Screens of the Stone Age

Today we’re reviewing Attila (2001), a two-part TV miniseries about the infamous king of the Huns, who was a different person from Genghis Khan. We know so little about this period that we needed to invite some guests to help us out: Sara Hales-Brittain and Sam Siegel from the Greeced Lightning podcast join us to talk about trebuchets, armour styles, and how Gerard Butler’s abs defeated the Roman...

A new Indiana Jones movie came out this summer, so we’re reviewing an old one! Gabe Hrynick and Ken Holyoke of the New Brunswick Archaeology Podcast join us to talk about The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), widely regarded as probably the worst Indiana Jones movie. Is it really that bad? We break down the fridge, the monkeys, and the “magnetism”, and dip our toes into archaeological theory in...

Today we’re getting back to our roots with a true caveman movie: Ironmaster (1983) tells the story of a tribe of stone age bodybuilders and shampoo models who discover ironworking in a volcano and go on a rampage massacring their neighbours with swords, and the only one who can stop them is an oily-chested steroid enthusiast. Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Le...

Ross is away today but we’re joined by Jay Jay and Patty from the University of the Philippines to discuss The Mummy (1999), a remake of the classic Universal monster movie which has become a classic in its own right. Regular listeners know how much we love Brendan Fraser and also that we don’t know anything about Ancient Egypt, so Patty and Jay Jay help us navigate the history of papyrus, pigment...

Today we’re reviewing Timeline (2003), based on a Michael Crichton novel of the same name, in which archaeology and physics team up for wacky time travel shenanigans. Unfortunately we don’t know much about medieval France, but we do love our time travel movies. Except this one. This one is a stinker. (Sorry for the audio clipping in this episode, but thank god for backup recordings!) Get in touch...

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is a classic film by Stanley Kubrick set in the distant future of 2001, when humankind finally evolves into spacefaring starbabies with no help from the AI they designed to help them. But the first act is set at the dawn of humanity, which means we get to review it on our prehistoric podcast! Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterb...

Chrono-Perambulator (1999) is an Irish short film in which an archaeologist and mad scientist travel back in time to solve an archaeological mystery. At under eleven minutes, this is by far the shortest film we’ve reviewed, but that didn’t stop us from talking about it for almost an hour! Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa...

Today we’re watching Eegah (1962), the story of a filmmaker nearly bankrupting himself to finance a vehicle for his nepo baby son’s music career. Oh, and there’s a caveman… or a biblical giant. It’s unclear. This movie regularly shows up on lists of the worst movies of all time, but is it really that bad? Find out! Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterb...

On this episode we’re reviewing the quintessential archaeology movie: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). We had to get to it eventually, even though there isn’t really any archaeology in it, and there isn’t really anything new we can say about it that hasn’t already been said. Ross and Kim think it’s a perfect movie, but Josh plays devil’s advocate and tries to convince them tha...

Today we’re reviewing Time Trap (2017), a movie that features an archaeologist, his students, cavemen, hippies, cowboys, spacemen, Spanish conquistadors, Native Americans, and children, for some reason. It actually makes more sense than you’d expect! Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: screensofthestoneage@gmail.com...

Today we’ve reached a milestone: 50 episodes! To celebrate, we’re looking back on every movie we’ve watched and giving each one a definitive rating, tier-list style. If you’re a regular listener, you’ll enjoy reminiscing about our best and worst episodes with us, and if you’re new this episode will be a preview to the type of content you’ll find on this podcast. Get in touch with us! Twitter: @Sot...

On this episode, Dr. Predrag (Pedja) Radović joins us to talk about The Man from Earth (2007), the story of an academic who tries to convince his colleagues that he is 14,000 years old. This low budget movie was filmed on camcorders and takes place in a single room, and yet it’s somehow one of the better movies we’ve seen! Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Lette...

Prof. Mirjana Roksandic joins us again, this time to discuss an episode of Bones . We’re watching the Season 8 episode The Archaeologist in the Cocoon , in which the eponymous forensic anthropologist procrastinates on her real job to solve a Palaeolithic murder mystery left behind by their archaeologist victim. Mirjana explains to us why everything Bones says is wrong, and warns us about the dange...

In this episode Dr. Andrew Kinkella joins us to discuss 2012 (2009), a summer blockbuster from Roland Emmerich based on Graham Hancock’s Fingerprints of the Gods and a misunderstanding of the Mayan calendar. We get into the truth about the Maya, mutating neutrinos, pseudoarchaeology, and Roland Emmerich’s love of conspiracy theories. Follow Dr. Andrew Kinkella: Kinkella Teaches Archaeology on YouT...

The People that Time Forgot (1977) answers the question: what if Star Wars had dinosaurs? and was also terrible? This is the sequel to 1974’s The Land that Time Forgot. The original had some thoughtful philosophical musings on human nature; this one has a lot of cleavage. Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: screenso...

A.R.O.G (2008), the sequel to G.O.R.A (2004), is the story of a Turkish rug salesman who is sent a million years back in time by an old intergalactic foe, and must help his newfound stone-age friends progress through the technological ages to… eventually invent a time machine to return? That, or win a football match… The logic of it is unclear, but it is very funny and certainly film-literate (if...

We’re diving into the depths of pseudoarchaeology this week with Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). Ross is away but we’re joined by Fredrik Trusohamn, host of Digging Up Ancient Aliens , who helps us navigate the history of the mythological city. Fredrik came prepared with sources, so if you haven’t had enough of Atlantis by the end of the episode, check the links below for further readin...

Horror Express (1972) tells the tale of an anthropologist who discovers a frozen hominin in China which, unbeknownst to him, is possessed by a telepathic extraterrestrial life form. It’s basically The Thing on a train. Ross was so excited when he discovered this one that he couldn’t wait until Halloween. Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://lett...

To kick of 2023 we’re reviewing Troll (2022), a Norwegian movie in which the government enlists the help of a paleontologist to stop a rampaging troll. We dig into mythology, tooth ontogeny, and sexual dimorphism, and determine that taxonomically trolls are monkeys. Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: screensofthest...

This holiday season we’re traveling back to the town of Bedrock for A Flintstone Christmas (1977), a slapdash holiday special featuring everyone’s favourite modern Stone Age family. In this episode we ask hard-hitting questions, like why or how does this pre-Christian society know about Christmas, and why does Santa exist in the Stone Age with 1970s technology? But in the end, this special left us...

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010) is the story of a badass woman archaeologist from Belle Époque France. Well, she’s really more of a journalist and grave robber, misappropriating ancient knowledge for personal reasons. Still, it’s the only movie I know of that has resurrected Egyptian mummies, pterodactyls, and nuclear-physics-based telekinesis! Get in touch with us! Twitter:...

Ammonite (2020) is a fictional historical love story based on the lives of two real Victorian paleontologists, Mary Anning and Charlotte Murchison. Kim has a bee in her bonnet about this movie: too much hot sex and not enough paleontology! We’re definitely earning our “explicit” tag on this episode! Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterbox...

Mammoth (2006) is a made-for-TV Sci-Fi Channel original in which a frozen mammoth becomes possessed by an extraterrestrial being, and the Men in Black enlist the help of a local paleontologist to save the town from total annihilation. This movie asks many important questions, like: How do mammoths behave in the wild? Do they attack? And were they really wiped out by a “pathogon”? The answers to th...

Today we’re getting into the Halloween spirit with The Thaw (2009), a climate change horror movie in which a parasitic plague is unleashed from a thawed mammoth. In this episode we talk climate change, virus evolution, and glacial archaeology, and since we are all pandemic veterans by now, we are thoroughly unimpressed by these scientists’ quarantining skills. Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA...

We’re getting into the spooky season with Trog (1970), a British horror movie about a thawed caveman who goes on a murderous rampage, and an anthropologist who wants to study him for reasons which are not always clear. Is this a B-movie classic or does it take itself too seriously to be campy? Find out what we think in this episode! Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPod...