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 123: Star Trek is Screwed

Indeed it is, and has been for so long that the title of this episode has been baking since 2013 when Ian first suggested it. Things weren't much better then, when Ian thought of the idea because a certain Time Lord's 50th Anniversary was coming up. The Doctor had bunting in his Tardis, cake and a War Doctor incarnation played by John Hurt to celebrate.

At almost the same time Star Trek was coming up to its 50th. What did Kirk et al. get? A re-sequel of a re-boot and then forgotten for a couple of years. Then, like a zombie a second sequel to the re-boot came along as well as a shiny new series unavailable except via extortion in the country of its birth. Star Trek did not have the best birthday or aftermath of birthday.

Has it ever been thus? The plug was pulled on Classic Star Trek but it wouldn't die, resurrected in the girdle-clad flesh to shamble on to cinema screens in competition with Star Wars. Then brought back to television and it seemed the rough years were over. Until, three patchy spin offs down the line, we crashed headlong into the shuffling embarrassment of awkwardness that was Enterprise, along with the crushingly awful Nemesis and that appeared to be it.

But you shouldn't count your tribbles until they've been to the vet for neutering (no, seriously). There was the reboot, which was delayed in release so long it looked like it might just get shelved and then... well, here we are, spore drives and a movie franchise that may, possibly, have flatlined. Is this any way to run a Space Federation? Join the 80s kids in their final show for this season and let the moaning commence.

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/206StarTrekEditFinal/2-06-Star-Trek-Edit-Final.mp3

This episode features an excerpt from Cutting To The Chase by the outstanding Kai Engel.

Episode 87: Horribly Cheap

The new year is a great time for putting aside old grudges and starting fresh with all things. So naturally the 80s Kids are going to take this opportunity to have a jolly good moan and bring up old grievances. You know, just generally do their uppermost to earn those grumpy old men points.

The focus of Leo and Ian's withering dissatisfaction with week is the anemic generation of so called Horror movies currently thriving down the local cinema. Back in the glory days of the 80s Horror meant disturbing Monsters and gruesome dismemberment prosthetic effects ... or at least something that was shocking and physiologically scaring to watch. These days it's tedious found footage and cheap jump scares.

Frankly we've had enough and we have an hour's worth of moaning about it. It's not just cheap and lazy, the latest wave of horror is the death of innovation. But with Horror being a relativity successful side industry of cinema this humble podcast is as likely to be taken seriously as that guy from the ending of "The Body Snatchers". Incidental Music by incompetech.com

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/087HorriblyCheap/087%20-%20Horribly%20Cheap.mp3

Episode 26: You Get What You Deserve

Only Leo and Ian this week but they have BIG problems with BIG cinema. Discussions drift from the unloved Ender's Game adaptation to the lack of thought provoking films these days. But aren't we getting the cinema we deserve?

Between the internet's never-ending desire to see the world burn and the current "golden age of television" the big screen is being squeezed. Too big to fail they're playing to the lowest common denominator for as many humans on seats as possible. Spectacle and lots of explosions is something TV can't do, so it isn't surprising film production leans that way.

High budget, thought provoking films have been made and died unseen, worse, they died with hails of vitriol from the internet. But how is any of that the film maker's fault? With our dollars and pounds we've shaped the market we have now and show little sign of changing our habits. Leo has a lot to say, Ian just wants chicken.

Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/026YouGetWhatYouDeserve/026-You-Get-What-You-Deserve.mp3