It's not about good or bad. It's about then and now.
Shyamalan's stripped-down sci-fi shocker closes out the Summer...from Space! with an alien invasion that doubles as family grief counseling. Our buddy Alex Rodriguez helps put a new twist on the Night-as-next-Spielberg narrative as we swing away at the meanings behind the miracles of Signs.
Signs (2002)
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, and M. Night Shyamalan
"Borrowing" liberally from a certain Spielbergian tale of a boy and his alien, Mac and Me has attained its own kind of cinematic immortality thanks to its unique mix of shameless commercialism, saccharine sincerity, and fugly extraterrestrials.
Sam Stovold brings the Coca-Cola and Skittles to our freewheeling discussion of this cult classic - brought to you by McDonald's!
Released August 12, 1988
Directed by Stewart Raffill
Written by Steve Feke and Stewart Raffill
Starring Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, Tina Caspary, Lauren Stanley, Jade Calegory, and Ronald McDonald as himself
For the next few months, WWWW is investigating phenomena of extraterrestrial origin in our newest seasonal series: "Summer...from Space!" We kick things off with Predator, a meat-and-potatoes sci-fi action classic that indulges in '80s movie machismo before transforming into a primal struggle for survival against an alien warrior.
Daniel Borders-Ashe joins us in a manly bicep-flexing handshake as we peer into a jungle of chauvinism to find genre innovation, enduring creature design, and the source of many Arnold soundboard classics.
Run! Go! Get to the podcatcher...and listen to this explosive episode!
Predator (1987)
Directed by John McTiernan
Written by Jim Thomas and John Thomas
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves, Shane Black, Elpidia Carilllo, and Kevin Peter Hall
