045: Alien (1979) - I Sing the Nostromo Electric

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ALIEN (1979), ALIENS (1986), ALIEN 3 (1992), PROMETHEUS (2012), Starcraft, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and JASON X (2001) (no, really).

In this episode:

• Well, we're talking about Alien, so clearly there's only one way to begin:
• A loooooong-ass digression on 2001: A Space Odyssey, that's how!
• We discuss the movie Alien, its impact on the horror genre, specifically talking about Sci-Fi horror and the evolution of Monster-based horror away from the campier radioactive terror flicks of the previous decades.
• Retro-futurism, more specifically whether or not we would consider Alien to be intentionally retro-futuristic, or if that's a layer added by the temporal distance between the film's creation and our discussion of it.
• It's actually pretty wonky when you think about it, we get into it a little deeper on the 'cast.
• The Chestburster scene, how it's a masterpiece, and our initial experiences with the Alien franchise as children.
• Yes, children. People with glass parenting skills shouldn't throw stones.
• Where exactly does the term Xenomorph come from, how is it applied in the films, and what is it with toy companies in the 80s making (admittedly awesome) action figures (that were marketed to children) for films waaaaaaaaay outside their target demo?
• The way Alien has a habit of drawing you into the perspective of the characters so that you experience the film alongside them.
• We get a little bit into writing strategies and how they could have achieved that, but really not much more than that. This is something we've both agreed we'd like to mine out some more before approaching the subject in a later podcast.
• Always Reblog Ripley
• Always.
• Seriously, though, we get into Sigourney Weaver's immense performance and her equally immense impact on the sci-fi genre, how she navigates the "final girl" trope in the film, and the legacy she's left in her wake.
• The possibility of perfection and the horror of actually attaining it.
• We dance around different definitions of Body Horror and what it means to us.
• Finally, if you were having trouble finding the podcast on Archive.org, we've navigate that treacherous crossing ourselves.

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• If it wasn't blisteringly obvious, the title of this podcast is Ian's and the header image is Fio's
• Highlights from Ian's Timestamps:
• 1:15 - 1:30 - *sung a la Dave Matthews* The space betweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen, the podcast paaaaaaaaarts…
• 26:58 - Have you heard my new band, Jungian Osmosis?
• 52:41 - “The cat is an ill omen in this movie!” File this under: Sentences I’m glad exist.
• 1:00:31 - “When Ripley goes into that...I dunno, control panel room, if that’s what you want to call it…” Oh, I don’t know, Ian--maybe you could call it a CONTROL ROOM? *facepalm*
• 1:01:07 - p, and “It was so much computer.” Another sentence I’m glad exists.
• 1:12:10 - P and what the fuck do we talk about for the next 40 minutes, damn
• 1:15:47 - If only I had had the presence of mind to say, “Yeah… yeah, that’s right.”
• 1:40:20 - It was all I could do here to keep from bringing up the uncanny valley again--at this point it’s almost a given when discussing horror monster design.

Music:

• Intro: "This is My Design" - original song, music by Ian. More on this as it develops.
• Outro: "I Sing the Body Electric" - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes | YouTube | iTunes |

http://archive.org/download/AMOT045/AMOT045.mp3