Arts Union Science

“Oh Greatest of Kings, indulge me in this friendly Christmas game.” 

Perhaps it is fitting that we begin the long awaited first episode in Volume 8 with The Green Knight – a tale of repeated failure in the face of unrealistic expectations (many of them self imposed). Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and a returning first author / Viking-hater (David Brown) as the two take a look at the chivalric code and how quickly it succumbs to inherent human vices. Along the way, they’ll get into a spirited debate / blood bath about Robert Eggers’ The Northman, marvel at the deepness of Ralph Ineson’s voice, and gush about the bestest little CGI fox in the whole kingdom.

“My suit … My tailor … Goodbye.”

Hello and welcome to the final episode in this year’s AUS Grant Panel! Join your co-hosts Tyler D. R. Vance and Jennie S. Orton as they discuss the most fabulous night in Hollywood, AKA the 95th Academy Awards. Along the way they’ll discuss the lack of love for Banshees of Inisherin, the blasphemy of slighting Babylon’s score, and the Cinderella story that is Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. Then, the dynamic duo announce the winners of the three AUS Grants for this year. Wanna know who won? Then give the episode a listen (or skip to the ~35 minute mark and carry on with your day).

The Oscar’s are fast approaching and there’s only one thing on everybody’s mind: I wonder which movies are going to win the Arts Union Science Grants this year.

That’s right! The Arts Union Science Grant Panel has reassembled to award the best in cinema with one of our coveted AUS Grants. In this episode, panel co-chairs Tyler D. R. Vance and Jennie S. Orton gather to discuss the first five of the 10 films nominated for an AUS Grant … oh and they’re also nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, if you’re into that sort of thing. The discussion is spoiler free, but if you want to be entirely fresh when going into a particular movie, you can find the time stamps below so you can skip to the films you wish to hear about.

“Aye. And if my grandmother had a wheel, she’d be a wagon.”

After some months of other nonsense, the human journey continues with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Join your thesis supervisor (Tyler D. R. Vance) and our resilient thesis student (Daniel G. Schep) as the two of them weather the lukewarm waters of the third entry in Stark Trek’s film franchise. Along the way they’ll salute the Enterprise for its service, pine for the themes and well-preserved hammy-ness that defined the previous entry, and praise James Horner for raising a collection of decent scenes into the highest echelons of Star Trek cinema. Also, if you’re interested in hearing what it sounds like when Tyler and Dan chat without having to worry about sounding intelligent (or even coherent), then make sure to stick around for the after-episode blooper section.

“Michael was a private person and Diane was definitely not a private person.”

The Arts Union Science podcast returns in artificial Super8 for its penultimate episode of Volume 7. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s first author (Nicole V. Stawikowski) as they talk “Stories We Tell”, the 2012 personal documentary by Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley. Along the way, they’ll reflect on how movies strike differently with age, marvel at how Polley is able to capture the humanity in all of her familial subjects and throw the most umbrageous shade at both “Blonde” and the 1970’s Italian film “Swept Away” … it makes sense in context.

“And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, ‘Come and see’.”

Behold the newest episode of the Arts Union Science podcast. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) as well as returning first author and burgeoning Star Trek expert (Daniel G. Schep) as they discuss something very different than Star Trek: the Soviet-era war film “Come and See”. Along the way, they will marvel at the intensity of this pulls-no-punches war crime movie, stare slack-jawed at the most devasting scene put to film, and still manage to end up briefly talking about Star Trek.

“I’m so scared.”

Volume 7 of the Arts Union Science podcast continues with a look into a film that is definitely a “Spooky”: The Blair Witch Project. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and returning first author (Jennie S. Orton) as they chaotically lurch their way through the lo-fi classic that launched the found footage horror craze. Along the way, they’ll touch on the viral marketing campaign that made this film such a sensation, stan the heck out of one Heather Donahue, and relive past trauma from their first forays into horror movies as children.

“You will die! Like the others before you, one by one, we will take you.”

Emerging victorious from a dismal forest near you, it’s a new volume of the Arts Union Science podcast. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s first author (Steven Harvey) as they tackle the often imitated but rarely exceeded low-fi horror flick: The Evil Dead. Along the way, they’ll delve deep into the franchise as a whole, lament horror franchises’ obsession with overstaying their welcome, and hear from other superfans of the Deadites, including the fallen angel himself: Satan.

“It's human nature to lie. Most of the time we can't even be honest with ourselves.”

The Arts Union Science Podcast returns with the final episode of Volume 6. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s first author (Phil Linden) as they attempt to unravel the truth within the lies of Rashomon, the Akira Kurosawa film from 1950. Along the way, they’ll gush about the beautifully thematic setting, ponder on what Rashomon has to say about a modern era where we can’t even agree on which way is up, and somehow spend ten whole minutes talking about King of the Hill . . . surprisingly, it is relevant.

“Because what right do I have to not be happy. I have everything.”

Another episode of the Arts Union Science podcast rolls into the station; and it’s right on time, too . . . shocking. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s first author (Aidan Paskinov) as they explore the twisty-turny psychological thriller: Nocturnal Animals. Along the way, they’ll marvel at the magnificent Michael Shannon, question which version of Jake Gyllenhaal is hotter (i.e. young and intense, or old and grizzled), and record a completely normal Conclusion section in which nothing strange happens.

WARNING: Nocturnal Animals deals with themes of sexual assault and violence towards women. If you find these topics to be triggering, perhaps sit this one out. There are plenty of other episodes that don’t require similar warnings.

“You’re going to need a bigger boat.”

In the midst of another heat wave, the Arts Union Science podcast returns with an episode on one of the greatest summer films of all time: Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s first author (Jennie S. Orton) as they dive deep into the history and greatness of this 1975 PSA on staying clear of the water for the rest of your life. Along the way, they’ll praise pretty much every performance on screen (even the guy that says “Whaaaaaat?” real weird), compare and contrast the film to the novel as if this were a 12th grade English essay, and pity the poor members of the film crew responsible for finding and flying a rotting shark across the country.

“We wait for something. We hope, we lose hope, we move closer to death.”

With that cheery note, the Arts Union Science Podcast returns with an episode on Andrei Tarkovsky’s final film: The Sacrifice (1986). Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and returning first author extraordinaire (Keegan Turner-Wood) as they unpack the existential dread associated with nuclear holocaust circa in the late ‘80s, with clearly no relevance to the modern day . . . yeah. Along the way, they’ll wade into the film’s relationship to Fredrich Nietzsche, wax poetic about the use of biblical allusion and transcendental film-making styles, and try to figure out if the film contains the worst party in cinema history.

“Are you a ladies’ man, Bob?”

After a long unplanned hiatus, the Arts Union Science podcast returns with a look into the 2003 “historical” epic: The Last Samurai. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and our returning first author (Sean W. Phippen) as they tackle the complexities of a well-crafted film built upon a shaky, problematic foundation. Along the way, they’ll pour on the praise for Ken Watanabe’s performance, outline the necessary components of a good Big Battle Scene, and accidentally remember that The Rise of Skywalker was a thing.

“You British don’t have a monopoly on snobbery, you know.”

The Arts Union Science podcast returns for Volume 6, thrown backwards through time and space into your pod-catcher of choice. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s first author (David W. Brown) as they tackle the densest Nolan picture to grace the silver screen: Tenet. Along the way, they’ll re-kindle the on-going blood feud between LG and Toshiba users, ruminate on the logistics of reversed temporal entropy and how that impacts the laws of thermodynamics, and appreciate the “good jaw acting” done by Robert Pattinson (or as his friends know him “Bobby P”).

“How do you define ‘unwarranted’?”

In science, graduate students perform research in order to gather enough data to publish research articles. However, in the background they are also trying to – you know – graduate so they can someday get a job that pays rent and such. That means writing a thesis: a multi-hundred paged tome that chronicles the student’s human journey from neophyte to specialist in a specific field. Here at the Arts Union Science journal, we have been performing a similar task in the background and, today, we begin to unveil it to the world. This is the first chapter of our Arts Union Science Thesis on the original Star Trek films.

Join our Thesis Supervisor and resident Star Trek “expert” (Tyler D. R. Vance) and the primary researcher for this endeavour who’s never seen so much as an episode of Star Trek (Daniel Schep) as they go through Star Trek: The Motion Picture. While discussing this sizeable bag stuffed with contents of mixed quality, they’ll also find time to ask questions (that need answering) regarding the place Solaris has in the hard vs. soft sci-fi continuum, the omnipresence of diopter shots on the bridge of the Enterprise, and the logistics of Scotty’s route efficiency while piloting shuttle pods.

After much ado about things that vary between nothing and something, we are now at the end of our Grant Panel that seeks to award the Oscar Best Picture Nominees in the same way that some would award quality science. Join our co-hosts Aditi Ramesh and Tyler D. R. Vance as they reveal the winners of the three grants available. Along the way, they'll also recap the . . . eventful Oscar's ceremony, offer up some additional reading for 2021 films that didn't make the cut for a nomination, and get played out during their thank you speeches.

Welcome one and all to the first annual Arts Union Science Grant Panel!

This week, co-hosts Tyler D. R. Vance and Aditi Ramesh review five of the best picture nominees to decide if they are ELIGIBLE to receive both an Oscar and - more importantly - one of our prestigious AUS Grants. The movies reviewed this week include Don't Look Up, Dune, West Side Story, King Richard, and The Power of the Dog. 

This week is a SPOILER-FREE episode.

“Do not mock the Godsh!”

The Arts Union Science podcast returns for the third episode of our Grant Renewal Volume. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s returning very-qualified personnel (Emily L. Vance) as they sail across the sea with 1000 hot takes on “Troy” – the 2004 epic by Wolfgang Petersen – in tow. Along the way, they’ll exorcise some Trojan horse-like quotes from their noggins, prattle on about the beauty of Troy’s music and action sequences when combined, and throw shade at a literary masterpiece that has been around for thousands of years.

“I have apologized so many times.”

“Not quite enough times. Very close though. I’ll let you know.”

The “second” episode of the “fifth” volume of the Arts Union Science “podcast” has descended from on high to do battle with deviant opinions on a controversial MCU entry. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s returning very-qualified personnel (Sean W. Phippen) as they take a look at Marvels Eternals, a blockbuster superhero film directed by Academy Award Winner Chloe Zhao. Along the way, they’ll workshop a new rating system for MCU directors, fail to decide on which characters could have been cut for the sake of clarity, and pour gas on Sean’s continuing one-sided crusade against Martin Scorsese (P.S. not really, we love Marty).

“Master Chief, would you mind telling me what you’re doing on that ship?”

And we’re back, with the second part of our first episode of our fifth volume of our film podcast *deep breath* Arts Union Science. Join your Corresponding Author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and the triumphantly returning First Author (Brett L. Kinrade) as the two continue their discussion of Halo Reach, a prequel for the beloved video game franchise. This time around, they aim to get get less existential and more practical with the question: “Could Halo be turned into an interesting movie and, if so, is Halo Reach the story make this happen with?” Along the way, they’ll look at the use of documentary-esque cinematics in video games, question the effectiveness of the MCU as the tentpole for “good” characters, and take a host of shots (some cheap but most spot on) at Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

“This comm has more shrapnel than transceivers.”

Welcome to Volume 5 of the Arts Union Science podcast. In episode 1 of our new volume, we get interactive with our second video game review in the podcast’s history. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and a returning highly qualified personnel (Brett L. Kinrade) as they tackle the existential ennui of Halo Reach: a first-person shooter with more on its mind than head shots. During their journey into the soul-searchy-and-weird, they’ll wonder after the biological drive to continue living, break down the musical choices of Halo’s saddest death scene, and blow out the mic whilst giving Creepers from Minecraft a cannon solidifying nickname . . . and that’s only part 1! Part 2 should be heading your way in a week’s time.

As an official finale to both the year and to Volume 4, we have a Special Issue episode for you. Special Issue episodes don’t follow our traditional format, instead taking a step into more chaotic waters to compare an aspect of the science world with an aspect of the film world. In this episode, authors Keegan Turner-Wood, Phil Linden, and Tyler D. R. Vance follow the suggestion of an absent author (Ilinca Georgescu) to compare the Signal-To-Noise Ratio of Science to Movies that MAY be Christmas movies. Which movies are these? Well, see if you can guess from the Simpsons references below.

"I love your eyes. I love the rest of your face, too. I haven't even looked further down and I'm sure it's all fantastic."

This week on the Arts Union Science podcast, we finish up Volume 4 (our Discovery-based research volume) with the delightful rom-com "About Time". Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week's first author (Ilinca Georgescu) as they try to relive their favourite moments from this modern classic about love and time travel. Along the way, they'll argue over the logic of the film's timey-wimey nature, make comparisons to "The Time Traveler's Wife" despite the fact that neither author has seen the film, and award Bill Nighy with The Smarmy Dad of the Century award.   

“I am an F-B-I agent!”

The Arts Union Science trundles on with another episode, our penultimate in Volume 4: The Discovery-Based Research Volume. Join our corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s first author (Corey A. Stevens) as they take on the X-treme challenge of discussing the dynamic duo of Point Break (1991) and its “special” younger sibling Point Break (2015). Along the way, they’ll get distracted by the raw animal magnetism of Patrick Swayze, reflect on Katherine Bigelow’s career, and get real cantankerous with their old man take of “they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.”

“Why are you in my breakfast?”

The Arts Union Science podcast returns for its 4th episode in Volume 4: The Discovery Based Research Volume. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and returning first author (Phil Linden) as they tackle the horror / western / . . . rom com(?) indie darling: Bone Tomahawk. Along the way, they’ll try to define the Western genre, ruminate on gore as a legitimate film-making technique, and dole out an incredible amount of praise for both Richard Jenkins performance and Kurt Russel’s facial hair.

“What a wonderful day for an exorcism.”

“Now about that WINE!”

The Arts Union Science podcast returns for its second episode in Volume 4: The Discovery Based Research Volume. This week, the film to be discovered is one “The Last Unicorn”, an animated fantasy film from the 1980’s by the prolific and divisive Rankin and Bass productions. Join our corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s co-first authors (Gary F. A. Johnston and Raeanne L. Johnston) as they try to metaphorically dissect the last unicorn with all its whimsy, grandeur, and straight up depressing adult messages intact. Along the way, they’ll invent (but fail to define) the term “Schmendricked”, get caught up on the intricacies of low budget animation, and piss off fans of Jeff Bridges, Tim Burton and the sanctity of scientific controls – all within an hour-and-a-half, no less.

"Music Intensifies!!!"

A new volume awaits! This season, our corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) gets treated to movies he’s never seen before. In science, this process is called Discovery-Based Research. At the Arts Union Science, it’s called Volume 4. This week, Kathleen Xu returns as first author to show off a beloved classic from Chinese director Zhang Yimou: “Red Sorghum”. Join your intrepid authors as they tackle the beautiful visuals, resonant themes, and questionable gender politics of this Golden Bear-winning film. Along the way, they’ll wax poetic about hallucinatory realism, the female gaze, and the power of generational tales.

“Kangaroo!”

“Some men just want the fight.”

“Who would do that . . . to a friend?”

The Interdisciplinary Volume of the Arts Union Science podcast is alive and well with our fourth episode, which spins around the central axis of the film I, Tonya. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s primary author/sibling extraordinaire (Emily L. Vance) as they attempt to relive the multiple versions of the Tony Harding story as seen by the myriad of strange characters that surrounded it. Along the way, the intrepid Vance duo will also discuss the aesthetic pressure inherent to female-centric sports, the tenuous connections the film has to Bo Burnham’s new special Inside, and whether or not Shawn Eckhardt is related to Aaron Eckhart . . . spoiler, he is not.

“Must the duck be here?”

On episode 3 of the Arts Union Science’s Interdisciplinary Volume, our authors take a look at the newest-to-date film from the idiosyncratic Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos: The Favourite. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s primary author (Aidan Paskinov) as the two discuss this strange period piece dramedy about three women’s fight for power, love, and vaguely defined morality. Along the way, our authors will also pose strikingly before conversations concerning fish-eyed lenses, the majesty of Olivia Coleman, and the unrelenting horniness of Victorian era dramas.