Boston SciFi Presents

Our guests look at another batch of unique actors who are defining the term #character actors. This podcast dives deep into Erich Avari (The Mummy), Joan Cusack (Grosse Point Blank, Working Girl), Woody Strode (Sgt Rutledge, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence), Danny Devito (Batman, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest), and Bruce Cambell (Bubba Ho-Tep, Army of Darkness). Film critic Oscar Goff join...

Nothing makes a good movie better than a great villain. In a new Boston SciFI series we start looking at Over the Top SciFi Villains. First up are a bunch of incredible bad guys - Dr. Emilio Lizardo (Buckaroo Banzai), Jean-Bpatiste Zorg (The 5th Element), Kurgan (Highlander), Heath Ledger's The Joker and the nefarious Agent Smith (The Matrix). Breaking it down for us are two respected film di...

April 8, 1969 saw a torchlight parade through Harvard Square to 1001 Mass Ave. It was the birth of the legendary Orson Welles Cinema. Join film director David Giancola and Producer Larry Jackson to dive into what the theatre meant and what the future of film going will be. Host: Garen Daly #podcast #film #sciencefiction  #orsonwelles #tommyleejones #cinematic #movies Please note we use films clips...

 Get the inside look into the people behind the Boston SciFi Film Festival, Angela Burgess and Suzzanne Cromwell.  They curate,  process submitted films  and work with the Judges to create the programming we will see for this year's 51st edition. They also explore why science fiction is THE genre of the 21st century. #cinema #movies #sciencefictionmovies #indiefilm #filmmakers #somervillethea...

The 24 Hour MARATHON is the signature event of the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival. Now in its 51st year, hundreds of avid film lovers gear up for sleep deprivation, polish up their ray guns and trek to the Somerville Theatre to spend time with like minded nerds. Long time Marathoner Christian Cooper and 'Thon Emcee Perry Persoff talk with producer Garen Daly about some of the films scre...

They come in peace, maybe. Since the 50s, Hollywood has loved illegal aliens. You know those little green men in their flying saucers. With film critic Erin Underwood and film director David Giancola, host Garen Daly looks to the skies for answers. From Harryhausen's EARTH VS FLYING SAUCERS to Jordan Peel's NOPE with stops at CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, ARRIVAL and more how humans interact with st...

They say imitation is a form of flattery. In Hollywood, it's a way to milk every last dollar out of an IP (Intellectual Property), Hollywood's most precious commodity. These imitations are called sequels and for the most part, they are inferior to the originals. Yet sometimes they surpass the originals. They are superior. That's what we talking about here. Great science fiction movi...

Extreme Cinema is designed to be disruptive. It is uncomfortable to watch, and yes, it can be exploitive. It can be gratuitous, mysogonistic, and for many just plain disgusting.  Boston SciFI Podcast host Garen Daly has found two articulate guests to explore horror’s last frontier - Extreme Cinema.  KILLER PICTURES author/influencer Hope Madden teams up with film critic Alexis den Boggende to craw...

Fun and engaging. On this show, we have aliens masquerading as teachers, an imaginary woman , a time traveling teen,  a Mensa candidate messing with lasers and some Community College professors facing an alien invasion. These are the films in GETTING SCHOOLED, the latest Boston SciFi Podcast. It’s all about looking at films where the action takes place in a school. REAL GENIUS, THE FACULTY, EVOLUT...

#japanese animation, or #anime, is unique for its complex storytelling, vibrant style and dynamic characters. It holds a unique place in #filmdom. #BostonSciFi looks at five anime films -#akira, #Miyasaki, #PrincessMonoke, #Vamire Hunter D, #howlsmovingcastle, #myneighbortotoro - seeking what makes them trick. In this episode we delve through iconic movies like Vampire Hunter D , Howl’s Moving Cas...

The studios were crumbling. There was unrest in the country and Hollywood would never be the same. Check out film director David Giancola and critic Alexis den Boggende as they unwrap essential 60s science fiction films. From Planet of the Apes to 2001, with stops at When the Earth Caught Fire  and Quatermass and the Pit, a look at a defining decade of film.  And in a digression, the guests opined...

It was a decade of scandal, war, and unrest. People fought for their rights. And the push back is still being felt in 2025. It was a time when the decaying Studio System looked like 35mm film burning up on the screen. But along came a generation raised visual images,  who then  imagined new stories, authentic stories, Add in technological advances and we find something new. And that something new...

For Hollywood, summer is THE time for movies. tent poles, popcorn movies, family films all drive the business like no other period in the year. With increasing challenges facing it, a lot is riding on the summer 2025 crop of films. Hollywood needs this summer to be winner. Listen in as Boston Hassle's Oscar Goff and Charlie Pettiffy along with host Garen Daly take a deep into 2025's summ...

What do ALIENS, John Carpenter's THE THING, STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, and E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL have in common? They're all examples of great 1980s scifi movies and how the decade helped define the genre as we know it today. On this episode, Boston SciFi Director Garen Daly is joined by Assistant Director Melissa Starker...

The 90s was a time when things changed.  Cultural shifts and the emergence of the digital world  scratch the surface. It's impact is undeniable. The movies of the time reflected these changes. Join us as we look at 10 'must see' movies from the 1990s. On tap, The Matrix,  Jurassic Park, Starship Troopers, Galaxy Quest, 12 Monkeys and more. Guests: Alexis den Boggende, Film Critic Bo...

Two of our favorite team members, Suzzanne Cromwell and Melissa Starker,  pull back the curtains on how Boston SciFi choses shorts and then creates programs. From the watching, to the selecting, to creating the flow, see what goes on inside a film festival #podcast #filmfestival #shortfilm You can find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, I Heart Radio, Google Podcasts, and wherev...

Fifty years is a long time. Much has happened. Much has changed. Fifty years ago the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival began at a legendary movie theatre. Later it overcame a fire, an historic blizzard, and a plague. It overcame changing demographics, and rapidly evolving technologies.  We have gone from seeing movies only in movie theatre to being able to catch a blockbuster while riding on a...

Good movies have good actors. Better movies have better actors. They're called character actors. No longer typed as gangster or slapstick comedian, modern character actors show, range, understand psychology and film history. Listen in as film commentators Alexis den Boggende & Oscar Goff join MC Garen Daly in zoom through JK Simmons, Angela Bassett, Steve Buscemi, Brad Dourif and Paul GIa...

Melissa Starker David Giancola You can find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, I Heart Radio, Google Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts from. You can also find us on our YouTube Channel, BostonSciFi. Thank you. Please comment, like and share. And if you have an idea for a podcast, please share it with us.  Many of our podcasts include movie trailers and clips from movi...

Memory implants, replicants, alternative realities, and fake reality - these are some of the elements that make stories by Philip K Dick resonant decades after his death, and what makes them fodder for 'high concept' Hollywood films. Join author/crtic Hope Madden & film programmer Melissa Starker as Boston SciFi Presents UNIVERSAL MEMORIES: The Films of Philip K Dick. Garen Daly is t...

Visitors from another world are a relatively recent theme in movies that started in the 50s. Since then we have all sorts of illegal immigrants from genial neighbors to human eating nasties. Please join us as Simon Foster, Festival Director of the Sydney SciFi Film Fest and author Dan Kimmel probe #killerklownsfromouterspace, #attacktheblock, #paul, #marsattacks and more. So unholster your ray gui...

Humans make them and use them. They can be safe, clunky contraptions or svelte streamline bodies, but they are designed to make our lives better. And in the process we imbue them with our emotions and sometimes are neurosis. TO SERVE MAN looks at how robots are depicted in movies. Weighing in with commentary and humor are Alexis den Boggende, Boston Hassle film critic and David Giancola, film dire...

You see their faces in movies and on TV. You hear their voices in animation, but you never quite know who they are. Listen in as film directors Hope Madden and David Giancola join MC Garen Daly as they try and define what a character actor is in the 21st century. Featuring #dickmiller, Catherine O'Hara, #jameshong, Keith David  Brion James & more. Plus we'll look at when does a chara...

There's horror and then there is BODY HORROR Listen in as film critic Alexis den Boggende and Broke Horror Fan creator Alex DiVincenzo explains;ain the difference. featuring Cronenberg' The Fly, The Human Centipede, Re-Animator, John Carpenter's The Thing with appearances by Tusk, Frankenstein,  Altered States & Tetsuo.  Maybe there is a fate worse than death. #podcast #movies #...

May 27, 2024 would have been Harlan Ellison's 90th birthday. To appreciate this seminal writer, Boston SciFi talks with noted author Nat Segaloff on his book  A LIT FUSE and his relationship with Harlan. We talk #StarTrek, #ScoobyDoo, #OuterLimits, #Terminator,  lawsuits and more. Inside stories and  funny moments all about one of speculative fiction's most unique writer. #podcast  #movi...