This week’s guest on The STARLOG Podcast is film director Louis Leterrier, whose latest project, The Last House, is one of those “okay, but how would you act if this really happened?” type of movies. (It involves magic rain glueing people into their houses, somehow. Just go with it.)

As Louis, Dave, and I got into it, I decided to fess up about one of the wildest moments of my life — a time when I really thought reality was shattering and I experienced a mixture of panic and euphoria. (And this is different from when I was told to “assume crash position” on an airplane. I’ll tell that story some other time.)

There I was in my apartment in the Astoria section of Queens, New York. The very air around me turned gray, then pink, then deep deep blue for a sustained period of time. Either a nuclear explosion was about to evaporate me, or beings from a distant star were coming to say hello.

Turns out it was neither. As we now know, the “Astoria Borealis” incident of late 2018 was just a power station on the fritz, but it happened to be during a moment of very specific cloud cover, atmosphere, and time of day. I had the good luck to live just a few blocks from the epicenter, and I can tell you that no matter how wild it looks on video, it was a hundred times stranger in real life.

The images still look cool, but I can tell you that if you were down in it as I was, the few moments of confusion seemed to last for hours.

As I explain on the podcast, I acted both rationally and irrationally. First, I felt compelled to call my parents, to say goodbye and thank them for all they did for me. I meant well but, of course, all I did was send them into a panic. Then, I insisted that my wife and I put on shoes. I didn’t know what was happening but I practically hurled footwear at her. Whatever was coming next, we could not be in just our socks.

It makes for a funny story now (and I implore you to listen, and to “like and subscribe”) but I ask you: if suddenly you were to see searing rays of bright blue light through your window, how would you respond? And would you then admit to it on a podcast with a celebrated Hollywood director?

As always, I love hearing back from you. Just hit reply to this email and let it all out.

Jordan Hoffman, Communications Officer

Listen to this week’s STARLOG Podcast for more details on this terrific find, as well as follow-up letters about David Gerrold’s controversial take about “jackboot fandom” which we discussed the week before.

Just hit the “Listen” button below, and subscribe to The STARLOG Podcast on any podcasting platform.

Last week we had Axelle Carolyn, this week it’s Louis Leterrier? Which francophone genre film director will we have next week? (None, actually; the trend ends here!)

We didn’t get into it too much on the podcast, but I’ve known Louis for a very long time. We went to film school together, actually. I’ll just say this: a lot of people I went to school with later achieved great success. And every time, those of us who were still dealing with student debt would sometimes grumble. It’s only human nature. But when Louis hit it big everybody — everybody — was thrilled.

“Louis? Great guy. He deserves the win. Now, can you believe [Redacted] just sold a project? Ugh, him…”

Anyway, Louis’s newest film, The Last House starring Wagner Moura and Greta Lee, is currently streaming on Netflix, and chances are you have a subscription to that service. Without spoiling too much, it’s a movie that immediately jumps into its “what if?” premise, then sees it through to many “gee, I never thought of that” conclusions. How would you feed your family if you were trapped inside your house indefinitely? Would you “fish” for squirrels using a chimney? Honestly, I don’t know if that would dawn on me.

In our discussion we talk about the ideas behind the film, the challenges in making it, and hit some funny stories from the past — like the time Louis’s mother embarrassed him in front of the entire cast and crew of The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc when he was an assistant director.

The new episode of The STARLOG Podcast, like the ones before it, is on whatever podcasting platform you prefer. Or you can just click the little “listen” button below.

SCI-FI

Canadian author Y.M. Pang’s newest short story, concerning a collective AI reality and their fleshworld counterparts, is free to read in the latest Clarkesworld Magazine. It’s long enough to be engrossing, but short enough to finish during a lunch break. Check it out here.

SCIENCE

The 2000 film The Red Stuff from Dutch documentarian Leo De Boer got only a tiny release in North America, which is a shame as it features lengthy interviews with cosmonauts and Soviet scientists, many of them detailing aspects of the Soviet space program never disclosed before. (And most of these interviews were shot in their living rooms, which adds a nice touch.) History buffs and space enthusiasts with 80 minutes to spare must watch.

CULTURE

Are you a Star Trek trivia nut? There’s a good chance you are. Well, there’s now a new way to annoy dazzle your friends: the Star Trek Ultimate Trivia Deck. These 400 questions were written by the great Trek author and New Jerseyite Robb Pearlman. Click through here and stuff your stocking early.

ETHICS

An Australian man asked his AI assistant to book him a gym appointment. The program, ever zealous, did so by cancelling someone else’s reservation. Not a big deal… but also, kind of a big deal! Read the full story.