The Incomparable Mothership

In honor of Sir Terry Pratchett, who died a week ago, four voracious Pratchett readers discuss what made Pratchett great, their favorite Pratchett works, and recommend places for newcomers to Terry Pratchett to get started.

War! Our final battle with the “Star Wars” prequels is our take on “Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.” After a long string of opening statements, we take on the crawl and the first few scenes of the film. Why does a droid wheeze? Why are villains introduced off screen? Why is Christopher Lee wasted? What’s the deal with all the elevators? Why is Darth Vader a chump? Why is there even m...

We celebrate Leonard Nimoy, pondering what made us love Mr. Spock, discussing some of Spock’s finest moments, and even bringing up some lesser known corners of the Nimoy canon.

Our Old Movie Club, featuring classic films many of us haven’t seen selected just for us by Philip Michaels, is back! In this edition, we look at two underappreciated films of Alfred Hitchcock: 1943’s “Shadow of a Doubt” and 1948’s “Rope.” The former features Joseph Cotten shooting up through the ceiling of creepy, a battle of telepathy versus telegraphy, the special bond of people named Charlie,...

Introducing a new recurring segment on The Incomparable that we call Rocket Surgery, in which we watch an unappreciated science fiction movie from the past and then talk about it. For our first installment, we watched the 2003 film “The Core,” starring Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart, Stanley Tucci, Delroy Lindo, and Bruce Greenwood. Yes, this is a movie about people riding a spaceship (of a sort) dow...

We convene our Comic Book Club not to talk about a specific comic, but more generally the plight of the comic-book reader when it comes to events and continuity. Marvel and DC are both in the process of revisiting and changing their continuity via dramatic in-universe events. Is continuity worth the trouble? Are events fun, or soul-crushing? How do we feel about the old and new Marvel Secret Wars?...

Okay campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties because it’s coooold out there! We partake in our midwinter ritual of watching “Groundhog Day” over and over again, not because we have to, but because we want to. How does something that seems so generic on its surface unfold into one of the deepest and (dare we say it) most beloved films of all time? Plus, we cope with the Andie MacDowe...

The end of the world is here, or in the near future, or in the far future, or maybe all three? Our Book Club reconvenes to talk about three somewhat apocalyptic novels: “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel, “The Peripheral” by William Gibson, and “Slow Apocalypse” by John Varley.

Comic Book Club returns, with a look at a work by legendary writer Alan Moore. This one’s “Promethea” (1999-2005), a strange mixture of Wonder Woman and mysticism and tarot cards and… well, there’s a lot. We discuss the amazing visuals, coloring, and lettering, and ponder the difference between appreciating a work of art and being entertained. (Ideally you’d read Promethea Book 1 and Promethea Boo...

Hello and, again, welcome to the Aperture Science computer-aided enrichment center. We hope your brief detention in the relaxation vault has been a pleasant one. You are now in possession of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. With it, you can create your own portals. These intra-dimensional gates have proven to be completely safe. You, Subject Name Here, must be the pride of Subject Home...

It’s a new year! So as is traditional, we spend some time looking back at our favorite stuff from the past year. Plus we pick some of our favorite moments from the podcast and listen to listener choices for favorite Incomparable moments of the year.

In just moments, Rufus T. Firefly will appear, and all the people of Freedonia will cheer at the presence of their new leader. In the meantime, let’s take some time in our Old Movie Club to discuss the enduring and hilarious works of the Marx Brothers in general and the films “Duck Soup” and “A Night at the Opera” in particular.

It’s the holiday season, when it’s time to consider what’s truly important. We spend time with family and friends and maybe even reserve a few moments to ponder some of life’s mysteries: Is Bea Arthur really Boba Fett? Does Han Solo have a secret Wookie bride? What is Tobor spelled backward? And does C-3PO have eyelids?

It’s your usual detective story, with a guy obsessed with a mystery, a femme fatale, and… an asteroid that’s about to kill most of the living things on the earth? That’s the premise for “The Last Policeman” by Ben Winters. We liked the book (and its two sequels) quite a lot, though that comes with a big caveat based on what your definition of “fun” is, and apparently if you’re a soulless monster o...

Not many people remember the ’80s sci-fi TV series “Galaxy Quest,” starring Jason Nesmith and Alexander Dane, let alone remember it with fondness. But we’ve assembled a panel full of Questarians who will change your mind. By Grabthar’s hammer, what a topic!

In the not too distant future—next Sunday A.D.—there was a guy named Joel, not too different from you or me. He worked at Gizmonic Institute, just another face in a red jumpsuit. He did a good job cleaning up the place, but his bosses didn’t like him, so they shot him into space. And thus began “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”

There’s now a teaser trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, and you know we have opinions. And so, in great Incomparable fashion, we’re here to talk about 80 seconds of video for more than an hour. How could we not?

With this season of “Doctor Who” completed, it’s time to break down the start of Peter Capaldi’s tenure as our favorite Time Lord. Is he a good man or a cosmic hobo? Why are hugs untrustworthy? Why does Jason keep watching episodes in hotel rooms? These questions and many others are asked, and some of them are even answered.

We wade into the world of webcomics, discussing the explosion of sequential art on the Internet and our very favorite webcomics. If you don’t spend hours and hours reading comics after listening to this episode, we haven’t done our jobs.

Old Movie Club returns! And things get dark awfully fast, because we watched two Film Noirs: “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955) and “Out of the Past” (1947). These films contain action, punching, unlikely romance, death by fishing line, horrible ethnic stereotypes, questionable female characters, inexplicable plots, and a box containing a nuclear whatsit. Va-va-va-voom!

We review the new TV shows of the fall, including the influx of new comic-book based series such as “The Flash,” “Gotham,” and “Constantine.” Also we highlight some of the best shows the fall has to offer, and laugh at some of the worst.

Come with us if you want to live! It’s time for our re-watch of 1984’s classic sci-fi/horror/monster/car chase movie “The Terminator.” It’s a film that offers a fine distillation of everything ’80s, from Linda Hamilton’s Guess jeans to the pulsating Casio keyboard soundtrack. How do Kyle Reese’s stolen pants remind him of home? And whatever you do, keep an eye out for a gigantic Austrian!

London is a thriving modern metropolis, but beneath its streets and behind its doors are ancient, magical secrets. In this episode, a group of (North) Americans discuss some of our favorite London-based urban fantasy novels. This is a spoiler-light episode, so listen in and get ready to add a whole bunch of books to your to-read list. Plus, what are we reading?

Set your phasers to stun and get ready for another round of our panel’s choices for the best and worst of “Star Trek.” This time, we’re debating the best and worst Trek series and movies. Jason and Brianna’s mirror-universe duplicates are revealed. And Tony spends a lot of time talking about sea life.

Space detectives! Pathologically honest spaceship captains! Murderous alien molecules! Solar-system-wide diplomacy! You’ll find all this and more in “The Expanse,” a sci-fi novel series by James S.A. Corey that’s soon to become a SyFy channel series. The members of our Book Club highly recommend it. Also: What are we reading?