Gobbledygeek episode 80, “The Young Adult with the Dragon Tattoo,” is available for listening or download right here.
Your worst nightmares have been realized: Paul and AJ are back with another season of Gobbledygeek! To kick things off, the boys discuss two films released late last year. Though they are both very different, they’re both about damaged women: Young Adult, the very un-Juno-like reteaming of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, starring Charlize Theron as a self-obsessed YA author; and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher’s adaptation of the first book in Stieg Larsson’s blockbuster Millennium series, starring Rooney Mara as fierce hacker/investigator Lisbeth Salander. They clash over Young Adult‘s polarizing conclusion, and come together in defense of Mara’s Salander, who has not been softened or overly sexualized, thank you very much.
Devout Gobblers know that our third season kicks off in eight short days, on January 21, but first I want to let you all know a little bit about what’s been going on during our winter vacation.
First, in case you missed it, Paul and I listed our ten favorite movies and TV shows of 2011. We also promised to list our ten favorite comics and albums, but…well, one day we’ll learn how not to over-commit ourselves. Until then, consider those two more unfulfilled blog posts.
Secondly, we really need to check our inbox more often. On the season finale, I (somewhat glibly) named Papa Razzi and the Photogs’ “A Song About Arlo J. Wiley and Paul Smith” the Best Song of 2011, and lo and behold, Papa himself recorded an acceptance speech:
He put the video up right after the season finale first aired, but because we’ve been super lazy during our winter break, we didn’t check our e-mail until this afternoon. He is awesome, and so is the video; you should watch it.
Head after the jump for a couple more announcements, including a super adorable one…
If you missed it last week, we rolled out our top 10 films of 2011. Now, here are our top 10 TV shows.
PAUL: 10. SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (FOX)
I’ve been slightly more forgiving of reality TV than a lot of people I think, but just barely. For the most part, the genre is vapid and soul-crushing and devoid of anything even remotely interesting. So You Think You Can Dance has been the brightest shining exception to that rule. While I still consider season 4 to be the series’ high watermark, this year’s season 8 introduced us to at least two, possibly three or four of the best dancers to have ever graced the show’s stage. I can’t quite explain what it is about this show that does it for me: I’ve never been particularly interested in dance, of any style, before this. But there have been moments watching this series that have moved me more deeply than just about anything ever has. There is something spiritual, something transcendent about the alchemy of human motion and music blending together. I’ve been moved by demonstrations of athletic prowess or feats of strength and dexterity. And I’ve been moved by the spirit of rock or the voices of angelic singers. But nothing has ever equaled the cosmic, deific inspiration I’ve felt watching someone like Alex Wong, or Mark Kanemura, or Melissa Sandvig, or a dozen others from the past eight years. When the right dancers meet the right choreographers and the right music…there are no words elegant enough to do it justice. Key Episode: “Week One: Top 20 Performance” (8.6) …specifically the Melanie & Marko routine performed to Ingrid Michaelson’s “Turn to Stone”
AJ: 10. SUBURGATORY (ABC)
I can’t say there were many new comedies this year intriguing enough to even check out. I found Free Agents mildly amusing before it was axed, I probably won’t return to Up All Night unless it starts raking in the hosannas, and I stuck with the ungainly New Girl as long as I did mostly because I like Zooey Deschanel’s face. The less said about 2 Broke Girls or Whitney, the better. Thus, Suburgatory is the clear cream of the new funny crop. That isn’t to say the show is perfect. The central premise, that architect George freaks out about his 15-year-old daughter Tessa’s maturity and so moves them from the big city to the bizarre suburbs, is more fit for a 90-minute movie than an ongoing series, and the show can occasionally be far too broad in mocking suburbia. But even with those caveats, there’s something special about the chemistry between Jeremy Sisto and Jane Levy, who banter like they’re Gilmores, and the dialogue can be razor sharp. Not to mention the fact that Alan Tudyk plays a very tanned, very opportunistic dentist. It might not be a great show just yet, but it’s definitely one worth watching. Key Episode: “Thanksgiving” (1.8)
Paul and I rambled on and on about our favorites of 2011 in our second season finale, but that isn’t gonna stop us from rambling some more. This is the first in a series of top 10s that will be spread out over the next couple weeks; the rest will concern television, albums, and comic books.
But first, a word about lists. Paul has described my obsession with list-making as a “sickness,” and that’s probably close to the truth. However, even one such as I, beholden to rating and ranking everything known to man, know that these kinds of things are imperfect, to put it lightly. For one, no matter how all-inclusive you try to be, there’s always going to be a movie (or show, or comic, etc.) that you somehow missed; for example, as of this writing, neither Paul nor I have seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Shame, or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, just to name a few. And more importantly, lists are always subject to how their makers feel at the moment they’re making them. Each of our top 10s represent the movies we love right now, and with the exception of our #1 choices, their order could be fluid, changing from day to day, mood to mood.
Right now, though? These are the films we adore, and which we feel exemplify 2011.
~ AJ
PAUL: 10. RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (dir. Rupert Wyatt)
The summer blockbuster that was better than any of us had any right to expect. Not only a remarkably capable relaunch/reboot of a beloved but dated franchise, but also just a damned good popcorn flick in its own right. Andy Serkis brings heart and humanity (pun intended) to the “inhuman” protagonist. It’s Pinocchio and Moses and Che Guevara.
AJ: 10. GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD (dir. Martin Scorsese)
It has been lazy shorthand for decades to refer to George Harrison as the “quiet Beatle,” and though that might have a kernel of truth to it, the man himself was far more complex. Publicly, he was quiet because he desperately hated fame; professionally, he was quiet during the Beatle years because John and Paul vetoed his material, and later, because he was content with tending to his family and to his garden. Martin Scorsese’s Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home definitively captured that 60s icon’s brilliance and enigma, and while Living in the Material World doesn’t quite do the same for this 60s icon, it comes close enough. In the first part of this two-part doc, the entire life cycle of The Beatles is rehashed yet again, though considering it’s Scorsese at the helm, it remains of interest. It’s in the second part, however, when things truly come alive. By telling of his unsung career as a film producer, enticing candid stories from a number of those closest to him, and showing private home movies, Scorsese paints a portrait of Harrison as a man perpetually struggling to reconcile his spirituality with his materialism, caught between divinity and mortality.
Gobbledygeek episode 79, “2011 in Review,” is available for listening or download right here.
Well, boys and girls, the second season of Gobbledygeek has come to a close, so just like they did last year, Paul and AJ talk about everything they loved and hated in the past twelve months. In the midst of discussing their favorite and least favorite movies, TV shows, albums, and comics of 2011–among other things–the boys engage in some bickering, some mockery, some name-calling…a good way to end the year, don’t you think?
Next: Bat-Turkey, and those two lunkheads he lets host the podcast, go into hibernation for the next month. Which for you, dear listener, can only mean blessed relief. That is, until Gobbledygeek season 3 starts on January 21, 2012! So get some rest while you can.
Gobbledygeek episode 78, “Twisted Christmas: Just Add Water,” is available for listening or download right here.
This holiday season, the boys rewind to their respective childhoods and visit a cherished classic: Joe Dante’s Gremlins. It’s not your usual holiday fare, unless your usual holiday fare involves murder, insanity, and chaos. They discuss whether or not the film actually holds up to the harsh light of adulthood, whether those damn rules make any sense, and just how high the author of the film’s novelization was. AJ reviews We Need to Talk About Kevin, Paul gripes about The Defenders #1, and then we get around to Nathan’s snarky Formspring question of the week.
Next: the Gobbledygeek season 2 finale is our year-end round-up of everything we loved and hated in 2011.
On the new episode of Gobbledygeek, Paul and AJ told you about all the things you should buy this Christmas season, and now here’s a comprehensive guide! (Including a few items that weren’t even mentioned on the show.)
Hands down one of the best science fiction books I’ve read in recent memory. It’s like my admittedly overdeveloped nostalgia gland were milked and distilled onto the page. This book is my geeky, pop-culture DNA printed in ink. ~ Paul
Gobbledygeek episode 77, “Buy, Buy, Buy,” is available for listening or download right here.
If there’s anything we learned from A Charlie Brown Christmas, it’s that Christmas has become far too commercialized and that the true spirit of Christmas isn’t in the gifts that you receive. So, going entirely against that lesson from our childhoods, we’ve concocted the second annual Gobbledygeek Gift Guide! We’ll clue you into everything you should buy for that nerd in your life, be they into movies (The Tree of Life! Hanna!), music (Nirvana! Pink Floyd!), games (Arkham City! Skyrim!), or more. We also leaven all the cynical buying and spending with genuine, heartfelt appreciations of the movies We Bought a Zoo, Hugo, and The Muppets, plus some Formspring questions and an e-mail.
Next: We continue our Christmas celebration with a discussion of Gremlins. Because who doesn’t like to think of Phoebe Cates’ dad getting stuck in the chimney when they’re putting up the tree?
Welcome to Last Month’s Comics, in which I discuss, uh, last month’s comics. I get my comics in bi-monthly shipments from Discount Comic Book Service, and as such, I can be a little behind. So here we are.
This column is later than usual, as I was a little preoccupied earlier this month, but for all those still madly wondering about what October 2011′s comics had to offer, here we go…
BEST #1
Spaceman #1 Writer: Brian Azzarello Art: Eduardo Risso Publisher: Vertigo
I’ve read only a fraction of Azzarello and Risso’s acclaimed 100 Bullets, which ran for ten years from 1999 to 2009, but one needs no familiarity with their past work to be immediately sucked in by the opening chapter of Spaceman, their new nine-issue mini-series from Vertigo. It takes place in a weird, sad future, just a few monsters and flying cars away from the one in Joss Whedon’s Fray. Our protagonist is Orson, a monkey-ish man genetically engineered to travel to Mars, a trip the human race never got to make. Orson and his low-class friends speak in bizarre, disjointed slang; “okee” is how they say okay, and they actually say “LOL LOL LOL” instead of laughing. In this first issue, Orson has ominous spaceman dreams and becomes involved in the kidnapping of the adopted child of reality TV stars. Eduardo Risso’s art is terrific, Brian Azzarello’s storytelling immediately compelling. Choice line, as Orson’s alarm chirps “New day, new day, new day” while he opens the door on a bleak, cloudless future: “Why, you lyin machine…it’s the same fuck old day it always is.” (Plus: $1!)
Gobbledygeek episode 76, “Gobbledygeek Thanksgiving II,” is available for listening or download right here.
Leaves changing color? Check. Days getting shorter? Check. The bitter taste of your college sports team getting its butt kicked? Double check. So what else could you possibly need? How about the second annual Gobbledygeek Thanksgiving? Much more restrained this year than in our freshman effort, but we still managed to blackmail a couple of guests into stopping by to help us be all thankful and shit. Nathan and Kevin make their long-awaited returns to the Turkey-Cave to say nice things about the nerdy stuff they’re thankful for…and also to mock us, your beloved Gobbledygeek guys. It’s a holiday tradition!
Next: No show next week, as we will all be stuffing our faces with food and being passive-aggressive with our families. Good times! We’ll return the week after, bloated but rested, with our guide to all the geeky gifts you’ve got to grab this Gristmas. (Sorry, I ran out of G-words.)
