Sorry to be late this week! I got into the spirit of a new decade and started playing Pac-Man over on Google's homepage and, well, 16 hours later….

We veer almost too close to modern times for comfort this week! Larry has begun featuring content from 1980, so I am experimenting with watching films from that year… it's a little disconcerting, but not unpleasant. I saw all the "Superman" films as a tyke but had forgotten pretty much everything about them. I did remember one in which Superman gets rid of his powers to be with Lois Lane, and then there's an excruciating scene where he's beaten up — I just hated that. Turns out it's in this one. Doh!

I still hate that scene, but "Superman II" isn't bad; it's a cult classic and there are many excellent reasons why. You actually don't NEED any reasons beyond Terence Stamp, magnificently stone-faced as the villainous General Zod, standing around in a black ponytail with arms akimbo, shooting laser beams out of his eyes. But the movie also gives you lots of fantastically crackling repartee between Lois and Clark Kent, with lots of Margot Kidder rolling her eyes and Christopher Reeve mumbling "Aw, gee, Lois." They're hilarious. Despite her dated wardrobe and typewriter (and insistence on carrying her purse everywhere, even to the Fortress of Solitude), Lois the character feels very contemporary. She's fab.

And finally, famously, there's the Richard Donner factor behind the film's cult status. Donner directed the first "Superman" film, and had finished filming big chunks of this one when he was fired and replaced with Richard Lester. ("Hero Complex" blogger and staff geek Geoff can fill you in if you want more backstory.) "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" was released on DVD in 2006, incorporating original footage and even screen tests to re-create Donner's vision. While this sounds pretty interesting, I figured I should start with the theatrical release, so that's what I watched.

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