Alex Heeney, Editor-in-Chief at The Seventh Row, joins us to explore a simulacra of Solaris – Steven Soderberg's remake of the Tarkovsky classic. Produced by James Cameron and led by George Clooney, the result is a lean, melancholic adaptation of Stanisław Lem’s most famous novel. It follows psychologist Chris Kelvin (Clooney) to a failing space station orbiting the enigmatic planet Solaris, where memory, guilt, and desire take physical form in ways that are equal parts sci-fi premise and emotional trap. It's a studio movie with art-film discipline, a romance wrapped inside an existential problem, and an example of the marketing department losing a fight it never fully understood. It underperformed badly at the box office and has largely served as a footnote to discussions of the Tarkovsky original, in the "oh yeah, that happened" vein, but does it deserve to be reassessed on its own merits? Find out!

Alex prepared a special treat for listeners over on Seventh Row: a suggestion for an ideal sci-fi comedy film to watch next after Solaris in which the genders of the main characters are swapped. What to find out more? Head on over to http://seventh-row.com/oubliette to find out more!

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Hollywood's penchant for revisiting failed franchises this summer has awakened a number of 80s oddities in the oubliette! This time, Amanda Jane Stern joins us to revisit the Salkinds' 1984 attempt at a Superman spin-off: Supergirl, featuring Helen Slater as Kara Zor-El/Linda Lee, Faye Dunaway as the witchy Selena, and Peter O’Toole, Mia Farrow, Marc McClure, and others filling out a very British, very prestige-flavoured comic-book fever dream. Much like Masters of the Universe (1987), it's a film about a missing macguffin, a displaced hero from an alien world navigating 80s America, and the familiar fantasy of inherited power being folded into an Americana quest narrative – all while trying to look serious enough to justify its budget and strange enough to justify its existence. Should Supergirl be set free to soar into heroism, or should it be locked away in the Phantom Zone? Find out!

Check out Amanda Jane Stern's projects at www.amandajanestern.com

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For our 200th episode, we're revisiting the film that inspired our podcast name!

David Goelz of The Muppets joins us as our very special guest to celebrating the 40th anniversary of Labyrinth. The film paired Jim Henson’s creature-shop with a Terry Jones screenplay, George Lucas producing, Brian Froud's world-building, and David Bowie doing what only Bowie could plausibly do: play a goblin king as if he were headlining a particularly sinister school dance. Jennifer Connelly’s Sarah, annoyed beyond reason at being asked to babysit, spends the film crossing a maze filled with sarcastic puppets, impossible architecture, and a villain who seems to believe charisma and a Limahl fright wig is a substitute for governance.

It recouped less than half its budget at the box office, but is the lighter companion to The Dark Crystal (1982) a delightful adventure that rightfully found a devoted audience on VHS, or should it be locked in its own oubliette? Find out!

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