Thu, 21 December 2023
You’ll slash your eye out, Kidder! To close out our truncated season, it’s a Twisted Christmas double feature, as Paul and Arlo explore both of Canadian auteur Bob Clark’s yuletide classics: 1974’s proto-slasher Black Christmas and the 1983 staple A Christmas Story. The boys separately find each of these movies to be deeply annoying…but who couldn’t stand which one?! Just kidding, Paul’s not that into the horror movie and Arlo can’t stand the cutesy nostalgic one. We have a brand, and we’re sticking to it. Plus, our favorite movies and TV shows of 2023.
NEXT: Merry Christmas and happy New Year! We’ll potentially be back in January potentially with a guest and potentially discussing a movie. So much potential for 2024, can’t wait to squander all of it!
BREAKDOWN 00:00:49 - Intro 00:09:03 - Black Christmas 00:57:31 - A Christmas Story 01:49:06 - Outro / Next
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Sat, 16 December 2023
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
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Tue, 12 December 2023
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
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Sun, 26 November 2023
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
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Tue, 27 June 2023
You have to believe Gobbledygeek is magic. Or at the very least, that Paul and Arlo will revel in cinematic magic on the latest Geek Challenge. Robert Greenwald's infamous 1980 flop Xanadu is paired with David Lynch's acclaimed 2001 masterpiece Mulholland Drive for a fantastical discussion of filmic fantasy. The boys argue that Xanadu should not be seen as a failure, interpret Mulholland Drive's many cryptic symbols, bask in the radiance of Olivia Newton-John, and laud Naomi Watts' raw emotion. Plus, our bodies continue to deteriorate.
NEXT: five hundo. BREAKDOWN 00:00:39 - Intro 00:15:49 - Xanadu 01:04:15 - Mulholland Drive 01:57:26 - Outro / Next MUSIC
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Tue, 6 June 2023
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
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Wed, 10 May 2023
Are you feeling “Homesick”? Are you all “Tangled Up in Blue”? Dogged by a “Simple Twist of Fate” or, perhaps, sippin’ on gin and “Orange Juice”? Then boy, do we have the Geek Challenge for you! Dipping their toes in musical waters for the first time in a while, our boys are listening to one of each other’s favorite albums. Paul has challenged Arlo to Noah Kahan’s 2022 singer-songwriter album Stick Season, and Arlo has in turn challenged Paul to Bob Dylan’s extremely singer-songwriter classic, 1975’s Blood on the Tracks. They grapple with each artist’s distinctive vocal stylings, compare the albums’ sense of mourning for loves lost, and are generally perplexed by what music the other is drawn to.
NEXT: Drop a sick beat, we’re gonna freestyle.
BREAKDOWN 00:00:55 - Intro / Guest 00:05:30 - Stick Season by Noah Kahan 01:19:28 - Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan 02:27:31 - Outro / Next
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Wed, 12 April 2023
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
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Tue, 4 April 2023
Love can spread like a fungus throughout the soul, eradicating any shred of self-control. For a thorough depiction of that sentiment, we turn to HBO’s The Last of Us, a TV adaptation of the blockbuster video game series. Joining Paul and Arlo to talk everything mushroom are authors and pop culture enthusiasts Dale and Ensley Guffey, stopping by the show for their first visit in years. The gang discusses the game’s transition to television, how the show breaks new ground for the zombie apocalypse genre, the incredible chemistry between Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay, and much more.
NEXT: a long-delayed Four-Color Flashback discussion of Gene Luen Yang’s Boxers & Saints.
BREAKDOWN 00:00:48 - Intro / Guests 00:03:00 - HBO’s The Last of Us 01:59:42 - Outro / Next
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Tue, 14 March 2023
You remind me of the pod…the pod with the geeks. Paul and Arlo fall down the rabbit hole of another Geek Challenge, this time pitting Jim Henson’s 1986 cult classic Labyrinth against Jan Švankmajer’s 1988 headtrip Alice. Henson’s film finds Jennifer Connelly dancing with David Bowie and a variety of Muppets as she attempts to rescue her baby brother, while Švankmajer’s finds Kristýna Kohoutová assailed by a variety of bizarre stop-motion creations and a taxidermied rabbit. It should be obvious who picked which movie. Topics of discussion include codpieces, sellouts, practical effects, and weird sex, among others.
NEXT: Paul and Arlo ride through The Last of Us’ post-apocalypse with the inestimable Dale Guffey and Ensley F. Guffey
BREAKDOWN 00:00:52 - Intro / Reminiscence on Vomit 00:42:07 - Alice 01:19:20 - Labyrinth 02:11:50 - Outro / Next
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Thu, 16 February 2023
Time to rise, roar, and revolt as Paul and Arlo engage in some extreme piggybacking with S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR. This alt-history epic is the rare Indian film to make a splash in the Western world, and our boys approach it as only two ignorant white guys can: with almost no knowledge of Indian culture or film! Nevertheless, they are in love with the movie, which reimagines Indian revolutionary figures Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju as superheroes who can outrun tigers, shoot a British bastard from a mile away, and stop motorcycles with their bare hands. The boys praise stars N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan, admire Rajamouli’s craft, and weep in awe at the insane shit happening in every single scene. Plus, there’s a trailer for The Flash and Arlo has finally gone back to reading old Superman comics.
NEXT: TBD.
BREAKDOWN 00:00:44 - Intro / Guest 00:18:04 - Main Topic 02:03:24 - Outro / Next
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Sun, 5 February 2023
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
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Tue, 31 January 2023
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.
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