750. Empire of the Ants (1977) — Torture Cinema #134
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-750-empireofthe-ants/SandF_750_EmpireoftheAnts.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSScreaming ants, screaming humans, and swamps, oh my! Shaun Duke, Becca Evans, and Daniel Haeusser join forces to take down Empire of the Ants (1977). Together, they ponder the logistics of managing a human ant colony, why ants scream like that, who deserves to die first, and the intricate world of alcoholic beverages, objectifying Gerard Butler, and more. Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!
Diversity in SF Film: Things to Come (1936)
This is my third post on diversity in Science Fiction films. I started with Metropolis (1927), and then skipped two decades to The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Largely, my reason was that there weren’t any options for the 30s or 40s available on Netflix. Apparently, there aren’t very many SF films within that twenty year period.[1] I’ve decided to skip Frankenstein — although the novel is one of the first, if not the first, SF novels — because the classic film has more in common with horror than SF. I feel much the same about King Kong. Therefore, I settled on Things to Come (1936), which is based upon the H.G. Wells’ novel published in 1933 entitled The Shape of Things to Come. I know I’m risking a bit of confusion by going backward here, but I felt it was too important to skip. Also: keep in mind that I don’t think I read the novel. At least, I don’t remember having read it.[2] So… Things to Come.
Mining the Genre Asteroid: Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds
You’ve heard the story of the broadcast, I am sure. In 1938, Orson Welles put the US into a panic by doing a fake news broadcast about Martians landing in New Jersey and wreaking havoc. That the broadcast was a trick on the populace, caused mass panic, and disrupted the entire United States one October night. But dig deeper, listen to the rhythms, the flow, the story of the radio play, and you will find a much richer text than the one imagined by your preconceptions. A story worth the attention of any and all genre fans. Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds radio play first aired on October 30,1938. The radio play itself was written by Howard Koch and Anne Froelick, with the production directed by Orson Welles, who stars in the play as Professor Richard Pierson, a fictional famous astronomer. Running about an hour long, the Radio Play is divided into several distinct parts: A Prologue/Introduction from Welles, a three act structure of the main story, and then a coda.
