captain america the first avenger

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 326, “The Rocketeer / Pleasantville: Flying Colors”

Gobbledygeek episode 326, “The Rocketeer / Pleasantville: Flying Colors,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

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 unsettlingly timely. From populist demagoguery to villains that no longer feel like an historical artifact, Paul and Arlo mine a lot from these goofy, decades-old movies. Plus, Arlo remembers that comics exist.

Next: after a week off, the boys return to discuss experimental arthouse feature Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, which will be of interest to only the most devout cineaste.

(Show notes for “Flying Colors.”)

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Listen to Episode 61, “No Country for the Outlaw Josey Wales”

Look out, Josey!

 

Gobbledygeek episode 61, “No Country for the Outlaw Josey Wales,” is available for listening or download right here.

For the latest Geek Challenge, the boys challenged each other to watch two very different Westerns: Clint Eastwood’s classic 1976 outing The Outlaw Josey Wales for AJ, and the Coen Brothers’ 2007 award-winner No County for Old Men for Paul. One is an epic tale of revenge, filled with Indians and shoot-outs and starring the Spirit of the West himself. The other is a bleak modern Western featuring a frightening force of nature ripping through anyone in his way. How does the Challenge turn out? How often does Josey Wales spit? How dorky is Anton Chigurh’s hair? These questions, and probably not others, will be answered in this week’s gobble-rific Geek Challenge! Plus: news, the boys’ joint review of Captain America: The First Avenger, and too many Formspring questions!

(Show notes for “No Country for the Outlaw Josey Wales.”)

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Listen to Episode 51, “The Hammer Is His Penis”

Gobbledygeek episode 51, “The Hammer Is His Penis,” is available for listening or download right here.

Thor kicks off the summer movie season this weekend, so Paul and AJ get hammered–by, uh, by the movie, of course. Yeah. They discuss the look of Asgard, whether or not the mythology stuff is super goofy, Chris Hemsworth’s terrific performance, and what Thor means for Captain America and The Avengers. Plus: news and Formspring questions.

(Show notes for “The Hammer Is His Penis.”)

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AJ’s ‘Thor’ Review: Almost Thunderous

I’ve long thought that Marvel’s overarching plan for its homegrown superhero movies was absolutely insane–and pretty ingenious, too. Spider-Man, the X-Men, and some other notable players are tied up at other film companies, but Marvel wisely held onto the rights to each member of the Avengers and ever since Iron Man in 2008, they’ve been working on getting the band together. Iron Man had some subtle Easter eggs and a nifty post-credits scene, and it’s a miracle that Iron Man 2 didn’t entirely collapse under the weight of its Avengers teases; The Incredible Hulk, besides a brief scene between Tony Stark and General Ross, was too busy restoring its hero’s rep to get involved. Thor is the next Avenger to get the spotlight and, well, he’s an interesting case.

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The Gobbledygeek Guide to the 2011 Summer Movie Season

Ready for some hot fun in the summertime? Well, we’ve got the next best thing! In this week’s episode, Paul and I discussed 44 movies coming out from May through August. Not all of these are sure to be good, and at least a couple are guaranteed to be rotten, but all of them have something interesting about them.

(FYI: The trailers for Bad Teacher and 30 Minutes or Less may be NSFW, as they are both red-band trailers.)

May 6

Thor

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‘Green Lantern’ Takes Flight in New WonderCon Footage

I don’t usually watch extended “sizzle reels” unless I’m at Comic-Con, as your regular two-and-a-half minute trailers already give away damn near the whole movie. But I was not very enthused by the Green Lantern trailer of a few months ago, and the buzz was that the new footage of the movie shown at WonderCon would dispel any fears one had about it. Warner Bros. has uploaded four of the nine minutes of WonderCon footage, which you can watch right here:

The verdict? This still isn’t a movie I’d pay to see were it not a major geek event. It doesn’t look quite as abysmal as the original trailer made it appear, and indeed some of the action setpieces look like they’ll be pretty decent. I was particularly fond of Abin Sur’s flight from whatever the hell that was near the beginning. But in my mind, the film has to overcome two hurdles, one of which could be easier than the other, both of which are fundamental.

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Chris Evans Is Scrawny and Nazis Are Bad in ‘Captain America’ Trailer

There was a 30-second Captain America spot during the Superbowl last month, but that wasn’t much to go on besides a snippet of Stanley Tucci’s funny accent and a legitimately badass glimpse of the Red Skull. Now we’ve got a full, two-and-a-half-minute theatrical trailer on our hands, and it’s much juicier. Here, take a look:

Hit the jump for my thoughts.

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