Show Notes
In space, no one can hear you scream, but in this episode, you can definitely hear us get real excited about Alien, the original 1979 film that started it all. Enough has been said about how it’s an undeniable classic that revolutionized cinema, etc, but it’s also a miracle it ever got made. Did you know that bringing the various forms of the iconic Xenomorph to life required actual human bones, a pile of rancid shellfish, and an industrial size oil drum full of KY Jelly - and only one of these things was at the request of H.R. Giger. Join us as we frantically gush like malfunctioning synthetic science officers about how much we adore this movie, and really try not to talk about the sequels too much (but it’s hard, because they rule too.) We also discuss our first exposure to this series, how our perspectives have changed since growing up. Also, Max would like to apologize for blanking on the names of Veronica Cartwright, who plays Lambert and falls backwards off a couch, and John Hurt, who plays chestburster victim Kane in Alien AND Spaceballs.
Intro contains clips from an H.R. Giger in a DVD special feature, Alien (duh) and “Hello! Ma Baby” by Howard & Emerson as featured in Spaceballs.
More from This Thing Rules
From Comic-Cons on both coasts to gaming expos on multiple continents, we’ve attended our fair share of nerdy gatherings, and they’re great! This episode, we’re digging into that magic of getting a bunch of people in the same place who are all really excited about one thing. Sometimes that’s comics, video games or pinball tables, other times it’s… less family friendly activities.
This episode, we’re extrapolating on the joys of the most functional souvenirs with magnetic properties, our favorite short-form fiction, and one of the more wholesome settings to legally imbibe beer. Intro contains clips from Stranger Things, the trailer for Maximum Overdrive, The Simpsons (again) and Beerfest
You know! Those things that are like gumball machines, but for little toys! Growing up in the USA, they usually dispensed a sticky hand, some slime, maybe a lil Homie, but in Japan they’ve been in another league for decades. We unpack (or perhaps unbox) the charm of randomly distributed toys and trinkets, some of our greatest gets, and the backwards order that we’ve become aware of them.Intro contains clips from a Gashapon machine, Dragon Ball and Se7en.
We’ve got another grab bag episode here, or rather, three very different bags: one’s a big paper bag full of dead leaves and grass clippings, another from a shoe store, and the third is from a bakery. This week we’re unpacking our love of gruelling manual labor in the hot sun to make our yards look nice, the timeless appeal of wearing athletic shoes all the time for completely unathletic activities, and cookies. Which are like crackers, but sweet, or cakes that are small and flat and hard. Look, you know what all those things are, just listen to the show. Intro contains clips from King of the Hill, a shoe store commercial, and Friends.
Ah, hitting the open road! A timeless rite of passage and quintessentially American adventure, unless of course you’re stuck in the car with your whole family, taking the bus or making unexpected pit stops so your driver can hook up with random dudes. We recount some of our most memorable, or in some cases mercifully forgettable automobile journeys. Intro contains clips from National Lampoon’s Vacation, The Simpsons and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas