The Incomparable

Last week, we tackled the cinema classic “2001: A Space Odyssey.” This week, we look at its sequel, 1984’s “2010: The Year We Make Contact.” There’s no denying it—this movie carries a heavy burden, and tries to explain a lot of things that fans of the original film didn’t need to have explained. And yet, at its core is a smart, entertaining mid-80s sci-fi movie with a great cast, some kitchen dolphins, and a few questionable Russian accents. Listening to this episode will be as easy as cake, comrade.

Pick up a femur, order a moon sandwich, and always remember to bring your space helmet with you! On its 50th anniversary, we’re discussing Stanley Kubrick’s classic “2001: A Space Odyssey.” What is the Monolith’s purpose? When and why does HAL become murderous? And why is there so much solarized stock footage of landscapes? Watch out for cheetahs!

Sit back and let our panelists take you into the world of movie music, as we draft our favorite film scores. (Songs with lyrics not eligible!) Who is this John Williams guy and why is he hogging the limelight? If James Horner’s scores all sound the same, why do we keep picking them? This is one episode that wasn’t overproduced by Hans Zimmer.

Well, gosh! Our slow walk through all seven seasons of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reaches season three, full of extra slayers and friendly-but-demonic mayors and all the hallmarks of your senior year in high school. Is Faith a good addition or does she disappoint? Does Xander continue to stink or does he grow up? Was the introduction of Anya (and the vampire version of Willow) all we could wish for? Did the WB network demand all of the romance and love-triangle subplots? We talk about the season as a whole and our favorite (and least favorite) episodes.

Two years ago we drank beer on a podcast and talked about it, and wouldn’t you know it, we’re back for more beer! The Incomparable’s Oktoberfest returns with five polarizing beers chosen by listener (and Almanac Brewing co-founder) Jesse Friedman and mailed to all of our houses. We open them and drink them on air—in stereo, just like the flavor of a hazy IPA! Will we finally understand why people line up to drink Pliny the Elder? Who put coconut in our stout again? Why does Dan keep trying to ruin the podcast? Will the podcast get progressively sillier as we drink beer? The answer to that last one is “yes.”

This summer we devoured two novels by Mary Robinette Kowal, “The Calculating Stars” and “The Fated Sky.” They’re both exciting tales of space exploration, with well-rounded characters having to navigate challenges both external and internal, cultural and scientific, personal and global. They’re set in an alternate timeline where the Space Race we know happened quite a bit differently, and at the center is the world-famous Lady Astronaut, Elma York. We seriously can’t recommend these books highly enough. Listen in to find out why, and then stick around for a list of other books we really enjoyed!

After “The Matrix” was a hit, we got the inevitable plague of Matrix-like tales of ultraviolent dark pop philosophy. Of these, 2002’s “Equilibrium”… was one. At the pleading of Dan Moren, our Rocket Surgery team disassembles this tale of totalitarianism and gun-based martial arts starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, and Sean Bean. It’s a movie that thinks it’s very, very smart when it’s actually really dumb. Be sure to take your Prozium, or the Grammaton Clerics will set you on fire!

Look, the ’90s was a dark time, okay? A year before “The Matrix” there was another film about identity and memory and the meaning of reality, cloaked in noir tropes and gunfire and mind-blowing revelations. It’s 1998’s “Dark City”, directed by Alex Proyas and starring Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, and a heavy-breathing Kiefer Sutherland. This is a film that was a favorite of both Roger Ebert and European video pirates. Why is Kiefer Sutherland the only being alive who can use a syringe? Why is memory like paint? And can you tell us the way to get to Shell Beach?

Grab your crystal dagger and leave your village forever! It’s time to discuss our latest Miyazaki movie, as selected by John Siracusa: 1997’s “Princess Mononoke.” We lend a certain ugly dignity to the proceedings by discussing this medieval fantasy tale featuring wolf gods, disgusting pig spirits, and the occasional cartoon beheading. Stand away from the leper holes!

Thanks to Amazon, this most recent season of “The Expanse” won’t be the last! The show has been saved, and it’s a good thing, because we really enjoyed season 3. In this episode, we discuss how the show’s producers made some clever diversions from their source material, space spies, hallucinatory cops with hallucinatory hats, David Strathairn’s amazing Belter accent, amoral fathers and the rage-monster daughters who love them, and the plethora of stolen spaceships that populate the solar system.

It’s been fun, but just as Labor Day Weekend is the traditional end of summer, so too is this the end of the Summer of Marvel! In this episode our panelists pitch Marvel movies they’d like to see in the future, and we save some time at the end to reveal the results of our poll of Incomparable panelists to see where all the MCU movies rank.

Hang on to your cyborg limbs! As the Summer of Marvel winds toward a close, our penultimate installment has us revisiting the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. How do they hit us upon rewatching? How vitally important was the tone of the original film in terms of making the Marvel Cinematic Universe less of a snooze? What do the movies have to say about the power of sisterhood? Does Peter Quill have any internal life at all? Why does Jason dislike Ego’s Planet so much? And how does “Avengers: Infinity War” rely on the character development of the second Guardians movie? All that, plus a tree and a raccoon outwit a human repeatedly.

There are Thor movies, and then there’s “Thor: Ragnarok.” From the liberal use of the Hulk to the perfectly bizarre Jeff Goldblum to the delightful villainy of Cate Blanchett, this is a wacky cosmic romp that’s a universe apart from the two previous Thor installments. Loki just wants to eat grapes, Valkyrie wants to be left alone, and Doug’s not here anymore, man. Pour one out for ol’ meow meow and join us for the Lord of Thunder—or is that the God of Hammers?—and his finest hour.

The Marvel Universe has wizards now? Yes, and “Doctor Strange” is the movie where we meet them. But more than anything, this is a character study of Mister Doctor himself, who is laid low by distracted driving and then has to rebuild his life by moving to Nepal, stealing books from a magical library, and getting half-frozen on the side of Mount Everest before being thrust into mystical battles against his will. Spectacular visuals! Mads Mikkelsen trapped in a wall! Tilda Swinton as a super weird ageless magical being (who was Asian in the comics)! Dormammu, we come to bargain.

Our Summer of Marvel rolls on with a movie we haven’t covered—2015’s delightful comedy heist film “Ant-Man”—as well as its brand-new sequel, 2018’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” We discuss de-aging Michael Douglas, the unlikely brilliance of casting Paul Rudd, the relentless competence of Hope Pym in the face of Scott Lang’s incompetence and the unpleasantness of her father, and everything we love about Luis.

Order some schwarma, because we’ve assembled a powerful panel to discuss Earth’s mightiest heroes. Our Summer of Marvel continues with a re-examination of three films we originally reviewed when they were released: “The Avengers”, “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, and “Captain America: Civil War”, which is really an Avengers movie when you think about it. How do they hold up? What works and, in hindsight, what doesn’t? Which characters benefit from Joss Whedon’s screenwriting tics, and which do not?

Thaw yourself out of the ice and wave a flag, because we’re revisiting “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” as we continue our walk through the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We discuss the charismatic power of Chris Evans, the smoothness of the Red Skull’s face, the unrecognizability of the Winter Soldier, our lack of trust in Robert Redford, and how Black Widow splits time between setting Steve Rogers up on dates and changing all the sizing tags on his clothing. Buy some war bonds and join us as we discuss that star-spangled man with a plan!

Take off your pants and prepare a long scene-setting speech about space mythology, because it’s time to discuss “Thor” and “Thor: The Dark World” as we continue our Summer of Marvel. We praise the excellent casting of Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, as well as smaller players Stellan Skarsgård and Kat Dennings, while wondering about what went wrong with Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster. (Hint: It’s mostly the writing.) Perhaps most importantly, Jason finally sees what other people see in “The Dark World” that he doesn’t… even if he remains unconvinced.

The Summer of Marvel continues our walk through the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2008’s “Incredible Hulk,” starring Edward Norton. Released weeks after “Iron Man”, it’s often ignored, and yet it’s a fascinating look at the decisions Marvel did (and didn’t) make as it built its film franchises. Also just for kicks, we compare and contrast with Ang Lee’s 2003 “Hulk” starring Eric Bana, because gamma dogs.

The Incomparable’s Summer of Marvel begins with a look back at 2008’s “Iron Man” and 2010’s “Iron Man 2.” How unlikely was it that a B-list Marvel Comics superhero nobody had ever heard of would end up kicking off one of the most successful film franchises of all time? How did perfect casting and a light touch with the subject matter pay off in this unlikely success? And how does the sequel balance being a second “Iron Man” film and the launch of a much larger franchise?