Nobody’s Watching the Best Giant-Monster Movies

Posted August 26, 2019

External Article: Wired

Lisa Yaszek, a professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was interviewed on Wired's "Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast," August 24.

Here's an excerpt: 

The recent films I Kill GiantsA Monster Calls, and Colossaleach present an original take on the idea of giant monsters. Science fiction author Seth Dickinson thinks that Colossal, about a struggling writer who finds herself in control of a city-smashing kaiju, is particularly clever.

“It does everything a romantic comedy does, but in a way that reveals how creepy a lot of these rom-com traits are,” Dickinson says in Episode 375 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. “Colossal does an amazing job of taking every single one of these rom-com trajectories and just steering them right into horror, which I loved.”

Unfortunately, all three movies failed to connect with audiences. Science fiction professor Lisa Yaszek suspects that these movies, which deal with serious themes of grief and alienation, may have been too thoughtful for their own good.

Read the full article and listen to the episode here.

The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. 

Related Media

Lisa Yaszek, professor of science fiction studies in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, is featured in the 2018 AMC series James Cameron's History of Science Fiction. (Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech)