After a freshly recorded introduction to discuss the various horrors and delights of the week, we rejoin our podcast in progress recapping The Fifth Element.  The back half of the movie is even more insane than the front, due in no small part to the introduction of Chris Tucker's Ruby Rhod, famous space radio DJ?  Twitch streamer? Podcaster?  We're gonna call him a podcaster. I know I'd like and subscribe.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

The Fifth Element only skirts the edges of cyberpunk, but after the gruelling slog that was Pluto Nash, we feel like we've earned something a little more fun.  Between the story, characters, costumes, and problematic director, however, there is far just too much to cover in one episode, so this one is a two-parter.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

Surely it can't be that bad, right?  It's just negative hype!  It's just people piling on a movie that may not be great by any means, but isn't 6% Rotten Tomatoes worthy.  Maybe there are some moments that make it worth the time investment.  Maybe it's the critics who are wrong.

Nope!  This movie is B-A-D which stands for Boring As Dick (Dick is a guy I know and he's super boring). I wish it was fun-bad but it isn't, it's just bad-bad.  Best forgotten, sorry we dredged it up, this was all a mistake.  Enjoy listening to us regret our choices!

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

We are back to finish up our recap of All Tomorrow's Parties.  Listen and marvel at how, in the interest of time, Josh is forced to skip half the notes he painstakingly took, and yet we still manage to go way long.  Tune in to see what happens to Lainey, Rydell, Chevette, and most imporantly, Boomzilla.  Once again thanks to Geoff from Astronomica podcast for the assist.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Astronomica: http://www.astronomicapodcast.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

At long last we finish William Gibson's Bridge trilogy, or at least we start to finish it.  This is the first part of a two part recap of All Tomorrow's Parties, the final entry in the trilogy and, if one podcaster is to be belived, the final book of the 20th century.  We are also stoked to be joined by Geoff from the Astronomica Podcast once again to assist in breaking it all down for you folks.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Astronomica: http://www.astronomicapodcast.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

Pack your bags everyone we're heading to Mars.  Or at least our minds are.  Are they?  I don't know, the point is after this is all over it will FEEL like you went to Mars so just strap in, let your eyes glaze over, and your boys will take you on a journey.  Total Recall is this week's recap, and rest assured we both have a lot ot say about a movie that came around at the perfect time in history to permanently etch itself into the minds of both your hosts.  See you at the party, listeners.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

Is it basically a children's movie from the 80's?  Yes.  Does it feature a white man playing an Indian character in brown face and imitating an accent?  Unfortunately also yes.  Does that make it a bad movie?  Surprisingly... not as much as you'd think.    Maybe it's just nostalgia talking, but we were prepared to do some heavy duty dunking on Short Circuit and ended up being kind of delighted by the whole silly affair, with some obvious big cultural asterisks in there.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

This week we are recapping our newest movie yet, 2025's Companion, a movie about robots, humans, and a Russian.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

Ben Affleck teams up with John Woo to make an exceptionally mediocre early 2000s techno-thriller, and we are here to talk about it.  So the deal is, Affleck's character reverse-engineers tech devices, then makes something better, then has his memory of the whole experience wiped as a sort of futuristic NDA.  The problem is that he takes on a job a little too big, gets in a little too deep, and then can't remember wtf happened or why people want to kill/arrest him.  It sounds cooler than it is.  It's fine.  The movie is fine.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

This week we return to true classic cyberpunk with a recap of the 1988 OVA: Appleseed.  It's an interesting production that hints at a lot of the philosophical themes that cyberpunk likes to cover, but doesn't have enough time to include that junk in with all the gunfights and excessive cursing.  What you get is a lot of fun, but pretty surface-level cyberpunk anime stuff, and we're cool with that. Big thanks to Isabelle Wolf for joining us on the third mic!

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Izzy's Bandcamp:  https://whoisthorninmyside.bandcamp.com 

Issy's Bluesky: @sp00kypunkizzy.bsky.social

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com