.
(03:53):
That was the director, Richard Donner and the studio telling
grown up movie goers, we know you have a problem
with the bill suspension of disbelief and the Superman you
grew up with who jumped out a phony window onto
a mattress. With the special effects in this movie, won't
be so awful that you'll walk out. You'll believe a
Man can fly was more like, hey, you won't see
the wires, okay. And by the way, the flying sequences
(04:15):
in this Superman movie are really good. They convey speed
and wind and urgency. They're the best of any so far.
I'm not going to tell you much about the plot.
It's not an origin story, thank god. Superman's been around
for a while now. He's dating Lois, but it's a
little shaky, and he's getting involved in a war between
a couple countries on the other side of the world.
Lex Luthor, of course, hates him and gets the world
(04:37):
to distrust him, and he puts himself in a position
to take advantage of that and go after Superman with
the help of a couple of his own super henchmen
and the government. The stakes get bigger with some kind
of dimensional rift thingy that threatens New York real estate.
I was a little unclear about that. This Superman's a
little powered down, which you might have gotten from what
I open with about him getting his ass kicked. This
(04:58):
is not a Superman I think could be ab to
turn back time or push the earth. That makes for
better storytelling him not being quite so godlike. The movie
makes ample use of the John Williams score from the
nineteen seventy eight movie, which is one of the most
beautiful scores of any film ever. Man that I listened
to that a lot when I was a kid. Some
media heels and I don't want to spend too much
(05:19):
time on this, have been trashing this new Superman for
being woke, which is almost too imbecilic to bother responding to.
For one thing, they hadn't even seen it, to my knowledge,
and having just watched it myself, I couldn't find anything
to take a fence at I think some of the
whining was because James Gunn referred to Superman in an
interview as an immigrant. Well he is, He's from another
(05:39):
planet and he landed in the United States. An alien,
maybe even an illegal alien. If you can't cope with that,
go soak your head please. Not long ago, I went
on a binge watching the old FBI show with the
one with efrem Zimbalist Junior. I needed it. It nourished me.
You remember that show. It was about unambiguous, good guys
in suit with responsible haircuts, who upheld the law. They
(06:02):
couldn't be bought or intimidated, always did the right thing,
always put bad guys away. I think it was similar
to what Ted Lasso did not long before that, which
was to give something to people who were just starved
for kindness and decency and somewhat of a darkening time.
So I can see why some people might feign anger
about this Superman. You look at him and it affects
how you see yourself. You think Superman's a liar or
(06:25):
a cheater or a sore loser. You think Superman's greedy
and uses his powers for self enrichment. You think Superman
spends his time talking crap about immigrants or the homeless.
Of course not he probably help him. And this isn't new,
by the way. Notice I didn't mention any names when
I said those things, So if you think they apply
to you or who you follow, that's on you. Superman's
(06:45):
always been an aspirational fantasy character who exemplifies what we
always used to be able to agree was the good
in us, and he fought what we always used to
agree was the bad. The kind of stuff I just mentioned,
as well as cruelty, bullies, tyrants. We don't seem able
to agree on all that stuff anymore, but Superman hasn't changed,
no matter what any dopes can consider to be woke.
(07:06):
There's an old Superman Andy Bigotry ad you may have
run across. It's from nineteen forty nine, and it shows
Superman talking to a group of kids. He says, and remember,
boys and girls, your school like our country is made
up of Americans of many different races, religions, and national origins.
So if you hear anybody talk against a schoolmate or
anyone else because of his religion, race, or national origin,
(07:28):
don't wait tell him that kind of talk is Unamerican.
What a shock Superman doesn't punch down is that woke.
It's Superman have to be kind of an a hole
to disagree with it. We may fall short sometimes, but
it appeals to our better natures. In this new movie,
Superman goes out of his way to save people and
animals in harm's way during his super battles. You want
(07:50):
to call that woke? I think a character like this
in a movie like this can help give us the
kind of super reset we need. Why wouldn't you want
to be like that? And by the way, for anyone
listening to those trying to gin up something about Superman
not saying truth, justice and the American way, I just
kind of covered the American part. Superman is here for
all humanity, but ask yourself why they aren't focused on
(08:12):
the truth part. Superman's civilian occupation is reporter. Spend some
time thinking about why that is, and then and then
imagine how satisfying it would be in the next movie
to see somebody call him fake news and then he
kind of slyly uses his super breath to blow their
hair off or something. That's your honor report for tonight,
Superman's fun go see it now. I want to talk
(08:33):
with Moe about it when he's back, because the movie
hit him a little differently. I didn't want to know
any more than that before I saw the movie myself
last night. So I'm looking forward to hearing what he
thinks and then impugning his taste, his intelligence, and his patriotism.
That's their honor.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Report you're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand
from KFI AM six forty
You're listening to Later with Mo Kelly on demand from
KFI A M six forty Kelly, Mark talks about pontificates
about pop culture.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Ron and Report with Mark Ronner.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
It's Later with Mo Kelly. I'm k F I A
M six forty live everywhere on the iHeart App. I'm
Mark Ronner. This is the Runner Report and this portion
of the show is live because Superman's brand new in theaters.
I was on board with this Superman movie from the
first trailer that showed him after he'd just got his
ass kicked and called Crypto the super Dog for help,
and it doesn't disappoint. Here is some of the trailer
(00:50):
featuring Lois and Clark.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Talking, are you being serious right now? Yeah? You've let
me interview you as Superman? Sure, ready, let's do it. Cronkite, Superman,
(01:13):
Miss Lane. Recently you've come under a lot of fire
for some it's a lot. Today.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
The Secretary of Defense said he was going to look
into your actions.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
That's funny. My actions.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I stopped a war.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Maybe not, maybe I did.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
In effect, you illegally entered a country.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
This is how you're going to be I'm not the one.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Being interviewed Superman.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Did you consult with the president?
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Now you seemingly acting as a representative.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And doing good. I would question.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Myself in the same situation and sider the consequence.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
People we're going to die.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Okay, that's all you get. I don't want to spoil anything.
This Superman reminded me of the more whimsical era of
Superman comics. However much I liked Henry Cavell, the movies
they stuck him in were weirdly dark and just not
suited to the character. This one's lighter, but still has
plenty of action. It's from James Gunn, who gave us
the Three Guardians of the Galaxy movies from Marvel Peacemaker
Suicide Squad, and he's now the boss of the DC universe.
(02:27):
He seems to get this stuff. This isn't the story
I would have written. It doesn't have the characters I
would have used. It's not even I'm not even sure.
I liked every bit of the casting, particularly Ma and
Pa Kent. But it's well done. It's lots of fun,
It hits some strong emotional notes, and David corn Sweat,
who's only thirty two, is terrific in it. I hope
he's Superman and a bunch more movies and doesn't get
(02:48):
short changed like Cavill did. Rachel Brosnahan from The Marvelous
Missus masl Is Lois Lane spunky and cynical. This is
not her movie. Nicholas Holt is Lex Luthor. Nathan Fillion
is a green lantern. Not the green lantern the Hal
Jordan that we grew up with, but Guy Gardner, the
ahole green lantern with the bowl cut. Kind of an
inspired choice. Gun throws us some curves with this movie.
(03:10):
We also get a hawk girl or a hawkwoman or
a hawk lady who shrieks like a hawk whenever she's
in battle, which is hilarious yet also kind of cool.
There is a mister Terrific who's a super genius with
lots of little flying balls that do stuff. And I
never thought I'd see Metamorpho the element Man in a
movie because he's just too silly, but we get one here.
(03:31):
This movie is unashamed of being from a comic book.
It's got Superman, robots in the Fortress of Solitude, lots
of things you never thought you'd see or wouldn't have
seen in the nineteen seventy eight Christopher Reeves Superman movie
that we all love, even if they had the special
effects at the time to do it. Remember the tagline
for that one in nineteen seventy eight, it was You'll
Believe a Man Can Fly. That was a message for adults.
(03:53):
That was the director, Richard Donner and the studio telling
grown up movie goers, we know you have a problem
with the bill suspension of disbelief and the Superman you
grew up with who jumped out a phony window onto
a mattress. With the special effects in this movie, won't
be so awful that you'll walk out. You'll believe a
Man can fly was more like, hey, you won't see
the wires, okay. And by the way, the flying sequences
(04:15):
in this Superman movie are really good. They convey speed
and wind and urgency. They're the best of any so far.
I'm not going to tell you much about the plot.
It's not an origin story, thank god. Superman's been around
for a while now. He's dating Lois, but it's a
little shaky, and he's getting involved in a war between
a couple countries on the other side of the world.
Lex Luthor, of course, hates him and gets the world
(04:37):
to distrust him, and he puts himself in a position
to take advantage of that and go after Superman with
the help of a couple of his own super henchmen
and the government. The stakes get bigger with some kind
of dimensional rift thingy that threatens New York real estate.
I was a little unclear about that. This Superman's a
little powered down, which you might have gotten from what
I open with about him getting his ass kicked. This
(04:58):
is not a Superman I think could be ab to
turn back time or push the earth. That makes for
better storytelling him not being quite so godlike. The movie
makes ample use of the John Williams score from the
nineteen seventy eight movie, which is one of the most
beautiful scores of any film ever. Man that I listened
to that a lot when I was a kid. Some
media heels and I don't want to spend too much
(05:19):
time on this, have been trashing this new Superman for
being woke, which is almost too imbecilic to bother responding to.
For one thing, they hadn't even seen it, to my knowledge,
and having just watched it myself, I couldn't find anything
to take a fence at I think some of the
whining was because James Gunn referred to Superman in an
interview as an immigrant. Well he is, He's from another
(05:39):
planet and he landed in the United States. An alien,
maybe even an illegal alien. If you can't cope with that,
go soak your head please. Not long ago, I went
on a binge watching the old FBI show with the
one with efrem Zimbalist Junior. I needed it. It nourished me.
You remember that show. It was about unambiguous, good guys
in suit with responsible haircuts, who upheld the law. They
(06:02):
couldn't be bought or intimidated, always did the right thing,
always put bad guys away. I think it was similar
to what Ted Lasso did not long before that, which
was to give something to people who were just starved
for kindness and decency and somewhat of a darkening time.
So I can see why some people might feign anger
about this Superman. You look at him and it affects
how you see yourself. You think Superman's a liar or
(06:25):
a cheater or a sore loser. You think Superman's greedy
and uses his powers for self enrichment. You think Superman
spends his time talking crap about immigrants or the homeless.
Of course not he probably help him. And this isn't new,
by the way. Notice I didn't mention any names when
I said those things, So if you think they apply
to you or who you follow, that's on you. Superman's
(06:45):
always been an aspirational fantasy character who exemplifies what we
always used to be able to agree was the good
in us, and he fought what we always used to
agree was the bad. The kind of stuff I just mentioned,
as well as cruelty, bullies, tyrants. We don't seem able
to agree on all that stuff anymore, but Superman hasn't changed,
no matter what any dopes can consider to be woke.
(07:06):
There's an old Superman Andy Bigotry ad you may have
run across. It's from nineteen forty nine, and it shows
Superman talking to a group of kids. He says, and remember,
boys and girls, your school like our country is made
up of Americans of many different races, religions, and national origins.
So if you hear anybody talk against a schoolmate or
anyone else because of his religion, race, or national origin,
(07:28):
don't wait tell him that kind of talk is Unamerican.
What a shock Superman doesn't punch down is that woke.
It's Superman have to be kind of an a hole
to disagree with it. We may fall short sometimes, but
it appeals to our better natures. In this new movie,
Superman goes out of his way to save people and
animals in harm's way during his super battles. You want
(07:50):
to call that woke? I think a character like this
in a movie like this can help give us the
kind of super reset we need. Why wouldn't you want
to be like that? And by the way, for anyone
listening to those trying to gin up something about Superman
not saying truth, justice and the American way, I just
kind of covered the American part. Superman is here for
all humanity, but ask yourself why they aren't focused on
(08:12):
the truth part. Superman's civilian occupation is reporter. Spend some
time thinking about why that is, and then and then
imagine how satisfying it would be in the next movie
to see somebody call him fake news and then he
kind of slyly uses his super breath to blow their
hair off or something. That's your honor report for tonight,
Superman's fun go see it now. I want to talk
(08:33):
with Moe about it when he's back, because the movie
hit him a little differently. I didn't want to know
any more than that before I saw the movie myself
last night. So I'm looking forward to hearing what he
thinks and then impugning his taste, his intelligence, and his patriotism.
That's their honor.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Report you're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand
from KFI AM six forty
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