Nostalgium Arcanum
A Repository For The Pop Culture That Made Us Who We Are
Displaying items 1-10 of 11 in total of Nostalgium Arcanum with the tag "sci-fi".
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Robots
July 13th, 2026 | 1 hr 45 mins
animation, capitalism, cartoon, cartoons, ewan mcgregor, greg kinnear, halle berry, ice age, mel brooks, robin williams, sci-fi, science fiction, scifi
In 2005 "Robots" rolled off the assembly line from Blue Sky Studios, and it surprisingly remains greater than the sum of its nuts, bolts, and other assorted parts. Celebrating the aspects of capitalism that reward ingenuity and innovation, and satirizing the aspects of capitalism that incentivise profit at any cost, the film features wildly inventive production design and winning performance from an enormous celebrity roster including Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams, Greg Kinnear, Stanley Tucci, Paul Giamatti, Mel Brooks, and many many many many more. We're joined by Sophia Riccardi of the Moviestruck podcast to discuss why this film's components are anything but outmoded.
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Back to the Future Part II
June 1st, 2026 | 2 hrs 15 mins
1950s, 1980s, 80s, christopher lloyd, comedy, delorean, elisabeth shue, michael j. fox, physics, robert zemeckis, sci-fi, science, science fiction, scifi, steven spielberg, time machine, time travel
We're going back to Back to the Future, or more accurately, going to the future and back. The second chapter of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's time-travelling comedy trilogy finds Doc and Marty battling causality and the horrors that might ensue were power to fall into the wrong hands. Returning guest improviser and lifelong BTTF fan Darren Lanning (darrenlanning.com) hops into the time machine that is this podcast to ride a hoverboard to Back to the Future Part II. Go on and listen to it. What's the matter? Are you chicken?
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Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
May 4th, 2026 | 2 hrs 33 mins
alec guinness, carrie fisher, darth vader, george lucas, harrison ford, james earl jones, jedi, john williams, mark hammill, sci-fi, science fiction, scifi, space, star wars
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, specifically in 1977, audiences flocked to a blockbuster that would become the largest IP in history. While George Lucas' brainchild has become a sprawling multimedia franchise, the original film still stands as a testament to adventure and craftsmanship. We're joined by guest filmmaker Alex Sosin ("The Canyon") to celebrate why the Force of this film still surrounds us and binds us.
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2001: A Space Odyssey
April 13th, 2026 | 2 hrs 45 mins
ai, alien, aliens, arthur c. clarke, artificial intelligence, astronomy, cinema, entertainment, evolution, film, films, kubrick, movie, movies, sci-fi, science fiction, scifi, space, stanley kubrick
While the year 2001 has passed, Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece set in that year looms as large as its imposing monolith, and casts as long a shadow. A spectacular artistic achievement, the film is about nothing less than the entirety of the human experience, the exultation and terror of first contact, evolution, and Lovecraftian ideas of unfathomable cosmic power and insignificance. Few films have reached for such heights, let alone achieved them. We're joined on this mission by fellow podcasters Randy Allain and Kris Ingersoll (Media/Lit), and Case Aiken (Another Pass, Men of Steel) to journey to Jupiter and beyond the infinite.
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Back to the Future
June 30th, 2025 | 2 hrs 33 mins
1950s, 1980s, 80s, christopher lloyd, comedy, delorean, huey lewis, michael j. fox, physics, robert zemeckis, sci-fi, science, science fiction, scifi, steven spielberg, time machine, time travel
What is a nostalgia podcast if not a time machine? We're firing up the flux capacitor and setting the time circuits to Back to the Future for the 40th anniversary of this seminal temporal comedy. We're joined by guest Darren Lanning (darrenlanning.com) to celebrate a film so heavy that its success was practically density.
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2000s Movies: Part 1
August 26th, 2024 | 3 hrs 6 mins
00s, 2000s, action, cinema, comedy, film, films, horror, lord of the rings, movie, movies, pirates, romcom, sci-fi, scifi, spider-man
The first half of the 2000s was a time for building franchises, adapting IPs, and getting a jittery country back on its feet. In this episode our crew (Ami Lief, Tania Newton, and Ryan Merlo) join us to round-table our favorite films from 2000 to 2004, and all that jazz.
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Predator
July 22nd, 2024 | 1 hr 43 mins
1980s, 80s, action, alien, aliens, arnold, arnold schwarzenegger, avp, carl weathers, cinema, film, horror, jesse ventura, movie, movies, predator, schwarzenegger, sci-fi, science fiction, scifi, yautja
Listen to this episode! Come on! Do it! Do it now! Guest Jala Prendes (host of Jala-Chan' Place, Monster, Dear Monster, and Duckfeed.tv's The Level) joins us to once again watch Arnold Schwarzenegger go mano-a-mano, this time against an alien killing machine on safari. For all its loud 80s action, the film's less-is-more approach is why this classic still gives viewers a mighty handshake nearly four decades on.
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Spaceballs
February 12th, 2024 | 1 hr 34 mins
alien, aliens, bill pullman, comedy, film, george lucas, joan rivers, john candy, mel brooks, movies, rick moranis, sci-fi, scifi, spoof, star trek, star wars
Spaceballs? Oh shit, there goes the podcast! Guest and master of the Schwartz Matt Storm a.k.a. Matt Stormageddon joins us for a look back at Star Wars as filtered through Mel Brooks' mastery of vaudeville, satire, and moichandizing!
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show
October 30th, 2023 | 1 hr 37 mins
1970s, 70s, aliens, gender, halloween, horror, lgbtq, musical, musicals, queer, rock, rock and roll, sci-fi, scifi, sexuality, susan sarandon, tim curry, trans, transsexual
Let's do the Time Warp again as special guest writer/director/actress/producer Shakina Nayfack (@shakeenz, Difficult People, Quantum Leap) joins us to send off our Halloween season with a bang, emphasis on the bang. This musical is a one-of-a-kind blend of rock, camp, horror, and sexual exploration that really puts the "fluid" in gender fluidity, one that has and always will inspire hordes of live audiences to not just dream it, but to be it.
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Jurassic Park
June 11th, 2023 | 1 hr 28 mins
1990s, 90s, action, adventure, comedy, dinosaurs, entertainment, jeff goldblum, laura dern, movies, paleontology, sam niel, sci-fi, scifi, spielberg, steven spielberg
We spared no expense for Jurassic Park's 30th anniversary. Guests Rich Baker (@richbakercoaching) and clever girl Ami Lief (etsy.com/shop/MomoBunnysmoreCo) hold onto their butts to gush over an adventure 65,000,000 years in the making.