Episode 132: There's Something Whiffy About Skiffy

We're unsure which of the multiple dismal Netflix Original SF movies pushed this button, but their roster of misfires definitely made the penny drop. The outburst goes something along the lines of: "Oh come on! What are they even doing, this isn't proper Science Fiction like The Matrix, or 2001, what are they trying to achieve?". Then, of course, you think: "Mind you, 2001 is a bit... slow. But The Matrix? Ah, there's the stuff. Good old Matrix. Sequels drifted a bit of course, but, still, The Matrix. And Predestination. That's a good one, although time travel... isn't that technically more a sort of philosophical fantasy?"

That's where it starts to unravel, Pi? Mathematical fantasy. Cube? Kafka-esque social commentary. Primer? More time-travel whimsy. What movie is *really* pure science fiction. Of course, in both The Matrix and 2001 we have AI and we don't really know how that would work, but we have more of an idea than time-travel. How does paradox work? No one knows, and no-one in our lifetime is ever likely to know.

Eventually, you have to entertain the possibility that SF and film will never have the same happy relationship as, say, spy thrillers and film, or romance and film, or high fantasy and film, or, of course, superheroes and film. The fact is Science Fiction is like an ingredient to a story in some other genre rather than a happy genre by itself. Core SF texts don't really care about character as much as they do ideas, and film needs characters in order to live and breathe.

If you can have a spoiler for a discussion then watch out, because we come up with precisely zero answers for this proposition but we do give it a bit of a kicking. Whether we come back to the topic is down to whether anyone cares to opine whether we're "Wrong on the Internet" about this one. Time will tell, but SF is never going to be happy at the movies. Change our minds.

This episode uses excerpts of User Friendly by Lee Rosevere

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/episode132somethingwhiffyaboutskiffy/Episode%20132%20-%20Something%20Whiffy%20About%20Skiffy.mp3

Episode 131: Tales of the Fandom Chin - A Bruce Campbell Retrospective

You found the battered VHS tape in a trunk stored in the cabin's basement. There was a lock on the clasp but the lid had rotted allowing you access to the variety of mouldy junk within.

With shaking fingers you reach out to push the tape's spine into the old VCR, you feel the smooth raised surface of the word "GROOVY" written in office white-out along the space where a label should be. The tape begins...

"Hi, I'm Leo and this is Ian and we have been researching urban legends, specifically this one about the so-called 'Hero From The Sky'. The legend relates that if you say the words 'Chuck Finley' into a mirror three times a man in leather pants with a dubious beard will come to your house and crash on your sofa for a week..."

You have heard the legend yourself, but you've never been brave enough to so much as whisper the name of the unspeakable god of B-Movie schlock. What would happen should you succeed? What if he arrives in his other guise as OAP Elvis? What if he likes your place so much he parks a trailer on your front lawn and fills your attic with dead-ites?

Sure, you're a fan, but are you really THAT much of a fan?

This episode uses excerpts of Town Braggart by John Bartmann

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/131talesofthefandomchinabrucecampbellretrospective/131%20-%20Tales%20of%20the%20Fandom%20Chin%20-%20A%20Bruce%20Campbell%20Retrospective.mp3

Episode 130: Summer Review 2019 - Correction Disney Wins Again

As inevitable as the mighty finger-snap of Thanos the summer could only really belong to one mighty movie, and sure enough that was it. But, for the parent of that box-office juggernaut, Avengers Endgame, taking home the 1st place prize wasn't nearly enough. Indeed, even we were surprised by the absolute bucket load of cash the mouse has managed this summer.

Outside of Scrooge McDuck's money bin it's been a rum old summer and no mistake. Virtually no action movies, way too many family movies, so much content that had release dates planned in February was bounced to later dates. If you were in the US movie business and your studio name didn't rhyme with Biz Knee then you weren't getting a big bite of the box office this summer, to be fair, it didn't even look as though you were really trying.

The big question is not what happened but what does what happened actually mean for the future. People have been prophesying a disney-fied dystopia in the multiplexes and we're a couple of summers away from that being the world we live in. But is a dystopia filled with lovingly crafter Marvel movies, affectionately made Pixar animations and, er, endless live-action do overs of beloved classic animations really such a bad thing... Okay, maybe the last one could stand some work but, hey, nobody's perfect. Come and discover the monetary implications of the coming cinematic world and, like us, you will be amazed.

This episode uses an excerpt of the Coconut Monkeyrocket's supberb "Illogical Boogie". The full track can be downloaded here.

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/1302019summerreviewdisneywins/130-2019-Summer-Review-Disney-Wins.mp3

Metasode 4: Time For The Big Push!

So, here we are, several months later and a season of content wiser. You haven't heard that, of course, but you're about to.

We stand at a great crossroads, confident that we have done all we can to tie down the format and present something that gives food for thought. We are, I think it is fair to say, proud of this season of content. Not that we aren't proud of Rot80sK's back catalogue and the great work it represents. The upcoming season is, if anything, a consolidation of everything we have been accidentally into something purposeful. Only one question remains, do the listeners like it?

Revenge of the 80s Kids was always something we did for fun, and it kind of still is. The big split is whether we do something else for fun or if the Revenge audience can add that dash of special sauce that keeps us rolling into the future. We'd like to do more Revenge, but not on the current "howling into the void" model. If that's all that's on offer we may well do something else instead.

What would that be? Well, we have some ideas. We've tried to pull something together whilst simultaneously committing to regular seasons of Revenge, that hasn't worked. It may be that we need to put Revenge on hiatus to get something else done. Everything is in the hands of you, the audience at this stage. Further explanation, and a full preview of the upcoming season in the metasode...

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/rot80skmetasode/Rot80sK%20-%20Metasode.mp3