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The Star Trek Crew is back to discuss episodes 3-6 of Lower Decks, reveling in the fact that the characters are very realistic and relatable.  While we love the other Star Trek properties, the characters in those shows are more aspirational.  These characters feel very real and grounded.  Also, this show is BLOODY in a way we did not really see coming, giving us allegories on the dangers of abusing technology, the challenges with not paying attention to your relationships, and discussions around being okay with your station in life.  We also discuss Gina Carano on Twitter and coming Star Trek news. 

 

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If you’re looking for a ground breaking alien creature-feature, Sputnik may leave you a bit disappointed. However, if you’re looking for a film that puts a unique spin on the typical “astronaut brings some alien life form home with them” trope, then Sputnik will be right up your alley. One of the problems with a typical alien creature feature is that they all follow pretty much the same themes. Sputnik takes a slightly different path and straddles the line between trying to contain a deadly alien creature and determining the line between man/alien. By doing that, it differentiates itself enough from other films and makes Sputnik a highly effective film.

 

One of the key elements of a good creature feature film is obviously, the creature. An effective creature can turn a typically mediocre film that could easily be forgotten into a memorable one. Sputnik starts off a bit slow bu that makes The first time the creature appears even more jolting. The more that’s revealed about the creature (what it eats and how it comes out of astronaut Konstantin Veshnyakov are only made more intriguing by the questions that aren’t answered (Is it a parasite or some other symbiotic creature, can it be controlled, etc).

 

Borrowing from The Thing, Sputnik leans heavily into using the personalities of the human characters to drive the conflict. The "who is really more of a monster?" trope has been done plenty of times before so again, this isn't ground breaking. That said, the film does a great job developing Oksana Akinshina's Tatyana and contrasting her character against the men she's having to deal with. 

Overall Sputnik is a Sci-Fi horror film worth checking out. The creature alone is enough to give you nightmares and the performances also help keep the audience engaged.

Watch Sputnik now on Amazon Prime.

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Kriss, Ro and Brandon are back to discuss the last 3 episodes of Lovecraft Country (Whitey's on the Moon, Holy Ghost, A History of Violence). This show continues to impress and is also a perfect example of what (good) happens when Black people (particularly Black women) are allowed to tell stories involving Black people from our lens. Honestly, the best parts of Lovecraft Country have been the parts that lean on the horror and harassment Black people face more than the traditional fantastical horror elements. This once again proves that the horror Black people face is terrifying.

Lovecraft Country is also doing a great job of (sadly) showing how evergreen racism is in this country. You can't watch Leti get taken on a "rough ride" in the back of that police car in Holy Ghost and not think of Freddie Gray. The fact that the cops only showed up after Leti got fed up with the harassment and decided to lash back out reminds us of the way cops only show up when Black people are fed up and in many cases were part of the original harassment. Watching the cops drive past the mob of angry white people and not do anything is right up there with police in riot gear fist bumping white militiamen and vigilantes at Black Lives Matter protests. Even the more subtile things hit hard. Ruby rejecting the notion that she could still apply for the job at the department store because there's no way they'd hire two Black women, much less a Black woman with a larger figure is still something Black people feel. We constantly feel like we're in competition with each other because of how few opportunities we're given. It's not only surreal but infuriating to see how little things have changed. 

Out of the last three episodes, Holy Ghost is the strongest. This is due to the focus and story revolving around Leti. Jurnee Smollett is putting in one fantastic performance through the whole series, but particularly with this episode. There was something cathartic about seeing Leti take a baseball bat to those racist white people's cars then later on seeing the three racist white dudes meet their end in the haunted house. Between all that and her literally leaning on the power of the ancestors to cleanse the house of evil, this was a powerful episode. 

Listen as we discuss these three episodes. We talk about:

* How each of the three main characters (Atticus, Leti and Montrose) have their own demons to face 

* The use of color and music to really make Black people pop on the screen

* Reckless vs Impulsive aka Atticus vs Leti

* Following the story through the eyes of the female characters and more

Oh and Ro & Brandon hint at the fact that no one is prepared for episode 5. So strap in.

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The sports world continues to collide with reality, and UDPod is back to make it make sense. A week that showed not only could NBA Players step into their power, but that the rest of the sporting world would follow gave way to great conversation and analysis and advice on how to combat the straw man arguments popping up to undercut these powerful voices.

Guest: Justin - @LJay90

 

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I'm always a fan of books that open with a unique sense of urgency. And fairy tales. I'm a sucker for a good retelling. One of my favorites this year beautifully blends the two. Author Kalynn Bayron's debut young adult novel, Cinderella is Dead.

In Cinderella is Dead, Bayron, re-imagines the world of this classic with a striking sapphic story about a determined young woman willing to risk it all to expose the secrets and lies at the very heart of Cinderella’s mythic ‘happily ever-after’ in order to free a kingdom.

You can read my full review at Fiyah Literary Magazine.

But, after reading and reviewing this story, I couldn't stop thinking about how much this re-imagining of Cinderella's world stayed with me. So I thought I'd take my questions to the source. 

Conversation with Author Kalynn Bayron

Kalynn agreed to sit down for a in-depth chat about her novel sharing what she hoped to accomplish by deconstructing the world of Cinderella and why the story and world-building took shape the way it did. 

Listen as I get a look under the hood and inside this story that so much more than a remake. 

Cinderella is Dead released July 7, 2020 in the US. In my opinion, it's one of the best of the summer.  

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MTR's science team, PFunk & Coqui, discuss the never-ending first wave of the pandemic and he administration considering defunding COVID testing.

* Black Women Scientists Missing From Textbooks - https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53158292

* The GRE May Be Dying - https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2020/06/graduate-programs-drop-gre-after-online-version-raises-concerns-about-fairness

* First Wave Still Not Over - https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/24/883146846/with-covid-19-cases-rising-some-states-slow-their-reopening-plans

* Why on Earth would you defund Testing? - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/25/us-coronavirus-testing-sites-federal-support-cut-officials-alarm

* Chloroquine is Still a Thing in Brazil - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/it-s-nightmare-how-brazilian-scientists-became-ensnared-chloroquine-politics

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Kriss is back with another episode of the Insanity Check to cover this August's insanity in the world. This episode he's joined by Bacon from the ADD Space. We made it. We survived August 2020, the longest year of 2020 so far. Barely. August didn't let it's foot off our neck. Some good news, but also a lot of bad (RIP Chadwick Boseman). We dip our toes into the madness

Topics:

* August has been the longest year

* The stark differences between the DNC and RNC

* Far Left "accelerationists" make zero sense at all

* Cops always make themselves the victims

* We can defund the police because criminals are stupid

* Great Moments in White Privilege

* JK Rowling doubles down on being a TERF

* Do You Even Sci-Fi Bro?

* 2020 isn't the year for this (no year really is but especially not 2020)

Guest: Bacon

 

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We're back with another Character Corner episode. This time we're diving into the first part of a two part series on the man himself, Superman. Created in 1938 by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, Superman is the first superhero and is the birth of the Golden Age.

The first part of this series is going to focus more on the overall history and context of Superman and not really digging into the stories too much. Mainly because there’s so much. This is once again a Golden Age character and perhaps the most important character in comic book history. There have been some changes here and there but Superman has largely remained the same compared to other characters (go dive into the histories of Wonder Woman or Hawkman). Superman also had the benefit of radio serials (Over 2000 episodes) that were aimed at kids that really helped the character take root.

From 1941 - 1970, under editor Mort Weisinger, Superman stories spend nearly 3 decades finding their footing. While there are definitely stories here that resonate, this time period is really about setting up the overall characterization of who Superman really is. And it's a good foundation that anyone looking to make a live action Superman should look at (Looking at you Zack Snyder).

In this episode we explore the 'who is he?' of Superman leading up to Crisis and then jump into John Byrne's Man of Steel which sets the stage of who Post-Crisis Superman is and is the Superman that is the model for all those that come after. We then end with the Death of Superman (Superman #75) which Dpalm makes a solid argument for the beginning of the death of comics.

Before we jump into that though, Kriss and Dpalm take some time to talk about the passing of Chadwick Boseman. Boseman's death hits so hard because he was becoming a legend not just because of the characters he played on screen but because of who he was off of it. 

Issues:

* Key Issues

* Action Comics #1 - First appearance of Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane

* Superman #1 - First appearance Jonathan and Martha Kent 

* Action Comics #23 - First appearance of The Daily Star/Daily Planet 

*  Superman #7  - First appearance of Perry White 

* Action Comics #6 (unnamed cameo), Radio serial (April 15 1940), Superman #13  - First appearance of Jimmy Olsen

* Superman #76 - First official meeting of Batman and Superman

* Key Villain Appearances

* Action Comics #23 - First appearance of Lex Luther

* Action Comics #242 - First appearance of Brainiac  

* Superboy #68  - First appearance of Bizarro

* Adventure comics #283 - First appearance General Zod 

* Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 - First appearance of Darkseid

* Powers

* Flight - Comes in the second episode of the radio serial

* Action Comics #11 - X-Ray vision & super hearinng

* Action Comics #20 - Super human breath

* Superman #129 - Freeze breath

* Superman #146 - All of his powers except strength come from the Earth's sun

* Action Comics #300 - All of his powers (even strength) come from the Earth's sun and are taken away by red sunlight

* Superman #61 - Kryptonite first appears in the comics (mentioned on radio 6 years before)

* Crisis on Infinite Earths

* DC's Legends 1 - 6 - John Ostrander

* John Byrne's Man of Steel 1 - 6 - retells the story origin of Superman Post Crisis

* Superman The Man of Steel (These volumes collect Superman, Action Comics and Adventures of Superman)

* Volume 2

* Volume 3

* Volume 4

* Volume 5

* Volume 6

* Volume 7

* Volume 8

* Volume 9

* The Death of Superman

The Mortuary Collection, a 2020 Fantasia Festival Official Collection, is an horror anthology collection available in the on-demand library.  Written and directed by Ryan Spindell, this anthology offers four twisted tales of the dead. Between the striking cinematography leveling up the visuals and the meta storytelling it's one not to miss. 

Spindell's love letter to the past is a cohesive narrative that sets the stage (hopefully) for more. Montgomery Dark (Clancy Brown) caretaker and mortician at Raven’s End Mortuary, knows the histories of the dead. Their stories fill the countless books on Dark's shelves. When a woman shows to answers his help wanted add she challenges him to share macabre stories so she "knows what she's getting into." 

Caitlin Custer as Sam in The Mortuary Collection

Ro said it after finishing and stands by, The Mortuary Collection is a brilliant blend of all the best elements from 70s/80s horror comics/movies, & pulp fiction. It's lush, goulish, and delightfully twisted anthology. If you like the Creep Show or Tales From the Crypt then this one's definitely for you. It entertains, disturbs, and is at turns, flat out creepy. 

Ro and Kriss dug all four stories and the wraparound narrative that make up the mixtape that is The Mortuary Collection. Listen in as they dig into this Fantasia Film Festival Official Selection. 

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Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business

Life as a creative in a world not suited to supporting art in the mainstream is a struggle. It takes more than having a dream. You've got to be ready to hustle. That hustle requires skill, multi-tasking, business savvy, and luck. When it come to being an independent filmmaker, the grind has unique challenges. 

In Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business, screening on-demand during Fantasia Film Festival 2020 filmmaker Justin McConnell shares his struggle to take his film projects to the next stage. The goal? Secure enough funding to bring them to the screen.

But, Clapboard is far more than just a snap shot of the hustle. This documentary follows McConnell as he learns to navigate the production side of the film festival circuit all while writing, directing and working gigs to keep the lights on. McConnell, bookends his journey between interviews with others in the film industry in ways that highlight that his struggles aren't new or likely to end for anyone looking to climb that ladder.

Stories from Insiders 

Clapboard broadens the conversation and shifts the energy from just being a personal diary to a real behinds-the-scenes look at what trying to get in the room (literally) where the deals happen is like. The sheer number of people including George A. Romero, Larry Cohen, Paul Schrader, Justin Benson, Larry Fassenden, Barbara Crampton and Guillermo del Toro sharing advice and giving the honesty is on its own impressive. 

Listen as Kriss and Ro discuss exactly how invested they became in McConnell's years-long journey and the highs and lows of grinding indie film style. The utter tenacity of it all is kind of incredible to witness. We felt stressed watching McConnell repeatedly tested. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlJ9M_H0rGU

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