Welcome back to The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe, a recurring series here on Tor.com featuring some of our favorite science fiction and fantasy authors, artists, and others!
Today we’re joined by Giacomo Cimini, director of The Nostalgist, a short sci fi film based on a Tor.com original story by New York Times best-selling author Daniel H. Wilson (Robopocalypse, Amped). In the futuristic city of Vanille, with properly tuned ImmerSyst Eyes & Ears the world can look and sound like a paradise. But the life of a father and his young son threatens to disintegrate when the father’s device begins to fail. Desperate to avoid facing his own traumatic reality, the man must venture outside to find a replacement, into a city where violence and danger lurk beneath a skim of beautiful illusion. The film is available for pre-order at We Are Colony.
Find out Giacomo’s very simple solution to Jeff Goldblum’s fly problem, and watch the trailer for The Nostalgist below!
If you could choose your own personal theme music to play every time you enter a room, what would you pick?
It is definitely The Imperial March (Darth’s Vader’s theme) by John Williams mixed with the Winnie the Pooh theme.
Battle to the death, which weapon do you choose: A) Phaser, B) Lightsaber, or C) Wand?
I would pick a lightsaber wand that can phaser enemies, if needed.
Do you have a favorite word or phrase?
I love the word shenanigans and the phrase “That’s a wrap!”
Strangest thing you’ve learned while researching a project?
While I was researching the next movie project (a submarine thriller with a giant monster) I learned the reason why we have wrinkled fingers if we spent too much time in the water: it is a response controlled by the body’s sympathetic nervous system. Recent studies suggest our ancestors may have evolved the creases as they moved and foraged for food in wet conditions. It’s like we have a superpower! How cool is that?
If you could name a planet after anyone (other than yourself), who would you choose and why?
I actually did the opposite, calling my daughter Stella (which means “star” in Italian). Yet I would name a planet Sonia, after my wife because she is the best thing in the universe.
Name your favorite monster from fiction, film, TV, or any other pop culture source.
It’s the King of Skull Island, the mighty Kong.
What’s the best Halloween costume you’ve ever worn?
A Ghostbuster uniform hand-crafted by my mom, I was 10.
What literary or film science fiction technology do you wish existed in our world right now?
A teletransporter with a built-in fly screen.
Name your three favorite fictional villains of all time.
Darth Vader, HAL 9000, and Roy Batty
Having finally established communication with a distant alien species, what’s the first thing that we should tell them about Earth/humans?
I would tell them that humans are dangerous but also capable of extraordinary things.
