Tue, 30 March 2021
And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. After two long years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe desert, since Avengers: Endgame and its postscript Spider-Man: Far from Home, Marvel’s mightiest are back on the air. For the first MCU series on Disney Plus, we have WandaVision, a TV show that is very much about TV shows and what the medium means to us. The comfy-cozy sitcom rhythm of the show, as Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany’s Vision make-believe they’re on the sets of The Dick Van Dyke Show or Family Ties, is interrupted by unsettling reminders of where we left these characters. Wanda was grieving--because Vision was dead. What’s going on here? Don’t change that channel, because Paul, Arlo, and special guest Michael Holland--currently post-production supervisor on The Afterparty--discuss how showrunner Jac Schaeffer and director Matt Shakman channel grief, capture the nostalgic spirit of old TV, weaponize fan expectations, and more.
NEXT: we’ll be back, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.
BREAKDOWN 00:00:50 - Intro / Guest 00:05:53 - WandaVision 01:51:39 - Outro / Next
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GOBBLEDYCARES
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Mon, 15 March 2021
What’s more American than ruthless bastards sucking dry the poor, hardworking souls that make this country what it is--all in the name of progress? We’re not just talking about capitalism here, we’re also talking about the bloodthirsty monsters at the heart of Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque’s American Vampire. For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo sink their fangs into the first two volumes of Snyder and Albuquerque’s (with an assist from Stephen King) decades-spanning Vertigo series. The boys discuss how Snyder charts the path of American history through three distinct time periods; the seriously cool vampire taxonomy; Albuquerque’s ghastly, gorgeous art; the way King cusses; and, yes, what the book says about capitalist conquest. Plus, Paul chills with three very different Netflix projects: Moxie, Ginny & Georgia, and Behind Her Eyes.
NEXT: Michael Holland, post-production supervisor on American Horror Story and ABC’s For Life, joins us to discuss Disney+’s first MCU series, WandaVision.
BREAKDOWN 00:00:50 - Intro 00:07:14 - American Vampire 01:34:36 - Outro / Next
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GOBBLEDYCARES
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Sun, 7 March 2021
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
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GOBBLEDYCARES
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