Sci-Fi Malady

Xenomorph March is here! All this month we are going to explore the Aliens universe and we start with the sci-fi noir horror/survival classic that started it all - Alien. Ridley Scott's tour de force of non-verbal story telling holds up remarkably well almost 40 years later, including the facehugger prop and the overall feel and design of all the sets used in the film. It is insane to think this was done on an 11 million dollar budget. 

Next week, Aliens. 

He's back. Well, Lord RageMaster is back. It's been a minute since we had a Rips A Clip supplemental. This time, Lord RageMaster turns his ire toward unnecessary and over the top fight scenes, such as the one that occurred in The Hobbit - The Desolation Of Smaug. I can't say I disagree. An awesome fight seen is one thing, concluding that the hero or villain in the fight is a godling or can only killed by a supernova, and maybe not then and only by direct impact from a gamma ray burst, well that is too much. 

Fantasy February wraps up with a discussion of how exactly Fantasy films have become mainstream. At one point in the past fantasy movies and stories were only for the nerdy. Today fantasy if for everyone. In Symptom 58 we discuss, sometimes contentiously, what the tipping point of this was. Was it as Lord Ragemaster says, DD? Or as Thomas feels, the internet allowing wider distribution and access? Did anime, Pokemon and Dragonball Z have a part in this journey? Was it Harry Potter? Or was Harry Potter and the success of the Lord of The Rings movies simply the proof that fantasy had at some point prior "gotten over" to steal a pro wrestling term for popular acceptance? We try to answer this question and I don't think we arrived at complete consensus, but undeniably, the main stream success of Game Of Thrones, The Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit and Harry Potter have proven that fantasy is no longer relegated to nerds dwelling mom's basement. 

Fantasy February takes a trip on the Hogwarts Express as we leave the land of Muggles and head into the Wizarding World. 

Lord Ragemaster was unable to join us this week for our discussion of all things Harry Potter. Clearly it would be impossible to discuss seven movies and books in one podcast, well, not one that we reasonably expect anyone to listen to, it would become and audio book. So, given the daunting task of compressing the Harry Potter universe into a one hourish podcast, this pair of muggles chose to focus on the three main characters of Harry, Hermione and Ron, as well as Dumbledore, Snape and Voldemort. 

Next week we wrap up Fantasy February with a discussion of how Fantasy became mainstream.  Next month we begin our review of the Alien franchise with Xenomorph March. 

Fantasy February continues on Sci-Fi Malady as we review The Hobbit.  Prepare yourself for endless exposition, narration, voiceovers and well, occasionally, the advancement of the plot and action scenes.  If you have ever wanted to spend nearly two entire movies traveling to a mountain to fight a dragon, and watching a wizard do no wizarding for nearly two movies, well, this is your trilogy. 

Jokes aside, The Hobbit is a classic and J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a powerhouse work of fantasy that will be read as long as books and civilization exists. With the films there are great messages, such as what keeps evil at bay is everyday average people choosing to be good. While overly long The Hobbit, both film and novel, remains a must read and must view for any fan of fantasy.  

Fantasy February kicks off with a discussion of Game of Thrones, both the TV series and the books, although admittedly heavy on the TV series.  We talk about the character arcs for all of the primary players, as well as some themes and get into some theories as to where this thing may end up. We also try to figure out what happened with books four and five that really slowed down the series, and explain why we (Corey and Scott) believe the TV show is better than the novels. 

This week, Lord Ragemaster makes an appearance and he is very confused about this modern world he has found himself in. We also see a return of that Nick guy people swear was once on the podcast in that one episode or two.  

This week we conclude Black Mirror Month - well, Black Mirror half month, thanks to Old Man Winter. For Symptom 54 the crew discusses the season four, and maybe series, finale, Black Museum. This episode asks again if synthetic intelligence is truly alive but more directly asks the question of how extreme can a punishment for a criminal be? We spend a good part of this episode discussing just what cruel and unusual is. As you should expect, we did find consensus on any of these issues. 

This week Sci-Fi Malady returns to the twisted world of Black Mirror, the Netflix original series as we discuss the season four premier - USS Callister. Black Mirror has again returned to its stomping ground - artificial, or synthetic, or as we argue, non-biological life versus biological life. In this episode the writers of Black Mirror are also discussing cyber bullying and how the bullied can sometimes become the bully, although we don't really get to that aspect as we spend most of the show discussing whether the virtual copies of Robert Daly's co-workers are indeed alive and have any rights. The argument breaks along the lines it usually does when we discuss this, as you might expect. 

Next week we will stay in the Black Mirror universe and discuss either MetalHead or ArkAngel before concluding with Black Museum. While this symptom may have been more heated than others and with less consensus, one thing is sure, the Sci-Fi Malady crew loves Black Mirror. 

This week was supposed to be a review of a season 4 Black Mirror Episode - but Snowmageddon scrapped that plan.  So while we work on getting out next weeks Episode, a review of the Black Mirror Episode USS Canister - here is a replay of an episode from way back at the beginning of Sci-Fi Malady - our review of the video game FallOut 4. There is no Ragemaster in this one but you do get Corey, Scott and that Nick guy in one of his rare appearances. 

New Years Day is usually a time for reflection and thinking back on the year that was. Here at Sci-Fi we decided to do the same and this week we are amending prior opinions or expanding upon prior podcasts. Maybe we got something wrong, such as Scott's view on the Orville, or Ragemaster's original dislike of the score for BladeRunner 2049, or maybe, as in Corey's case, he wanted to discuss the DLC War of The Chosen for XCOM2. This week we re-visit our prior topics and either admit where we were wrong or add some new information. 

Next week we begin a three week coverage of Black Mirror Season 4 which will take us into Fantasy February, to be followed by Xenomorph April.