Gobbledygeek

As you may have heard, the Oscars were tonight. The body isn't even cold yet, but Paul and AJ are here on the scene with their barely coherent criticisms, crammed into 30 seconds!

This week, Paul and AJ are joined by Joanna Gaskell and Rob Hunt of the

fantasy-based web series Standard Action. Joanna and Rob discuss filming

in the mud and rain of Vancouver, writing a part for yourself, and how to

finance an indie project, all before turning the tables on the boys. Plus,

AJ gets excited for the Oscars and gee, Paul really hates George Lucas.

Next: Tarantino Month kicks off with a look at the man's first feature,

Reservoir Dogs.

The first surprise of 2012 is The Grey, the Liam Neeson survival film whose trailers could be politely described as Taken, Only by Wolves. However, such is not the case, and Paul and AJ discuss the movie's meditative reflections on life, death, and the human will to survive. And, yes, the movie's depiction of wolves as supernatural beasts...and whether or not any wolfpunching occurs. Plus, AJ details his remedy for illness (it involves a bad Nicolas Cage movie) and Paul talks about Kevin Smith's new reality show Comic Book Men.

Next: The boys interview Joanna Gaskell of the web series Standard Action.

It's almost Valentine's Day, so grab your best guy/gal and settle down for the latest episode of Gobbledygeek, in which the boys discuss how marriage is presented in pop culture. It's really hard to find a pop marriage that isn't fundamentally fucked-up in one way or another, but Paul and AJ do their best. You've got everyone from Firefly's Wash and Zoe to The Honeymooners' Ralph and Alice, and then going to the dark side, even Breaking Bad's Walt and Skyler. Plus...Paul and AJ get engaged????

Next: the boys tackle Neeson v. Wolves, aka The Grey.

Spring is about to get sprung (thanks for ruining that, Sir Mix-a-Lot), so Paul and AJ list 20 movies that might be worth your attention in February, March, and April. The films range from charming Japanese anime The Secret World of Arrietty to the very serious Albanian-language The Forgiveness of Blood; to the wacky high seas adventures of The Pirates! Band of Misfits to the Willem Dafoe/Sam Neill Tasmanian tiger (or is it wolf?) movie The Hunter. In between, you'll find films sappy, thrilling, terrifying, and hilarious. Hopefully. Also, the seeds for a future episode are nefariously planted, and: The Cabin in the Woods is finally coming out!

Next: Just in time for the chocolates and flowers and obnoxious greeting cards of Valentine’s Day, marriage in pop culture.

It's 2012. The world is probably coming to a fiery end soon. So where is our flying car? And while we're at it, are there going to be lightsabers? Or clones? Or hoverboards? Or any number of things that science fiction and pop culture have promised us? Paul and AJ ruminate on these questions of the future, discussing whether or not some of these goals are attainable or even desirable. And heads up: shit gets kinda bleak.

Next week: Our 2012 Spring Movie Preview!

Your worst nightmares have been realized: Paul and AJ are back with another season of Gobbledygeek! To kick things off, the boys discuss two films released late last year. Though they are both very different, they're both about damaged women: Young Adult, the very un-Juno-like reteaming of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, starring Charlize Theron as a self-obsessed YA author; and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher's adaptation of the first book in Stieg Larsson's blockbuster Millennium series, starring Rooney Mara as fierce hacker/investigator Lisbeth Salander. They clash over Young Adult's polarizing conclusion, and come together in defense of Mara's Salander who has not been softened or overly sexualized, thank you very much.

Next: the future, according to pop culture.

Holy chafing podcasts, Gobblers! The boys wrap up their second season by (what else?) talking. A lot. It’s the Gobbledygeek 2011 Year-End Review, which basically means Paul and AJ go on and on about the stuff that they loved (and hated) in geeky pop culture for the past twelve months. And they bicker a little bit. And there may be name calling at one point. But no formal charges have been filed, so all-in-all a great way to end our sophomore year. No blood, no foul.

Next: Some well-deserved time off. For you guys, that is. For the boys it’s nothing but work, work, work to get ready for the all-new, all-different Gobbledygeek Season Three, premiering January 21st, 2012!

For this holiday season, the boys rewind to their respective childhoods and visit a cherished classic: Joe Dante's Gremlins. It's not your usual holiday fare, unless your usual holiday fare involves murder, isanity, and chaos. They discuss whether or not the film actually holds up to the harsh light of adulthood, whether those damn rules make any sense, and just how high the author of the film's novelization was. AJ reviews We Need to Talk About Kevin, Paul gripes about The Defenders #1, and then we get around to Nathan's snarky Formspring question of the week.

Next: the Gobbledygeek season 2 finale is our year-end round-up of everything we loved (and hated) in 2011.

If there's anything we learned from A Charlie Brown Christmas, it's that

Christmas has become far too commercialized and that the true spirit of

Christmas isn't in the gifts that you receive. So, going entirely against

that lesson from our childhoods, we've concocted the second annual

Gobbledygeek Gift Guide! We'll clue you into everything you should buy for

that nerd in your life, be they into movies (The Tree of Life! Hanna!),

music (Nirvana! Pink Floyd!), games (Arkham City! Skyrim!), or more. We

also leaven all the cynical buying and spending with genuine, heartfelt

appreciations of the movies We Bought a Zoo, Hugo, and The Muppets, plus

some Formspring questions and an e-mail.

Next: We continue our Christmas celebration with a discussion of Gremlins.

Because who doesn't like to think of Phoebe Cates' dad getting stuck in

the chimney when they're putting up the tree?