Tim and Tola discuss the 2018 Alex Garland film “Annihilation,” as well as how midwesterners argue, how things fall to Earth, how high Jennifer Jason Leigh appears in this film, locating your scientific headquarters, the fact that lighthouses are invariably sited on the coast, getting tickled by giant crocodile sharks, how chemo is like being stabbed by a morgul blade, biocontainment 101, NASA Planetary Protection Officers, the does and don'ts of dealing with a malevolent entity, the power of refraction, Hox genes, explaining stuff to your teammates in a timely manner, watching movies on ’shrooms, ambiguity as a science fiction scriptwriting crutch, Hiroshima shadows, H.R. Giger, giant space vaginas and their associated glam-wombs, Chekhov's phosphorus grenade, and the fundamental unknowability of alien intelligence. As always, there are spoilers for the film reviewed, and in this case we have to say there are a fair number of spoilers for Steven Soderbergh's 2002 film "Solaris" as well, since many comparisons are made between the two films. We agreed to disagree on our overall assessment of "Annihilation".
Final score: Science 55%, Fiction 55%, Film 85%.
Next podcast: "Arrival"!