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1983 was a banner year for computing. Microsoft Windows was announced, Lotus spreadsheets were released and the first IBM clone PC was sold by Compaq. And Gus Gorman builds a supercomputer that becomes self-aware, turns humans into cyborg slaves, and tries to kill Superman! This third installment in the Superman film series, this one directed entirely by Richard Lester, relied more on laughs than action, with comedian Richard Pryor taking a co-starring role. How does the mix of comedy, action, and inner conflict work in this Superman film? Listen to find out!

How much would you give up for the woman you love? For Superman the cost of love is his every power as he chooses to relinquish all that makes him super to live a mortal life with Lois Lane. But without Superman what can stop the three Kryptonian criminals Non, Ursa, and their leader General Zod from ruling the Earth? All of this, plus Lex Luthor, is in 1980's Superman II. But do Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob kneel before Zod? Listen to Now Playing to find out as we review both the Richard Donner and Richard Lester cuts of Superman II!

In 1978 director Richard Donner and a team of cutting-edge optical effects artists made audiences believe a man could fly. Perhaps even more impressive, though, is that stars Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, and Marlon Brando were able to bring such performances that adults and children watched a man convincingly and unironically wear a blue spandex unitard. But when Superman took to the screen there was no unintentional laughter, just a generation held in thrall as they watched the first big-budget superhero film--a movie to which all superhero films to this day are still compared. Do Now Playing movie reviews Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart still believe the film flies as high? Listen to this week's podcast to find out!

Superman. In the 1930s the DC character was a breakout success creating a template for superheroes that would be copied for the next century. In the 1970s he made moviegoers believe a man could fly in the first blockbuster superhero film. But long before Christopher Reeve would embody the iconic Kryptonian there was another Superman movie--Superman and the Mole Men. Created as part of the television series The Adventures of Superman, Superman and the Mole Men starred George Reeves as the man of steel dealing with a race of beings who have escaped their home miles below ground. Reeves would go on to play Superman on television from 1952 to 1958 becoming the face of Superman for the baby boomer generation. Now, as Now Playing hosts Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob begin their Superman retrospective series leading up to this summer's Man of Steel film they look back at this forgotten 1951 feature. Is this a Superman adventure worth unearthing or should it have stayed buried deep? Listen to find out!