Gobbledygeek

War for the Planet of the Apes! Huh! Who is it good for? The answer would be cinephiles searching for an intelligent, emotionally and politically resonant blockbuster. Welcome to Paradise’s Kenn Edwards joins Paul and Arlo to discuss Matt Reeves’ final installment in the so-called “Caesar Cycle,” which may be the bleakest monkey movie in history. (Also, they’re not monkeys. Just ask Arlo’s fiancée.) The gang delves into the genius of the film’s visual effects, Andy Serkis’ Oscar-worthy performance, the Apocalypse Now riffs, and how or if these films tie into the original Planet of the Apes series. Plus, Kenn finds a new way to watch Jaws, Paul comes down with The Big Sick, the Doctor is a lady, and the gang commemorates George Romero and Martin Landau. Next: Christopher Nolan goes to war sans apes with Dunkirk.

It’s a Wiley whammy as first-time guest Heather Wiley joins Gobbledygeek’s very own Arlo Wiley in teaming up to finally take down Paul. Actually, this is a pretty convivial episode, as all three agree that Spider-Man: Homecoming is not only one of the better Spider-Man movies--some on this podcast would venture to call it the best--but one of the better entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. The gang discusses why that is: the familiar yet fresh take on our friendly neighborhood webhead, an effortless mix of comedy and drama, a believable villain who doesn’t want to shoot giant beams of light into the sky, genuine Queens-like diversity, and killer turns from Tom Holland and Michael Keaton. Plus, Paul conducted a Mozart in the Jungle binge, Arlo got together with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Heather tries to piece together if she and Arlo are indeed blood relatives. Next: War for the Planet of the Apes is hell.

This week, Paul and Arlo put the pedal to the metal and drop the needle on Baby Driver, the latest nerd fantasia from writer-director Edgar Wright. Filled with rock and soul classics, Wright’s first American film is a high-concept car chase musical that nevertheless plays things a little straighter than his British/Canadian ventures. The boys discuss their favorite music cues, whether or not the internet is right to hate Ansel Elgort, what the film says about music as the soundtrack to our lives, and of course the goddamn Hamm. Plus, Paul and Arlo puzzle over the latest season of Orange Is the New Black and take a bite out of Bong Joon-ho’s Okja. Next: first-time guest Heather Wiley swings by to talk Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Landlubber Yorick Brown sets sail for Australia in Y: The Last Man: Vol. 6 - Girl on Girl, and Paul and Arlo are on hand to detail his nautical adventure. Now that their year-long Four-Color Flashback journey through Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s beloved comic book is more than halfway over...the boys have an existential crisis and ponder why it’s been so difficult to discuss their journey. Is a series like Y: The Last Man built for this kind of volume-by-volume analysis? Every comic book is different, so is it fair for the boys to place it under the same scrutiny they did The Sandman? Besides making a classic of the medium sound surprisingly shitty, the boys do mine discussion from Girl on Girl, particularly about how the women in Yorick’s life realize they’re trapping themselves inside his narrative. They swear they love this book. Really. Plus, Arlo forced Amber to watch Firefly and Serenity. Next: put pedal to the metal as Edgar Wright drops the needle on Baby Driver.

135 years ago, Robert Ford put a bullet in the back of Jesse James’ head. 34 years ago, Ron Hansen put pen to paper for a literary retelling of this slaying, calling it The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. 10 years ago, Australian writer-director Andrew Dominik put to film his version of this novel. What gets lost over time and multiple translations? What aspects of the legend become amplified, and what diminished? These are appropriately heady questions, as Dominik’s film tackles the very concepts of celebrity, idolatry, memory, and myth. The movie, met with decent reviews and zero fanfare upon release, seems like a classic in 2017. Paul and Arlo rave about the film, including Roger Deakins’ once-in-a-lifetime stellar cinematography, the spellbinding score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, and the haunting performances from Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt. They also discuss who’s the real coward, who really killed whom, and what the film has to say about masculinity and the Old West. Plus, th

This week, the lasso of truth compels Paul and Arlo to tell you all about their thoughts on Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, the fourth film in the DC Extended Universe and the first major female-led superhero movie since freaking Elektra. Joining them on this Themysciran horseback ride is friend of the show Hallie Prime. The gang discusses Gal Gadot’s note-perfect performance, Chris Pine’s frighteningly large eyebrows, whether or not the film’s villains live up to its hero, and if there’s still hope for the DCEU yet. Plus, Arlo gets all evangelical about The Leftovers. Next: after a week off, Paul and Arlo will take a look at The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ten years on.

Once again, Paul and Arlo’s most British friend Wesley “Wezzo” Mead is abducted from the U.K. to discuss Chris Carter’s seminal sci-fi series The X-Files. The gang has reached the show’s fifth season; for a while now, Paul and Wezzo have been warning neophyte X-Phile Arlo that things would go downhill, and we may have reached that point. They discuss why season 5 doesn’t work quite as well as previous seasons; the big celebrity guest writers (Stephen King! William Gibson!); if the mytharc stuff makes any sense at this point; whether or not Scully has been completely robbed of agency; and the series’ first feature film, Fight the Future. Plus, there’s despairing political talk as always, and Arlo revisited every single David Lynch movie. Next: the lasso of truth compels Paul and Arlo to give you their thoughts on Patty Jenkins’ big-screen Wonder Woman.

Y: The Last Man gets it very own Ring Cycle with Vol. 5: Ring of Truth, wherein Yorick is separated from his engagement ring while the Culper Ring goes head-to-head with the Setauket Ring. Meanwhile, Paul and Arlo’s year-long Four-Color Flashback “study” of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s acclaimed series runs rings around the competition (not that there is any). The boys discuss everyone’s relative morality; the stand-alone issue “Hero’s Journey,” which allows us to see things from a feminine perspective; whether or not it all comes down to crane spunk and monkey shit; and Christ on a cross. Plus, Paul and Arlo remember Chris Cornell. Next: killer trees are afoot as Wesley “Wezzo” Mead joins the boys once again to discuss Chris Carter’s seminal sci-fi series The X-Files. This time, the gang sets their sights on season 5 and the series’ first big screen outing, Fight the Future.

Family is family, no matter how much they might piss you off. It’s fitting that while the ragtag band of losers at the heart of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 learn this lesson, Paul and Arlo are relearning it. That’s right, kids, the boys’ miraculous and unprecedented string of agreements is over: Paul is tail over paws in love with Vol. 2, while Arlo rides the good ship Kelly McGillis into a sea of disappointment. Are the film’s various character pairings emotionally satisfying? Does Vol. 2 merely rehash everything you loved about the first? Is Michael Rooker a goddamn gift to humanity/Centauriankind? Plus, Paul mind-melds with Sense8 season 2, and Arlo wants to believe with The Leftovers season 3. Next: after a week off, Ensley F. Guffey will join the boys for the next installment in their (woefully unappreciated) Four-Color Flashback exploring Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s Y: The Last Man. This time, they’ll slip on the Ring of Truth for Y: The Last Man - Vol. 5.

Anti-immigrant sentiment. Militarized police. Fascist leadership. A Britain with closed borders. No, this isn’t our world circa 2017; it’s the 2027 of Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 sci-fi masterpiece Children of Men. A world rocked by mass infertility and faced with humanity’s impending extinction has led down a path of violent extremism, one you and I may be traveling as we speak. Paul and Arlo discuss the film’s terrifying relevance, its rightful ascendance to modern classic status, those insane tracking shots, and, you know, white male privilege. Plus, Paul promised Arlo he would watch Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, and by god that’s a promise he kept. Next: three years after their self-titled debut, the Guardians of the Galaxy are about to drop Vol. 2, and you’re invited to the listening party.

Slip on your shiniest boots of leather and grab those whips, it's Four-Color Flashback time! Professional Grendel podcaster Chance Mazzia joins Paul and Arlo for their year-long exploration of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man for Vol. 4: Safeword, wherein things get a little kinky. When the gang stops at a remote cabin in the woods (never a good sign), Yorick is in for a femdom fiesta complete with chains, ropes, and soul-searching. The boys discuss how the series subverts conventional ideas of masculinity; what Yorick's sexual history tells us about him; and how the story functions in a post-9/11, circa Trump world. Plus, Chance wants you to know The Name of the Wind, and Arlo furthers the kink with Park Chan-Wook's The Handmaiden.   Next: it's been more than a decade since Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men hit theaters. Paul and Arlo examine how the film's dark and despairing future reflects our dark and despairing present.

This week, a podcast about a podcast. Of course, S-Town is no ordinary podcast; from the producers of This American Life and Serial, it's a coherent piece of documentary art unto itself. Reporter Brian Reed had little idea what he was getting himself into when John B. McLemore of Shittown (née Woodstock), Alabama, emailed him about a possible murder cover-up. Likewise, the listener who presses play on the first episode of S-Town has no idea of the journey they're about to take, one that is about time, empathy, compassion. Joining Paul and Arlo to suss out some of this journey's meaning is Paul's better half, Pam Smith, herself a lifelong Alabamian. The gang discusses how S-Town resonates with them, whether or not it's too invasive, why it should be mandatory listening, and Paul and Pam's trip to Woodstock. Plus, Pam plays some calming video games (Abzu, Flow, Journey, and Flower), while Arlo's other half finally gets him to play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; and we have movie sign as Paul heckles Netf

Aliens dripping their acidic psychosexual horrors all over you. Artificial intelligence becoming real, seeing and hearing and controlling all you do. Your friends' flesh peeling back to reveal their true inhuman visage. These are the nightmares conjured by such sci-fi horror classics as Alien, The Terminator, and The Thing, but you may not have seen their likes in recent years. Blumhouse and Birth. Movies. Death. writer Jess Hicks joins Paul and Arlo to ask, “Where have all the good sci-fi horror movies gone?” The gang discusses why the genre reached its apex in the '80s; why it's so much more difficult to produce (or even conceptualize of) good sci-fi horror these days; and how TV may be picking up the slack. In the middle of all this, technology literally revolts against our hosts. Plus, Paul and Arlo come from the land of the ice and snow to geek out over the giddy Thor: Ragnarok teaser.   Next: a podcast about a podcast. Paul's better half, Pam Smith, joins the boys to discuss the beautiful, stunning S-To

This week, Paul and Arlo turn on and tune into the wonders and terrors of the superhuman mind by taking a gander at the first season of Legion. The FX series, developed by Fargo's Noah Hawley and theoretically set in the X-Men universe, is unlike most other superheroic media. David Haller is either schizophrenic, an extremely powerful telepathic/telekinetic mutant, or both. Witnessed through his eyes, the world is fractured, bizarre, disturbing, and a tad surreal. As such, the typical X-Men plot--David is rescued from a mutant-hunting government organization known as D3 by a group of rebels with a Magneto-esque leader--is given a swift kick in the pants. The boys discuss this inventive telling of a simple story, the show's many visual flourishes, why it's a powerful exploration of mental health, and Aubrey Plaza's revelatory turn as a 50-year-old man. Plus, a surprise Rick and Morty pre-empts Samurai Jack, overjoying one of our hosts and causing considerable frustration in the other; and the boys rave about t

Hallelujah, it's raining men! As Yorick Brown discovers he may not be the last man in the universe thanks to a space shuttle carrying two others, Paul and Arlo invite Kenn Edwards to join them on their year-long Four-Color Flashback discussion of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man. With Vol. 3: One Small Step, the gang discusses the book's self-referential devices, the prominence of fiction as a theme, and how Yorick's progression from boy to man is coming along. There's also talk of guest artist Paul Chadwick, who fills in for Guerra on the two-issue departure "Comedy & Tragedy"; depending on who you ask, the story is either a Gaiman-esque delight or the height of masturbatory self-indulgence. Fun times! Plus, Arlo and Kenn discuss Dave Chappelle's new Netflix specials, Jerrod Carmichael's 8, and, you know, the role of comedy in modern society. Meanwhile, Paul twiddles his thumbs.   Next: throw out your meds, drop the needle on The Dark Side of the Moon, and get ready for a discussion of N

If only these walls could talk, the secrets they could tell. Among them: murder, betrayal, lies, infidelity, and how in the hell Tommy Wiseau made a movie. It's time for another Geek Challenge, and Arlo has seized the opportunity to finally force Paul into watching Wiseau's 2003 cult classic The Room. In turn, Paul has challenged Arlo to Sidney Lumet's much more dignified 1982 crime comedy Deathtrap. The boys discuss the advantages of stage over screen, and vice versa; questionable acting, be it Dyan Cannon or Greg Sestero; homoerotic subtext (or maybe it's just text); and, yet again, Arlo's fascination with epically bad filmmaking. Plus, Paul got his ears blown out by the Alabama Symphony's Led Zeppelin.   Next: Kenn Edwards joins Paul and Arlo for the next installment of their year-long Four-Color Flashback discussion of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man. This time, the gang will talk Vol. 3: One Small Step.

People get old. Claws get rusty. Movie franchises get tired. After 17 years of real-world time and 150+ fictional years, the time has come for James "Logan" Howlett AKA Wolverine to take a bow. In Logan, the final film featuring Hugh Jackman in his iconic star-making role, we're introduced to a near-future bereft of mutants and full of sorrow. Logan's mind is a potent cocktail of regret, pain, and futility. When a young girl named Laura throws him back into action, he takes the nonagenarian Professor X on the road for one last adventure. Though "adventure" is not a word one would use to describe this brutal, melancholy film, about as far in tone as you could get from any of the nine previous installments in the X-Men series. Paul and Arlo discuss the film's worthiness as a swan song for Canada's most violent citizen, how it fits perfectly alongside Cop Land in director James Mangold's canon, whether or not the very R-rated violence is gratuitous, and if in a perfect world this should be the end of the X-Men's

Bringing a much-needed feminist perspective to a story about a man surrounded on all sides by women, Jeff Bridges poet Donora Rihn joins Paul and Arlo for their year-long Four-Color Flashback exploration of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's acclaimed Vertigo comic book series Y: The Last Man. This time, the gang discusses Vol. 2: Cycles, which collects issues #6-10 of the original series. Donora asks Paul and Arlo how they perceive the book as men, and if they think it shows Yorick growing into his role as the last man on Earth; in turn, Paul and Arlo ask Donora if she finds Vaughan's narrative voice to be overwhelmingly male and if it fairly represents its many female characters. In between, Arlo can't stop recommending things to comics newbie Donora, there is yet more praise of Guerra's clean and beautiful artwork, and there are select readings from Valeria Solanas' SCUM Manifesto. Plus, Donora has a new name and the gang remembers the late great Bill Paxton.   Next: after a week off for another of Arlo's p

Just in time for everyone's distrust in government to be at an all-time high, Wesley "Wezzo" Mead joins Paul and Arlo once again to discuss Chris Carter's seminal sci-fi series The X-Files. This time, the gang sets their sights on season 4, and opinion seems to be divided on just how well the season holds together. Is this where the mythology stuff starts to really go off the rails? Does Scully's cancer make for a compelling dramatic throughline? And most importantly of all, is there an obvious heir to Darin Morgan's throne (a couple suggestions are thrown out)? Plus, Wezzo laments the progression of Brexit, while Paul and Arlo sift through the Trump Administration's mounting atrocities; and on a happier, sillier note, the gang has a blast with The Lego Batman Movie.   Next: this year's Four-Color Flashback exploration of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man continues. Jeff Bridges poet Donora Rihn joins Paul and Arlo to discuss Vol. 2: Cycles.

After nearly seven years of fruitless podcasting, Gobbledygeek has reached its 300th episode. For some time now, Paul and Arlo have semi-jokingly referred to episode 300 as the "therapy episode"...so, what the hell, here's three hours of the boys discussing the skeletons in their closest. Acting as guest host and amateur therapist, friend of the show and So Let's Get to the Point host Kenn Edwards grills the guys about their childhoods, their families, their romances, and what they really think of each other. You'll learn more about Paul and Arlo than you ever hoped to, and then some. Will you survive the experience? Will they?   Next: after a week off to recuperate, the boys return to discuss The X-Files season 4 with that roguishly charming Brit, Wesley "Wezzo" Mead.