(Special Presentation) FRAME RATE: Godzilla Minus One (2023)

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2023 was quite a year at the movies. "Barbenheimer" became a cultural phenomenon. Marvel lost its mojo. And a ten million-dollar subtitled Godzilla movie became the most successful live-action Japanese film in US history. 

But Godzilla Minus One is so, so much more than just a box office success story. It's a deeply human tale that feels urgently suited to our time in world history. It manages to be both terrifying and profoundly moving, with unforgettable performances, a rigorous attention to detail, and one of the great musical scores of the 21st century.

It's also an absolute masterclass in how to create character-driven storytelling. The characters in Minus One feel like living, breathing, fully-realized human beings.

In this impassioned episode of Frame Rate, Jaime, Christian, and lifelong Godzilla nut Patrick discuss why this film is so important, and examine the reasons why Takashi Yamazaki's new Goji vision is resonating so deeply with audiences around the world.

231 // Imagined Futures Part One: What If Aliens Never Happened?

What if Aliens was never made? That's the question that starts off our final episode and roundtable of the year. Join the entire team at Perfect Organism Podcast as we sit down to talk about the future of Alien if Aliens had never been made. Believe us when we say, this was a challenging topic. James Cameron's Aliens is the defining film of the Alien saga, so coming up with ideas about what a future story could look like was a bit of an adventure. We hope you all enjoy this episode and thank you so much for supporting us throughout the years. We look forward to returning in 2024 with a continuation in a couple of our ongoing series, new content and fantastic coverage. 

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas for those who celebrate!

230 // Interviewing Mario Benvenuto, Alien Escape Room Creator

Mario Benvenuto, the maker behind the popular Wired_Workshop YouTube channel, managed to pull off what many Alien fans would consider a dream project: an Alien-themed escape room. Full of detail, Easter Eggs, and electronic wizardry, his escape room was a love letter to a franchise he loves dearly.

Mario is also a Patron, and has helped out with some prop making on our upcoming Alien Day 2024 film!

In this wide-ranging (and hilarious) episode, Patrick, Christian, Andie, and Mario discuss how the escape room came together, and end up having a much larger conversation about props in the Alien universe and what makes them so special.

Check out Mario on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@WiredWorkshop and on IG at instagram.com/wired_workshop!

Perfect Organism’s Alien Romulus & Noah Hawley Series News Update!

Jaime & Patrick drop in to briefly discuss the casting news and announcements for Noah Hawley's Alien series as well as come confirmation from our own reporting in May of 2023 about the placement of Alien Romulus in the Alien series. This next year and a half will be especially exciting for Alien fans as we await not only a theatrical film but a ten hour series that will premier within months of each other. 

229 // ALIENS: Bishop | Interviewing Author T.R. Napper

The extended universe for ALIEN is nothing short of a miracle. From movie spin-offs and tie-ins to standalone novels like Vasquez, and masterpieces like Into Charybdis, Alien fandom has no shortage of stories and and adventures to go on between film releases. In this early drop episode, Christian & Jaime sit down with author T.R. Napper to discuss his newest novel, ALIENS: Bishop. Starting with Alien 3 as a starting off point, Napper's Bishop novel dives into artificial intelligence, what it means to be human and a platoon of badass Marines. We hope you enjoy.

228 // Return to The Forbidden Planet : Part Two | The Nostromo

In this episode your hosts Andie, Patrick, Jaime and special returning guest Adam Ezekiel sit down to continue our trek into the masterpiece that is ALIEN. In this discussion, we jump into 1979 with the reading of first hand accounts of what it was like to see ALIEN on the big screen at that time. From there we move into the discussion of the first character we meet in the film, the Nostromo. We had such a fun time discussing this topic and we are excited for you to hear it.

To find out more about Adam Ezekiel's amazing movie costume replicas, visit www.nostromocrew.com and peruse his work!



227 // A Perfect Organism Halloween Special: Evil Dead (2013) A Roundtable

After over eight years in fandom, we at Perfect Organism: The Alien Saga Podcast are releasing our first annual Halloween episode. It seemed right that we dive into the Fede Alvarez-directed remake of Evil Dead. With Alien Romulus ten months away from release, this felt like the right time to check out what Fede might have up his sleeve in terms of tone and style. This was a rousing roundtable and we can't wait for you to listen!

226 // Return to the Forbidden Planet: The Legacy of Alien | Part One

As we await the promotional engine to begin revving up for Alien Romulus, a listener and friend of the show, Adam Ezekiel of Nostromo Crew reached out to us with an episode pitch. Adam's idea was to explore Dan O'Bannon & Ridley Scott’s ALIEN by discussing what made it such a watershed moment in cinema history. 

From Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey to 1951's The Day the Earth Stood Still, Christian, Patrick, Jaime and Adam jump into an immersion of sights, sounds and horror that is singular to Alien. Join us. 

To explore more from Adam Ezekiel's costume replica line, be sure to go to nostromocrew.com and check out his work. The only other place you will see work this expertly crafted is in 1979's ALIEN.

225 // Defending Prometheus: A Roundtable Discussion

In the eleven years since the release of Prometheus a lot has been said about the film. Controversial, divisive, masterpiece, or fumble, there's no disputing that Ridley Scott's storied return to science fiction is one for the film history books. In this episode the PO team is joined by Derek from Alien Theory to 'defend Prometheus' as it were. Is Prometheus a film that needs defending? Where does it sit between the original trilogy of films and Alien Covenant? We attempt to explore all of those questions and more. This was a delightful discussion. Enjoy!

224 // Interviewing Julianna Kurokawa (”Maeko Hayes” in Aliens: Dark Descent)

As fans continue to play and praise Aliens: Dark Descent, Patrick and Christian sat down to talk to the Deputy Director herself, Maeko Hayes, voiced by Julianna Kurokawa (The Peripheral, The Witcher, Avenue 5).

 In this episode we peek behind the curtain of video game production to learn how the team at Tindalos Interactive worked with the actors, and what it took to bring this new chapter of the Alien Saga to life.

 You can learn more about Julianna by following her Instagram account here: @julianna_kurokawa

223 // Aliens: Colonial Marines 10-Year Retrospective (The Hive Ep. 1)

** This is the first episode of our new Patreon series dedicated to Alien content. We're calling it "The Hive," and it'll be available exclusively to Patrons going forward. To sign up for Patreon, head to patreon.com/perfectorganism. **

It's somehow been ten years since Aliens: Colonial Marines stomped its way into our lives. What actually happened? How did it go from being one of the most promising console games of its generation to being the butt of every joke?

On this ten year-anniversary show, Jaime, Patrick, and Christian break out their best T poses and talk about this thing from every angle imaginable. 

// Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/perfectorganismitunes

222 // The Biology Of Fear (With Lali DeRosier and Alex White)

Welcome to Xeno Bio 101! When Alex White (author of two of the best-received Alien novels in history) mentioned on their previous PO appearance that they had an amazing science advisor named Lali DeRosier—a science teacher, like our very own Andie GeekGirl!—we knew we had to have her on the show. And to top it off, Alex even agreed to come back on as well!

In this wonderful, educational episode, Lali and Andie take us to science class. How could these creatures grow so quickly? What does "biomechanical" even mean? What the hell is the thing called that the Queen drops eggs from (hint: it's not an ovipositor)?

Join Patrick, Christian, Andie, Lali, and Alex as they discuss these ideas and SO much more!

Lali has a podcast of her own called Curly Hair Mafia—a great place to start would be this episode discussing Prometheus! https://curlyhairmafia.com/2012/06/10/prometheus/

You can also find her on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/adverbia.bsky.social and on whatever Twitter is currently called @_adverbia.

More on Alex (and their socials) can be found at http://www.alexrwhite.com/. Please read their books, you won't regret it.

// Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/perfectorganismitunes

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221 // Anatomy of a Scene: Brett's Death

One of our most popular episode formats on Shoulder of Orion: The Blade Runner Podcast (sister show to PO) is "Anatomy of a Scene," where we break down exactly what makes a given sequence so iconic. On today's episode, we apply that same format to one of Alien's most enduringly frightening moments: Brett's death at the hands of the creature.

Join Jaime, Patrick, and Christian as they explore this episode from all sorts of angles—technical, philosophical, film-theoretical—and let us know if there are other scenes in the Alien saga you'd like to hear us discuss on future episodes!

// Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/perfectorganismitunes

220 // Aliens: Dark Descent Review

When Aliens: Dark Descent was announced, it was hard to make out exactly how this real-time strategy outing was going to fit into the rich (and all-over-the-place) pantheon of Alien games. Could a squad game be scary? Was it going to be another wave-after-wave mow 'em fest like the (very fun) Aliens: Fireteam Elite? 

In this episode, Patrick and Christian welcome first-time guest Adam Zeller of the Alien vs. Predator Galaxy Podcast to discuss their initial impressions of Dark Descent. Does it work as a game? Does it work as a piece of Expanded Universe lore/world-building? Join us as we explore these questions (and a whole lot more)—and be sure to listen to the AvP Galaxy Podcast as well! Head over to https://www.avpgalaxy.net/category/podcast/ and be sure to subscribe.

// Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/perfectorganismitunes

219 // The Egg and the Sulaco Part Two: Alex White Weighs In (and So Do You!)

Our "Egg and the Sulaco" episode was quite a hit, it seems! Your thoughtful, impassioned, sometimes-wacky feedback/conspiracy theories inspired us to do a Part Two on this topic, and to enlist the help of bona fide Alien superstar Alex White (author of Alien: The Cold Forge and Alien: Into Charybdis among many other fantastic books you should check out).

Join Jaime, Patrick, Christian, Andie, Maj, Perry, Xander, and Alex as they try to figure out how the heck that egg got under that floor panel (and much, much more). Stay tuned till the end for listener comments!

For more on Alex and their work, head over to www.alexrwhite.com. Also be sure to follow Alex on IG @the_alex_white. 

// Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/perfectorganismitunes

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218 // Alien: Romulus News Roundup Roundtable

Call it what you will—Alien: Romulus, untitled Alien film, or anything in between—Fede Alvarez's upcoming Alien project has the internet absolutely buzzing lately. 

In this roundtable (our largest ever!), the PO Team enlists the help of some friends to break down the rumors and news leaks, and to help envision the myriad directions this project could ultimately end up going in. Jaime, Patrick, Christian, Andie, Perry, Maj, and Xander are joined by returning guest Matt John and first-time guest Derek from Alien Theory (must-follow content for any Alien fan: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWMlORreKN0UmokKOdFq-g) on this wide-ranging conversation about all the exciting speculation in fandom.


217 // The Egg & The Sulaco : A Roundtable Discussion

In this episode, the Perfect Organism Podcast team sits down to speculate how an egg found its way into the Sulaco to set up the events of Alien 3. This is the first time we've conducted a purely speculative conversation and we hope you have as much fun listening as we did talking about it all. Join your hosts Christian, Patrick, Jaime, Andie, Perry & Xander in Da House for a rousing good time. 

216 // Alien Day 2023 Live Roundtable

As is our tradition, the Perfect Organism Podcast team came together for a special live episode on Alien Day to discuss our experience of the day, Alien: Transmission, and the set photo that dropped from the Fede Alvarez-directed Alien film. We were joined by our special guest and friend Matt John to celebrate our love of these films, and the biggest day in Alien fandom. We hope you enjoy!

215 // Alien: Transmission - A Roundtable

As we celebrate Alien Day 2023, the Perfect Organism podcast teams sits down to discuss the behind-the-scenes of their first short film production. From the first ideas for the story, to the incredible work our friends Maj and Xander would contribute, the team shares every aspect of the creation of this special story. Alien Transmission is the first release by Perfect Organism to connect to existing audio dramas and video diaries. If you're a fan of Alien: Abandon, and our YouTube web diary series, Alien: Outland, you'll want to listen in and find out how this all began. We hope you enjoy, and HAPPY ALIEN DAY!