Episode 37: Episode 37: Annihilation/Stalker

WATCH THE SKIES. “It's not destroying. It's making something new.” When we’re visited from another world, how will it happen? Will it be with a bang or a whimper? Will it be a war of the worlds, a day the earth stood still, a close encounter? Or will it be a subtler arrival with a philosophical bent? Sounds like the perfect time for Episode 37 of Pop Art, the podcast where my guest chooses a movie from popular culture, and I’ll select a film from the more art/classic side of cinema with a connection to it. Today, I am happy to welcome director, writer, producer, Gustavo A. Garzon, who has chosen the female driven sci-fi epic Annihilation, whereupon I have chosen the Andrei Tarkovsky philosophical sci-fi art house classic Stalker, both about alien arrivals that resulted in the creation of a mysterious location the government has cut off from the general public. And in this episode we answer such questions as: What do these movies mean, or do they mean anything? Why did Annihilation flop? Why was Stalker filmed three different times? How does Annihilation support post-modernism and how does it address the ideas of female leads in film and the new era of genre meets diversity? How did Stalker contribute to the death of the director, the director’s wife and the lead actor? Be sure to check out Garzon’s IMDB page and his many films and videos at https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3126261/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0