Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*

As always there are spoilers ahead!
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Seconds is a visually striking and thoroughly uncomfortable film. A 1960s film that examines dissatisfied suburban living, mid-life crisis and the yearning for youth and freedom. I think it's vastly underrated which is probably something both of my genuinely amazing guests agree with. (Apologies for not offering more of a counterpoint to this view!)
Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema.
Sherryl Vint is Professor of Science Fiction Media Studies at the University of California, Riverside. She has also written/edited extensively about science fiction.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:31 Frankenheimer's fantastic films
05:55 Science fiction in the 60s
07:55 The striking work of James Wong Howe
12:18 Saul (and Elaine) Bass credits
14:42 Mid Life Crisis in the 1960s
19:20 Dissatisfaction in the middle class
21:38 The Tennis Trophy
24:40 Rock Hudson and John Randolph
31:54 The Wine Stomp
37:02 Corporation as "The Monster" and PK Dick
38:48 Frankenstein and face surgery
41:44 The business model and Tech Bros
45:08 Legacy
50:39 Trivia tidbits
53:51 Recommendations
 
Recommendations:
Phase IV (1974)
Face of Another (1966)
Mark also mentions: Eyes Without a Face (1960) and Darkman (1990)
 
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we take a dive into the 1966 François Truffaut science fiction film Fahrenheit 451. The film is very annoyingly tough to get hold of on streaming platforms but can apparently be found on Fandango and you can search the Just Watch website to check where it might be available in your region. You can buy the DVD quite easily for not extortionate prices in many places. There do seem to be dodgy websites that also have the film but obviously I would never encourage you to search for such things.

As always there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
Apologies in advance for my butchering of Italian pronunciation during this episode.
Although we mentioned in the Planet of the Vampires episode the copycat nature of Italian cinema in the 1960s, The 10th Victim by Elio Petri does not fit that mould. The film has a definite style that may offer commentary on Italian film, comics and culture but looks to set a new mould for films coming out of Italy. Cultural change in Europe and America in the 1960s came in many different flavours and with different driving forces. My excellent guests help to unravel the cultural context of this stylish cult classic.
Stephen Gundle is a Professor of Film and Television at the University of Warwick. He has a special interest in Italian cultural history.
Leon Hunt is a retired Senior Lecturer of Screen Studies at Brunel University with a special interest in Italian Genre Cinema.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction.
01:17 Collectively written script
04:02 Italy in the 1960s
05:19 Marcello Mastroianni Commedia all'Italiana and global fame
09:33 Echoes of La Dolce Vita
15:02 Style over substance?
17:03 Gender roles
20:38 The violence of man
23:28 The gun bra, design and pop art
26:17 Comic book culture in Italy
32:46 Religion and belief systems
36:55 Changing Italian culture: American influence, economic growth and celebrity worship
45:52 Legacy
51:07 Recommendations for the listener
 
Recommendations:
Danger Diabolik (1968) directed by  Mario Bava
Modesty Blaise (1966) directed by Jospeh Losey
La Dolce Vita (1960) directed by Federico Fellini
 
NEXT EPISODE!
You have two weeks to find and watch Seconds (1966) by John Frankenheimer as we finally head into 1966! The film is available to rent or buy on Apple TV in the UK, and for free on Kanopy in the US. You can check the JustWatch website for details of where it's available in your region. (Waves frantically at new global listeners!)

As always there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
Despite a failed pilot Star Trek made it to TV in 1966. Creator, Gene Roddenberry's vision of a future that was beyond the contemporary struggles of civil rights and racism and global Cold War tensions but very much aligned with the style of the 1960s. As a diverse crew faced alien planets and tackled ethical questions audience numbers dwindled and cancellation loomed. The show was finally axed in 1969 but a growing fanbase aided by syndication meant what could have been a small part of TV history actually became a huge phenomena.
My amazing Trekkie guests discuss the origins of my favourite franchise.
Julian Chambliss is a scholar and a professor at Michigan State University. He has taught Star Trek as part of his Media Race and Culture classes.
Carey Millsap-Spears is a professor of communications/literature at Moraine Valley Community College. She has written extensively about Star Trek including the 2023 book Star Trek Discovery and the Female Gothic.
 
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:36 Gene Roddenberry's pitch and the pilot episode
04:29 A new kind of frontier
08:34 The fans
11:06 Woke and the 1960s
17:26 The gothic in Star Trek
20:39 Captain Kirk as Casanova?
26:09 That kiss and Uhura
30:42 Utopia!
36:47 Propaganda
39:24 The Alien others
44:08 Technology, NASA and Nichelle Nichols
47:29 The Next Generation
51:52 Why do we love Star Trek?
54:32 Recommendations
 
Recommendations
The Centre Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek (2021)
StarTrek II: The Wrath of Khan
 
NEXT EPISODE!
You have two weeks to find and watch The 10th Victim (1965) by Elio Petri. Another Italian film (like last episode's Planet of the Vampires) but a very different feel. Although coupld contend with Mario Bava's Danger Diabolik (1968) for the most 60s film ever made! The film is available to rent online in many places. You can check the JustWatch website for details of what it's available in your region.

As always there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. 
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
Planet of the Vampires was directed by Mario Bava and released in 1965. American International Pictures had made money with Italian films such as Black Sunday (1960) but would often need to oversee many changes to make the films suitable for an American audience. Their solution was to provide a script and co-produce a film so they could control the content.  
The film had a small budget of around $200,000 and although it definitely has its fair share of Schlock, Bava had a reputation for doing a lot on a small budget. 
My guests unravel why Mario Bava's reputation and love for this film continue to grow. 
Scott Higgins is Professor of Film at Wesleyan University as well as being the Curator of the Wesleyan Cinema Archives. 
Russ Hunter is an Assistant Professor in Film & Television Studies at Northumbria University. He has a special interest in Italian genre cinema.
Scott says Eugenio Bava (Mario's Father) invented the Schüfftan process before Eugen Schüfftan after whom it was named. You can read more about this here: https://dcairns.wordpress.com/tag/schufftan-process/
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:46 AIP involvement
04:14 Italian cinema in 1965
09:01 Dubbing
14:31 Names changes and US appeal
17:28 Mario Bava
21:51 Scott's love for this film
27:12 Bava and Barry
29:22 Special Effects and the Schüfftan process
33:39 Production and Set Design
35:21 Style over coherence
38:33 The alien
41:35 Influences and origins
43:40 Vampires in name
44:20 Legacy
49:06 Recommendations
 
Recommendations:
The Green Slime (1968) by Kinji Fukasaku
Tu Vuo' Fa' L'americano by Renato Carosone
Danger: Diabolik (1968) by Mario Bava
Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark by Tim Lucas
 
NEXT EPISODE:
As we approach 1966 on the podcast it is time to talk about my favourite franchise which will be 60 years old this September! A little detour into the beginnings of Star Trek in two week's time.

As always there are spoilers ahead! (And the podcast is much more fun if you've seen the film first.)
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. 
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm 
Jean-Luc Godard is potentially the most prominent of the French New Wave directors. In the mid-60s his mind turned to science fiction and the result was a visually striking, choatic film about a dystopian world in which logic rules and love is punished.
If you find the film confusing you are not alone and I have two brilliant academic brains to help us out.
Roger Luckhurst is a Professor at Birkbeck, University of London. He has written/edited numerous articles and books on cultural history and film.
Douglas Morrey is an associate professor of French at the University of Warwick. He has a special interest in the French new Wave on which he has written extensively, including the 2005 book Jean-Luc Godard.
CORRECTION: In the podcast I mention Roger citing Alphaville having an image from Chris Marker's La Jetée but the image is actually Marker's photograph which is in the credit sequence but doesn not feature in La Jetée.
The book of poetry in the film Capitale de la douleur (Capital of Pain) is written by Paul Elouard.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:40 French New Wave in 1965
03:38 Godard's influences for Alphaville
11:31 Eddie Constantine: The illogical Noir hero
16:43 Lemmy Caution and fascism 
18:05 Alienation and confusion
25:52 Godard's technique and budgets
30:07 Sound design
32:30 The swimming pool execution scene
39:26 Love, poetry and Godard's divorce
47:00 Godard and women
49:30 Legacy
53:57 Recommendations
 
Recommendations:
• The Trial written by Franz Kafka and made into a film by Orson Wells released in 1962.
• Weekend (1967) by Godard.
 
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be talking about Planet of the Vampires, the low budget 1965 dubbed delight by Mario Bava. The film is campy (and for me quite hilarious) as well as being famed for inspiring Alien (1979). (Perhaps a little overstated in this regard?) You can find the film to rent on Amazon, Apple, Flixfling and may find it on free platforms with ads in your region. You can check the JustWatch website for more details.