They're creepy! They're crawly! And oh yeah...they're gigantic!! We're talking about those irradiated, mutated, and sometimes prehistoric giant bugs that have been freaking us out on movie screens for decades. Come join the Planet 8 crew as we explore the films that feature these weird and wonderful critters.
We'll focus on classics including Them!, Tarantula, and Mothra, but also touch upon a few others. Well, maybe not touch upon them - we'll poke them with a long stick.
And what would you do if attacked by a 50 foot spider? Or a 20 foot ant? Have you given it any thought, friends? Maybe you should! The crew delves into the science of big bugs, discussing Professor Michael C. LaBarbera's paper, The Biology of B-Movie Monsters, and Professor Andrew Fraknoi's class on the Science of Science Fiction, to see what a real giant insect would be like, and what vulnerabilities they'd have. Finally, we face our fears and reveal what giant insect we'd be the most frightened of!
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| Your crew -Larry, Karen, and Bob |
For our Sensor Sweep, we shamelessly plug our Tee Public shop, where you can purchase nearly anything -t-shirts, hoodies, hats, mugs, tote bags - with one of the Planet 8 logos (we have two designs now!) on it. We originally made a small number of tees and hats for ourselves, but we had so many requests from friends and family that we decided to open it up and see if anyone else wanted to show off their Planet 8 love. We get a part of the proceeds from each purchase and will use this to fund more equipment, products, and trips to conventions, where we can interview cool people we know you want to hear! If you do get something, send us a picture! We'll post it! We really appreciate your support, in whatever form, and we love hearing from you, which brings us to the next part of our message. Besides this site, you can chat with us at:
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Thanks for Listening!
I realized as I listened to the show that I haven't really seen many of the older big bug movies. Of the ones mentioned, in fact, I'd only seen Tarantula - a long time ago on TV. And I've seen Mothra vs. Godzilla, which might be my pick for favorite of the classical bug movies.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, could Cloverfield be considered a big bug movie? That monster - what we saw of it - looked kind of like a giant bug.
Also, I have to disagree with a point made in your conversation about terrifying giant-sized versions of everyday animals, i.e., cats. First, there's the fact that they exist already, they're just called tigers, jaguars, cougars, etc. Second, if you mean housecats specifically, I have to say as someone who shares living space with several of them that I think they like have butlers too much, so I'm not sure they'd try to kill us. Make us even more their slaves, yes, but kill us? Probably not. I think, though, that in that scenario the dogs would really have to be worried...
Edo Bosnar
Yes, tigers and lions are “big cats”. But compare them... the tiger’s and lion’s legs are proportionally bigger or thicker than a house cat’s.
ReplyDeleteWhen you’re talking Bugs, you’re not looking at muscles and bones. So it’s a totally different thing. Check the research Karen was siting....
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