Episode 18 – James Bond

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 “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!”

Mike and Casey are shaking (but not stirring) their martinis and hoping a plane to Montenegro to sit at the baccarat table and trade barbs with Greg Hatcher of Comic Book Resources’ Comics Should Be Good! blog and game designer Ryan Chaddock. Our mission: to discuss the origins, movies and the cultural phenomenon that is James Bond.

We dig into the nature of 007’s morality, celebrate his penchant for battling outlandish supervillains, and we delve into why this super spy never seems to go out of style.

Music: 
“James Bond Theme” from Dr. No  by John Barry

Previously titled: “Sex, Sadism, and Snobbery”

Episode 17.5 – He’s Kind of Just a Little Bit Weirdo Cultist

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In our latest bonus episode, Mike and Casey get ready to record our most recent episode and chat a bit about Orson Welles, great actors starring in shitty movies, and some of their favorite fictional cliches.

Later, we’re joined after recording the Spielberg episode with panelists Todd Maxfield-Matsumoto and Scott Kramer to talk about the upcoming Star Wars sequel, more of Steven Spielberg, and the many misuses and strengths of actor/cultist Tom Cruise.

Plus, a random cameo from Sam Mulvey!

Episode 17 – Steven Spielberg

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Hold on to your butts!

Mike and Casey are stocking up on Reese’s Pieces and heading to Devil’s Tower to compare scars with sound engineer Scott Kramer (the Expendables, Transparent) and the composer of our show’s theme song, Todd Maxfield-Matsumoto! We’re talking about the filmmaker whose influence defined big budget cinema for an entire generation, Steven Spielberg!

From Jurassic Park to E.T., and Jaws to Raiders of the Lost Ark, few filmmakers have had the impact on movies as both an art and an industry like Spielberg. We discuss his evolution as a storyteller, director and producer. We debate his legacy among film purists, mainstream audiences and critics.

Music: 
“End Credits” from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial  by John Williams

Previously titled: “A Childhood Sense of Wonder”

Help the Hatchers!

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A member of the Radio vs. the Martians! family needs your help!

Greg and Julie Hatcher are two of our favorite people.

They don’t have a lot of money, but are heroically generous with their time and work. Greg has been an invaluable panelist and a wonderful columnist for Comic Book Resources. And his wife Julie is truly one of the nicest people we’ve ever met.

For a long time now, Greg has worked as a part-time writer and part-time Middle School art teacher, and Julie was recently laid off from her job, which provided their health insurance.

The good news is that even on unemployment, she could still get health insurance and they still kept their heads above water. And even better, Julie recently got two job offers. She accepted the best one, and had to turn down the second.

And then, the company that hired her — but hadn’t committed the job offer to paper — decided that they didn’t want to hire someone after all. And the second job that she’d turned down had already been filled.

Julie, who is physically incapable of lying, told this to the unemployment office — that she’d had to turn down a job. So her unemployment benefits have been dropped. They can no longer afford Julie’s medication and are in a lot of trouble.

The unemployment office is going to sort it out. But it’ll take a few weeks.

The problem is that real life isn’t going to wait for a few weeks. Greg and Julie have to pay for food and ultilities and medicine. And that simply cannot wait.

So, Greg and Julie need your help. Fellow CBR veteran Jim MacQuarrie has set up a GoFundMe site for Greg and Julie, and we’d like to ask you to help out.

They’re going to be auctioning off some really cool books and comics for donors, but either way, drop them a few bucks.

On our show, Greg has continued to share his time and experiences and stories as a panelist for free. And he needs your help.

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Episode 16.5 – What the Fuck is a Libyan?

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When we took a short break during our recording of this month’s episode on Expanded Universes, we ended up taking a long break. And much of it was really good material that was too good for the cutting room floor, but we couldn’t find a reasonable way to edit it into the main episode without killing the flow of it, or cutting out a lot of fun — but off-topic — discussion.

Herein, Mike and Casey are joined again by panelists Ryan Chaddock and Roslyn Townsend. We talk about Ryan’s reaction as a diehard fan to the death of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Roslyn explains why she just can’t get into Star Wars and how the X-Files comic books taught her about trepanning. Mike tries to figure out why there were terrorists in the first Back to the Future movie, and what he thinks of the new Ghostbusters reboot. And finally, Casey exorcises some of his Star Wars schadenfreude demons.

Let us know what you think! We may make this a regular thing!

Episode 16 – Expanded Universes

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Read the Bantam Book!

This month, Mike and Casey look at the inevitable result of truly popular culture: that it can and will not be contained by it’s original medium. Star Wars, the Planet of the Apes, and even Murder She Wrote have escaped the confines of film and television to reward their fans with series of books, comics and video games that feed our appetites for more stories in the worlds we love.

We’re joined by veteran panelist Roslyn Townsend and game designer Ryan Chaddock to chat about the concept of the Expanded Universe! We debate canonicity and ask why we just can’t get enough of our favorite media franchises, no matter the format!

Music: 
“Luke and Leia” from the Return of the Jedi  by John Williams

Previously titled: “Ant-Man’s Lawyer”

Episode 15 – Fighting Games

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HA-DOOOU-KEN!

Mike and Casey hit the arcade and stack their quarters, because this month we’re in head-to-head combat with Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey and Nathan Martin of the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo. This month we’re talking about the gaming equivalent of the O.K. Corral: Fighting Games!

We look at the genre’s roots with classics like Karate Champ, and the genre’s 1990s explosion with titles like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, King of Fighters, Clay Fighter, and countless clones. We explore the genre’s connections to side-scrolling beat ’em ups, and the competitive — and often intimidating — culture that’s sprouted up around these games.

Music: 
“Ken’s Theme” from Street Fighter II by Yoko Shimomura

Previously titled: “Finish Him!”

Fun Size Episode 1 – Puppy Vengeance

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As Holiday scheduling conflicts made a full panel episode of the show impossible this month, Mike and Casey are back with what they’re calling a “Fun Size” episode. It’s an unstructured, free form discussion of stuff in pop culture not quite big enough for a full panel episode!

Join us as we dig into the new under-the-radar Keanu Reeves revenge film, John Wick. We explore the idea that perhaps it’s not a great thing to spend a year dissecting every scrap of news and trailer before seeing a movie. Let alone have years of film releases mapped out for us. And finally, we compare how our current lack of enthusiasm for the movie theater experience compares to the present state of the mediums of television and comic books.

We won’t be doing these episodes regularly, but please let us know what you think of Fun Size episodes! Thanks for listening and have a Happy Holiday!

Episode 14 – M. Night Shyamalan

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What if there are no coincidences?

Mike and Casey count their sick days, stock up on hotdogs, and run from gently swaying trees with returning panelist and artist, Roslyn Townsend and Ask an Atheist‘s Rebecca Friedman! This month, we’re diving into the meteoric rise, and precipitious fall of a promising filmmaker whose career trajectory still confuses us, M. Night Shyamalan.

We discuss his brief absolute dominance of both Hollywood and the box office with the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. We explore his current status as the cinematic butt of many jokes with the Happening and After Earth. And we look at how the writer-director’s legacy remains a subject of debate, speculation, schadenfreude and commiseration.

Music: 
Mr. Glass” from Unbreakable by James Newton Howard

Previously titled: “Swing Away, M. Night”

Episode 13 – Blade Runner

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We’ve….seen things you people wouldn’t believe!

Mike and Casey fire up our Spinners, and blast off to great new lives in the Off World Colonies with Sci-Fest L.A.‘s Matt Goodman, and writer Micah Krabill! This month we’re talking about 1982’s Ridley Scott sci-fi classic: Blade Runner!

Join us as we discuss how a financially disastrous art film about a future cop hunting androids went on to become a major cult favorite, and one of the most culturally influential science fiction movies of all time. We talk about the nature of humanity and artificial life, the proper pronunciation of the word “robot,” the morality of Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty, and which of the film’s multiple versions is its most definitive.

Music: 
Memories of Green/End Title Theme” from Blade Runner by Vangelis

Previously titled: “A Sandwich from the God of Biomechanics”

Episode 12 – Conan the Barbarian

2595372-savage_sword_of_conan_047_01fcTravel back, O Listener, to an age undreamed of!

Hither came Mike and Casey, swords in hand, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under sandaled feet with Greg Hatcher of Comics Should Be Good! and our friend Pól Rua of Mike and Pól Save the Universe!

That’s right. This month, the panel is talking about Robert E. Howard’s legendary fantasy anti-hero, Conan the Barbarian! From his pulp magazine beginnings in 1932 to the character’s explosion into comic books, newspaper strips, cartoons, and feature films. Conan’s impact on modern fantasy fiction — and popular culture itself — is deep and often unsung. Join us in a discussion of jocks versus nerds, power fantasies and the infectious “fuck yeah!” moment.

So heft your weeping red broadsword, and whisper a prayer to Crom, because we’re telling you of the days of high adventure!

[CORRECTION: Greg writes new pulp adventures for Airship 27. My apologies.]

Music: 
The Battle of the Mounds from Conan the Barbarian” by Basil Poledouris

Previously titled: “A Jock’s Wet Dream”

Episode 11 – Hayao Miyazaki

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Mike and Casey hitch a ride on the Catbus with our friend Roslyn Townsend and animator and storyboard artist Lauren Montgomery (Justice League: Doom, Wonder Woman) to talk about the legendary animator who is often referred to as “Japan’s Walt Disney,” Hayao Miyazaki.

They discuss Miyazaki’s decades-long filmography from Princess Mononoke to My Neighbor Totoro. They dive into topics like giant killer insects, nature spirits, witches, animated violence, children, and what it is about the man’s work that is so iconic, memorable, gorgeous and often unsettling.

Music: 
Theme from My Neighbor Totoro by Joe Hisaishi

Previously titled: “All Children are Born Completely Drunk”

Episode 10 – Planet of the Apes

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It’s a madhouse! A MADHOUSE!

Mike and Casey invade the Forbidden Zone with our theme song’s composer Todd Maxfield-Matsumoto and Comics Should Be Good!‘s Greg Hatcher. This month we’re talking about the classic film franchise: the Planet of the Apes!

We talk about the film’s long-lived popularity, its relevance as socially-aware science fiction, its totally insane comic book adaptations in the 1970s, and its subsequent reboots.

We also try to wrap our minds around how an ostensibly family-friendly adventure series includes bloody religious imagery, nudity, babies shot with handguns, and total nuclear devastation.

Music: 
The Hunt from the Planet of the Apes” by Jerry Goldsmith

Previously titled: “Two-Fisted Misanthrope”

Episode 9 – Nintendo

nintendoSorry, Mario! Your podcast is in another castle!

Mike and Casey pull on their Power Gloves and strap on their Virtual Boys because, it’s time to save the Mushroom Kingdom with Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey and Bob Mackey of the Retronauts podcast! This month, we’re talking about the video game company that practically served as a fifth food group for an entire generation: Nintendo!

We discuss the company’s multi-decade dominance of the video game market, its legacy, and how it pulled the industry out of the nosedive of Atari’s implosion in the early 1980s. We talk about how visionary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto created the canvas of our childhoods, and how the company went from standing atop the wreckage of Sega to becoming the Switzerland of the modern day console wars.

Music: 
Opening Theme from the Legend of Zelda” by Koji Kondo
Overworld Theme to Super Mario Bros. 2” by Koji Kondo

Previously titled: “On the Altar of Saint Miyamoto”

 

Episode 8.5 – Rise of the Planet of the Nerds

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 In an age where jocks wear T-shirts with Iron Man on them, and mainstream audiences pack theaters to watch three-hour adaptations of the Hobbit, the world has become a very different place for geeks over the last few years. Somehow, geekdom has become as mainstream as American football.

So Mike and Casey have posed the question to our listeners on the latest installment of Radio vs. the Mailbag: “What was the turning point that pushed geek culture into the mainstream of popular culture?”

We dig into your answers, and put the question to recent panelists Sam Mulvey and Roslyn Townsend to give us their thoughts on the matter.

And finally, Mike and Casey make an earth-shattering announcement that will forever change this podcast! Listen….if you dare!