christmas

by

Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 503 – Twisted Christmas: Black Christmas vs. A Christmas Story

Gobbledygeek episode 503, “Twisted Christmas: Black Christmas vs. A Christmas Story,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

You’ll slash your eye out, Kidder! To close out our truncated season, it’s a Twisted Christmas double feature, as Paul and Arlo explore both of Canadian auteur Bob Clark’s yuletide classics: 1974’s proto-slasher Black Christmas and the 1983 staple A Christmas Story. The boys separately find each of these movies to be deeply annoying…but who couldn’t stand which one?! Just kidding, Paul’s not that into the horror movie and Arlo can’t stand the cutesy nostalgic one. We have a brand, and we’re sticking to it. Plus, our favorite movies and TV shows of 2023.

NEXT: Merry Christmas and happy New Year! We’ll potentially be back in January potentially with a guest and potentially discussing a movie. So much potential for 2024, can’t wait to squander all of it!

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:49  –  Intro
  • 00:09:03  –  Black Christmas
  • 00:57:31  –  A Christmas Story
  • 01:49:06  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “Call Me” by Blondie, American Gigolo (1980)
  • “BB Gun” by Roger Alan Wade, All Likkered Up (2005)

GOBBLEDYCARES

by

Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 489 – “Geek Challenge: White Christmas vs. Eyes Wide Shut”

Top: Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Vera-Ellen, and many more in White Christmas (1954), directed by Michael Curtiz / Bottom: Tom Cruise and many, many more in Eyes Wide Shut (1999), directed by Stanley Kubrick

Gobbledygeek episode 489, “Geek Challenge: White Christmas vs. Eyes Wide Shut,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Hang 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 Danny Kaye again?

NEXT: for our season finale, we become real boys for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:52  –  Intro / Paul and Arlo’s Holiday Spirit
  • 00:11:15  –  Eyes Wide Shut
  • 01:12:40  –  White Christmas
  • 02:02:00  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing” by Chris Isaak, Forever Blue (1995)
  • “Masked Ball (1999 Extended Mix)” by Jocelyn Pook, Flood (1999)
  • “Musica ricercata, II (Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale)” by Dominic Harlan, Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
  • “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing” by Danny Kaye, Selections from Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” (1954)

GOBBLEDYCARES

by

Listen to the Gobbledygeek Season Finale, “The Muppet Christmas Carol”

Steven Mackintosh, Michael Caine, and a whole buncha Muppets in The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), directed by Brian Henson

Gobbledygeek episode 458, “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

It’s only one more Gobbledygeek ‘til Christmas! (NOTE: This episode has been on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for several days, but real life woes prevented it from being posted here. So that sentence was technically true!) 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 the greatest Christmas film of them all. Plus, Paul and Arlo recount a very strange year and get honest about the difficulties of the holiday season.

NEXT: have a safe and merry holiday, regardless of what you celebrate, and a happy new year. We’ll be back in 2022 with the long-awaited discussion of The Americans season 4 featuring Wesley Mead.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:50  –  Intro
  • 00:14:00  –  The Muppet Christmas Carol
  • 01:42:05  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “Scrooge” by The Muppet Cast, The Muppet Christmas Carol (Original Soundtrack) (1992)
  • “When Love Is Gone” by Meredith Braun, The Muppet Christmas Carol (Original Soundtrack) (1992)
  • “It Feels Like Christmas” by The Ghost of Christmas Present, The Muppet Christmas Carol (Original Soundtrack) (1992)
  • “One More Sleep ‘til Christmas” by Kermit the Frog, The Muppet Christmas Carol (Original Soundtrack) (1992)

GOBBLEDYCARES

by

Listen to the Gobbledygeek Season 10 Finale – “Twisted Christmas: Anna and the Apocalypse”

Ella Hunt in John McPhail’s ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ (2017).

Gobbledygeek episode 393, “Twisted Christmas: Anna and the Apocalypse,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

‘Twas the season 10 finale of Gobbledygeek, when all through the podcast,

Zombies were shuffling, Scottish dancers aghast.

John McPhail’s Anna and the Apocalypse was the topic du jour,

In hopes that Paul and Arlo would discuss the songs, the jokes, and maybe some more.

The movie does not foster too much discussion, alas;

While instead, talking about Christmas plans and getting high, our hosts had a blast.

Paul in his kerchief and Arlo in his cap,

Have settled their mics for a long winter’s nap.

Next: merry Christmas and happy New Year. We’ll see you in 2020.

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 01:32:00

  • 00:01:18  – Intro
  • 00:04:32  – Main Topic
  • 00:48:05  – Holiday plans / Season 10 wrap-up
  • 01:28:50  – Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

  • “Break Away” by Ella Hunt, Sarah Swire & Malcolm Cumming, Anna and the Apocalypse (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2018)
  • “It’s That Time of Year” by Marli Siu, Anna and the Apocalypse (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2018)
  • “Human Voice” by Cast from Anna and the Apocalypse, Anna and the Apocalypse (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2018)
  • “Hollywood Ending” by Cast from Anna and the Apocalypse, Anna and the Apocalypse (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2018)

THE LINKS

by

‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 259, “I Peed on the Corpse (feat. Kenn Edwards)”

kisskissbangbang

Gobbledygeek episode 259, “I Peed on the Corpse (feat. Kenn Edwards),” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

The lost and lonely are looking for a place to belong. Powerful men are looking to keep their darkest secrets hidden. Robert Downey, Jr. isn’t looking at all, and that’s why he peed on the corpse. It must be Christmas in L.A., Shane Black style. For this year’s Twisted Christmas entry, Paul and AJ are joined by So Lets Get to the Point‘s Kenn Edwards to rap about the 2005 noir comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The boys debate the merits of Shane Black’s self-aware style, including whether or not it’s too glib to handle some of the heavier turns the plot takes. Also under discussion: Have we lost RDJ to the Marvel machine? Does the movie have weird ideas about women? And what is it about Shane Black and Christmas anyway?

Next: the time has come for the final Bone. Greg Sahadachny of The Debatable Podcast joins us for our last Four-Color Flashback installment this year, discussing Bone: Vol IX – Crown of Horns by Jeff Smith.

(Show notes for “I Peed on the Corpse.”)

by

Listen to Episode 210, “I’m Having the Weirdest Day”

scrooged

Gobbledygeek episode 210, “I’m Having the Weirdest Day,” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

This Christmas season, put a little love in your heart with Paul and AJ as they revisit Richard Donner’s 1988 reworking of A Christmas Carol, Scrooged. This year’s Twisted Christmas entry stars none other than AJ favorite Bill Murray as soulless TV exec Frank Cross, who is visited by a number of very annoying spirits who try and pummel him into living life to its fullest. The boys discuss Murray’s manic-to-dry range, what we’re supposed to make of Frank’s (and even Scrooge’s) character arc, and the interesting decision to cast Carol Kane as the sound of nails on a chalkboard given form. They also invent the mental breakdown Donner surely had on set. This is a weird one. Plus, there’s talk of those Star Wars and Jurassic World trailers, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Next: an all-star jam band of our Sandman compatriots takes place, as the gang turns to the final volume of Neil Gaiman’s epic, Vol X: The Wake.

(Show notes for “I’m Having the Weirdest Day.”)

by

Listen to Episode 166, “Turbo-Man and the Shelf Elf Insurrection (feat. Jason Tabrys)”

jinglealltheway

Gobbledygeek episode 166, “Turbo-Man and the Shelf Elf Insurrection (feat. Jason Tabrys),” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

Remember that present you always wanted for Christmas but never got? Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready to strap on a jetpack to put it in your hot little hands, as your merry Gobbledy-elves ring in the holiday with a discussion of the 1996 “classic” Jingle All the Way. On hand is Elf King Jason Tabrys, who once more degrades the show with his unique brand of festive chaos, er, cheer. This lively band of Santa’s helpers marvel at the fact that Ahnuld could ever pass for a weathered everyman, express amazement that Sinbad was a person who existed, and reveal the true nature of Elf on the Shelf (it ain’t pretty). Plus, Paul and AJ become more estranged than ever before, which is saying something.

Next: this is the end, my only friends, the end (of season 4, that is).

(Show notes for “Turbo-Man and the Shelf Elf Insurrection.”)

by

Listen to Episode 123, “Twisted Christmas: How Horrible Our Christmas Will Be!”

'The Nightmare Before Christmas'

Gobbledygeek episode 123, “Twisted Christmas: How Horrible Our Christmas Will Be!,” is available for listening or download right here.

Christmas is upon us once more, which can only mean one thing: it’s time to get twisted. I don’t know what that means, but how about you join us in watching The Nightmare Before Christmas? The boys take a look back at the 1993 stop-motion classic, raving about its music (even misguidedly singing a bar or two), praising its glorious stop-motion animation, and take an honest look at Jack’s (possibly regressive?) character arc. Plus, the boys bemoan DC’s treatment of Gail Simone and AJ addresses the Homeland controversy.

Next: it’s the one you’ve been waiting, the one that’ll shut us up for a whole month! It’s the SEASON FINALE! We’ll talk about our favorite and least favorite things of the year 2012.

(Show notes for “Twisted Christmas: How Horrible Our Christmas Will Be!”)

by

Listen to Episode 122, “Gobbledygeek Gift Guide 2012”

Art by Michael Cho.

Art by Michael Cho.

Gobbledygeek episode 122, “Gobbledygeek Gift Guide 2012,” is available for listening or download right here.

The season of giving is once more upon us. Ever helpful, Paul and AJ list a number of Christmas gift options for that special geek in your life: from movies (like In the Mood for Love on Criterion Collection Blu-ray) to TV (the complete series of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!), comics (Saga: Vol. 1) to books (Alan Sepinwall’s The Revolution Was Televised), toys (cute lil’ Funko Pop figures) to games (Dishonored), and more. Don’t forget to thank us for rescuing your Christmas.

Next: the holiday gets twisted with The Nightmare Before Christmas.

NOTE: Links to every single item we mention in the episode can be found in the show notes.

(Show notes for “Gobbledygeek Gift Guide 2012.”)

by

Listen to Episode 78, “Twisted Christmas: Just Add Water”

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.

(Show notes for “Twisted Christmas: Just Add Water.”)