Scott Weinberg is a veteran film critic. Steven DeGennaro is a doctor of astrophysics. Listen in as these two nerds compare and contrast two noteworthy sci-fi films every week. They discuss the artistic quality of the films, whether they get the science right, and whether or not that even matters.
Patron Episode - Firefly Commentary: The Train Job
Sep 13, 2020
Show notes
Our next patron commentary episode covers the debut episode of Firefly -- even though it wasn't actually the Firefly pilot. It's a little confusing, yes. But Scott and Steven explain it all while revisiting one of the series' best "heisty type" episodes. As with all of our commentary tracks, you can watch along with the episode yourself, or you can listen to it on its own.
Patron Episode - Star Trek TNG Commentary: Conspiracy
Sep 06, 2020
Show notes
Next in our series of commentary tracks, we tackle an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that scared the crap out of Steve when he first watched it as a kid. As with all of our commentary tracks, you can watch along with the episode yourself, or you can listen to it on its own.
Patron Episode - Firefly Commentary: Pilot
Aug 30, 2020
Show notes
When we started this podcast, we wanted to provide episodes to Scott's patrons on Patreon (www.patreon.com/scotteweinberg), but we didn't want to accidentally cannibalize movies that we might want to later cover in a proper cage-match episode. So we decided to do some commentary tracks for TV shows. Since we are taking a brief hiatus for the next few months, we decided to release those patron episodes here on our main feed for your listening pleasure. These episodes are all real-time commentaries, meaning that you can watch along with the episode yourself. Or you can listen to them on their own. Whatever floats your metaphorical boat. First up, we discuss the pilot episode of Joss Whedon's short-lived but long-remembered sci-fi western series Firefly. Enjoy!
Ep. 23 - Mission to Mars vs The Martian
Jul 21, 2020
Show notes
Strap in for a trip to Mars! Two of them, actually (well... four, if you want to get really technical), as Scott and Steven tackle Brian De Palma's theme-park-ride-based yawnfest Mission to Mars (2000) and the terrifically intense Ridley Scott space adventure The Martian (2016). Which movie gets the science right? And which one is as dull as it is silly? The answers may surprise you. But probably not.
Bonus Episode: Happy Death Day 2U Commentary Track
Jun 08, 2020
Show notes
There's sci-fi, there's horror, and there's sci-fi/horror, but how many movies have the audacity to follow up a hit horror movie with a complete left turn into straight sci-fi the way Happy Death Day 2U (2019) does? Scott and Steven sit down to watch this endearingly oddball sequel and discuss it in real time. Slasher horror, screwball comedy, murder mystery, parallel universe science fiction, and even some surprisingly effective heartfelt melodrama... this movie has it all. Along the way, we discuss not only the original Happy Death Day (2017), but also a dozen more "time loop" movies too. So listen once, jump off a roof*, and listen again to this very special bonus episode of Science vs Fiction! (*just kidding please don't jump off a roof)
Bonus Episode: Ant-Man Commentary Track
May 18, 2020
Show notes
Scott and Steven sit down for one of Marvel's most science fiction-y movies, aka the one in which a miniaturized ex-con teams up with a mad scientist, his double-agent daughter, and an army of helpful ants to keep their technology out of the hands of the military-minded bad guy. This week we're trying something different: a full-length commentary track. Not only does this allow us to do a deep dive into the science AND the fiction of a single movie, but it allows you, our faithful listeners, to watch and follow along as if we were in your living room ruining your experience of watching the film by talking through the ENTIRE THING. How good/bad is Evangeline Lily's wig? What exactly are the rules of shrinking/growing things in the Ant-Man universe (hint: whatever they need to be at that particular moment)? Is there such a thing as a physicist/entomologist? This and more on this extra long but always fascinating super special commentary episode of Science vs Fiction.
Ep. 22 - Back to the Future vs Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
May 03, 2020
Show notes
Scott and Steven take a long hard look at two of the most beloved time travel comedies of the 1980s (or ever). And while both films are still considered "most excellent" today for their genuine warmth and lovable characters, they also boast surprisingly intelligent screenplays, full of interesting science questions, including: Could a giant amplifier actually blow you out of your sneakers? Which is the more practical time machine: a bizarro sports car or a soon-to-be obsolete phone booth? Was Abraham Lincoln really a time traveler? And when did they stop selling pudding in metal cans? Party on, with this century-spanning episode of Science vs Fiction.
Ep. 21 - Minority Report vs Logan's Run
Apr 19, 2020
Show notes
This week we tackle two movies about characters who go from being cogs in a corrupt system to burning that very system to the ground--in one case literally! In Minority Report (2002), Steven Spielberg's action-packed and brain-bending adaptation of the Philip K. Dick story, Tom Cruise races against time to prove his innocence for a crime he has yet to commit. In Logan's Run (1976), Michael York--a 35-year-old actor playing a 26-year-old character in a story that's supposedly about youth--goes on the... um... run to escape from a utopia where everyone's needs are provided for until they are too old to enjoy new pop music. Is technology a proper substitute for good old-fashioned police work? In the future, will teleportation be used exclusively for late-night booty calls? How many different types of sci-fi tech can you cram into a single movie without breaking it? And why on Earth would a robot have lips and a tongue? All this, plus everything you never wanted to know about eyeball transplants on this fast-paced episode of Science vs Fiction!
Ep. 20 - E.T the Extra-Terrestrial vs Fire in the Sky
Apr 06, 2020
Show notes
In 1982, the world was introduced to one of the most beloved alien visitors of all time. His name was E.T., and apparently he was a not-too-bright child techno-savant exo-botanist whose alien biology was somehow perfectly compatible with Earth's atmosphere, candy, and liquor. This was seven years after a man named Travis Walton and his lumberjack buddies stumbled across something not nearly as cute and cuddly in the woods of Arizona, but eleven years before that allegedly true incident became the basis of the terrifying alien-abduction thriller Fire in the Sky. Why does NASA send astronauts to the So-Cal suburbs to collect an alien? Does a lie-detector test really detect lies? What does a fish think is happening when it is caught and released? And what's the deal with that one time that Steve thought he saw a UFO at an astronomical observatory? Find out on this extra-long and extra-sciency Science vs Fiction.
Ep. 19 - The Fifth Element vs Stargate
Mar 22, 2020
Show notes
Travel back in time, make a quick stop in Egypt, and then soar deep into outer space with a pair of popular (and kinda wacky) sci-fi epics. First up is Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, which is as colorful as it is incomprehensible -- and then it's Stargate, in which a fascinating space-travel premise quickly ends up in... a big pile of sand dunes. How exactly do waves of radiation generate human tissue? How could one gun do so many things? How hard is it to decipher a 7-symbol code? And what's up with that resurrection coffin? All this and more on this goofy episode of Science vs Fiction.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
