SPACE BRAINS PODCAST
EPISODES: 41 TO 50
EPISODE 41
Infini is a 2015 Australian science fiction film directed by Shane Abbess and starring Daniel MacPherson, Grace Huang, and Luke Hemsworth.
EPISODE 42
Occupation Rainfall (2020) is the blockbuster follow up to Occupation. It follows 2 years after aliens invade Earth and the human resistance has teamed up with alien rebels to thwart a doomsday plan called Rainfall.
EPISODE 43
Surrogates is a 2009 American science fiction action film based on the 2005–2006 comic book series The Surrogates. Directed by Jonathan Mostow, it stars Bruce Willis as Tom Greer, an FBI agent who ventures out into the real world to investigate the murder of surrogates (humanoid remote-controlled robots). It also stars Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Boris Kodjoe, Ving Rhames, and James Cromwell.
EPISODE 44
Replicas is a 2018 American science fiction thriller film directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and written by Chad St. John, from a story by Stephen Hamel. The film tells the story of a neuroscientist who violates the law and bioethics to bring his family members back to life after they die in a car accident. It stars Keanu Reeves, Alice Eve and Thomas Middleditch.
EPISODE 45
The Fifth Element is a 1997 English-language French science-fiction action film directed and co-written by Luc Besson. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Milla Jovovich and Chris Tucker.
This is a classic movie that broke boundaries and excelled at world-building and dividing audiences. Space Brains discuss their response to the world and characters, talk about the particular editing style used in several scenes to achieve compression of story and introduction of humour and tension. We also explore the pseudo-scientific theory of Nibiru and the end of the world caused by planetary or inter stellar visitors.
EPISODE 46
Prospect is a 2018 American science fiction film starring Pedro Pascal, Sophie Thatcher, and Jay Duplass. The film, written and directed by Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell, features a teenage girl and her father traveling to an alien moon with a contract to mine gems in the moon’s poisonous forest. On the moon, the father is driven by greed, and the two encounter dangerous strangers in the forest.
The brains discuss harvesting gems from living creatures (we do it now!), space westerns and how to make the world a character too.
EPISODE 47
Doomsday is a 2008 science fiction action film written and directed by Neil Marshall. The film takes place in the future in Scotland, which has been quarantined because of a deadly virus. When the virus is found in London, political leaders send a team led by Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) to Scotland to find a possible cure. Sinclair’s team runs into two types of survivors: marauders and medieval knights.
In this episode we use all the wrong names and talk about all the movies that inspired Doomsday.
EPISODE 48
The Brother from Another Planet is a 1984 science fiction film, written and directed by John Sayles and starring Joe Morton. It features an alien who crash lands in New York and proceeds to find his home while evading two “men in black” aliens who are hunting him.
In this episode we discuss what it means to be alien, the extensive use of music in the movie and marvel at the wonders of alien eyeballs.
EPISODE 49
District 9 is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zealand, the United States and South Africa. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James, and was adapted from Blomkamp’s 2006 short film Alive in Joburg.
In this episode we discuss DNA computers, gritty documentary style filming and how to slander someone in a world with real aliens.
EPISODE 50
The Matrix is a 1999 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis, and produced by Joel Silver. It stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano and is the first installment in the Matrix franchise.
Episode 50 is a big one and so we chose a big classic. We do not doubt that The Matrix was and still is an amazing film full of everything that makes sci fi great. The effects, style and themes of The Matrix have influenced film and television for the past two decades and will surely continue to do so into the next two.
In this episode we discuss some of the many homages to great sci fi of the past, the way plot and story are used to tell a tale as old as tales are and we talk about the philosophy behind The Matrix.