Episode 806: The Postman (1997)

Guest Co-Hosts: Emily Intravia, Carol Borden

Sci-fi month concludes with one of the great cinematic boondoggles of the '90s. Kevin Costner directs and stars in The Postman (1997), playing a wandering drifter who stumbles into a postal uniform and accidentally becomes the savior of a shattered America, restoring hope and democracy one undelivered letter at a time. Standing in his way: General Bethlehem (Will Patton), a Shakespeare-quoting warlord leading a militia of survivalist zealots called the Holnists.

Mike talks with Emily Intravia and Carol Borden about the film's tangled politics, its baffling sense of time, its surprisingly thin violence for an R rating, and why a nearly three-hour epic about restoring the mail somehow still feels unfinished scene to scene.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Visit the official David Brin website
Buy The Postman on Blu-Ray
Buy The Postman by David Brin

Music:
"Return to Sender" - Elvis Presley

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Episode 805: I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)

Guest Co-Hosts: Bill Ackerman, Ben Buckingham

What kind of man doesn't drink, avoids women, and prefers the company of other strange men in the park? Gene Fowler Jr.'s I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) plays the alien-infiltration premise with surprising melancholy and remarkable restraint for a film with such a lurid title. Mike, Bill Ackerman, and Ben Buckingham dig into the film's overlapping readings — Cold War paranoia, the Lavender Scare, queer coding, and a feminist critique the film simultaneously makes and undermines.

They also take on the 1998 UPN TV remake directed by Nancy Malone (with a clever cameo from the original stars) and Rand Ravich's The Astronaut's Wife (1999), tracing how the same essential story mutates across four decades of American anxiety.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy I Married a Monster from Outer Space on Blu-Ray

Music:
"(I Married A) Monster From Outer Space" - John Cooper Clarke

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Episode 756: Panic in Year Zero! (1962)

Guest Co-Hosts: Emily Intravia, Howard A. Rodman

Mike is joined by Emily Intravia (The Feminine Critique) and screenwriter Howard A. Rodman for a sobering descent into Panic in Year Zero! (1962), directed by and starring Ray Milland. Loosely inspired by Ward Moore’s chilling short stories “Lot” and “Lot’s Daughter,” the film imagines a Los Angeles family thrust into chaos after a nuclear attack decimates the city. As Henry Baldwin, Milland leads his wife (Jean Hagen) and children (Mary Mitchel and Frankie Avalon) on a desperate quest for survival in a world unraveling by the hour.

With Cold War dread baked into every frame, Panic in Year Zero! is an eerily prescient slice of apocalyptic Americana—a proto-survivalist tale that predates The Road and The Walking Dead by decades. We unpack its moral ambiguity, its place in the post-bomb canon, and why it remains a startling relic of atomic-age anxiety.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Panic in Year Zero! on Blu-Ray
Buy Lot / Lot's Daughter by Ward Moore

Music:
"Panic in Year Zero Theme" - Les Baxter

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Episode 755: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Special Guest: Jim Bloom
Guest Co-Hosts: Jamie Benning, Stephen Scarlata

Sci-Fi July wraps up with Return of the Jedi (1983), the final installment of the original Star Wars trilogy—directed by Richard Marquand, guided by George Lucas, and packed with new creatures, recycled plot beats, and merchandising gold. Joining Mike to explore the film's legacy and limitations are Jamie Benning (Filmumentaries) and Stephen Scarlata (Best Movies Never Made), along with special guest Jim Bloom, associate producer on Empire and Jedi.

From Jabba's palace to yet another Death Star, Jedi tries to close the saga with spectacle and sentiment—but not without creative compromises. We dig into the behind-the-scenes drama, the tonal whiplash between Ewoks and existential stakes, and how Jedi served as both a climax and a commercial pivot point for the franchise. Was it a fitting finale or just a soft landing pad for action figures? Strap into your speeder bike, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Return of the Jedi on Blu-Ray
Buy The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi by J.W. Rinzler

Music:
Original Soundtrack - John Williams

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Episode 754: Upstream Color (2013)

Guest Co-Hosts: Ben Buckingham, Jim Laczkowski

Sci-Fi July dives deep into the sublime with Upstream Color (2013), Shane Carruth’s mesmerizing meditation on identity, connection, and control.

Co-hosts Ben Buckingham and Jim Laczkowski join Mike to untangle the film’s elliptical narrative, which follows a woman who is drugged, robbed, and psychically linked to a pig as part of a surreal cycle of manipulation and rebirth. A bold, enigmatic follow-up to Primer, Carruth’s film is an audiovisual trance, blurring the line between organism and environment, memory and self. We explore the film’s layered metaphors, sound design, and experimental structure — and maybe, just maybe, crack its code.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Upstream Color on Blu-Ray
Buy Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World by Timothy Morton

Music:
Original Soundtrack by Shane Carruth

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Episode 698: Forbidden Planet (1956)

Guest Co-Hosts: Mike Faloon, Lexy Van Dyke

Mike Faloon and Lexy Van Dyke join Mike to wrap up Sci-Fi July with one of the classics of the genre, Forbidden Planet Forbidden Planet (1956). A loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the film stars Leslie Nielsen as Commander J.J. Adams.  He and his crew land upon a planet in the Altair system where they look for survivors from the spaceship Bellerophon.  There they discover just Professor Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), his daughter Altaria (Anne Francis), and their robot servant (Robby).

There’s a mystery afoot and it’s up to Commander Adams and his gang of goofy astronauts to solve it. 

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Forbidden Planet on Blu-Ray
Follow Egghead on Facebook

Music:
"UFO" - Perrey & Kingsley

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Episode 695: Robot Monster (1953)

Special Guests: Bob Furmanek, Anders Runestad
Guest Co-Hosts: Katharine Coldiron, Tim Luz

Katharine Coldiron (Junk Film) and Tim Luz (CinemaSpection) join Mike to discuss Phil Tucker's sci-fi classic Robot Monster (1953), a cold war film in which a gorilla with a porthole on his head tries to eliminate the last few hu-mans that remain on Earth after unleashing an army of dinosaurs to wipe out everyone else.

Mike talks with Bob Furmanek President and Founder of the 3-D Film Archive before chatting with Anders Runestad about his book, I Cannot, Yet I Must: The True Story of the Best Bad Monster Movie of All Time Robot Monster.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Robot Monster on Blu-Ray
Buy I Cannot, Yet I Must: The True Story of the Best Bad Monster Movie of All Time Robot Monster by Anders Runestad
Buy Robot Monster Diaries by Kevin Scott Collier

Music:
Original Score - Elmer Bernstein
"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" - Les Paul & Mary Ford

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Episode 694: Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy (1981)

Guest Co-Hosts: Ryan Verrill, Samm Deighan

We continue Sci-Fi July with a look at the Yugoslavian/Czechosolvakian co-production Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy (1981). Directed by Dušan Vukotić and co-written by Projection Booth favorite Miloš Macourek, the film stars Žarko Potočnjak as Robert, a writer who manifests some of his own characters to hilarious results.

Samm Deighan (Eros plus Massacre) and Ryan Verrill (Disc-Connected) join Mike to discuss this quirky sci-fi film.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy on Blu-Ray

Music:
"Visitors From The Galaxy" - Tomislav Simovic

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Episode 637: Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Guest Co-Hosts: Rob St. Mary, Chris Stachiw

Sci-Fi July continues with a look at Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 (2017). It’s the story of K (Ryan Gosling). He’s a replicant experiencing memories where he thinks he’s the chosen one, a product of a replicant and human pairing. Of course, that Replicant is Rachel (Sean Young) and the human is Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) which, I guess settles the whole thing about Deckard being a human or replicant... or does it?

Rob St. Mary and Chris Stachiw join Mike to discuss this ponderous sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 original.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 637: Blade Runner 2049 (2017)" on Spreaker.

Listen to the Blade Runner episode:

Listen to "Special Report: Blade Runner (1982)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Blade Runner 2049 on Blu-Ray
Buy The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049 by Tonya Lapointe
Buy Blade Runner 2049: A Philosophical Exploration edited by Timothy Shanahan & Paul Smart

Music:
"Hijack" - Hans Zimmer

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Episode 582: Morons from Outer Space (1985)

Special Guest: Griff Rhys Jones
Guest Co-Hosts: Jon Spira, Cecil Trachenburg

We conclude Sci-Fi July with a look at Mike Hodges’s Morons from Outer Space (1985). Written by Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, the film tells the tale of a quartet of less-than-bright intergalactic travelers who crash land on Earth. The film lampoons the idea that we of Earth may be visited by beings from outer space only to find that they’re not as enlightened as we’d fancy them to be.

Cecil Trachenburg and Jon Spira join Mike to laud the film while Griff Rhys Jones discusses how disappointing he found the experience.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Morons from Outer Space on DVD
Buy The Forgotten Film Club Book 1: Morons from Outer Space by Jon Spira

Music:
"Morons From Outer Space" The Morons

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Episode 580: Code 46 (2003)

Special Guests: Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Andrew Eaton
Guest Co-Hosts: Jedidiah Ayres, Dylan Davis

Directed by Michael Winterbottom, written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, and produced by Andrew Eaton, Code 46 (2003) stars Tim Robbins as William Geld, a fraud investigator who travels to Shanghai to interview the employees of The Sphinx, a company that produces letters of transit. Meanwhile, Samantha Morton plays Maria Gonzalez, the forger of these papers. The two have a connection... a very deep connection... which will eventually doom their relationship.

Jedidiah Ayres and Dylan Davis join Mike to discuss this interesting science fiction tale.

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Listen to "Episode 580: Code 46 (2003)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Code 46 on Blu-Ray
Buy The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom: Borders, Intimacy, Terror by Bruce Bennett

Music:
All music from the Code 46 soundtrack

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Episode 579: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Special Guests: Alan Dean Foster, Jon Povill, Walter Koenig
Guest Co-Hosts: A.J. Black, Trevor Gumbel

Sci Fi July begins with the first entry in the Star Trek film franchise, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). After a decade without a live-action version of Star Trek the crew reunite to embark on a very familiar mission: a Gene Roddenberry special where a god-like creature judges humanity to be lacking.

Our episode features interviews with story writer Alan Dean Foster, associate producer Jon Povill, and actor Walter Koenig.

A.J. Black and Trevor Gumbel join Mike to discuss the unusual path to the big screen the film took as well as how it forges a link between "TOS" and "TNG".

Correction: It was Star Trek: Voyager that lead UPN, not Star Trek: The Next Generation (which was syndicated).

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More Alan Dean Foster:

The Projection Booth · Alan Dean Foster Bonus Interview

Episode 78: Star Trek II

Listen to "Episode 78: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Star Trek: The Motion Picture 4K
Buy The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Susan Sackett & Gene Roddenberry
Buy Chekov's Enterprise: A Personal Journal of the Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Walter Koenig Buy Beaming Up and Getting Off: Life Before and Beyond Star Trek by Walter Koenig
Buy These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s, Volume 3 (1978-1980) by Marc Cushman
Buy Return to Tomorrow: The Filming of Star Trek - The Motion Picture by Preston Neal Jones
Buy Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Art and Visual Effects by Jeff Bond
Buy Star Trek, History and Us: Reflections of the Present and Past Throughout the Franchise by A.J. Black
Read about The Star Trek Happy Meal
Read about the differences between the versions of Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Music:
All Music From Star Trek: The Motion Picture Original Soundtrack Remastered & Expanded by Jerry Goldsmith

Watch:

Star Trek: Legacy from Patrick Collins on Vimeo.