horror

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Listen to the Gobbledygeek Season 14 Premiere – “In Like a Lion”

Gobbledygeek episode 491, “In Like a Lion,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

We’re back, baby! After a longer than expected hiatus, Gobbledygeek has returned for season 14. That’s right, we’re up to 14 seasons of Paul and Arlo babbling on about any manner of nonsense–which they continue to do in this freestyle season premiere. 2023 has come in like a lion and is likely to go out like one, so we find our boys licking their wounds, recounting the real-life horrors that delayed their return to the mic, and generally complaining about everything. Including pop culture! Lest you forget that’s what they’re here for, Paul and Arlo sauté some thoughts on the mushroom apocalypse of HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation; rave about the movies they’ve caught up with, like The Fabelmans, RRR, and Aftersun; and decide to get high-brow by reading books that don’t have any pictures. Plus, a pitch for the inevitable Gobbledygeek TV series.

NEXT: okay, but we really like books that do have pictures in them. This year’s Four-Color Flashback series kicks off with Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo’s We Only Find Them When They’re Dead.

MUSIC

  • “At Last” by Etta James, At Last! (1960)
  • “This Will Be Our Year” by The Zombies, Odessey and Oracle (1968)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 486 – “Interview with the Vampire (1994)”

Kirsten Dunst, Brad Pitt, and Tom Cruise in Interview with the Vampire (1994), directed by Neil Jordan

Gobbledygeek episode 486, “Interview with the Vampire (1994),” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Listen to Gobbledygeek and live forever. This week, in a stealth continuation of this year’s Gobbledyween, Paul and Arlo head on down to New Orleans for Neil Jordan’s 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice’s classic Interview with the Vampire. Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Antonio Banderas are the most beautiful men anyone could have cast as immortals in the mid-’90s, and they’re joined by a prepubescent Kirsten Dunst to form a truly tragic coven. The boys discuss the evil joyfulness of Cruise’s Lestat, why the role of Louis de Pointe du Lac does not play to Pitt’s strengths, how amazing it is that the film’s overt homoeroticism made it to the screen, and much more. Plus, yoghurt.

NEXT: we’ll be back in two weeks to discuss season 2 of Reservation Dogs.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:53  –  Intro / Go Go Yoghurt!
  • 00:10:08  –  Interview with the Vampire (1994)
  • 02:06:08  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)” by Concrete Blonde, Bloodletting (1990)
  • “Sympathy for the Devil” by The Rolling Stones, Beggars Banquet (1968)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 485 – “The Blair Witch Project”

Rei Hance in The Blair Witch Project (1999), directed by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez

Gobbledygeek episode 485, “The Blair Witch Project,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

We all get lost, every now and then. Most of us don’t get quite as lost as the three film students at the center of The Blair Witch Project, a massive hit in 1999 whose reputation among the average moviegoer has also taken a massive hit. If you ask Arlo, though, it’s one of the greatest horror films ever made–and he tells Paul exactly why, as they celebrate the second and final week of this year’s abbreviated Gobbledyween. The boys discuss the incredibly convincing performances, why the characters being so annoying makes the movie so believable, how the found footage genre has expanded in the years since, and just how easy it is to get lost in America.

NEXT: why are you standing in the corner, Paul?

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:32  –  Intro
  • 00:02:34  –  The Blair Witch Project
  • 01:39:11  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Gilligan’s Island” by Television’s Greatest Hits Band, Television’s Greatest Hits: Classic TV Theme Songs (2021)
  • “Out of the Woods” by Taylor Swift, 1989 (2014)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 484 – “Midnight Mass (feat. Joseph Lewis)”

Hamish Linklater and Samantha Sloyan in Midnight Mass (2021), directed by Mike Flanagan

Gobbledygeek episode 484, “Midnight Mass (feat. Joseph Lewis),” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Leaves are on the ground, blood is on the screen–it’s time for a (very late) Gobbledyween! Gobbledygeek’s annual horror-thon returns for an abbreviated run, kicking things off with Mike Flanagan’s 2021 Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass. What at first seems like a riff on ‘Salem’s Lot–a vampire ingratiates himself into a tiny coastal community–becomes a soaring exploration of addiction, faith, and death. Joining Paul and Arlo to discuss the series is original Gobbler Joseph Lewis. Together, the Three Heathens rave about the central performances from Hamish Linklater, Zach Gilford, and Kate Siegel; dissect the show’s “bad miracle” vibe and how it relates to their own spiritual journey; and poke a little good-natured fun at the many, many monologues.

NEXT: we’ve got one more in store for you, as Paul and Arlo pop a tape into their camcorders for 1999’s The Blair Witch Project.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:50  –  Intro / Guest / Banter
  • 00:23:13  –  Midnight Mass
  • 02:27:36  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind” by Neil Diamond, Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show (1969)
  • “Nearer My God to Thee” by The Newton Brothers, Midnight Mass (Soundtrack) (2021)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 483 – “Nope”

Daniel Kaluuya in Nope (2022), directed by Jordan Peele

Gobbledygeek episode 483, “Nope,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

For 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 Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:56  –  Intro / RIP Jean-Luc Godard
  • 00:06:47  –  Nope
  • 02:11:52  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus)” by Lil Nas X, 7 (2019)
  • “Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley (1958)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 481 – “Netflix’s The Sandman, Season 1 (feat. Eric Sipple)”

Tom Sturridge in The Sandman (2022), created by Neil Gaiman

Gobbledygeek episode 481, “Netflix’s The Sandman, Season 1,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

No, this isn’t a dream (or even a nightmare): The Sandman, the iconic Vertigo comic book series created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith, and Mike Dringenberg, has finally been adapted for television. Paul, Arlo, and The Deli Counter of Justice co-creator Eric Sipple are all huge fans of the comics, and they use their familiarity with the Dreaming to dive deep into the first season of the Netflix TV show. The gang discusses the show’s mostly spot-on casting, whether it captures Morpheus as well as Roderick Burgess did, how the filmmakers modernize some of the books’ more outdated elements, and so very much more. Plus, a mini-review of Prey, the new Predator film directed by Dan Trachtenberg and starring Amber Midthunder.

NEXT: sing a song of oblivion with Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici’s Oblivion Song on a new Four-Color Flashback.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:32  –  Intro / Guest
  • 00:02:31  –  Prey mini-review
  • 00:26:28  –  The Sandman, Season 1
  • 02:35:00  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “In Sleep” by Lissie, When I’m Alone: The Piano Retrospective (2019)
  • “Cotton Candy Land” by Elvis Presley, It Happened At the World’s Fair (Original Soundtrack) (1963)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 479 – “Sad & Weird”

Gobbledygeek episode 479, “Sad & Weird,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

For 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

MUSIC

  • “We Would Be Building” by John Fahey, Days Have Gone By, Vol. 6 (1967)
  • “Lame Claim to Fame” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, Mandatory Fun (2014)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Episode 477 – “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”

Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), directed by Sam Raimi

Gobbledygeek episode 476, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Paul and Arlo are going slightly mad. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the MCU’s latest trip through the titular multiverse, fracturing and reshaping reality to meet the franchise’s corporate needs. If that sounds a little unenthused, well, what can we say? The boys didn’t love this one. Paul, ever the optimist, discusses why the MCU’s depiction of sorcery continues to be one of its greatest assets. Arlo, ever the cynic, expresses appreciation of Sam Raimi’s trademark flourishes before lamenting that they’re all recycled riffs. Along the way, they discuss the film’s odd function as a WandaVision sequel, whether punching star-shaped holes in the universe is good goofy or bad goofy, those weird fucking kids, and more.

NEXT: more madness.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:34  –  Awkward Intro
  • 00:03:33  –  Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Spoiler-free)
  • 00:21:15  –  SPOILERS!!!
  • 01:50:40  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “I’m Going Slightly Mad” by Queen, Innuendo (1991)
  • “X-Men Theme” by Florian Haack, X-Men Theme (Single) (2018)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 474 – “MCUTV: Moon Knight (feat. Michael Holland)”

Oscar Isaac in Moon Knight (2022), created by Jeremy Slater

Gobbledygeek episode 474, “MCUTV: Moon Knight (feat. Michael Holland),,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Travelers of the night, welcome to Paul and Arlo’s latest MCUTV discussion. They join hands once again with Hollywood wonder boy Michael Holland, and together they summon Moon Knight. Oscar Isaac joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Marc Spector, the human avatar of Egyptian god Khonshu, and…well, is he Marc Spector? Is he Steven Grant? Or is he someone else entirely? The gang discusses how the show tackles Marc’s dissociative identity disorder, the killer costume design, how the series pushes the MCU’s boundaries, and more.

NEXT: on a new Geek Challenge, we are The One who is Everything Everywhere All at Once.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:01:17  –  Intro / Guest
  • 00:11:00  –  Moon Knight
  • 01:36:40  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “A Man Without Love” by Engelbert Humperdinck, A Man Without Love (1968)
  • “Nights in White Satin” by The Moody Blues, Days of Future Passed (1967)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 473 – “Dick’s on the Brain”

Gobbledygeek episode 473, “Dick’s on the Brain,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

It’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, and Arlo gets progressively more inebriated.

NEXT: welcome, travelers of the night, to another MCUTV installment with Hollywood wonder boy Michael Holland. This time, we’re discussing Moon Knight.

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Posse on Broadway” by Sir Mix-a-Lot, Swass (1988)
  • “Who Let the Dogs Out (As Made Famous by Baha Men)” by Karaoke DJ, Karaoke Hit Music the 00’s Vol. 2 – Instrumental Sing Alongs From the 2000’s (2010)
  • “Are You Ready for Freddy” by Fat Boys, Coming Back Hard Again (1988)

GOBBLEDYCARES