Shows
Gobbledygeek522 - That Was Then: Popeye (1980)Pop open a can of spinach and set sail for the far-off year of 1980, when noted auteur Robert Altman had his crew build an entire functioning town so they could shoot a Popeye movie. This unassuming comic strip adaptation represents the collision of the New Hollywood movement and the old studio system, both in their waning days; neither would survive “Stalag Altman,” as star Robin Williams coined it. Paul and Arlo are delighted by the end result, an improvisational-seeming ensemble picture in the Altman vein that also features cartoon gags, characters bursting into songs penned by Harry Nilsson, and a gi...2025-04-142h 03Gobbledygeek514 - Ren FaireHail and well met! This week, Paul and Arlo raise their overpriced goblets to Lance Oppenheim’s HBO docuseries Ren Faire. The three-episode series concerns the nation’s largest Renaissance faire, the Texas Renaissance Festival, and the power-hungry Oompa Loompas looking to take over the chocolate factory from their perverted Willy Wonka. The boys are in awe (derogatory) of TRF owner George Coulam, a self-professed horny old man who seems much more interested in “sugaring” young women than in running his theme park. George berates all his pitiful hangers-on, including lifer Jeffrey Baldwin, Red Bull aficionado Louie Migliaccio, and no-nonse...2024-06-251h 48Gobbledygeek513 - The Tortured Parents DepartmentThe stork just made a special delivery, and it’s a new episode of Gobbledygeek! Bat-Turkey also welcomes a new addition to the family: Alexandra Jade Wiley, who came into this world on April 28, 2024. Arlo’s second daughter has arrived at a pivotal time, a time in which Paul has become consumed by Taylor Swift’s life-altering new album The Tortured Poets Department. Besides raving about the ladies in their lives, the boys catch up on pop culture: Luca Guadagnino’s triple threat Challengers, the tremendous second season of Interview with the Vampire, the riff-laden roots of heavy metal, and kaij...2024-06-181h 51Gobbledygeek509 - FCF: Weavers (feat. Eric Sipple)Oh, what a tangled web we Weavers! For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo trap Eric Sipple in their web once more, this time to discuss Simon Spurrier & Dylan Burnett’s Lovecraftian mob story Weavers. Despite being big fans of Spurrier’s (author of past FCF favorites Six-Gun Gorilla and The Spire), Paul and Arlo aren't quite sure what to make of this one, while Eric has some thoughts on why the book is an interesting failure. One thing they can all agree on is Burnett’s vibrant, stylish art–and how it elevates everything else on the page.2024-02-271h 24Gobbledygeek508 - That Was Then: SidewaysAs they say, don’t drink and podcast, but here Paul and Arlo are talking about 2004’s Sideways for another round of That Was Then. Alexander Payne’s acclaimed dramedy follows alcoholic wine connoisseur Miles as he takes his bonehead best buddy Jack on a road trip through Santa Barbara the week before Jack’s due to get hitched. It is the Fox Searchlight movie, and the boys discuss what that means, how the performances bring forth certain emotional notes in the script’s body, and why somebody could come away from a first viewing not understanding 20 years’ worth of hype. Plu...2024-02-091h 41Gobbledygeek504 - FCF: Superman for All Seasons (feat. Eric Sipple)Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the Gobbledygeek season 15 premiere! Breaking from vaguely defined tradition, Paul and Arlo are kicking off the season with a Four-Color Flashback, and their pal Eric Sipple is on hand to help turn the pages. Arlo has chosen to subject Paul and Eric to the classic Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale collab Superman for All Seasons, which may prove a tough sell to a couple of Super-skeptics. The gang discusses the book’s Rockwell-influenced aesthetic, the simplicity (or flatness, depending on taste) of the cast, how Sale’s big dope...2024-01-172h 27Gobbledygeek501 - Scavengers ReignWe’re crash-landing back into regular podcasting with the Max original animated series Scavengers Reign. Created by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner, the seeds of Scavengers Reign were planted in an Adult Swim short before blossoming into a brilliant sci-fi series teeming with surrealist detours and bits of body horror. Paul and Arlo rave about the show’s Cronenberg-meets-Miyazaki vibe, laud the series’ refusal to provide easy answers, and hope against hope that this beautiful, otherworldly thing will continue to thrive in a second season. Plus, Arlo is the worst. NEXT: more Western adult animation with he...2023-12-121h 56Gobbledygeek497 - Geek Challenge: Stick Season vs. Blood on the TracksAre you feeling “Homesick”? Are you all “Tangled Up in Blue”? Dogged by a “Simple Twist of Fate” or, perhaps, sippin’ on gin and “Orange Juice”? Then boy, do we have the Geek Challenge for you! Dipping their toes in musical waters for the first time in a while, our boys are listening to one of each other’s favorite albums. Paul has challenged Arlo to Noah Kahan’s 2022 singer-songwriter album Stick Season, and Arlo has in turn challenged Paul to Bob Dylan’s extremely singer-songwriter classic, 1975’s Blood on the Tracks. They grapple with each artist’s distinctive vocal stylings, compare the...2023-05-102h 32Gobbledygeek496 - FCF: Boxers & SaintsFor this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo tackle a blindspot from one of their favorite writers. Gene Luen Yang, author of Gobbledyfaves like American Born Chinese and Avatar: The Last Airbender, tells the brutal story of the Boxer Rebellion in Boxers & Saints. The graphic novel duology delves into complex subjects like faith, spirituality, nationalism, and fascism; we cover ‘em all, hopefully in something resembling depth. Plus, Arlo returns to the city of Metropolis for more Superman comics, including mega-event The Death and Return of Superman and Grant Morrison & Mark Waid’s JLA run. NEXT: we...2023-04-132h 25Gobbledygeek489 - Geek Challenge: White Christmas vs. Eyes Wide ShutHang your stockings by the chimney, roast some chestnuts on that open fire, and prepare yourself for a very special Twisted Christmas installment. Our annual yuletide derangement has morphed into a Geek Challenge, featuring two obviously similar films: Paul has challenged Arlo to Michael Curtiz’s holly jolly classic White Christmas (1954), and in turn Arlo has thrust upon Paul Stanley Kubrick’s festive psychosexual nightmare Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Paul has some harsh words for Kubrick’s orgy, Arlo cringes at old-timey patriotism, and both of our boys come away filled with a little less Christmas cheer. Oh, and who is Dan...2022-12-132h 08Gobbledygeek483 - NopeFor his third film, Jordan Peele looks to the skies–and what he finds doesn’t want to be seen. This week, Paul and Arlo say yup to Nope, Peele’s celebration and evisceration of spectacle. The boys discuss the widening of Peele’s horizons in the summer blockbuster mode; how the film reveres Spielberg while offering a pointed rebuttal to Jaws; Daniel Kaluuya’s quiet intensity; and why first-time viewing Arlo is always the dumbest Arlo. Plus, a tribute to cinematic titan Jean-Luc Godard. NEXT: more spectacle, as Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman reunite in Taika Wa...2022-09-192h 15Gobbledygeek482 - FCF: Oblivion SongSing, sing a song; sing of oblivion, it’s 36 issues long! For this month’s first (?) Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo are harmonizing about Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici’s 2018-22 Image series Oblivion Song. It’s an alien invasion saga that questions the very concepts of “alien” and “invasion,” regarding its human and Kuthaal characters with equal levels of empathy and complexity. The boys discuss how Kirkman overcomes The Walking Dead’s biggest flaws, De Felici’s otherworldly artwork, Annalisa Leoni’s eerily beautiful colors, and so much more. Plus, Arlo made a return trip to Austin, TX. NE...2022-09-062h 02Gobbledygeek479 - Sad & WeirdFor another freestyle, Paul and Arlo are getting weird. As in “Weird Al” Yankovic, whom Arlo recently saw with their good buddy Kenn Edwards. Arlo recounts the concert moment he’d been waiting for all his life, then Paul discusses the joys and frustrations of the first-ever virtual Slayage conference. Plus, brief ruminations on Nope, Thor: Love and Thunder, and The Rehearsal; and we remember our friend Chelsea Hawk. NEXT: TBD. LINKS GoFundMe: For Jared, Chelsea and Xion MUSIC “We Would...2022-08-021h 44Gobbledygeek475 - GC: Everything Everywhere All at Once vs. The OneIn a multiverse without limitations…you have chosen to listen to Gobbledygeek. Let that sink in. While you do, you’ll also get to hear Paul and Arlo’s latest Geek Challenge! Arlo sort-of challenges Paul to The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All at Once, the year’s big breakout movie, starring Michelle Yeoh as infinite versions of herself; and Paul in turn challenges Arlo to James Wong’s 2001 action flick The One, featuring Jet Li vs. Jet Li in a dystopian future. The boys discuss the Daniels’ hyper-maximalist approach to filmmaking, how Everything Everywhere earns its zaniness with real emotion, the s...2022-06-211h 39Gobbledygeek473 - Dick’s on the BrainIt’s a freestyle episode, boys and girls! You know what that means: the Dragon’s Milk is flowing, the tangents are plentiful, and Paul and Arlo just can’t get enough Dick’s. Now, now, get your mind out of the gutter–we’re talking Dick’s, the iconic Seattle burger chain. In addition to chowing down on their favorite regional burgers (Arlo shouts out Akron’s very own Swenson’s), the boys are very much on their bullshit throughout. Arlo recounts the entire A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Paul experiences Stranger Things with a fella named Obi-Wan Kenobi, an...2022-06-031h 53Gobbledygeek467 - Whatever Happened to the Geeks of Tomorrow?For Paul and Arlo, existential crises and comic books often go hand-in-hand. Such is the case for this week’s freestyle, wherein Paul’s rumination on the erosion of his teenage self-confidence leads into a discussion of superhero mags. Paul tells Goblin punks to fuck off as he rocks out to Cody Ziglar and Justin Mason’s Spider-Punk, goes undercover with Kelly Thompson and Elena Casagrande’s recently wrapped run on Black Widow, and cloaks himself in Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio’s Moon Knight. Meanwhile, Arlo rides on horseback through more goofy Silver Age Superman. NEXT: we...2022-04-111h 37Gobbledygeek458 - The Muppet Christmas CarolIt’s only one more Gobbledygeek ‘til Christmas! This year, instead of discussing the weird or cynical sides of the holidays, Paul and Arlo are embracing sincerity with a look at 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol. The first Muppets feature film following the death of Jim Henson is a faithful adaptation of the classic novella, with Gonzo as Charles Dickens himself and none other than Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge. The boys discuss why Caine’s decision to play things straight is key to the film’s success, the film’s technical wizardry, the beautiful songs by Paul Williams, and why it’s...2021-12-221h 53Gobbledygeek448 - Miserable ChildrenWhat happens when a regularly scheduled episode gets regularly postponed? A freestyle, that’s what! In lieu of talking about The Americans season 3, Paul and Arlo talk about...well, whatever the fuck they want to talk about. Paul’s angry, Arlo’s drunk, it’s an angry drunken ramble! “Topics” of “discussion” include dumb reality shows like Clash of Cones, the intrinsic value (or lack thereof) in a star rating system, how disappointing the new Lorde album is, and whether or not the boys are actually going to see each other in person this year. NEXT: The America...2021-09-081h 35Gobbledygeek439 - My Favorite Sunny Murder Crime in Philadelphia Podcast On a new freestyle episode, Paul and Arlo spend the whole podcast telling you about other podcasts you should be listening to instead (and one you should not). You see, Paul has descended into true crime madness, his paranoia reaching heretofore unseen levels as he falls asleep to the sounds of violence. There are also serial killers following him. Elsewhere, Arlo’s vestigial nose twin stalks the night, plotting his revenge. Oh, and Arlo provides a really detailed recap of an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for some reason. NEXT: everybody gets a swe...2021-06-111h 39Gobbledygeek438 - FCF: Goodnight Punpun, Vol. 1 The Four-Color Flashback, that most venerated non-Gobbledyween tradition, has been around in some form for nearly all of this podcast’s 11 years. And yet--we’ve never discussed manga, the world’s most popular comics format. Paul and Arlo have decided to rectify that with the first volume of Inio Asano’s Goodnight Punpun, the surreal exploration of one young boy’s troubled adolescence. Punpun Punyama has a crush on the new girl at school, stays with his hipster uncle because of his abusive dad, hears the voice of God, and is beginning to familiarize himself with the art of self-pleas...2021-06-071h 22Gobbledygeek434 - The Shorter Stick Up Arlo’s [Bleep]This is a freestyle episode, so you better believe Paul and Arlo talk about all manner of goofy shit, but--there’s also kind of a topic too? Look, we make this stuff up as we go along, get that look off your face. Arlo watched John Carpenter’s 1981 cult classic Escape from New York for the very first time, and he absolutely loved it. He and Paul rave about the movie, its highly relatable cynicism, and its amazing music...which leads Arlo to proffer a shocking apology. The stick up his ass, it’s gotten a little shorter over the ye...2021-04-191h 48Gobbledygeek429 - Geek Challenge: Wolf vs. The InsiderIn honor of the late Christopher Plummer, Paul and Arlo host a Geek Challenge with two films featuring one of Canada’s greatest. First, Paul has Arlo watch Mike Nichols’ 1994 horror (?) film Wolf, starring Jack Nicholson as a middle-aged book editor who finds the beast inside courtesy of a wolf bite (with a five-minute cameo from a scenery-chewing Plummer). Then, Arlo makes Paul watch Michael Mann’s 1999 ripped-from-the-headlines thriller The Insider, with Russell Crowe as a scientist taking on Big Tobacco, Al Pacino as the journalist trying to tell his story, and Plummer doing one hell of a job as Mik...2021-03-081h 57Gobbledygeek426 - Geek Challenge: Hawk the Slayer vs. The Adventures of Robin HoodAh, merry old England. A land of many fine tales as well as some pretty crummy ones. This week, Paul and Arlo explore both sides of English mythmaking in a Geek Challenge that hearkens back to the Middle Ages; i.e., the 1930s and 1980s. First up is a movie Paul has been trying to get Arlo to watch literally as long as they've been podcasting: Terry Marcel's 1980 sword-and-sorcery epic (?) Hawk the Slayer, featuring John Terry and Jack Palance as improbable brothers warring over the power of the Mind Sword. In return, Arlo has Paul watch Michael Curtiz's 1938 classic...2021-02-081h 26Gobbledygeek424 - Who’s Your DaddyFirst comes a podcast, then comes 423 more podcasts, then comes a baby who is doomed to think having a podcast host for a dad is normal. On the Gobbledygeek season 12 premiere, Arlo is revealed to be a babydaddy--and the kid isn’t Paul’s! Scandal! Arlo discusses life as the father of a newborn, which involves a good deal of poop. Paul has also had to deal with a good deal of poop, even though his isn’t issuing forth from a screaming, squealing bundle of joy. In between all the poop talk, the boys squeeze out some pop cultur...2021-01-241h 59Gobbledygeek423 - Geek Challenge: Thunderheart vs. Dead ManBecause our mascot is a turkey, and because we generally frown upon genocide, Paul and Arlo are spending Thanksgiving weekend discussing films with ties to Native American culture. For this Geek Challenge, Paul urges Arlo to watch Michael Apted's 1992 conspiracy thriller Thunderheart, starring Val Kilmer as an FBI agent who grows to embrace his Sioux heritage. In turn, Arlo makes Paul watch Jim Jarmusch's 1995 psychedelic Western Dead Man, wherein Johnny Depp's iteration of William Blake takes an offbeat journey to the next life. The boys address the major caveat of both films starring white men, as well as their...2020-11-272h 19Gobbledygeek421 - Drop the Boom On This F#@%ed-Up WorldWe’re still here. The world spins on, at least for a time. In the aftermath of Election Day 2020, there are many variables. Will that loser leave the White House? Will the GOP’s slow-rolling coup pay off? Will a Trumpian shadow militia form, leading to an actual Civil War II? As is the norm, Paul and Arlo have no answers, but they ponder these questions and many others. The boys recount their Election Night spirals; Arlo gets tested for COVID; Paul goes to the severe county of Sevier County; and they discuss some pop culture too, like why the...2020-11-161h 37Gobbledygeek416 - Zorro, the Gay Blade vs. The Double Life of VeroniqueIf you’re seeing double--do not adjust your set. Paul and Arlo, podcasting’s own dynamic duo, have done a Geek Challenge involving dos doppelganger dramas. Well, drama might be a strong word for such a picture as Peter Medak’s 1981 spoof Zorro, The Gay Blade, starring George Hamilton as Don Diego Vega and his brother Ramon Vega, who are charged with taking up their father’s mantle of El Zorro. That’s Paul’s challenge to Arlo, of course--and Paul’s challenge to himself (listen and find out!) is Krzysztof Kieslowski’s 1991 film The Double Life of Veronique, a mysterious and...2020-09-282h 03Gobbledygeek411 - Biennial Torture Session (feat. Chance Mazzia)He wasn't going to get away that easy. Just in time for his biennial torture session, Chance Mazzia has been roped into another episode of Gobbledygeek. Since his last go-round, Chance has become a high school teacher, thereby automatically becoming a more productive member of society than either Paul or Arlo. Chance tells us about the esports team he coaches at school, Paul and Arlo share a rare moment of commiseration by not knowing any of the games Chance mentions, the gang is bummed out by the latest developments concerning Netflix's live-action Avatar remake, and Paul and Arlo are...2020-08-201h 38Gobbledygeek410 - Geek Challenge: Puppet Master vs. Seed of ChuckyThey’ll tear you a new puppet hole, bitch! The worlds of Charles Band and Don Mancini collide in a pre-Gobbledyween Geek Challenge. Paul sends Arlo a psychic alert letting him know to watch 1989’s Puppet Master, the first of producer Band’s direct-to-VHS Full Moon Features and the source of approximately one trillion sequels. In turn, Arlo goes meta and has a doll voiced by him call Paul while the real Arlo is tied to a bed behind him, commanding Paul to watch 2004’s Seed of Chucky. Paul recounts the joy of watching Full Moon Features in his 20s, Arlo...2020-08-051h 49Gobbledygeek403 - Normal People Like Peanut ButterAnother week, another reckoning with the apocalypse. As the country gears up to reopen, Paul and Arlo discuss how their home states of Alabama and Ohio are handling things. They are not optimistic! Crowds packed close, restaurants teeming with teens, maskless mugs--these things, and more, contribute to our hosts’ reluctance to get this society back on the road. After they’re done ruminating on our impending doom, Paul raves about Hulu’s Normal People; Arlo recommends two more Hulu series, PEN15 and Ramy; they’re both excited about the forthcoming Sandman audio drama; and the announcement of a much sooner r...2020-05-141h 37Gobbledygeek402 - West Side StoryWhen you’re a geek, you’re a geek til ya die, from the stupid reviews to the heaviest sighs. And so, tonight, tonight, the geeks are out tonight--we’re talkin’ finger-snappin’, toe-tappin’ street gangs, daddy-o! Out of seemingly nowhere, Arlo pressures Paul into watching Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ 1961 adaptation of the 1957 Broadway show West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Leonard Bernstein. You might have heard of it! Somehow, though both of them love musicals--as documented extensively on this podcast--neither Arlo nor Paul had ever seen one of the most famous, and the most Oscar-adorned, musicals ever...2020-05-091h 48GobbledygeekBonus - Feels Like the First TimeOnce upon a time, three idiots did a podcast. Their names were Paul Smith, Arlo “AJ” Wiley, and Joseph “Will Penley” Lewis. And no, we’re not talking about Gobbledygeek episode 400--we’re talking about the very first episode, recorded a full decade ago. This painful, awkward reminder of where it all began has been lost to time and/or the BlogTalkRadio servers for at least a few years now. Now, it has been restored--but never remastered--to its proper glory. Relive the earliest day of the podcast, with discussion of Alice in Wonderland, Lost, Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, and a whole bunc...2020-04-183h 02Gobbledygeek400 - Feels Like the 400th Time (feat. Joseph Lewis)A global pandemic. Britain leaving the European Union. Donald Trump being elected president. FX canceling Terriers after one goddamn season. It has been, without question, the dumbest decade. Add to that list the strange, mystifying endurance of Gobbledygeek. A podcast hosted by two straight cis white male idiots, ostensibly devoted to the discussion of “popular culture,” and listened to by only a small handful of reprobates, has somehow lasted ten years and 400 episodes. Many other, arguably better podcasts have come and gone. But Paul and Arlo are still here, joined by original Gobbler and fellow Heathen Joseph Lewis, to remi...2020-04-152h 18Gobbledygeek399 - Disclaimer: Not a Criminal ActFIRST THING’S FIRST: Paul obliquely confesses a past sin during this episode, it’s kind of a super tense moment, but Arlo has cleared off-mic that it was not a criminal act! So...do with that what you will! Elsewhere, the world is fucking ending, so you might as well watch The End of the Fucking World. Paul and Arlo muse on the collapse of civilization, discuss proper social distancing etiquette, and recommend things to watch and read as society dissolves. Some of those recommendations: The Hunt, now available on VOD since movie theaters have shuttered; comfy junk food...2020-03-232h 08Gobbledygeek390 - Freegobble: Return to InfoPrisonEver have a job so shitty, it haunts you years (or even decades) down the line? Paul and Arlo have, and it’s called Gobbledygeek! Hey-o! In all seriousness (?), Paul recounts a traumatic experience at Shakey’s Pizza and Arlo is filled with regret over his time at the right-wing call center InfoCision. Cue flashbacks to high school football teams ravenous for wings and evil televangelists separating the faithful from what little coin they carry. Speaking of the latter, Arlo laments Kanye West’s evangelical turn on Jesus Is King. Elsewhere, Paul watches TV, including Succession, Primal, Daybreak, Watchmen, and Mo...2019-10-301h 39Gobbledygeek385 - Four-Color Flashback: Green River KillerFor another installment of this year’s non-superhero Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo look at the story of a real-life hero in Green River Killer: A True Detective Story, Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case’s loving tribute to Jeff’s dad, Detective Tom Jensen. Detective Jensen was instrumental in catching Gary Leon Ridgway AKA the Green River Killer, America’s most prolific serial killer. The boys discuss Paul’s connection to (and possible culpability in?!) the case, the comparisons or lack thereof to the father-son dynamic in Maus, Case’s beautiful character acting, and more. Next: leaves...2019-10-011h 15Gobbledygeek383 - Salty SpidersThe Amazon is burning and all anyone cares about is Spider-Man. Yay! Welcome to another exciting episode of Gobbledygeek! After nixing a fash-bashing Geek Challenge because Paul absolutely could not sit through three hours of The Sound of Music, he and Arlo decide to freestyle it and, well, all is not well! The world’s on fire, the government is imploding, and Spider-Man might not get to be an Avenger anymore! As for that last one, the boys have deeply conflicted feelings about their love for the character and the Marvel movies with their disdain for Disney the Evil Em...2019-08-221h 27Gobbledygeek375 - “300ccs of Thorazine”How does one go from lamenting the untimely demise of Tom King’s Batman to discussing the power structures that dictate what one finds culturally acceptable in any given generation? There’s only one way to find out: by listening to this week’s Gobbledygeek! Paul and Arlo blather about superheroic drama, including Superman: The Animated Series; opinions that have evolved with time, whether they’re on The Downward Spiral or She-Ra: Princess of Power; and why the hell Pete Venkman was carrying 300ccs of Thorazine. Next: Johny Ho joins Paul and Arlo to discuss Gene Luen...2019-05-261h 10Gobbledygeek374 - “The Paranoia Is Coming From Inside the House!”To paraphrase Olivia Newton-John, “Let’s get political--political!” Paul and Arlo discuss politics only occasionally, but this week, they unload. With anti-abortion bills being signed into law in both of their home states, Alabama and Ohio, the boys have a thing or two to say. (Spoiler: they are loudly and clearly pro-choice.) Where do you go after that? Well, Paul saves a restaurant bird, Arlo goes down a murderous Reddit rabbit hole, and Paul cannot get the fuck to sleep. Sweet dreams, kids. Next: who knows! THE BREAKDOWN Total Run Time...2019-05-171h 02Gobbledygeek373 - “Watered-Down Dr. Pepper”Welcome to another Freestyle episode of Gobbledygeek, wherein you can either choose to hear Paul yell at clouds or Arlo have an existential crisis about adulthood. Just remember: whatever you choose, it’s gonna taste like watered-down Dr. Pepper. Paul and Arlo discuss Arlo’s new house; their digitally-assisted strolls down memory lane; how nostalgia can lead to arrested development (neither the show nor the hip-hop group); and how “take” culture has sucked a lot of the joy (and nuance) out of pop culture discussion. Next: oh god, it might be another one of these? 2019-05-131h 11Gobbledygeek364 - Bedknobs and Broomsticks / Chicago: We Both Reached for the BroomThis week finds Paul and Arlo being a coupla ding-dong daddies as another musical Geek Challenge is summoned from a mail-order spellbook. First, Paul challenges Arlo to Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Robert Stevenson’s 1971 follow-up to Mary Poppins. Then, Arlo forces Paul to endure Rob Marshall’s 2002 Best Picture winner Chicago. Witchcraft and murder...this one’s got it all. The boys discuss Bedknobs and Broomsticks’ unlikely connection to The Island of Dr. Moreau, whether or not Chicago deserves its reputation as one of the weakest Best Picture champs, and why Paul refuses to pay Rent. Next: after a week o...2019-02-081h 40Gobbledygeek363 - Four-Color Flashback: Understanding ComicsFor Four-Color Flashback 2019, Paul and Arlo are venturing beyond the realm of superheroes and into the wide world of comics many Americans never visit. To first appreciate comics, though, it’s important to understand their capabilities. There’s nowhere better to turn than Scott McCloud’s seminal 1993 tome Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. It’s an academic, analytical study of the comics form--but it’s also a friendly, entertaining, flat-out fun read. Paul and Arlo discuss why everyone should read Understanding Comics, how it influenced the way they read comics, the concept of closure, and the digital revolution. Next: wi...2019-01-251h 18Gobbledygeek359, “Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters”Ollie, draw back your bow and let your arrow go straight to that killer’s heart. For the penultimate Four-Color Flashback of the year, and the final DC installment of our Age of Heroes project, Paul and Arlo head to the asphalt jungle of Seattle as Oliver Queen stalks his street punk prey in Mike Grell’s 1987 miniseries Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters. As was common practice in the ‘80s, Grell reimagined the character of Green Arrow as grimmer, grittier, and existing in a real world full of boobs and blood. The boys discuss why Grell, by and large, does n...2018-11-191h 49Gobbledygeek349, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - That is One Big Pile of $@&% (feat. Jason Tabrys)”Have you tried New Koko? Here’s your chance! Comedy congressman Jason Tabrys returns to Gobbledygeek to help Paul and Arlo make sense of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. J.A. Bayona’s sequel, the fifth film in the Jurassic series, finds our heroes returning to Isla Nublar once again--and while the “save the dinosaurs” plot is a retread of The Lost World, Fallen Kingdom isn’t afraid to go in some bizarre new directions, for better or worse. Mostly worse. It’s fair to say none of the boys liked it, but Paul is put in the awkward position of defending...2018-07-062h 02GobbledygeekEpisode 347, “Incredibles 2: Infancy War”After 14 long years, the Incredibles are back. The superhero film landscape has changed drastically in that time--but, blissfully, Brad Bird and his retro supers have not, as they teleport and babysit their way through another round of domestic struggles. Paul and Arlo discuss how Incredibles 2 inverts and deepens the themes of the first, why this is some of the finest superhero action ever committed to film, how Jack-Jack avoids Minion-ization, and why Bird and his films are not Randian. Plus, Paul plays a game of Tag, Arlo takes in a service at First Reformed, Paul keeps getting mistaken for T...2018-06-202h 03GobbledygeekEpisode 346, “Mary Poppins / The Lure: Cartoon Penguins Eat Polish Mermaids, Don’t They?”Even with a spoonful of sugar, Paul finds this week’s Geek Challenge hard to stomach. You see, he has invited Arlo to watch Robert Stevenson’s delightful 1964 classic Mary Poppins, in which a magical Julie Andrews and an accented Dick Van Dyke dance their hearts out while unlocking the joy hidden within a stuffy banker. In return, Arlo has forced Paul to endure Agnieszka Smoczynska’s 2015 goth music video The Lure, in which there is little magic but plenty of pain, blood, and desperation as two virginal maneating mermaids come of age. They’re both musicals, they’re both about...2018-06-152h 00GobbledygeekBonus, “The Wiley Wedding Aural Experience (feat. Various)”Everyone loves aural after a wedding. An aural document of said wedding, that is! That's right, Arlo and Amber tied the knot, and Paul was on hand to witness the entire drunken event. So are Joseph Lewis, completing the Three Heathens reunion; Kenn Edwards, whose new EP rules; longtime friend of the show but first-time guest Darryl James, who challenges Arlo to a Buffy trivia quiz; and newbie Gabe Hochstetler, who finds himself the sole positive voice during a brief review of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Video game bars, shots, impolite tailors, shots, poorly choreographed “Gangnam Style” dances, shot...2018-06-102h 33Gobbledygeek345, “The X-Files: Season 9 (feat. Wesley Mead)”The truth is out there, or so we’ve been told. As Paul, Arlo, and special British guest Wesley “Wezzo” Mead reach The X-Files season 9 and find the series’ original finale “The Truth,” they wonder if they should have just left it out there. Despite ostensibly having new leads in Doggett and Reyes, Chris Carter & Co. cling to Scully and Mulder--the former is a bored-looking recurring character, the latter is literally no longer on the show--harder than ever before. The gang discusses why Carter’s inability to let go of the show’s past hinders its present, how the character of Dan...2018-05-201h 42Gobbledygeek344, “Wonder Woman by George Perez, Vol. I (feat. Heather Wiley)”In the winding, physics-defying halls of Mount Olympus, the idea for the noble Amazon race was hatched among the gods. In the presumably plain, ordinary offices of DC comics circa 1987, the idea to reboot one of their most iconic heroes was hashed out by George Pérez, Greg Potter, Len Wein, Karen Berger, and more. And on this typically long, rambling podcast, Paul and Arlo continue this year’s superheroic Four-Color Flashback by discussing Wonder Woman by George Pérez: Vol. 1, collecting the first 14 issues of Diana’s post-Crisis series. Heather Wiley joins them to discuss how Pérez revital...2018-05-111h 50Gobbledygeek343, “Avengers: Infinity War - Oh Snap!”A feat even more miraculous than Paul and Arlo agreeing on the same movie? Successfully juggling a cast of dozens in an interplanetary epic that shakes up the world’s most popular film series. That’s exactly what Joe & Anthony Russo have done with Avengers: Infinity War, a daring space opera that acts as a culmination of a decade’s worth of superheroic blockbusters while taking the Marvel Cinematic Universe in new directions. The boys discuss how (nearly) each character gets their due, why Josh Brolin’s Thanos more than lives up to the hype, and where the MCU goes fro...2018-05-072h 31Gobbledygeek340, “Batman: A Death in the Family (feat. Kenn Edwards)”For the (belated) inaugural installment of Four-Color Flashback 2018, wherein Paul and Arlo will be discussing a different classic superhero story each month, they've recruited their old pal Kenn Edwards to help them discuss Batman: A Death in the Family by writer Jim Starlin and artist Jim Aparo. Kenn knows a thing or two about the Caped Crusader, having been part of the Batman Immortal fan film project. However, he's never read this particular story, in which the Joker savagely beats Robin to death. That puts him on equal footing with our hosts: it's one of Arlo's blind spots and...2018-04-131h 57Gobbledygeek336, “The Young Girls of Rochefort / The Pirate Movie - Killer Booboos and Cartoon Octopi”Ahoy and salut! Kicking off a series of occasional musical episodes--as in episodes about musicals; nobody wants to hear our boys sing--inspired by Paul’s love of This Is Me, he and Arlo gear up for a tuneful Geek Challenge. They are both intensely on brand: Arlo challenges Paul to Jacques Demy’s deceptively candy-colored 1967 classic The Young Girls of Rochefort, while Paul forces Arlo to endure Ken Annakin’s inexplicable 1982 swashbuckler The Pirate Movie. They’re surprised to discover that these incredibly different films, besides both being musicals, have some connective tissue: the use of fantasy to escape cruel re...2018-03-082h 11Gobbledygeek335, “Annihilation - For Those That Follow”Self-destruction. Division. Separation. Annihilation. These are the frivolous, lighthearted concerns of Alex Garland’s latest film, a mind-expanding sci-fi trip that finds Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and Tuva Novotny exploring “Area X,” a mutated piece of land encompassed by the full-on-double-rainbow-all-the-way that is the Shimmer. What’s going on here? What’s causing it? Does an answer even matter? Paul and Arlo dig into Annihilation’s writhing, metastasizing guts to discuss the beautiful, macabre work of production designer Matt Digby; the organic/electronic discomfit of Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury’s score; how Garland’s approach inten...2018-03-012h 14Gobbledygeek334, “Black Panther - Hail to the King, Baby! (feat. Phaicia McBride)”First-time guest Phaicia “Fe” McBride joins Paul and Arlo as they take a direct flight to the African utopia of Wakanda, courtesy of Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. King T’Challa’s first feature film marks the 18th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; it also marks a long overdue watershed moment for mainstream black culture. The gang discusses why Black Panther is so important and exciting; how the film takes the MCU in exciting new directions, particularly with its nuanced villain; how rare and wonderful it is to see so many female characters with agency, skill, and personality; why Ludwig...2018-02-242h 04Gobbledygeek330, “The X-Files: Season 7 (feat. Wesley Mead)”No TV show is at its best seven seasons in, as Paul, Arlo, and special British guest Wesley “Wezzo” Mead can attest. The gang has just watched season 7 of Chris Carter’s seminal sci-fi series The X-Files, and they have questions: Why would anyone think that was a satisfying resolution to the Samantha Mulder storyline? Why is Dana Scully, one of the greatest female characters in all of genre fiction, consistently robbed of agency? Why is Chris Carter the worst writer on his own show? Why didn't the show just end here? In addition to lamenting the season's VR fantas...2018-01-282h 35Gobbledygeek329, “Black Mirror - Shattered Reflections (feat. Sarah Kosheff)”Ladies and gentlemen, we are through the tweeting glass. First-time guest Sarah Kosheff joins Paul and Arlo to discuss Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror in general, and the new fourth season in particular. The gang discusses how the series explores the intersection of technology and society, if the “what if phones but too much” line of criticism is reductive, if the idea of a Black Mirror “shared universe” is in any way appealing, and more. Plus, Paul meets The Greatest Showman, Arlo and Sarah marvel at The Shape of Water, and Arlo finally puts Paul in his mouth...2018-01-192h 25Gobbledygeek326, “The Rocketeer / Pleasantville - Flying Colors”That venerated institution, the Geek Challenge, takes to the bright blue sky with a pair of retro ‘90s flicks. First up, Paul challenges Arlo to Joe Johnston’s 1991 Billy Campbell-starring adventure The Rocketeer, a proto-First Avenger that mixes pulp fiction with ‘30s Hollywood. Then, Arlo challenges Paul to Gary Ross’ 1998 directorial debut Pleasantville, which finds Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon zapped inside the black-and-white world of a hunky dory ‘50s sitcom. These films look backward to say something about the present, and while one admittedly has a lot more on its mind than the other, the boys find both to be unse...2017-12-071h 53Gobbledygeek325, “Y: The Last Man - Vol. 8, Kimono Dragons (feat. Chance Mazzia)”This week, Paul and Arlo return to their Four-Color Flashback exploration of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s Y: The Last Man with Vol. 8: Kimono Dragons. Joining them for the first time in a while is once and future 90 700 Club host Chance Mazzia. Frustrated by some of the detours this Japanese misadventure takes, the gang gets around to asking the question that’s hung over this entire FCF series: nearly a decade removed from publication, is Y: The Last Man still as great as they thought it was? To find the answer, they discuss Vaughan’s writing style, how ea...2017-12-011h 45Gobbledygeek320, “Dunkirk - Beach Battle Bingo”Sun, spray, bullets, and blood: Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk recounts the worst beach trip in history, as 400,000 Allied troops were trapped by the Nazis in Dunkirk, France. The word Paul and Arlo keep coming back to as a descriptor is “relentless.” 107 minutes of third-act intensity, Dunkirk may be the purest expression of Nolan’s watchmaker-precise skill. The boys discuss the film’s three interweaving time strands, the lack of overt character development (except for that moment), Hans Zimmer’s ticking time bomb of a score, and why the movie never names or shows its Nazi enemies. Plus, Arlo is convinced th...2017-07-261h 49Gobbledygeek318, “Spider-Man: Homecoming - She Bought Me a Churro (feat. Heather Wiley)”It’s a Wiley whammy as first-time guest Heather Wiley joins Gobbledygeek’s very own Arlo Wiley in teaming up to finally take down Paul. Actually, this is a pretty convivial episode, as all three agree that Spider-Man: Homecoming is not only one of the better Spider-Man movies--some on this podcast would venture to call it the best--but one of the better entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. The gang discusses why that is: the familiar yet fresh take on our friendly neighborhood webhead, an effortless mix of comedy and drama, a believable villain who doesn’t want t...2017-07-122h 11Gobbledygeek317, “Baby Driver - Who Doesn’t Like Hats?”This week, Paul and Arlo put the pedal to the metal and drop the needle on Baby Driver, the latest nerd fantasia from writer-director Edgar Wright. Filled with rock and soul classics, Wright’s first American film is a high-concept car chase musical that nevertheless plays things a little straighter than his British/Canadian ventures. The boys discuss their favorite music cues, whether or not the internet is right to hate Ansel Elgort, what the film says about music as the soundtrack to our lives, and of course the goddamn Hamm. Plus, Paul and Arlo puzzle over the latest se...2017-07-081h 48Gobbledygeek314, "Wonder Woman - Amazon Prime (feat. Hallie Prime)"This week, the lasso of truth compels Paul and Arlo to tell you all about their thoughts on Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, the fourth film in the DC Extended Universe and the first major female-led superhero movie since freaking Elektra. Joining them on this Themysciran horseback ride is friend of the show Hallie Prime. The gang discusses Gal Gadot’s note-perfect performance, Chris Pine’s frighteningly large eyebrows, whether or not the film’s villains live up to its hero, and if there’s still hope for the DCEU yet. Plus, Arlo gets all evangelical about The Leftovers. Next: af...2017-06-121h 57Gobbledygeek313, “The X-Files: Season 5 (feat. Wesley Mead)”Once again, Paul and Arlo’s most British friend Wesley “Wezzo” Mead is abducted from the U.K. to discuss Chris Carter’s seminal sci-fi series The X-Files. The gang has reached the show’s fifth season; for a while now, Paul and Wezzo have been warning neophyte X-Phile Arlo that things would go downhill, and we may have reached that point. They discuss why season 5 doesn’t work quite as well as previous seasons; the big celebrity guest writers (Stephen King! William Gibson!); if the mytharc stuff makes any sense at this point; whether or not Scully has been complet...2017-05-302h 14Gobbledygeek311, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Those Who Dance, and Those Who Do Not”Family is family, no matter how much they might piss you off. It’s fitting that while the ragtag band of losers at the heart of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 learn this lesson, Paul and Arlo are relearning it. That’s right, kids, the boys’ miraculous and unprecedented string of agreements is over: Paul is tail over paws in love with Vol. 2, while Arlo rides the good ship Kelly McGillis into a sea of disappointment. Are the film’s various character pairings emotionally satisfying? Does Vol. 2 merely rehash everything you loved about the first? Is Michael Rooker a goddamn...2017-05-091h 46Gobbledygeek309, “Y: The Last Man - Vol. 4: Safeword (feat. Chance Mazzia)”Slip on your shiniest boots of leather and grab those whips, it's Four-Color Flashback time! Professional Grendel podcaster Chance Mazzia joins Paul and Arlo for their year-long exploration of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man for Vol. 4: Safeword, wherein things get a little kinky. When the gang stops at a remote cabin in the woods (never a good sign), Yorick is in for a femdom fiesta complete with chains, ropes, and soul-searching. The boys discuss how the series subverts conventional ideas of masculinity; what Yorick's sexual history tells us about him; and how the story...2017-04-251h 41Gobbledygeek308, “S-Town: A Worthwhile Life Defined (feat. Pam Smith)”This week, a podcast about a podcast. Of course, S-Town is no ordinary podcast; from the producers of This American Life and Serial, it's a coherent piece of documentary art unto itself. Reporter Brian Reed had little idea what he was getting himself into when John B. McLemore of Shittown (née Woodstock), Alabama, emailed him about a possible murder cover-up. Likewise, the listener who presses play on the first episode of S-Town has no idea of the journey they're about to take, one that is about time, empathy, compassion. Joining Paul and Arlo to suss out some of t...2017-04-182h 36Gobbledygeek307, “Oh, the Sci-Fi Horror! (feat. Jess Byard)”Aliens dripping their acidic psychosexual horrors all over you. Artificial intelligence becoming real, seeing and hearing and controlling all you do. Your friends' flesh peeling back to reveal their true inhuman visage. These are the nightmares conjured by such sci-fi horror classics as Alien, The Terminator, and The Thing, but you may not have seen their likes in recent years. Blumhouse and Birth. Movies. Death. writer Jess Hicks joins Paul and Arlo to ask, “Where have all the good sci-fi horror movies gone?” The gang discusses why the genre reached its apex in the '80s; why it's so much...2017-04-141h 45Gobbledygeek305, “Y: The Last Man - Vol. 3: One Small Step (feat. Kenn Edwards)”Hallelujah, it's raining men! As Yorick Brown discovers he may not be the last man in the universe thanks to a space shuttle carrying two others, Paul and Arlo invite Kenn Edwards to join them on their year-long Four-Color Flashback discussion of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man. With Vol. 3: One Small Step, the gang discusses the book's self-referential devices, the prominence of fiction as a theme, and how Yorick's progression from boy to man is coming along. There's also talk of guest artist Paul Chadwick, who fills in for Guerra on the two-issue departure "...2017-03-302h 11Gobbledygeek304, “Deathtrap / The Room - Oh Hi, Superman”If only these walls could talk, the secrets they could tell. Among them: murder, betrayal, lies, infidelity, and how in the hell Tommy Wiseau made a movie. It's time for another Geek Challenge, and Arlo has seized the opportunity to finally force Paul into watching Wiseau's 2003 cult classic The Room. In turn, Paul has challenged Arlo to Sidney Lumet's much more dignified 1982 crime comedy Deathtrap. The boys discuss the advantages of stage over screen, and vice versa; questionable acting, be it Dyan Cannon or Greg Sestero; homoerotic subtext (or maybe it's just text); and, yet again, Arlo's fascination with...2017-03-211h 57Gobbledygeek303, “Logan - Don’t Be What They Made You”People get old. Claws get rusty. Movie franchises get tired. After 17 years of real-world time and 150+ fictional years, the time has come for James "Logan" Howlett AKA Wolverine to take a bow. In Logan, the final film featuring Hugh Jackman in his iconic star-making role, we're introduced to a near-future bereft of mutants and full of sorrow. Logan's mind is a potent cocktail of regret, pain, and futility. When a young girl named Laura throws him back into action, he takes the nonagenarian Professor X on the road for one last adventure. Though "adventure" is not a word one...2017-03-161h 55Gobbledygeek302, “Y: The Last Man, Part 2 - Cycles (feat. Donora Rihn)”Bringing a much-needed feminist perspective to a story about a man surrounded on all sides by women, Jeff Bridges poet Donora Rihn joins Paul and Arlo for their year-long Four-Color Flashback exploration of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's acclaimed Vertigo comic book series Y: The Last Man. This time, the gang discusses Vol. 2: Cycles, which collects issues #6-10 of the original series. Donora asks Paul and Arlo how they perceive the book as men, and if they think it shows Yorick growing into his role as the last man on Earth; in turn, Paul and Arlo ask Donora...2017-03-031h 45Gobbledygeek301, “The X-Files: Season 4 (feat. Wesley Mead)”Just in time for everyone's distrust in government to be at an all-time high, Wesley "Wezzo" Mead joins Paul and Arlo once again to discuss Chris Carter's seminal sci-fi series The X-Files. This time, the gang sets their sights on season 4, and opinion seems to be divided on just how well the season holds together. Is this where the mythology stuff starts to really go off the rails? Does Scully's cancer make for a compelling dramatic throughline? And most importantly of all, is there an obvious heir to Darin Morgan's throne (a couple suggestions are thrown out)? Plus, Wezzo...2017-02-262h 01Gobbledygeek299, “Y: The Last Man, Part 1 - Unmanned”FIVE SECONDS AGO: Arlo cracks open the first volume of Y: The Last Man. FOUR SECONDS AGO: Paul berates Arlo for not turning on his mic. THREE SECONDS AGO: Arlo rolls his eyes, turns on mic. TWO SECONDS AGO: Arlo loudly eats into the microphone. ONE SECOND AGO: Paul presses record. NOW: Gobbledygeek's 2017 Four-Color Flashback series is here. This year, the boys will be discussing all ten volumes of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's acclaimed Vertigo series Y: The Last Man, in which every male mammal on the planet drops dead at the same time...save one young...2017-02-011h 49GobbledygeekHiatus AnnouncementWe are devastated to report that on Sunday, October 9, 2016, Arlo's mother Kim passed away. This has been a difficult year for many of us, but a death in the Gobbledygeek Family hits especially hard. So we hope you'll understand that Arlo, and the show, will be taking a much-needed hiatus to process and grieve. We will return in January 2017 with a brand new season, Season 8, but in the meantime we appreciate all the thoughts, prayers and comfort you can give to our friend and his family. We've set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with me...2016-10-1204 minGobbledygeek296, “Signs: Swing Away (feat. Kenn Edwards)”Armed only with a glass of water and his trusty baseball bat, Kenn Edwards of So Let's Get to the Point invades the podcast this week to help Paul and Arlo kick off Gobbledyween 2016. This year's month-long horror-fest gets off to a miraculous start with a discussion of M. Night Shyamalan's sci-fi thriller Signs. After the runaway success of The Sixth Sense and the lukewarm contemporary response to Unbreakable, Signs is often considered the last film Shyamalan made before a precipitous decline; that is, when it's considered at all. The gang gets to the core of what makes Signs...2016-10-052h 13Gobbledygeek295, “Grendel: Part 7 - God and the Devil, Pt. 2”Vampires, bananas, and Weird Al-esque song parodies, oh my! Paul and Arlo may be winding down their coverage of Matt Wagner's Grendel, the subject of this year's exceedingly popular (ahem) Four-Color Flashback series, but the story shows no signs of letting up in "God and the Devil" chapters 7-10. A cosmetically altered face from the distant past returns, incest is rationalized, and produce is used in an attempt to rape the sun. The boys question some of the story's leaps in logic and the general coherence of the Grendel cycle while admiring its utter batshit insanity and dynamic artwork...2016-09-291h 43Gobbledygeek293, "Bone: Coda"Are you in the mood to Bone? I hope so, because Paul and Arlo are returning to the world of Jeff Smith's cartoonish epic, which they explored in last year's Four-Color Flashback series, to discuss the newly released 25th anniversary book Bone: Coda. The new adventure included in the volume is described as a "completely superfluous" addition to the saga of the Bone cousins--Fone, Phoney, and Smiley--which proves that there is indeed truth in advertising. The story picks up right where Smith's magnum opus left off in 2004, but it's merely a cute little one-off. The boys debate the merits...2016-09-161h 18Gobbledygeek290, “Kubo and the Two Strings - If You Must Blink, Do It Now”Laika, the studio behind Coraline, ParaNorman, and The Boxtrolls, has gifted us with a new film: Kubo and the Two Strings, wherein a young one-eyed Japanese boy plays his magical shamisen and pals around with a Monkey and a Beetle while evading the evil grandfather looking to steal his other eye. As one does. Paul and Arlo get in tune with Kubo, digging into the film's symbolism, its unusual (for a mainstream animated film) themes of grief and impermanence, and how it perfects the nearly dead artform that is stop-motion animation. Is it suitable for kids? What does its...2016-08-232h 12Gobbledygeek289, "A/V - Video Killed the Radio Star (feat. Joseph Lewis)"Ever gotten so low you've thought about building a machine that'll transport your consciousness inside a tricaster? Yes? Well then, buddy, have we got the movie for you. (And if you're asking yourself what a tricaster is, you also should watch this movie!) Joseph Lewis, original Gobbler and one-third of the Three Heathens, tells Paul and Arlo all about his feature film directorial debut A/V. The gang discusses production highs and lows, the challenges of fight choreography on a shoestring budget, what it's like to hand a copy of your movie to Kevin Smith, and how Arlo plays...2016-08-191h 43Gobbledygeek287, "Time of the Preacher"Willie Nelson, John Wayne, preachers, bloodsuckers, angels, and arsefaces. Welcome to the world of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's classic Vertigo comic book Preacher, which has now been adapted into a television series on AMC courtesy of Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Breaking Bad's Sam Catlin. Paul and Arlo previously analyzed the comic book on the blog back in 2012 and now set their sights on the show's recently wrapped first season. The show takes an interesting route in exploring this tale of a small-town preacher cursed with the Word of God; namely, the ten hours that aired this year...2016-08-151h 47Gobbledygeek286, “Grendel: Part 5 - The Incubation Years”This week on Gobbledygeek, Arlo has Pokémon fever! That's right, he has become one of the hordes of mindless zombies trawling their backyards and local establishments for Japanese pocket monsters via the Pokémon Go mobile game. Then, Paul reports live from San Diego Comic-Con 2016 (sort of)! He and Arlo give their scalding hot takes on footage from Wonder Woman, Justice League, and more! They get into the icky, misogynistic controversy surrounding the new animated film version of Batman: The Killing Joke! Is all of this a ploy to get you to actually listen to the next episode in...2016-07-291h 48Gobbledygeek284, "Forbidden Planet / Miami Connection - Motorcycle Ninjas on the Forbidden Planet"The Geek Challenge. It's a time-honored tradition: Paul makes Arlo watch some silly '80s cheesefest, Arlo subjects Paul to a stuffy revered classic. Everyone loses. In the interest of restoring some spontaneity to this well-worn custom, this time Arlo forces upon Paul perhaps the cheesiest movie of the '80s, Y.K. Kim's 1987 cult "classic" Miami Connection, in which a group of power balladeers do battle with cocaine ninjas; while Paul finally makes Arlo watch 1956's Forbidden Planet, a retro-futuristic take on Shakespeare's The Tempest and a legitimate classic of the sci-fi genre. Once again, the boys try...2016-07-121h 27Gobbledygeek283, “Grendel: Part 4 - The Devil Inside / Devil Tales”Descents into madness on the hellish streets of New York City. The tragic inevitability of violence. Bitter, brutal punchlines. This is the world of Matt Wagner's Grendel, which Paul and Arlo continue to explore in this year's Four-Color Flashback series. This time, the boys dip into Grendel Omnibus: Vol. 2 - The Legacy, pp. 377-549, for "The Devil Inside," wherein happy-go-lucky San Franciscan Brian Li-Sung has become corrupted by NYC and possibly some other forces; and "Devil Tales," in which an elderly Wiggins spins two yarns of the original Grendel, Hunter Rose. Paul and Arlo discuss the change of pace...2016-06-291h 25Gobbledygeek281, “The Last Dragon / Lady Snowblood - The Glow of Vengeance”One is born of Harlem; one is born of vengeance. One hopes to attain the Glow; one hopes to slake the bloodthirst of the mother she never met. For the latest Geek Challenge, Paul challenges Arlo to 1985's Motown martial arts picture The Last Dragon, while Arlo challenges Paul to 1973's Japanese exploitation classic Lady Snowblood. (The two films are obviously very similar.) As always, the boys learn more about each other and the differences in how they perceive the cinematic world. Arlo loves hilariously bad "anti-great" movies, so why does The Last Dragon leave him bored? Paul digs...2016-06-151h 39Gobbledygeek274, “Grendel: Part 2 - Devil’s Legacy, Part 1”For their second Four-Color
Flashback installment discussing Matt Wagner's Grendel,
Paul and Arlo jump into the first half of the first proper story
arc, “Devil’s Legacy" chapters 1-7, collected in Grendel
Omnibus: Vol. 2 - The Legacy, pp. 66-246. (This thing's had a
convoluted publishing history.) Anyways, as the boys discover,
there's been a radical shift from the series' introductory story.
Gone is Wagner's Art Deco-cum-manga art style, replaced by the
vibrant, angular artwork of Jacob and Arnold Pander; the storyline
has also moved into the "near future" circa 1986, which thanks to
some clever math, Paul figures out is prob...2016-04-271h 25Gobbledygeek273, "The X-Files: Season 1 (feat. Wesley Mead)"Paul and Arlo want to believe. They also don't want to start yet another spin-off podcast, so this week marks the first of ten sporadic installments discussing Chris Carter's seminal sci-fi series The X-Files. Joining them to discuss the first season is Wesley "Wezzo" Mead, who beams on over from the UK in his (presumably very British) spaceship. Paul talks about what it was like to watch The X-Files every week with the lights out, Wezzo recalls discovering the show as a young TV obsessive, and Arlo offers the perspective of someone watching the show for the very first...2016-04-181h 59Gobbledygeek272, "Jeff Bridges: It's Gonna Be Okay (feat. Donora Hillard)"This week, Paul and Arlo transcend obscenity with Donora Hillard, whose writing takes many forms, including that sequined distillation of anxiety: poetry. Her new collection Jeff Bridges finds poetry in the man himself, an actor me and you and everyone we know loves instinctively. What is it about Bridges? What about him inspired a book's worth of poems? Paul and Arlo attempt to find the answer while discussing with Donora their struggles with poetry, why people think words are scary, and the Bridges-starring 1984 film Starman.
Next: in lieu of starting yet another spin-off podcast, Paul a...2016-04-141h 45Gobbledygeek271, “Paul v Arlo: Kenn of Justice (feat. Kenn Edwards)”In this corner: striking terror into the hearts of cowardly and superstitious criminals, a creature of the night, black, terrible, it's the Dark Knight of Gotham City...Batman! And in this corner: faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, unable to get his own sequel not stuffed with a thousand other characters, it's the Last Son of Krypton...Superman! With Zack Snyder's hands in the toybox, they must now v each other in preparation for the dawn of next year's Justice League. Kenn Edwards, host of So Let's Get to the Point, joins Paul and Arlo...2016-04-062h 12Gobbledygeek270, "Grendel: Part 1 - Devil by the Deed"Spring has sprung, which means it's time for another Four-Color Flashback! In years past, Paul and Arlo have explored the dream worlds of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and the cartoonish fantasy of Jeff Smith's Bone. They'll be devoting 2016 to Matt Wagner's magnum opus Grendel. There's a wealth of material out there, but the boys will attempt to stick to the original series, which has been collected in various formats. For this introductory episode, they turn to the first Grendel story, "Devil by the Deed," which can be found in Grendel Omnibus: Volume One - Hunter Rose, pp. 7-45. What's...2016-03-231h 14Gobbledygeek#232, “Mad Max: Fury Road - Fists of Furiosa (feat. Mere Smith)"
Our names are Paul and AJ. Our world is fire and blood. Once, we were Gobbledygeek. A podcast searching for a pop cultural cause. Here to give us that cause is none other than Im-Mere-ator Furiosa herself, Mere Smith, author of Cowface and Other Hilarious Stories About Death and writer for such fine television programs as Angel and Rome. Mere schools the boys on the feminism of Mad Max: Fury Road, the three of them discussing the film's gender politics, its beautifully choreographed action, how the hell George Miller got this movie made, and why Mere cried during...2015-06-082h 01GobbledygeekDeli Podcast of Justice: Open for BusinessThe day is here! After a year-and-a-half of hard work and months of hoopla, the superhero short story anthology The Deli Counter of Justice is finally available for purchase on Amazon, Smashwords, and elsewhere. The Deli braintrust--Arlo J. Wiley, Paul Smith, and Eric Sipple--take you behind the curtain to talk a little about what led us here, what the process of putting the book together was, and what you can look forward to in the future. That's right, this isn't the end. It's just the beginning.2014-11-0537 minGobbledygeekDeli Podcast of Justice: Paul SmithThe Deli Counter of Justice drops in less than a week, on Wednesday, November 5, and thus we have reached our final author interview. Paul Smith, part of the collection's braintrust alongside AJ and Eric, talks about his story "...A Hero Only One," which concerns Piecemaker's former sidekick Crashtest. Paul discusses the fact that this is the first piece of writing he's finished, which he claims led to plenty of self-flagellation, banging his head into hard surfaces, and lots of alcohol; the decades he's spent reading comics, superheroic and otherwise; and his storytelling start as an RPG game master. 2014-10-3024 minGobbledygeekDeli Podcast of Justice: Alyssa HerronAlyssa Herron doesn't have a lot of experience with superheroes, which is exactly why The Deli Counter of Justice crew tapped her to contribute to the anthology. Paul and Eric talk to Alyssa about her story "Delilah by Proxy," which she describes as a superhero story for people who would never read superhero stories. They discuss how Alyssa's love affair with writing started with a poetry contest, her outline-heavy approach to this story, and how her acting experience informs her ability to take notes. Next: for our final author interview, AJ and Eric turn to one of th...2014-10-2818 minGobbledygeekDeli Counter of Justice: Arlo J. WileyAs our author interviews for The Deli Counter of Justice continue, editor-in-chief Arlo J. Wiley (or AJ when he's not being pretentious) finds himself in the hot seat. AJ discusses his short story "Innovation," about a D-list supervillain who starts frequenting the deli he doesn't realize is owned by his former archnemesis. Other points of discussion are AJ's history with screenwriting, how he learned to read in part from '70s and '80s superhero comics, and about his desire to take superheroes in a new direction. Next: Paul and Eric chat with "Delilah by Proxy" author...2014-10-2324 minGobbledygeekGobbledygeek 187, "How to Train Your Paul 2 (feat. Eric Sipple)"Welcome back to the land of Berk, where the dragons soar, the adults have Scottish accents, and the kids have grown up. Frenemy Eric Sipple joins Paul and AJ to discuss How to Train Your Dragon 2, which--spoiler alert--they all agree is a fine film indeed. Among the points of discussion are the more mature tone, the stunning animation (with an assist from the great Roger Deakins), and Cate Blanchett's role as Valka, Hiccup's mother. In a strong year for sequels, this is one of the strongest, and we're here to tell you why. Plus, in another dragon-related news, the...2014-06-181h 51GobbledygeekGobbledygeek 173, “S: Part 4 - What the Monkey Did (feat. Pam Smith, Greg Sahadachny, & Kenn Edwards)”The long and winding road of the Gobbledy-Book Club has led us here, through factories and caves and cellars, to the final two chapters of J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst's S. Paul and AJ host an all-star jam band reunion of their co-readers: Paul's better half Pam Smith, whom we have to thank for just about everything; The Debatable Podcast host and Ukrainian royal Greg Sahadachny; and Kenn Edwards of So Let's Get to the Point and Project Batman, who might just be recording your entire existence as a podcast. Believe it or not, the show is (mostly) a...2014-03-011h 26GobbledygeekGobbledygeek 170, "S: Part 1 - Writing in the Margins (feat. Pam Smith)"This week marks the beginning of our very first Gobbledy-Book Club, in which we’ll be discussing the J.J. Abrams/Doug Dorst novel S. every week of February. For our first discussion, Paul and AJ talk the book’s first three chapters with the lovely Pam Smith, who may or may not be married to one of your dashing hosts. The gang discusses the book’s seriously ingenious book-within-a-book structure, the pervasive concept of multiple identities, the numerous thematic/stylistic ties to Abrams’ Lost, all those cool little inserts, and how exactly you’re supposed to read the damn...2014-02-071h 36GobbledygeekGobbledygeek 153, "Heavy Book Petting (feat. Mere Smith and Eric Sipple)"Esteemed writer of words Mere Smith and goddess of pain Eric Sipple have returned to Gobbledygeek! They discuss pitching their wares at the forthcoming Word on the Street Festival in Toronto, the crazy logistics that go into planning an event of that magnitude, the books they'll be hawking there, and the level of collaboration made possible by the Internet. Plus, Paul and AJ have a sane and measured response to the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman, and AJ lavishes praise upon The World's End.
Next: who knows!2013-08-301h 42GobbledygeekGobbledygeek 148, “The Relentless Negativity of Paul & AJ (feat. Eric Sipple)”Eric whined and whined and whined at us for MONTHS. Also, he really wanted us to watch Detention. So we've invited Sir Eric of Sippleonia, the goddess of pain himself, to discuss Joseph Kahn's 2011 absurdist horror comedy with us. The film is different, let's just say that. Paul and AJ aren't entirely sure the film's ADD stylings work, but Eric talks about it with such passion that it's hard not to be convinced. Plus, we mourn the cancellation of Bunheads and talk about the coolest things to come out of San Diego Comic-Con.
Next: He's...2013-07-251h 41GobbledygeekGobbledygeek 130, "Talking Turkey: Noble Smith"Noble Wisdom joins Paul and AJ to chat about his book The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life, his forthcoming series The Warrior Trilogy, the work of Tolkien, and so much more. Including but not limited to: the time he watched The Empire Strikes Back with Irvin Kershner, his experience as a veteran of the video game industry, and the ridiculousness of LEGOs.
Next: it's (probably) just the boys, doing what they do best. And what they do best is very geeky.2013-02-232h 19