Bryan Singer

Director Bryan Singer has followed his acclaimed "The Usual Suspects" with "Apt Pupil," a film about two unusual suspects, a teenage boy (Brad Renfro) and a former Nazi (Sir Ian McKellen), locked in a battle of wills. Singer, 32, says the film, based on a Stephen King story, isn't about fascism or racism, but "the evil men do--and women." DISTURBING BEHAVIOR: "There weren't a lot of people in Hollywood who wanted to make this movie.

Pity poor Jack. There he was, minding his own business in some dusty fairy tale book when the powers that be dragooned him into active service as the front man for the would-be blockbuster "Jack the Giant Slayer. " Of course, Jack's been through the Hollywood shuffle before. Research reveals that he appeared in an Edison film as far back as 1902 and that his story has been embraced by talents as diverse as Gene Kelly, Chuck Jones and the Three Stooges. But there may never have been a Jack tale that delivered so little pleasure for so many dollars as what we have here.

"I don't feel any different than the last time I was here," says Bryan Singer, wadding up a tissue and carefully tossing it into a nearby basket. "I had the flu then, and I have the flu now." True enough, but as the young director knows better than anyone, some things have changed since he shared the Sundance Film Festival's 1993 Grand Jury Prize here for his "Public Access."

Director Bryan Singer has donated $5 million to his alma mater USC's School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) and its critical studies division. Now titled the Bryan Singer Division of Critical Studies, the unit from which Singer graduated in 1989 with a bachelor's degree, it examines all forms of moving image media from an analytical and historical perspective. “We are thrilled and extremely grateful for Bryan's generosity and vision in naming SCA's Division of Critical Studies,” said SCA Dean Elizabeth M. Daley in a statement.

It is a sunny morning in early April and Bryan Singer is slouching in his director's chair, anxiously waiting for the cast and crew of his latest film, "Apt Pupil," to reassemble for another take in front of an aging, aristocratic school hugging the foothills of Altadena. Singer, 31, is directing his first film since garnering widespread critical acclaim and Hollywood's attention with Gramercy Pictures' 1995 mystery-crime thriller "The Usual Suspects."

A fatalistic tale of power, betrayal, crime and punishment, spiced with just a whiff of romance, it is more than anything a polished exercise in pure virtuoso style. The key stylist is director Bryan Singer, backed by writer Christopher McQuarrie. The designated storyteller here, in a series of voice-over flashbacks that takes up most of the film, is Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey, pictured) (Showtime Tuesday at 9:30 p.m.).

To be a teenager is to feel different, misunderstood, perhaps even a bit of a mutant. It was the gift of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the creators of the Marvel comic decades ago, to realize with "X-Men" that conflicted twentysomething and teenage superheroes would tap into that universal "I don't belong" feeling and raise it to another level.

"IRON MAN" looks great ["A Hero Complex," March 9]. Marvel Studios looks like a winner. But Geoff Boucher overlooked the single biggest reason for Marvel's rebirth in Hollywood: the highly rated, 1992-97 TV show, "X-Men: The Animated Series." For 30 years Marvel Comics had had no luck translating its "serious" vision to film or television. Networks and studios didn't get it, or it was dumbed down. Then Fox Kids TV executives Margaret Loesch and Sidney Iwanter pushed through and supervised the first series that respected the creations of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and their colleagues.

"X2" is 2 good 2 be 4-gotten. Brisk and involving with a streamlined forward propulsion, it's the kind of superhero movie we want if we have to have superhero movies at all. "X2: X-Men United" is also an improvement over the initial "X-Men" venture, yet, paradoxically, it wouldn't be as satisfying as it is if that first one hadn't existed.

Bryan Singer is one agitated director. Mock-agitated, anyway. It's February on the Toronto set of "X-Men," and production is racing along on this $75-million, comic-book-inspired tale of mutant superheroes sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them. Singer is taking a quick timeout to tape a video greeting to legendary comics creator Stan Lee, soon to be feted at a splashy Hollywood launch party for his new superhero Web site.

As "X-Men: First Class" completes nearly a week of release, thoughts wander, well, much further ahead, all the way to a sequel. Though they're not confirming any new development, executives at studio Fox have certainly hoped that the movie's performance warrants a new installment. Like every big Hollywood company these days, Fox craves a franchise, and young actors such as Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy were cast at least in part so they can grow with the series. The plot of Matthew Vaughn's movie -- which tells of the origins of the mutant superhero group against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis -- does pave the way for a follow-up.

So how did Suri deal with the eye patch? That would be Suri Cruise and her dad, Tom, who famously wears a black pirate-esque patch in his new film, "Valkyrie," a World War II thriller about a plot to assassinate Hitler that opened on Christmas. Cruise plays the coup's real life ringleader, the aristocratic Col. Claus von Stauffenberg.

"IRON MAN" looks great ["A Hero Complex," March 9]. Marvel Studios looks like a winner. But Geoff Boucher overlooked the single biggest reason for Marvel's rebirth in Hollywood: the highly rated, 1992-97 TV show, "X-Men: The Animated Series." For 30 years Marvel Comics had had no luck translating its "serious" vision to film or television. Networks and studios didn't get it, or it was dumbed down. Then Fox Kids TV executives Margaret Loesch and Sidney Iwanter pushed through and supervised the first series that respected the creations of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and their colleagues.

Noel Neill and Jack Larson spent some of their best years in bondage, trussed up together waiting for Superman to break down a wall and save them. The actors who played Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen on the 1950s TV show "Adventures of Superman" are back at it with bit parts in "Superman Returns" -- Neill as a dying heiress, Larson as a bartender. "Superman Returns" director Bryan Singer grew up a fan of the TV show, which starred the late George Reeves as the Man of Steel.

"X2" is 2 good 2 be 4-gotten. Brisk and involving with a streamlined forward propulsion, it's the kind of superhero movie we want if we have to have superhero movies at all. "X2: X-Men United" is also an improvement over the initial "X-Men" venture, yet, paradoxically, it wouldn't be as satisfying as it is if that first one hadn't existed.

To be a teenager is to feel different, misunderstood, perhaps even a bit of a mutant. It was the gift of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the creators of the Marvel comic decades ago, to realize with "X-Men" that conflicted twentysomething and teenage superheroes would tap into that universal "I don't belong" feeling and raise it to another level.

With a rich history and a promising future, the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts will celebrate its 80th birthday Sunday with a dedication ceremony of its new $175-million home on campus. The school's most famous alum, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, whose Lucasfilm Foundation provided $75 million for the new digs, plus $100 million for the school's endowment, will be on hand.

During a recent interview with England's Daily Mail newspaper, Steven Spielberg revealed his one-time desire to direct a James Bond movie. "I went to [Bond producer] Cubby Broccoli and asked if I could do one and he said: 'No,'" Spielberg told the paper . "I've never asked again. " It worked out OK for Spielberg; he went on to direct the first film in his own globe-trotting franchise, "Raiders of the Lost Ark. " But what if Spielberg had directed a Bond film? What would that have looked like?

Bryan Singer is one agitated director. Mock-agitated, anyway. It's February on the Toronto set of "X-Men," and production is racing along on this $75-million, comic-book-inspired tale of mutant superheroes sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them. Singer is taking a quick timeout to tape a video greeting to legendary comics creator Stan Lee, soon to be feted at a splashy Hollywood launch party for his new superhero Web site.

Adapted from a Stephen King novella, and staged like a two-character David Mamet play, Bryan Singer's "Apt Pupil" is a curious big-screen project, to be sure. Add in the subject matter, a teenage boy's obsession with an ex-Nazi's concentration camp reveries, and the experience is like staring at molecular evil through an electron microscope. Ultimately, the view is too close for either comfort or scrutiny.