Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*

As usual there are spoilers ahead! For the full show notes without character limits you can head to the website here [https://www.everyscififilm.com/them]. Description Them! (1954) is the 6th film we are covering from the 1950s. Hollywood is beginning to realise that sci-fi is a money making genre! The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms from the year before was a big hit for Warner Brothers and Them! followed suit. Another nuclear monster but this time it’s giant ants! Them! was the very first big bug feature and is often considered the greatest of the genre. It sits firmly between the horror and sci-fi and leaves a legacy that echoes beyond just big bugs into films like Aliens and A Quiet Place. The Experts Thomas Doherty is a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University, he is a cultural historian with a special interest in Hollywood cinema on which he has written extensively including the book Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s [https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/a8b47d89-ea03-462c-a2ad-524af21d1894]. Matthew Rule-Jones is a senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Exeter and the author of Science Fiction Cinema and 1950s Britain: Recontextualising Cultural Anxiety [https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/30fca8e3-bb53-4158-b1d4-0d0ca1b85e31]. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:23 The first Big Bug film: Atomic to hydrogen bombs 03:49 The quality of Them! 05:24 Matt’s first experience of watching Them! 10:08 Boredom v terror, the silent generation and flame throwers in Japan 14:48 US vs UK interpretations in the post-war period 20:15 Scientists and heroes 25:15 The Ants! 28:38 Feminism 31:08 Sounds design and the Wilhelm Scream 33:51 The horror in Them! 39:01 The LA river 40:00 1954 Brown vs Board of Education: the seeds of change 43:10 Legacy 50:41 Recommendations NEXT EPISODE! Next episode there is an “end of year” episode which will include parts of conversations over the last nine months (since the launch) that were edited out before release. There are some bits I planned for the end of the year and others that I reluctantly took out because I like to keep my podcast episodes to 45 minutes. (And yes, I know I fail almost every single time!)  CORRECTION: I stupidly say Alien at 49:50 when I obviously mean the sequel Aliens.

As usual there are spoilers ahead! For the full show notes with no character limits you can visit the website [https://www.everyscififilm.com/creature-from-the-black-lagoon]. Description Creature from the Black Lagoon released in 1954 is in many ways the epitome of 1950s science fiction cinema. Jack Arnold (director), William Alland (producer) and Richard Carlson (the leading man) were all people who has become associated with the increasingly popular genre. It also has a beautiful and stylish Julie Adams as the heroine, scientists on a mission and of course the monster. But there are no themes of nuclear radiation, Russian invasion or small town shenanigans here. The film was filmed in 3D although the peak of 3D popularity had faded and most viewers saw this film in 2D.  Two absolute heavyweights of sci-fi research join me to enlighten us. The Experts Jay Telotte is a Professor Emeritus of film and media studies at Georgia Tech. He has written/edited numerous books and articles about science fiction film. Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has also written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema. You can take a look at the Forbidden Planet poster mentioned amongst others that have the same trope by viewing my instagram post here [https://www.instagram.com/p/DCv6KlSJbqR/?hl=en&img_index=1].  Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the film and guests  02:16 Little Jay goes to the cinema  03:19 Universal monsters and comebacks  06:20 The mythical origin of the story  10:03 The monster, its maker and dangerous desires  21:37 Human invaders and Jack Arnold  23:22 Everybody loves Kay  28:59 Man, nature, science and the environment  29:12 Evolution: The Scopes Monkey Trial  33:32 1950s sci-fi: Space opera to the dangers of the depths  38:55 The Legacy: Sequels  45:00 Legacy cont: The Shape of Water  53:10 Recommendations for listeners NEXT EPISODE! Next episode we will be taking a closer look at Them! (1953). You can check Just Watch [https://www.justwatch.com/] to see where it can be found in your region and the film is available to buy or rent at many outlets including Apple TV.

As with all episodes of this podcast there are spoilers ahead! Earlier this year I approached a brilliant theoretical physicist about whether she would like to come on the podcast to speak about her favourite science fiction film but instead she wanted to speak to me about the science of the film Interstellar (2014). I apologise in advance for my own level of understanding of physics which is a mix of decades old lessons in school, a tiny handful of pop science books and a number of science fiction films. Interstellar was released ten years ago in November 2014. Theoretical physicist Kip Thorne was the main consultant to director Christopher Nolan on the science of the film which is packed with scientifically accurate scenarios (and a few scientifically fantastical ones too). The Guest Claudia de Rham is a theoretical physicist at Imperial College, London. Her expertise lies at the interface between Quantum Field Theory, Gravity, Gravitational Waves, Cosmology, Particle Physics, Numerical Simulations and Theoretical Mathematical Physics. She is also the author of the book The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199701467-the-beauty-of-falling] Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the show and guest 01:20 Claudia’s first viewing: Science, emotion and the world you leave behind. 03:25 A quick overview of the premise 04:37 Wormholes: folding paper and spacetime 17:17 Kip Thorne and gravitational anomalies 11:14 Time dilation and black holes 15:14 Time is relative, gravity is multi-dimensional and the transition to science fiction 16:49 Going beyond Einstein’s theory of general relativity to the holy grail of science 19:34 Differences in singularities and being pulled apart by black holes 21:47 The tesseract and extra dimensions 24:50 Gravity as communicator 29:38 Gravity vs light 33:20 Direct detection of gravitational waves, interferometers and LISA* in space 35:06 Observation of the shadows of black holes 36:50 Claudia’s love of gravity Next Episode: The next film we will be looking at is Creature from the Black Lagoon from 1954! You can check JustWatch for where you can find the film in your region. It is available to rent or buy in various places including Apple TV. Sequels Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us are trickier to track down though there are some online streaming services. The Shape of Water (2017) which is heavily inspired by the original film is available to rent or buy in various places and is also available for those who have a Disney+ subscription.  * The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

As always there are spoilers ahead! If you want to read the full show notes you can click the episode on this page [https://www.everyscififilm.com/watch] and scroll down. Description Are we sick of alien invasion films? I certainly hope not! Although this one is a little different as the aliens just want to leave. It Came from Outer Space (1953) was directed by Jack Arnold who would make a name for himself in the 1950s as a director of many sci-fi films. Although the script was written by Harry Essex the treatment for the film was by none other than the famous Ray Bradbury. The film is a mix of schlocky sci-fi and poetic soliloquies set in small town USA. To help us dig a little deeper into this film I have two fantastic guests. The Experts Scott Higgins is a Professor of Film at Wesleyan University as well as being the Curator of the Wesleyan Cinema Archives.  Phil Nichols is a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton and a researcher with a special interest in Ray Bradbury. He is Senior Consultant to the Ray Bradbury Centre at Indiana University and editor of The New Ray Bradbury Review. He is also the man behind the Bradbury 100 podcast and the Science Fiction 101 podcast. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the show and guests 01:40 The beginnings of a sci-fi film director Jack Arnold 04:30 Ray Bradbury’s influence on the film 09:40 The schlocky and elusive Aliens 15:54 Bradbury’s politics in the 1950s 18:22 Bradbury’s treatment vs Harry Essex’s screenplay 21:38 Small town USA: provincial views, scandal and something simmering beneath the surface 28:11 Teenage culture: post war boom, TV and rock n roll 33:26 Body snatching 36:00 3D cinema! 42:57 Ray Bradbury’s treatment 45:22 The legacy of the film 50:56 Recommendations NEXT EPISODE! Next episode we will be taking one of my pesky detours! I speak to brainiac theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham about the science of Interstellar which is ten years old on November 6th 2024. Interstellar (2014) is available to rent or buy at an array of outlets. You can check JustWatch to check which platforms it is available in your region.

As always there are spoilers ahead! If you want to read the full show notes you can click the episode on this page [https://www.everyscififilm.com/watch] and scroll down. Description: After the classic film The Day the Earth Stood Still we move forward to 1953 and yet another Alien invasion. This time the aliens are definitely not looking to be friends. The War of the Worlds was written by HG Wells and published in 1897 in Pearson’s magazine. There have been many adaptations of the text including the famous radio play from Orson Welles in 1938 and the film adaptation by Steven Spielberg in 2005. I mention the drawings of the Martian tripod machines early in the episode. You can take a look at these wonderful images on this Instagram post [https://www.instagram.com/p/DA1DcoGSuHT/?hl=en&img_index=1]. To help us with their brilliant insights I have two wonderful guests. The Experts Keith Williams is a Reader in English Literature at the University of Dundee where he runs the science fiction programme. He is the author of the book H.G. Wells, Modernity and the Movies.  Ian Scott is a Professor of American Film and History at The University of Manchester. He has written extensively about politics and film in Hollywood. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the show and guests  02:26 HG Wells original text and his place in science fiction history 09:00 The 1938 Orson Welles CBS radio play  12:46 1953 USA: paranoia and morality  15:04 The differences from the novel: jingoism, religion and diversity 21:32 California: Manifest Destiny and small town attitudes 24:52 Race and racial segregation  28:55 Science, religion and salvation 36:04 The spectacle of the film 38:31 The 2005 Spielberg rendition 43:35 The legacy of the film  47:22 Related recommendations NEXT EPISODE! Next episode we will be taking a closer look at It Came from Outer Space (1953). You can check Just Watch [https://www.justwatch.com/] to see where it can be found in your region and the film is available to buy or rent at many outlets including Apple TV.