Is this The Way? This week we venture to a galaxy far, far away to unpack "The Mandalorian & Grogu," the return of Star Wars to the big screen. Join us as we unpack Mando's jump from TV to the cinema and whether or not it works. We take a deep dive and look at the performances, special effects, and its episodic structure, and we conclude with a discussion on fan culture and the reactions to this film.

Thanks as always for listening. Like & subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and we'll see you next Monday.

May the Force be with you.

We're back with a very special bonus episode. Today has particular significance for sci-fi fans as the 21st of May is the day that The Last Question is first asked in iconic author Isaac Asimov's brilliant short story of the same name.

Join us as we unpack the story and stick around till the end for a short discussion on its distant relative, The Last Answer, also by Asimov.

We'll be back on Monday for our regularly scheduled programming. See you then!

We're executing a burn maneuver this week and returning to Mars orbit as we catch up on the last few weeks of "For All Mankind". We begin with a short recap of our feelings of the season so far and various threads we're keeping an eye on. We begin with episode 6, "No Sudden Moves," (4:38) as our characters, in the wake of their actions last time out, ask "what's the plan, now?" We then unpack the explosive episode 7, "The Sirens of Titan," (36:12) and question certain story choices before Titan reveals his Worst Science Moment of the entire show. Finally, we look at episode 8, "Brave New World," (01:19:25) a tense episode that lays down some very exciting groundwork for the final two episodes of the season.

As always, we hope you enjoy and ask you to like, comment, and subscribe wherever you find us!

Look out for us on Thursday for our first bonus episode! See you then!

It's about time we opened one of the key texts of science fiction - Doctor Who. This week we are taking a look at Doctor Who: The Movie, a failed attempt to launch an American version of the long-running classic, but an important and interesting piece of the franchise's history nonetheless. We discuss the film's muddled plot, overreliance on Who lore, and the performance of the Eighth Doctor by Paul McGann. We also compare the film to the 2005 reboot of the show, and examine how that pilot avoided the mistakes made in 1996.

And since this is our first look at Doctor Who, we take some time to look at the current state of the show and the shortcomings of the short-lived Disney era. That discussion begins at 01:11:52.

We will be back next week Monday to catch-up with For All Mankind Season 5 with episodes 6, 7, and 8. Until then!

Happy the Fourth of May! To commemorate this arbitrary day, we're taking a look back at the Disney era of the Star Wars franchise. We are also joined by a very special guest - a Star Wars expert - to help guide the conversation and fill in the gaps. Our discussion follows the franchise year by year since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. We look back at all the movies and most of the TV shows and give a whole variety of takes as we go along.

Culminating in a look ahead at the new release "The Mandalorian & Grogu," we also discuss how we ultimately feel about the franchise's direction and pitch our own ideas for what we would like to see. Do enjoy and like & subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And this being Star Wars, of course, feel free to leave a comment. We can't wait for everyone's very normal reactions!

A quick hop to Phoenix Station and down to Mars this week as we catch up on the last three weeks of "For All Mankind" Season 5. We begin with the fallout of Ed's actions from last time in Episode 3 (02:40). We then discuss the new beginnings and new characters throughout Episode 4 (46:11) and finally we unpack the heavy political intrigue of Episode 5 (01:14:07).

For next Monday we will be doing a special episode celebrating the Fourth of May (*wink*) by discussing the Disney era of Star Wars. There's no way people will react disproportionately to that! . See you then!

We're back and ready to stand up and fight against humanity's biggest threat: AI slop. This week we're taking a deep dive into the fiercely original but wildly uneven "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die," the latest film from Gore Verbinski. We discuss the film's interesting use of AI as an apocalyptic threat, its muddled messaging and themes, and confusing ending. And of course we have to point out several times that it was shot in Cape Town, to our endless amusement. We hope you enjoy the show and please leave a like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

Join us next Monday as we catch up with our friends on Mars in the latest episodes of "For All Mankind" Season 5.

We're going old-school this week as we discuss the 1956 classic "Forbidden Planet," a film that looms large over the history of popular science fiction (as demonstrated by the number of times we compare it to "Star Trek"). A first-time viewing for us both, the old-school charms still worked wonders, and so we discuss possible reasons why we tend to prefer old analog effects. We also take a deep dive into the cultural context at the time and how that manifests in the film's story and themes - nuclear anxiety, intellectual scepticism, the birth of the space race, and unfortunate gender dynamics all weigh heavy on the film.

We hope you enjoy the discussion. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe wherever you're listening. We will be back next Monday to unpack Gore Verbinski's latest release, "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die."