The Screen Companion

Feel like some urban decay? Crime? Plop down with us and travel back in time to New York City in the '70s. Sleazy? Depressing? Or just incredibly atmospheric? With Saturday Night Fever and Cruising representing two totally different genres, we'll see how much of a boost the disco era Big Apple setting provided. Guest: Andrew.

Mind screw movies keep viewers off guard and constantly wondering. Fake reality plots involving protagonists searching for what's “real” are particularly effective at this. Let's scrutinize the hidden seams in Dark City, The Matrix, and The Thirteenth Floor—who knows what broader existential questions we'll find! Guest: Jon.

Spotlighting Jean-Claude Van Damme! Is the Muscles From Brussels a second-rate Austrian Oak? Is he not as sly as Stallone? Or is JCVD an underappreciated action star that was stuck between those other guys as they sucked all the air out of the room? Via Double Impact, Hard Target, and Sudden Death, we poke fun at the splits, dissect the career, and compliment a guy that embodies the American Dream. Guests: Rob, Pat & Jon.

The Atomic Age was ushered in with an unfortunate bang in World War II and continued into the Cold War with Soviet Russia and the United States at the forefront. Using Five, Godzilla (1954), and On the Beach as time capsules, let us delve into the anxiety of the postwar era when nuclear weapons presented a new threat to the world. Guest: Jon.