Gobbledygeek

Ah, merry old England. A land of many fine tales as well as some pretty crummy ones. This week, Paul and Arlo explore both sides of English mythmaking in a Geek Challenge that hearkens back to the Middle Ages; i.e., the 1930s and 1980s. First up is a movie Paul has been trying to get Arlo to watch literally as long as they've been podcasting: Terry Marcel's 1980 sword-and-sorcery epic (?) Hawk the Slayer, featuring John Terry and Jack Palance as improbable brothers warring over the power of the Mind Sword. In return, Arlo has Paul watch Michael Curtiz's 1938 classic The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn as the screen's most iconic Robin. The boys discuss Hawk as Paul's Rosetta stone; Robin Hood as one of those movies you just sort of absorb by osmosis; gloriously cheesy synth scores; Daffy Duck becoming a friar; and more. Plus, Jonathan Hickman's X-Men!

NEXT: TBD.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:30 - Fade In / Intro

00:06:34 - Hawk the Slayer

00:52:10 - The Adventures of Robin Hood

01:24:37 - Outro / Next

LINKS

• nos-stal-gia: Hawk the Slayer by Paul Smith, Gobbledygeek

• "The Paper Clip" (segment from 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not' hosted by Jack Palance)

MUSIC

• "Hawk the Slayer" by Harry Robertson, Hawk the Slayer (Original Soundtrack) (1980)
• "Duel, Victory and Epilogue" by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

'Tis the damn season. Last summer, we convened the Three Heathens--Paul, Arlo, and A/V writer-director Joseph Lewis--to discuss Taylor Swift's first surprise album of 2020, Folklore. It was surprising not only for the nature of its release but for the folk pop/singer-songwriter shift it marked, becoming the finest achievement of Swift's career. On her second surprise album of 2020, Evermore, she may have equaled that achievement. The Heathens are back to discuss the progression of Swift's Joni Mitchell phase, as her lyrics become more reflective and complex. They're strengthened by producer/co-writer Aaron Dessner's sonic palette, introducing new sounds to Swift's oeuvre. It's true, the boys go a little off the rails into Lynch references, but one thing is undeniable: the more we say, the less you know. Plus, a discussion of the Disney+ making-of/concert film Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.

NEXT: it's Hawk the Slayer vs. The Adventures of Robin Hood in a Geek Challenge.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:37 - Intro / Guest

00:03:40 - Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions

00:16:47 - Evermore

02:36:36 - Outro / Next

LINKS

• Every Literary Reference in Taylor Swift's folklore and evermore Explained, by Jack Ben Edwards

MUSIC

• "Willow" by Taylor Swift, evermore (2020)
• "Champagne Problems" by Taylor Swift, evermore (2020)
• "'Tis the Damn Season" by Taylor Swift, evermore (2020)
• "Should've Said No" by Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift (2008)
• "No Body, No Crime (feat. HAIM)" by Taylor Swift, evermore (2020)
• "No Body, No Crime (The No Hugo, No Stiglitz Remix)" by Joe Lewis
• "Coney Island (feat. The National)" by Taylor Swift, evermore (2020)
• "Ivy" by Taylor Swift, evermore (2020)
• "Cowboy Like Me" by Taylor Swift, evermore (2020)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

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

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

Because our mascot is a turkey, and because we generally frown upon genocide, Paul and Arlo are spending Thanksgiving weekend discussing films with ties to Native American culture. For this Geek Challenge, Paul urges Arlo to watch Michael Apted's 1992 conspiracy thriller Thunderheart, starring Val Kilmer as an FBI agent who grows to embrace his Sioux heritage. In turn, Arlo makes Paul watch Jim Jarmusch's 1995 psychedelic Western Dead Man, wherein Johnny Depp's iteration of William Blake takes an offbeat journey to the next life. The boys address the major caveat of both films starring white men, as well as their own lily whiteness; determine that Graham Greene and Gary Farmer walk away with their respective movies; and discuss how both films explore spiritual death and rebirth. With a bonus discussion of Apted's documentary Incident at Oglala!

NEXT: Arlo's having a baby. We're going on hiatus with hopes of returning in mid-to-late January. We wish everyone a happy and, more importantly, safe holiday season. We love you.

BREAKDOWN

00:01:00 - Intro / Guest

00:07:15 - Thunderheart

01:08:16 - Dead Man

02:09:36 - Outro / Next

LINKS

• "The Best of Both Worlds: Otherness, Appropriation, and Identity in Thunderheart" by Sam Pack

• "FILM VIEW: One Director, Two Routes to American Indian Travail" by Caryn James, New York Times

• "Dead Man: Blake in America" by Amy Taubin, Criterion

• "Unveiling the spiritual nature of Dead Man" by Briana Berg, Cinescapade

• "The Untamed Territory of Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man" by Scout Tafoya, The Spool

• "For Native Peoples, Thanksgiving Isn't a Celebration. It's a National Day of Mourning" by Tonya Mosley and Allison Hagan, wbur.org

MUSIC

• "Grafitti Man" by John Trudell, A.K.A. Grafitti Man (1986)
• "NDN Kars" by Keith Secola, Circle (1992)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

For the penultimate Gobbledygeek of the year, Paul and Arlo return to an institution they dropped like a bad habit at the start of the pandemic: the Four-Color Flashback! Vickie Willis Navarra, board member of the Comics and Popular Arts Conference at DragonCon, joins the boys to discuss Sandman Mystery Theatre: Book One. Matt Wagner's resurrection of DC's Golden Age hero Wesley Dodds, with art by Guy Davis, John Watkiss, R.G. Taylor, and David Hornung, explores the dark dreams of 1938 New York. The gang discusses the art's sketchy, shadowy noir qualities; Vickie interrupts her praise of Dian Belmont long enough to wonder if Dian falls into the "exceptional female" trope; Paul and Arlo ponder the series' connection to Neil Gaiman's Sandman; and more.

NEXT: season 11 comes to a close with a Geek Challenge featuring Thunderheart and Dead Man.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:35 - Intro / Guest

00:11:50 - Main Topic

01:54:34 - Outro / Next

LINKS

• V.E.W. Navarra: Writing All The Things

• Reading Joss Whedon, edited by Rhonda V.. Wilcox, Tanya R. Cochran, Cynthea Masson, and David Lavery

• At Home in the Whedonverse: Essays on Domestic Place, Space and Life, edited by Juliette C. Kitchens
• Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture, edited by Alex DiBlasi and Victoria Willis
• Routledge Companion to Popular Music and Humor, edited by Thomas M. Kitts and Nick Baxter-Moore

MUSIC

• "Begin the Beguine" by Artie Shaw (1938)
• "I've Got a Pocketful of Dreams" by Bing Crosby (1938)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

We're still here. The world spins on, at least for a time. In the aftermath of Election Day 2020, there are many variables. Will that loser leave the White House? Will the GOP's slow-rolling coup pay off? Will a Trumpian shadow militia form, leading to an actual Civil War II? As is the norm, Paul and Arlo have no answers, but they ponder these questions and many others. The boys recount their Election Night spirals; Arlo gets tested for COVID; Paul goes to the severe county of Sevier County; and they discuss some pop culture too, like why the kitchen-sink melodrama of This Is Us works, why Baby Yoda being a monster on The Mandalorian is cool and good, and why Paul hates The Simpsons.

NEXT: for the penultimate episode before our pregnancy-induced hiatus, Vickie Willis Navarra joins us for a Four-Color Flashback discussing Sandman Mystery Theatre: Book One by Matt Wagner, Guy Davis, John Watkiss, and R.G. Taylor.

MUSIC

• "FDT (feat. Nipsey Hustle)" by YG, Still Brazy (2016)
• "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley & The Wailers, Exodus (1977)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

Hello, kiddies. Are you ready for your deadtime story? Gobbledyween 2020 comes to a close as A/V writer-director Joseph Lewis joins Paul and Arlo in the Cryptkeeper's lair to discuss Ernest R. Dickerson's 1995 frightfest Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight. These hodunk, podunk, well-then-there motherfuckers discuss the insane cast, including William Sadler, Billy Zane, Dick Miller, and CCH Pounder; the importance of Jada Pinkett Smith's heroine Jeryline; Dickerson's use of light and color; and why this is the perfect mid-'90s time capsule.

NEXT: VOTE.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:50 - Intro / Guest

00:09:08 - Demon Knight

01:47:19 - Outro / VOTE!!! / Next

LINKS

• "From Script to the Big Scream: Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight Turns 25!" by Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting

• "A Celebration of Demon Knight's Unlikely Hero Jeryline" by Tai Gooden, Nerdist

• "Joel Silver Wanted Cameron Diaz to Star in 'Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight'" by Brad Miska, Bloody Disgusting

MUSIC

• "Tales from the Crypt" by Danny Elfman, Original Music from Tales from the Crypt (1992)
• "Hey Man Nice Shot" by Filter, Short Bus (1995)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

This week, we want all our garmonbozia. Gobbledyween 2020 emerges from the Black Lodge as Brett Easton Hell Yes host Katie L. Wright joins Paul and Arlo to discuss David Lynch's divisive Twin Peaks prequel/sequel, 1992's Fire Walk With Me. The gang discusses the film's polarizing reception at Cannes (Tarantino hated it!), the surprising empathy Lynch and co-writer Robert Engels show toward both victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse, how Fire Walk With Me is the lynchpin (get it?) of the Twin Peaks universe, and of course, Sheryl Lee's incredible performance as Laura Palmer.

NEXT: Gobbledyween comes to a close as original Gobbler Joseph Lewis hams it up with the Cryptkeeper for Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight.

BREAKDOWN

00:01:07 - Intro / Guest

00:03:10 - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

01:40:05 - Outro / Next

LINKS

• "The Maligned Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Is Better—and More Important—Than You Know" by Julie Muncy, Wired

• "Watch 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me' and You'll Know What the Show Was Really About: Incest and Rape" by Michael Nordine, IndieWire

• "Revisiting the Nightmarish Twin Peaks Movie" by David Sims, The Atlantic

• "THE AWFUL TRUTH IN 'TWIN PEAKS'" by M.C. Blakeman, Chicago Tribune

• "Fire Walk With Me: how David Lynch's film went from laughing stock to the key to Twin Peaks" by Martyn Conterio, The Guardian

• "31 Days Of Feminist Horror Films: TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME" by Kate Hagen, The Black List

• "Seeing FWWM as a survivor of abuse" Reddit post by MhpLydian

• Bret Easton Hell Yes: A Bret Easton Ellis Fancast - website - Apple Podcasts

MUSIC

• "A Real Indication" by Angelo Badalementi, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) (1992)
• "The Pink Room" by Angelo Badalementi, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) (1992)
• "Questions In a World of Blue" by Angelo Badalementi, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) (1992)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

Perfection, NV, pop. 14, is adding three more country bumpkins to its census: Paul, Arlo, and Jason Tabrys, writer for Uproxx and Den of Geek, who is returning to the show after a stunning two-year absence. The gang is here to continue the month-long horror celebration Gobbledyween by discussing Ron Underwood's 1990 creature feature Tremors. There is discussion of Kevin Bacon's small head, Burt Gummer's voting record, the simple efficacy of S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock's script, why the Graboids are great movie monsters, and more. Long-time listeners will know that when Jason Tabrys is involved, more means more.

NEXT: we want all our garmonbozia. Jessica Shipp joins us to discuss Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:28 - Intro / Guest

00:06:00 - Tremors

01:33:40 - Outro / Next

LINKS

• Failed Astronaut: A Jason Tabrys Catch-All

• "Tremors: Making Perfection" (Documentary)
• "Tremors turns 30, the most perfect B movie creature feature ever made" by Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica

MUSIC

"Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys, Smiley Smile (1967)

"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" by Jerry Lee Lewis, Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (Single) (1957)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

Leaves are on the ground. Blood is on the screen. It's time for Gobbledyween.

Take a break from the horror of the real world to join Paul and Arlo for that most venerated of Gobbledygeek traditions, the month-long horror movie marathon known as Gobbledyween. To kick things off for 2020, our pal Greg Sahadachny takes a break from the usual goofy stuff we stick him with (like the very goofy The Stuff) to go legit with his own personal selection: André Øvredal's 2016 procedural chiller The Autopsy of Jane Doe. The gang takes a scalpel to the film, discussing how Øvredal gets the most out of his "bottle episode" morgue setting; Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch's strong performances as a father-son coroner duo; how the film avoids fetishizing Olwen Kelly's nude body; and why nihilism in horror films can feel so satisfying.

NEXT: grab(oid) onto your butts, Uproxx editor Jason Tabrys joins us to talk Tremors.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:50 - Intro / Guest

00:08:00 - The Autopsy of Jane Doe

01:26:06 - Outro / Next

LINKS

• "The Autopsy of Jane Doe Is the Most Tasteful Movie Ever Made About Cutting Up a Woman's Corpse" by Jordan Crucchiola, Vulture
• "Autopsy of Jane Doe: How an actress played dead for horror film" by Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly

MUSIC

"Open Up Your Heart (and Let the Sunshine In)" by Frente!, Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits (1995)

"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) [From the American Tribal Love Rock Musical "Hair"]" by The 5th Dimension, The Age of Aquarius (1969)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/