Ep. 037 – Worldbuilding in Movies
So, have you ever walked out of a movie theatre thinking you just didn’t like that film, but you’re not sure why? It could be that the filmmakers didn’t put enough thought and effort into good worldbuilding. In this episode of Nerdstalking, we ponder what worldbuidling means, and look at some examples of it in action, good and bad.
Show Notes:
03:03 – What worldbuiding means.
04:33 – The future world of Back to the Future.
05:46 – The worldbuilding of Star Wars.
09:26 – Not ready for the crappy worldbuilding of Ready Player One.
11:44 – The mythology of Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings.
13:08 – Game of Thrones.
15:21 – Minority Report.
24:46 – The Fifth Element.
25:56 – Heavy Metal.
29:22 – Why is so much worldbuilding just Arabian markets?
32:24 – Blade Runner.
34:04 – A dystopian future built on still photos: La Jetee.
36:06 – Bill calls Chad by Bill’s son’s name.
37:22 – An example of lousy worldbuilding: Tron.
42:31 – Yet more crappy Ready Player One.
43:58 – The Alien movies.
Thanks for listening!
La Jetee captioned in English on YouTube:
Back to the Future Part. II trailer:
Blade Runner (1982) trailer:
The Fifth Element trailer:
Connect With Your Nerdstalkers:
Bill Hunter – writer, and creator of video game history website The Dot Eaters
Chadwick Gendron – writer, musician and creator of the Canadian Culture Thing
Our Website: http://nerdstalking.com/
Social Media Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NerdstalkingPod
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nerdstalking/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nerdstalking/
Ep. 036 – The ‘Back to the Future’ Movie Trilogy
Forget Ready Player One’s appropriation of the famous DeLorean, Bill and Chad jump in their own time machine and go back to the past and examine the movies of the Back to the Future trilogy. Get ready for 1.21 Gigawatts of rollicking adventure!
Show Notes:
BTTF 1 – 01:51 to 21:38
01:51 – One of those perfect films.
03:08 – Marty McFly invented Chuck Berry.
04:06 – “Is it okay to go back and have sex with your mother?”
05:32 – Examples of how well put-together the film is.
13:47 – How did Doc & Marty start their bromance?
16:56 – Every dog should have a boy.
18:11 – Chad points out some anachronisms in the film.
21:38 – It’s your cousin Marvin. Marvin BERRY!!
BTTF 2 – 25:49 to 43:24
25:49 – Jennifer sleeps through the rest of the trilogy.
31:10 – Some good worldbuilding.
34:54 – A darker film.
36:27 – Chad meets the ape-shit crazy Chrispin Glover.
39:12 – Chad finds a visual homage to the 1960 Time Machine movie.
43:24 – The best part of BTTF 2: Marty goes to 1955. Again.
44:33 – Count Floyd arrives.
BTTF 3 – 48:27 to 55:05
48:27 – Doc Brown’s letter from 1885 doesn’t make sense.
50:19 – At least BTTF 3 doesn’t need a chalkboard lecture.
52:37 – Bill’s insensitive Indian joke.
55:05 – The terrible train ending.
Thanks for listening!
Rocket 88, the first Rock n’ Roll record:
A visit to the Back to the Future filming locations 30 years later:
Doc Brown and Marty reunite on Back to the Future day, 2015 on the Jimmy Kimmel show:
Connect With Your Nerdstalkers:
Bill Hunter – writer, and creator of video game history website The Dot Eaters
Chadwick Gendron – writer, musician and creator of the Canadian Culture Thing
Our Website: http://nerdstalking.com/
Social Media Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NerdstalkingPod
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nerdstalking/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nerdstalking/
Ep. 032 – Lead-Up to ‘Ready Player One’ Movie Release
What happens if you take TRON, mix it with The Last Starfighter, and throw in a pinch of references to every SF movie and video game of the last 30 years or so? You get Steven Spielberg’s latest flick Ready Player One, based on Ernest Cline’s love-letter-to-videogames novel of the same name. We anticipate the release of the film with all the giddy glee of kids waiting in line for Back to the Future in 1985. Plus we celebrate Sam Rockwell’s 2018 Oscar win with a retrospective of his career, and take a look at Steven Soderbergh’s guerilla feature filmmaking iPhone experiment Unsane.
Show Notes:
01:01 – We start in on Ready Player One.
01:33 – E.T.‘s scrotum sack.
03:47 – Ready Player One compared to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
07:38 – The nostagia train has left the station.
09:43 – Again with the Inception city-folding SFX.
11:58 – Ready Player One as TRON sequel.
15:13 – Where have you gone, Clint Eastwood of our youth?
17:26 – Sam Rockwell: real actor.
30:34 – Is Steven Soderbergh Unsane?
34:40 – Chad’s dangerous obsession with Downton Abbey.
Thanks for listening!
Pure Imagination, from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory –
The electronica version of Pure Imagination as used in the Ready Player One trailer –
Trailer for Who Framed Roger Rabbit? –
Bill’s article on the history of the movie TRON, at The Dot Eaters –
Bill’s article on the history of The Last Starfighter, at The Dot Eaters –
Connect With Your Nerdstalkers:
Bill Hunter – writer, and creator of video game history website The Dot Eaters
Chadwick Gendron – writer, musician and creator of the Canadian Culture Thing
Our Website: http://nerdstalking.com/
Social Media Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NerdstalkingPod
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nerdstalking/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nerdstalking/
