science fiction

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 505 – That Was Then: Ghostbusters

Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson in Ghostbusters (1984), directed by Ivan Reitman

Gobbledygeek episode 505, “That Was Then: Ghostbusters,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Who ya gonna call? Gobbledygeek! For the first installment of our That Was Then series, taking a look back at movies celebrating anniversaries in 2024, Paul and Arlo take residence at Spook Central for 1984’s Ghostbusters. Turning a frightful 40 this year, Ivan Reitman’s classic comedy began as a high-concept riff on the “slobs v. snobs” template made popular by Animal House before becoming an inescapable pop cultural juggernaut. The boys discuss the thoughtfulness of Reitman’s direction in tandem with the great László Kovács’ photography, the perfectly structured script by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, how much of Pete Venkman is just Bill Murray, and why the right-wing backlash to the 2016 remake is ironic in light of the original’s sketchy politics.

NEXT: a little of this, a little of that.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:48  –  Intro / The Year That Was 1984
  • 00:18:19  –  Ghostbusters (1984)
  • 01:36:29  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr., Ghostbusters (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1984)
  • “Cleanin’ Up the Town” by The Busboys, Ghostbusters (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1984)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 501 – Scavengers Reign

Levi (voiced by Alia Shawkat) and Azi (voiced by Wunmi Mosaku) in Scavengers Reign (2023), created by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner

Gobbledygeek episode 501, “Scavengers Reign,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

We’re crash-landing back into regular podcasting with the Max original animated series Scavengers Reign. Created by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner, the seeds of Scavengers Reign were planted in an Adult Swim short before blossoming into a brilliant sci-fi series teeming with surrealist detours and bits of body horror. Paul and Arlo rave about the show’s Cronenberg-meets-Miyazaki vibe, laud the series’ refusal to provide easy answers, and hope against hope that this beautiful, otherworldly thing will continue to thrive in a second season. Plus, Arlo is the worst.

NEXT: more Western adult animation with heavy influence from the East, as the boys confront Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:45  –  Intro / Arlo is the worst!
  • 00:27:55  –  Scavengers Reign
  • 01:53:45  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Interstellar Outer Space” by Anderson East, Maybe We Never Die (2021)
  • “Slime Creatures from Outer Space” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, Dare to Be Stupid (1985)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 500 – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (feat. Eric Sipple)

Spider-Woman (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson

Gobbledygeek episode 500, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (feat. Eric Sipple),” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

500 episodes! Can you believe it? What incredibly special way will we choose to commemorate this event??? By, well, just having a regular episode discussing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with our good friend Eric Sipple. At one point this past summer, we weren’t sure another episode was ever going to happen, so this seems like a fitting celebration. The boys rave about Across the Spider-Verse’s layered meanings, innovative animation, strong emotion, and how much more fun and exciting the movie is than the comics are these days.

NEXT: who even knows, man.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:55  –  Intro / Guest
  • 00:07:05  –  Shout out to Levi Williams!
  • 00:13:28  –  Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
  • 02:29:18  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers, Sunshine On Leith (1988)
  • “Spiderwebs” by No Doubt, Tragic Kingdom (1995)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 498 – “FCF: Far Sector”

Art from Far Sector by Jamal Campbell

Gobbledygeek episode 498, “FCF: Far Sector,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

In brightest day, in blackest night, no listener shall escape the Four-Color Flashback’s might! In an unusual turn of events, Paul has selected a DC book–but, of course, it’s an unusual one. Published under DC’s Young Animal imprint, curated by My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, Far Sector is a Green Lantern murder mystery written by N.K. Jemisin (in her first comics work) with art by Jamal Campbell. Sojourner “Jo” Mullein is the newest Lantern in the universe, and she’s been kicked way out into the far reaches of space to solve the City Enduring’s first murder in half-a-millennia. That murder, though, is only a thread–and when Jo starts pulling, the whole city begins to unravel. The boys discuss Jemisin’s timely social commentary, Campbell’s gorgeous art, why Jo Mullein overcomes our hosts’ Green Lantern skepticism, and the freaking @At. Plus, Paul and Arlo binge some TV, including the final seasons of Succession, Barry, and Ted Lasso; the new season of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson; and the very first season of American Born Chinese.

NEXT: it’s Xanadu vs. Mulholland Drive in a Geek Challenge for the ages.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:35  –  Intro / Oh Lawd, it’s comin’!
  • 00:08:00  –  Recent TV season / series finales
  • 00:38:06  –  Far Sector
  • 01:46:55  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “Space Cop” by Sam Guydude, Space Cop – Single (2023)
  • “Many Moons” by Janelle Monae, Metropolis: The Chase Suite (2008)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 496 – “FCF: Boxers & Saints”

Art from Boxers & Saints (2013) by Gene Luen Yang & Lark Pien

Gobbledygeek episode 496, “FCF: Boxers & Saints,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo tackle a blindspot from one of their favorite writers. Gene Luen Yang, author of Gobbledyfaves like American Born Chinese and Avatar: The Last Airbender, tells the brutal story of the Boxer Rebellion in Boxers & Saints. The graphic novel duology delves into complex subjects like faith, spirituality, nationalism, and fascism; we cover ‘em all, hopefully in something resembling depth. Plus, Arlo returns to the city of Metropolis for more Superman comics, including mega-event The Death and Return of Superman and Grant Morrison & Mark Waid’s JLA run. 

NEXT: we find our inner Greenwich Village folksters with a Geek Challenge featuring Noah Kahan’s Stick Season and Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:30  –  Intro / Arlo’s Adventures of Superman
  • 00:36:45  –  Boxers & Saints
  • 02:20:14  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkle, Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
  • “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” by Bruce Springsteen, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 492 – “FCF: We Only Find Them When They’re Dead”

We Only Find Them When They’re Dead – Art by Simone Di Meo & Mariasara Miotti

Gobbledygeek episode 492, “FCF: We Only Find Them When They’re Dead,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Got a hankerin’ for god meat? Well, pull out your giant lightsaber knife and feast on a new Four-Color Flashback! For the first FCF of 2023, Paul and Arlo set out at warp speed to seek enlightenment with Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo’s We Only Find Them When They’re Dead. The BOOM! Studios series, whose 15-issue run wrapped in December, is set hundreds of years from now, when the primary industry is extracting proteins, enzymes, and minerals from the corpses of massive deities. Evocative title and crazy premise aside, the book is chock full of theosophical enigmas that our boys try to solve. Beyond the elusive quest for concrete answers, though, this comic certainly makes them feel a whole lot. Dig in. Plus, some bellyaching about the new slate of DC movies.

NEXT: a discussion of S.S. Rajamouli’s action epic RRR, which presumably concerns reading, writing, and arithmetic.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:00:30  –  Intro / Banter
  • 00:21:25  –  We Only Find Them When They’re Dead
  • 01:58:36  –  Outro / Next

MUSIC

  • “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica, Ride the Lightning (1984)
  • “Mystery Jack” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Float Along – Fill Your Lungs (2013)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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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 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 482 – “FCF: Oblivion Song”

Art from Oblivion Song (2018-22) by Lorenzo De Felici & Annalisa Leoni

Gobbledygeek episode 482, “FCF: Oblivion Song,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

Sing, sing a song; sing of oblivion, it’s 36 issues long! For this month’s first (?) Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo are harmonizing about Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici’s 2018-22 Image series Oblivion Song. It’s an alien invasion saga that questions the very concepts of “alien” and “invasion,” regarding its human and Kuthaal characters with equal levels of empathy and complexity. The boys discuss how Kirkman overcomes The Walking Dead’s biggest flaws, De Felici’s otherworldly artwork, Annalisa Leoni’s eerily beautiful colors, and so much more. Plus, Arlo made a return trip to Austin, TX.

NEXT: Nope? Yup.

BREAKDOWN

  • 00:01:00  –  Intro / Arlo’s Austin Adventures
  • 00:27:17  –  Oblivion Song
  • 02:00:00  –  Outro / Next

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “Fungal Jungle (Remix)” by Psilovibin’ (2019)
  • “Bungle in the Jungle” by Jethro Tull, War Child (1974)

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