Now Playing Presents: The DC Comics Team-Ups Movie Retrospective Series

It’s hard to decide what's worst about working at the Bachman Textile Plant. It could be the lack of air conditioning. It could be the boss who coerces female employees for sex. Actually the worst thing about the mill is probably the giant rat-bat creature that lives in the basement and feeds on the workers. Such is the plot of Graveyard Shift, the 1990 film based on Stephen King's 1970 short story. Can a mischief of rats, a giant puppet beast, and Brad Dourif scare Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart to death? Listen to find out!

Robocop is back! After two theatrical sequels that quickly declined in quality, a syndicated TV series, and a series of TV movies, the cyborg cop is back in theaters with a totally new take on the tale of Alex Murphy. Gone is Verhoeven's ultra-violence and satrical take on 80's business, and instead Robocop is now a state of the art tactical killing machine, dressed in black. Does this new angle on the robot cop work, or should Murphy have stayed dead? Listen to Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart's review to find out!

While the frequency of their collaborations has slowed, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are together again in 2013's Oscar-bating docu-comedy The Wolf of Wall Street. DiCaprio plays real-life Wall Street criminal Jordan Belfort, who lived a sex, drug, and money fueled lifestyle before his short stint in prison. Does Scorsese's style work when showcasing white-collar crime families? Listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob's review to find out!

In the mid 1980s there was no bigger name in film than Steven Spielberg. As a director he had a string of major hits, including E.T. which became the top grossing film of all time. Even films he didn't direct but only produced, such as Poltergeist and The Goonies, benefited from having his name high on the title. Also in this category was Gremlins, the 1984 film about a small town overrun by small, evil creatures. Directed by The Howling's Joe Dante, this film provided a combination of horror, comedy, and Christmas. Now join Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob as they review this film, from the cuddly Mogwai to the creepy Gremlins to that lingering smell that makes Kate hate Christmas.

​Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is considered a horror classic, but original Shining author Stephen King never felt it lived up to his original vision. So in 1997, for the novel's 20th anniversary, King and longtime collaborator Mick Garris reunited to bring The Shining to audiences as an ABC mini-series. While time has not granted this series the iconic status of Kubrick's film, is King's vision one worth seeing? Listen to Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart's review to find out!

​Stephen King is a best selling, award winning horror author. Stanley Kubrick ​is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. When these two came together a horror classic was born -- The Shining. It has scared audiences for over thirty years, and now Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob are reviewing it as the next film in the Stephen King Movie Retrospective Series. But King famously dislikes the movie. Will any of our hosts agree? Listen to find out!

It will be 2015 before the Avengers assemble on the big screen again, but Disney and Marvel will fill that time with films focusing on individual Avengers and their disassembled heroics. Earlier this year we had Iron Man 3, and now Disney hopes to catch lightning in a bottle again with the help of a thunder god in Thor: The Dark World. The mighty Avenger must once again fighting an ancient enemy of Asgard, continue arguing with Odin over how best to rule the kingdom, and all the while try to romance his human love interest Jane Foster. Are the Now Playing hosts excited for Thor's return, or just glad to have Loki back on screen? Listen to our review to find out!

The posters declare "You Will Know Her Name" but for fans of horror, Brian DePalma, or Stephen King you already know her name--Carrie, the outcast girl whose telekinetic powers will be both her salvation and her damnation. When it was announced this film was being adapted to screen for a third time even original author King said "Why, when the original was so good?". But now the new adaptation is in theaters to tell a younger generation of movie lovers why they should know her name. Was King right and this film unnecessary, or can this film still shine in the shadow of the 1976 original? Listen to Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart's review to find out!​

With Christopher Nolan's Batman films Warner Bros. set the gold standard for superhero films. The Dark Knight was a box office hit, a fan favorite, and even won an Academy Award for acting. Yet the year after Batman Begins the other World's Finest superhero, Superman, failed to take flight. So when Dark Knight writer David Goyer pitched a new, bold take on Superman Warner Bros. agreed. Watchmen director Zack Snyder was brought in to direct, and the result was Man of Steel. Its opening weekend broke records, but both critics and fans are sharply divided over the quality of the film. Now Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob bring their Superman retrospective series to a close with their review of Man of Steel. Can Man of Steel leap tall buildings in a single bound, or should it be stopped with a speeding bullet? Listen to find out!

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra left many audience members cold, but the box office proved there was a hunger for G.I. Joe movies. A sequel was started, but to give the series a boost of star power the original cast was almost entirely replaced with The Rock and Bruce Willis featured in the hopes of pleasing a larger audience. After a 9 month delay for a post 3-D conversion, did this sequel fix the flaws of the previous live-action film? Listen to Jerry, Jakob, and Arnie's review to find out!

25 years ago Bruce Willis delivered his career-making performance as John McClane in the original Die Hard. To celebrate this milestone, John McClane is back, once again showing terrorists that McClanes are hard to kill as he teams with his son to fight Russian terrorists. Is this film a good day for Die Hard? Listen to find out!

After reviewing 25 movies released over the span of 50 years, Now Playing reaches the conclusion of its James Bond retrospective series--Skyfall. Continuing the rebooted spy stories starring Daniel Craig, Skyfall has already become the top-grossing film in the James Bond franchise, and there is even rumblings of Academy Award honors. But can it really best Craig's Casino Royale, and how does a life long Bond fan warm to this new take? Listen to Now Playing's ultimate James Bond review to find out! Plus the hosts reflect on all 25 Bond films, picking the best and worst actors, film, and songs from the franchise!

It was to be the biggest Spider-Man movie yet! 3 villains! Green Goblin 2! Sandman! Venom!! If that's not enough trouble for Peter Parker, Mary Jane is also jealous of the new girl Gwen Stacy. It had fanboys squealing with anticipation, and then crying in anguish, as Arnie did in Now Playing's first-ever movie review. Now Arnie revisits Raimi's third Spider-Man film, joined this time by Jakob and Stuart. Has time changed Arnie's view of this film? Listen to find out!

THE AVENGERS! Breaking worldwide box office records this super-hero team-up is a film that seems impossible to make, and yet they did! After a year of reviewing movies based on Marvel Comics characters, listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob's review of this blockbuster film! Did it make a year's worth of viewing worth it, or did it fail to come together? Listen to find out!

After Ghost Rider set theaters ablaze in 2007 a sequel seemed assured, but it took five years to get here. But now Nicholas Cage returns in the quasi-rebooted Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Johnny Blaze can have his curse lifted but first he must stop the devil from transferring his soul into the body of a young boy. From the directors of the cult hit Crank films, does this Ghost Rider spark with Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart? Listen to find out!