The Incomparable Mothership
Hosted by Jason Snell
The Incomparable Mothership is the flagship of the Incomparable podcast network. It’s all about geeky media we love, including movies, books, TV, and more, featuring a rotating panel of guests and hosted by Jason Snell and friends.
783 A Submarine Trifle
Our Summer of Submarines floats on with “U-571”, a 21st centry-style action movie that manages to hit most of the squares on the submarine bingo card. McConaughey is a disgruntled XO! Depth charges terrify! A surprising twist if you didn’t think about the title! Turns out, submarine movies aren’t a genre—they’re a format that lets filmmakers explore genres.
Previous Episodes
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September 5, 2025 “K-19: The Widowmaker”782 In Russia, Truck Stops You
We dive beneath the sea again with “K-19: The Widowmaker,” in which Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson star as… wait a second… Soviet naval officers? It’s a film about a horrible nuclear accident assembled from pieces of other submarine movies, as well as possibly several “Star Trek” movies, and we can’t decide if the screenplay or the casting is more of a problem. But finally we’ll get to the bottom of the real question: if most of the crewmen aren’t married, can K-19 really be a widowmaker?
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August 29, 2025 Up Periscope (1959)781 Your Permission to Speak Freely is Rescinded
The Summer of Submarines resurfaces with James Garner going on a secret mission to an enemy island in 1959’s “Up Periscope.” The Skipper is not a skipper, but he’s got some interesting romantic ideas. Some scenes are impressively bad from multiple angles. And we realize that we’re starting to get good at this submarine-movie business, maybe?
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August 22, 2025 “Before Sunrise” (1995)
780 The Perfect Bubble
We return to 1995 not to hack into the Net but to wander, Netless, around Vienna with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Palm readers! Street poets! Plays featuring cows! It’s “Before Sunrise,” a movie in which nothing happens… except maybe the most extraordinary thing in two people’s lives.
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August 15, 2025 Awards Book Club final rankings and Hugo short fiction779 Not a Hugo
Our Awards Book Club closes up shop for 2025 with a final set of rankings, the presentation of an award we made up, and an overview of all the Hugo-nominated short fiction.
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August 8, 2025 Superhero Movie Draft
778 Oops! All Batman
We celebrate the tenth anniversary of our Summer Superhero Spectacular tournament with something slightly different: A draft of our favorite superhero movies.
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August 1, 2025 2025 Awards Book Club, part 3
777 The 44% Rule
2025 Awards Book Club nears the end with award nominees “Asunder,” “The Ministry of Time,” and “The Tainted Cup.” Plus: What else are we reading?
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July 25, 2025 “Superman” (2025)
776 Next Stop Black Hole City
We went to the theater to see James Gunn’s “Superman” (2025) and are back to report about the pleasant experience. Gunn sets a new direction for DC superheroes, and fans of Zack Snyder may want to look elsewhere. From Krypto the Superdog to a surprising squirrel save, from The Marvelous Miss Lane to that Elemento guy, we’ll break the whole thing down.
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July 18, 2025 “Das Boot” (1981)
775 Herring Salad
We remain submerged for a very long time to watch a very long film, 1981’s “Das Boot.” This certifiable classic is certainly long and German, encompassing almost everything you might expect in the genre. There’s action, suspense, a lot of character moments, and long periods of tedium spent listening for bad sounds, punctuated by moments of terror as the boat goes to eleven (and beyond).
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July 11, 2025 “Run Silent, Run Deep” (1958)
774 A Very Photogenic Submarine
The Summer of Submarines joins forces with Old Movie Club to take on 1958’s “Run Silent, Run Deep,” starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. It’s a tense thriller that has inspired sub and sci-fi movies for many decades. Erika’s gleeful reaction to the film’s abrupt ending may surprise you!
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July 3, 2025 “Crimson Tide”
773 One Dog Is Too Many
The summer of submarines kicks off with 1995’s “Crimson Tide,” a taut character drama that pits a captain (Gene Hackman) against his XO (Denzel Washington) in a conflict that escalates as global tensions rise outside their nuclear submarine.