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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 381 – “Four-Color Flashback: Hip Hop Family Tree”

Art from ‘Hip Hop Family Tree’ by Ed Piskor.

Gobbledygeek episode 381, “Four-Color Flashback: Hip Hop Family Tree,” is a available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

Paul and Arlo are in the place to be, rapping about Ed Piskor’s Hip Hop Family Tree. For the latest Four-Color Flashback installment, our nerdy white heroes take on nerdy white cartoonist Piskor’s quartet (so far) of graphic novels discussing the history of hip hop culture. The boys discuss Piskor’s art, equally indebted to underground comix and superhero books of the ‘70s and ‘80s; how the physical editions beautifully replicate the aesthetics of the time period; how Piskor captures the rhythm and fluidity of DJs and breakdancers; and what in the hell he’s got against Russell “Rush” Simmons.

Next: Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is Family-friendly entertainment.

(Show notes for “Four-Color Flashback: Hip Hop Family Tree.”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 243, “Straight Outta Wattles”

straightouttacompton

Gobbledygeek episode 243, “Straight Outta Wattles,” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

Comin’ straight from the underground, this week Paul and AJ discuss the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. Yes, the two whitest podcasters you know deliver their take on the film’s authenticity, its sad relevance, where it falls on the biopic spectrum, and the bizarre fact that Ice Cube offspring O’Shea Jackson Jr. is playing Ice Cube. Here’s hoping it’s less awkward than that time they jammed to “Accidental Racist.”

Next: that charming Brit, Wesley “Wezzo” Mead, is back for another round of charming Brit-ness.

(Show notes for “Straight Outta Wattles.”)

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On DVD & Blu-ray, 7/19/11: ‘Peep World,’ ‘Boyz n the Hood,’ More

PEEP WORLD (DVD/Blu-ray)

How come TV actors so rarely get a break on the big screen? The general consensus seems to be that we’ve moved beyond the age of the Movie Star–just look at how little anyone cared about Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts’ Larry Crowne–so why is it still so hard for TV actors to make great movies? Take a look at Peep World. You’ve got Michael C. Hall, who’s given stunning performances on Six Feet Under and Dexter; this man should be working with A-list directors, but instead he makes stuff like Gamer. You’ve got the trifecta of Rainn Wilson, Judy Greer, and Sarah Silverman, all of whom have done very funny work on television. The closest any of them get to cinematic greatness is Wilson’s bit part in Juno. TV’s time-consuming, I know. But when you look at a mess like Peep World, you wonder how so many talented TV people got thrown into such a bad movie. In a way, it reminds me of The Great New Wonderful, an awful movie that inexplicably starred Edie Falco, Will Arnett, Jim Gaffigan, Tony Shalhoub, and Stephen Colbert. Peep World isn’t nearly as bad, but its story of an oh so dysfunctional family feels like an unpleasant tenth-generation copy of The Royal Tenenbaums. It has no style, little wit, and the narrative is all a-shambles. With this many talented actors involved, there are bound to be some effective moments, and there are. But if a filmmaker with respect for and knowledge of the medium had been given the same budget and the same cast, something special could have happened. Extras include deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer. 

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