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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 502 – Blue Eye Samurai

Mizu (voiced by Maya Erskine) in Blue Eye Samurai (2023), created by Michael Green and Amber Noizumi

Gobbledygeek episode 502, “Blue Eye Samurai,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

What is there for a young, mixed-race woman to do in feudal Japan? Reject all traces of her femininity, assume the masculine identity of a ronin, and seek revenge on any of the four white men in the whole country who could potentially be her father. Is Mizu a demonic half-breed, an enlightened warrior, or something else altogether? Created by Michael Green and Amber Noizumi, Blue Eye Samurai charts Mizu’s journey of self-discovery and bloodlust, and Paul and Arlo are along for the ride. The boys discuss the show’s brilliant fight choreography, each character’s attempt to break free of their constraints, the tremendous voice performances of Maya Erskine and Brenda Song, and that Metallica cover. Plus, Arlo pays homage to big bald daddy Godzilla.

NEXT: ho ho no! It’s a Bob Clark double feature on the finale of our truncated season 14, as Twisted Christmas rears its festive face once more. Black Christmas and A Christmas Story are basically the same movie, right?

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:55  –  Intro / Guest
  • 00:30:10  –  Blue Eye Samurai
  • 02:00:12  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Emi Meyer, Blue Eye Samurai (Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) (2023)
  • “Pale Blue Eyes” by The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground (1969)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 490 – “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

Pinocchio fan poster by Aleks Phoenix (IG: aleks_phoenix)

Gobbledygeek episode 490, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Is that a tree branch on your face, or are you just lying to me? An extra-long Gobbledygeek season finale takes root with a discussion of Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s new stop-motion adaptation of Pinocchio. Paul and Arlo discuss the numerous ways del Toro has made Carlo Collodi’s immortal tale his own, chiefly by making it a study of mortality–oh, and fascism too. The boys rave about Ewan McGregor’s take on the Cricket, the awe-inspiring puppetry and animation on display, and Arlo’s pot-addled epiphany. Plus, tributes to Angelo Badalamenti and Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss, as well as a look at the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer.

NEXT: happy holidays, y’all. We’ll be back in 2023.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:45  –  Intro
  • 00:17:18  –  Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
  • 02:10:16  –  Our brief, incomplete list of Best of 2022
  • 02:33:17  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Twin Peaks Theme” by Angelo Badalamenti, Soundtrack from Twin Peaks (1990)
  • “Big Baby Il Duce March” by Gregory Mann, Pinocchio (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) (2022)

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 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 450 – “FCF: The Spire”

The Spire (2015); art by Jeff Stokely & André May

Gobbledygeek episode 450, “FCF: The Spire,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

For their latest Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo are exploring the world of Si Spurrier and Jeff Stokely’s 2015 mini-series The Spire. Our location is a massive, tiered city surrounded by a desolate wasteland; our cast of characters include privileged aristocrats and the undesired “Sculpted,” hybridized from human and animal DNA; and our story is one of noir sleuthing, extreme violence, racial intolerance, and classism. The boys discuss Spurrier and Stokely’s deceptively simple storytelling; the “soft edges” around their world-building; Stokely’s manga-influenced art; and just how in-spire-ing it all is. Plus, a number of previous FCF selections are hitting the small screen, including Y: The Last Man, The Sandman, and most unbelievably of all, Grendel.

NEXT: what’s that? It’s October? Time for Gobbledyween 2021. Our annual horror-fest kicks off with a discussion of Ti West’s 2009 indie phenom The House of the Devil, featuring our old pal Greg Sahadachny.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:51  –  Intro / Comics on TV banter
  • 00:22:11  –  The Spire
  • 01:34:42  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Gumshoe” by Penny & Sparrow, Finch (2019)
  • “Fresh Tendrils” by Soundgarden, Superunknown (1994)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 446 – “FCF: Sweet Tooth – The Return”

Art from Sweet Tooth: The Return (2020) by Jeff Lemire & José Villarrubia

Gobbledygeek episode 445, “FCF: Sweet Tooth – The Return,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

You can’t go home again. But you can return to the creator-owned post-apocalyptic fantasy saga that captivated comics readers for 40 twisted, beautiful issues. That’s exactly what Jeff Lemire did last year with Sweet Tooth: The Return, a sequel miniseries that takes place three whole centuries after the original Vertigo series’ ending. Considering that ending was perfect, does The Return need to exist? Paul and Arlo aren’t so sure. They discuss what The Return adds (or subtracts) from the greater narrative, the book’s alleged Twin Peaks influence, the story’s many “It’s like poetry, it rhymes” moments, and why you shouldn’t fuck around with elephants. Plus, they start things off by chatting about why Netflix’s Sweet Tooth is a great adaptation.

NEXT: Eric…Sipple? Does anyone know who this is? Why is he talking to us? Oh god.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:50  –  Intro
  • 00:03:24  –  Netflix Sweet Tooth adaptation
  • 00:15:50  –  Sweet Tooth: The Return
  • 01:17:13  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “Living Underground” by Nico Vega, Nico Vega (2009)
  • “The Elephant” by Pete Seeger, Birds, Beasts, Bugs & Fishes (Little & Big) (1998)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 440 – “FCF: Sweet Tooth”

Art from Sweet Tooth: The Deluxe Edition – Book One (2009) by Jeff Lemire & José Villarrubia

Gobbledygeek episode 440, “FCF: Sweet Tooth,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Imagine a world where a global pandemic killed millions and changed society forever. Spooky stuff, huh? Well, take a break from reality with this month’s Four-Color Flashback: Sweet Tooth: The Deluxe Edition – Book One, comprising the first 12 issues of Jeff Lemire’s offbeat breakthrough about a little deer boy and the post-apocalyptic hell that awaits him in the wilds of Nebraska. Along the way, he meets a Frank Miller-style tough guy named Jepperd, who seems to be the grizzled protector to Gus’ naive innocent. It’s a little more complicated than that, of course. Paul and Arlo discuss Lemire’s weird, idiosyncratic artwork; the way he uses the faces and especially the eyes of his laconic characters to convey so much; and how the new Netflix adaptation is radically different.

NEXT: dust off that mail robot, it’s time for The Americans season 2 with British secret agent Wesley “Wezzo” Mead.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:47  –  Intro / Banter
  • 00:19:38  –  Sweet Tooth: The Deluxe Edition – Book One
  • 01:37:00  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “My Father’s House” by Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska (1982)
  • “Out of the Woods” by Taylor Swift, 1989 (2014)

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 429 – “Geek Challenge: Wolf vs. The Insider”

Left: Christopher Plummer in Wolf (1994), directed by Mike Nichols / Right: Christopher Plummer in The Insider (1999), directed by Michael Mann

Gobbledygeek episode 429, “Geek Challenge: Wolf vs. The Insider,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

In honor of the late Christopher Plummer, Paul and Arlo host a Geek Challenge with two films featuring one of Canada’s greatest. First, Paul has Arlo watch Mike Nichols’ 1994 horror (?) film Wolf, starring Jack Nicholson as a middle-aged book editor who finds the beast inside courtesy of a wolf bite (with a five-minute cameo from a scenery-chewing Plummer). Then, Arlo makes Paul watch Michael Mann’s 1999 ripped-from-the-headlines thriller The Insider, with Russell Crowe as a scientist taking on Big Tobacco, Al Pacino as the journalist trying to tell his story, and Plummer doing one hell of a job as Mike Wallace. Plus, Paul tries to get Arlo to watch Craig McCracken’s new animated series Kid Cosmic.

NEXT: the boys sharpen their fangs on a Four-Color Flashback discussion of the first two volumes of Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque’s American Vampire.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:55  –  Intro / Kid Cosmic
  • 00:10:29  –  Wolf
  • 00:55:45  –  The Insider
  • 01:49:45  –  Pointless tangent about the term “bucket list” (We’re sorry.)
  • 01:52:54  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “Wolf Like Me” by TV On The Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)
  • “Iguazu” by Gustavo Santoalalla, Ronroco (1998)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to the Gobbledygeek Season 12 Premiere – “Who’s Your Daddy?”

The Gobbledygeek season 12 premiere, “Who’s Your Daddy?,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

First comes a podcast, then comes 423 more podcasts, then comes a baby who is doomed to think having a podcast host for a dad is normal. On the Gobbledygeek season 12 premiere, Arlo is revealed to be a babydaddy–and the kid isn’t Paul’s! Scandal! Arlo discusses life as the father of a newborn, which involves a good deal of poop. Paul has also had to deal with a good deal of poop, even though his isn’t issuing forth from a screaming, squealing bundle of joy. In between all the poop talk, the boys squeeze out some pop culture talk: Arlo catches up with the new seasons of Ramy and PEN15; Paul gets TikTok’d; Arlo watches (and reads) You; and the boys commiserate about the bizarre, disappointing Wonder Woman 1984.

NEXT: ‘tis the damn season. A/V writer-director Joseph Lewis returns to the show for another round of Swiftie analysis with a deep-dive into Evermore.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:01:07  –  Intro
  • 01:24:30  –  Spoilers for Netflix’s You (and the novels it’s based on)
  • 01:29:20  –  End spoilers
  • 01:55:05  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
  • “Wellerman” by Nathan Evans (2021)

GOBBLEDYCARES