academy awards

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 464 – “West Side Story (2021)”

Ariana DeBose and David Alvarez in West Side Story (2021), directed by Steven Spielberg

Gobbledygeek episode 464, “West Side Story (2021),” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Somethin’s comin’, somethin’ good: this week, Paul and Arlo pirouette through a discussion of Steven Spielberg’s new take on West Side Story, nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. Is it a spoiler to say they love it? The boys discuss how Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner’s changes enrich the text, why choreographer Justin Peck’s bold choice to discard Jerome Robbins’ iconic choreography was the right move, what it means for the Sharks to be played by Latinx actors, and the joy of watching Spielberg treat every musical number like his and Janusz Kaminski’s playground. Plus, Taco Bell sends Arlo spiraling into an existential crisis, and the boys chat about this year’s other Best Picture nominees.

NEXT: Si Spurrier and Jeff Stokely’s Six-Gun Gorilla is locked and loaded for this month’s Four-Color Flashback.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:53  –  Intro
  • 00:06:39  –  Interminable Oscars Discussion
  • 00:37:43  –  A Look Back to Episode 402
  • 00:47:04  –  West Side Story (2021)
  • 02:14:52  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Something’s Coming” by Ansel Elgort, West Side Story (2021 Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2021)
  • “Somewhere” by Rita Moreno, West Side Story (2021 Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2021)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 432 – “Two Crucifixes in the Logo”

Ned Flanders (voiced by Harry Shearer), by far the most likeable evangelical I’ve ever met, in ‘The Simpsons’ 4×19, “The Front” (1993)

Gobbledygeek episode 431, “WandaVision (feat. Michael Holland),” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

When we’re not contracting coronavirus, we’re contracting people to work on our houses. And sometimes those people, too, can be a plague. Paul and Arlo commiserate over uncomfortable contractor experiences, uncomfortable evangelicalism, and the uncomfortable intersection of those two very uncomfortable things. In other news, baby-faced Paul got his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and had to deal with some folks getting way too up in his personal space. Are we ready for a return to normal? No. No, we are not. Plus, we remember to talk pop culture and chat about the Oscar nominations.

NEXT: Paul decides on air during this very episode that next week will be this month’s Four-Color Flashback, discussing Vols. 1 & 2 of Daniel Warren Johnson’s Extremity.

MUSIC

  • “Comfort Eagle” by Cake, Comfort Eagle (2001)
  • “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads, Speaking in Tongues (1982)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 364 – “Bedknobs and Broomsticks / Chicago: We Both Reached for the Broom”

Gobbledygeek episode 364, “Bedknobs and Broomsticks / Chicago: We Both Reached for the Broom,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

This 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 off, we’re back for our second Four-Color Flashback of 2019, discussing March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell.

(Show notes for “Bedknobs and Broomsticks / Chicago: We Both Reached for the Broom.”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 331, “The Shape of Water: Green Around the Gills (feat. Sarah Kosheff)”

Gobbledygeek episode 331, “The Shape of Water: Green Around the Gills (feat. Sarah Kosheff),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

Come on in; the water’s fine. Sarah Kosheff joins Paul and Arlo to discuss Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, freshly nominated for 13 Academy Awards. Del Toro’s girl-meets-fish romance is one of last year’s most ravishing, visually sumptuous films, and the gang discusses why exactly that is. (Spoiler: they don’t all quite agree.) Topics of discussion include Sally Hawkins’ and Doug Jones’ tremendous wordless performances; Alexandre Desplat’s beautiful score, and how music is an important mode of communication in the film; the importance of color, specifically green; and how the film is, in del Toro’s own words, about the “beauty of the other.” Plus, Paul has joined MoviePass just in time for it to come under intense scrutiny.

Next: Paul just wouldn’t shut up about The Greatest Showman, so first-time guest Nathan Curtiss will be joining the boys to discuss the Hugh Jackman-starring musical.

(Show notes for “Green Around the Gills.”)

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Listen to Episode 174, “Total Protonic Reversal”

ramis

Gobbledygeek episode 174, “Total Protonic Reversal,” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

If you were a sentient human being at any point in the last 30-some-odd years, Harold Ramis made some sort of impact on your life. When Ramis passed away last week at the age of 69, Paul and AJ knew they had to pay homage to him in some way. This week, the boys discuss four of Ramis’ films: Meatballs (which he co-wrote), Stripes (which he co-wrote and starred opposite Bill Murray in), Ghostbusters (which he co-wrote and starred in), and Groundhog Day (which he directed, co-wrote, and if you look at it from a certain angle, played the crucial role in). Ramis made a lot of people laugh, including us. Here we do our best to pay him back. Plus, Paul and AJ suffer through the Oscars.

Next week: as part of an epic pod crawl (check the show notes for more information!), Paul and AJ will be discussing the final film of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors trilogy, Red.

(Show notes for “Total Protonic Reversal.”)

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Listen to Episode 131, “So Let’s Get to the Oscars”

oscars

Gobbledygeek episode 131, “So Let’s Get to the Oscars,” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

The Oscars were over a week ago, you say? Who cares, when we’re joined by Kenn Edwards, host of the podcasts So Let’s Get to the Point and Project Batman? In addition to Hollywood’s big night, Paul, AJ, and Kenn discuss Kenn’s forthcoming podcast ventures, the unimportant death of an important Batman character, and whether or not The Office is worth watching in its final season.

Next: the boys are joined by Rench of Gangstagrass.

(Show notes for “So Let’s Get to the Oscars.”)

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Listen to the 30-Second Special “And the Oscar Goes To…”

Listen to Gobbledygeek‘s first-ever 30-second special, “And the Oscar Goes To…” right here.

As you may have heard, the Oscars were tonight. The body isn’t even cold yet, but Paul and AJ are here on the scene with their barely coherent criticisms, crammed into 30 seconds!

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Listen to Episode 85, “Talking Turkey: Standard Action”

Gobbledygeek episode 85, “Talking Turkey: Standard Action,” is available for listening or download right here.

This week, Paul and AJ are joined by Joanna Gaskell and Rob Hunt of the fantasy-based web series Standard Action, which Paul reviewed here. Joanna and Rob discuss filming in the mud and rain of Vancouver, writing a part for yourself, and how to finance an indie project, all before turning the tables on the boys. Plus, AJ gets excited for the Oscars and gee, Paul really hates George Lucas.

Next: Tarantino Month kicks off with a look at the man’s first feature, Reservoir Dogs.

(Show notes for “Talking Turkey: Standard Action.”)

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11 Great Movies Which Didn’t Garner a Single Oscar Nomination This Year

I am not the half of Gobbledygeek who loathes the Oscars; in fact, they’re an annual tradition in my house. This year, we even ponied up for chocolate Oscar statuettes powdered with gold. We don’t mess around. Amazingly, I even liked seven of this year’s nine Best Picture nominees (the odd ones out being War Horse and, ugh, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close). At the same time, I realize that the Academy often fails to recognize some truly brilliant films, and in the interest of counter-programming, I thought I’d point out some of the ones it missed this year.

These films didn’t garner a single Oscar nod this year (if it wasn’t for Sound Editing, Drive would be all up in here), and were actually eligible by Academy rules (otherwise, I would have spotlighted The Sunset Limited yet again, alongside the hilarious concert film Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater).

We’ve got 11 great movies here, divided up into three categories. To get us started…

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‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’ Review: Mc9/11

The Ultimate Gift is the worst movie I’ve ever seen. You probably haven’t heard of it. Good for you. I don’t want to imply that it’s well-made, because it’s not, but there are certainly worse-made movies out there. Little Man, Date Movie, Space Mutiny, etc. But The Ultimate Gift is a special brand of awful because it takes a little girl’s cancer and uses it as nothing more than a plot point with which to forward the main character’s journey of self-discovery. Once the main character has supposedly become a better person, the little girl dies and no one really cares. Not sure about you, but to me, that is offensive. Now imagine a movie which does the same, only instead of using a cancer-stricken child, it uses a national tragedy the scope of which is still too large for many Americans to comprehend. Thanks to director Stephen Daldry, screenwriter Eric Roth, and a passel of others, you don’t have to imagine it. They’ve made it. And it’s called Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

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