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Welcome to The SciFi Podcast, a wretched hive of scum and villainy a bi-weekly podcast focused on in-depth discussion of all things science fiction. The SciFi Podcast features three hosts—Mattroid, Solo, and Station!—and frequent guests. Each episode we look at a science fiction theme or franchise and take the discussion where no show has gone before.
The entire planet has been shocked by Marvel’s Black Panther. From a cultural standpoint the film’s impact is clear and impressive. How does it far as a superhero movie? Station! and Mattroid discuss the film’s technical side before William joins them for a lengthy discussion on the cultural merits of the movie and more. Head to the comments section for your take.
Station! leaves Mattroid and William to chat about Annihilation–she hadn’t seen it yet–and the two get into a spoiler-heavy discussion of the film. A true hard-sci-fi thriller, Mattroid and William agree on much, disagree on some, and leave most of it up you, the listener and viewer, to determine for yourself. What are your thoughts on the movie? Let us know in the comments.
Theme music courtesy of i hear sirens, featuring Matt on bass and Liz on keyboard. Hear more of i hear sirens ethereal, instrumental, post-rock at BandCamp. Podcast production and artwork by Mattroid.
Annihilation rating:
Mattroid – 10 ( Black Panther – 7.5 )
William – 9.5
SHOW NOTES:
Mattroid references 2010 twice, and on both occasions he meant 2001; the implication changes when this correction is considered.
Find the Annihilation books for sale here.
Annihilation is great… far from perfect, but I really liked it. And it’s one of those movies that gets better and better as time passes and I think about it more. The themes it discusses are so rich.
To me, the ending dance, we’ll call it, represented the overarching theme that humans are self-destructive by nature. The alien mimicking Nat Port’s every move blocked her from getting out, and put her in increasing danger as time passed. Everything she did brought her one step closer to her own demise. Really heady stuff.
For me, it’s the best 2018 film I’ve seen so far… I give it an 8.5. I docked 1 point for the framing mechanism of the film, which I hated and think was terrible, and 0.5 point for some logic gaps. But really strong film overall, and would pair great with Stalker (1979).
I like that viewpoint, actually. I agree with you in a lot of ways too. Explain a little more about the framing mechanism though, if you don’t mind. As I’ve let this marinated I’ve discovered two things: I am less frightened by it than I was, which likely means that something about the specific situation in which I saw it caused me to be as scared as I was, and secondly it only gets more and more interesting as I think about it.
Also, the book? NOWHERE as good. Like, had I read it first I’d be only mildly interested in the movie maybe. Maybe that’s not quite right though. It was very, very different though, and less interesting and provocative, to me. I’m on the second book in the series now and I’m struggling to be motivated because it follows the book and not the movie, which would have been a better trail to follow.