Guys Of A Certain Age

With Jay sitting this episode out (something about work?), Robbie and Art take a look at some of the movies and series that are coming up this summer...and beyond. (Though, no... they don't mention Buzz Lightyear.) Rest assured, there's plenty to look forward to, one project that may be gone in a Flash, and a current superhero movie that is more dead than undead. 

As the weather improves (except for the tornadic winds and such that The Guys have found themselves dodging of late), that means grilling season is coming.  It’s time to inventory the gear, scrape the dirt dauber nests out of the grill, and gather the ingredients for our favorite rubs and marinades.  

Art had better things to do on this recording day, so Jay and Robbie take to the microphones alone to talk outdoor cooking and generally make themselves hungry.  It doesn’t take much.  From go-to meats to favorite sides, fancy thermometers to new gear on the back porch, they talk of hopes and dreams, smoke and fire, and whether or not Art will ever really invite them over to see his pizza oven.  

Jay brings sad news from the pop culture side of graphic technology, and Robbie finds a way to dress like his soon-to-be favorite space geeks, for just a few dollars less than a Mini Big Green Egg, which is an oxymoron, isn’t it?  Light up the grill and listen, or vice versa.  

It’s Oscars time again, but does anybody care?  Like the tree falling in the woods, if “the slap heard round the world” had not happened, would we even know there was an Oscars?

In this week’s episode of Guys of a Certain Age, a bizarre instance of life imitating art makes its way into the studio.  Will it mean this is the final episode?  And like the Oscars, would anybody care?  In any case, without having actually watched much more than a few highlights, the Guys still find much to say about this year’s Oscars presentation and lack of presentation.  And Jay has another list of movies he’s supposed to watch.  Or not.  

In the “what to look forward to” segment (aka Geeks of the Week), it’s more violence and mayhem than Disney+ used to allow and a new premiere date for the next Star Wars series.  In the other direction, “what we can’t look forward to anymore”, they reflect on sad news from a modern acting legend, which subsequently leads to more violence and mayhem in the studio.  This one is not to be missed.  

Something is afoot in Gotham.  The Art-man, who is well known to be the biggest Batman fan among The Guys, if accumulation of Bat-toys, Bat-shirts, and other Bat-regalia is the true measure of a fan, is suspiciously absent from this episode.  Where could he be?  And why hadn’t he seen The Batman movie yet?  It’s a riddle for sure.  

But it didn’t keep Jay and Robbie from descending on the Bat-studio and waxing eloquently about their opinions on the newest Bat-film without him.  Robbie left the theater with strong opinions while Jay departed into the dark night still uncertain.  Will he come to a conclusion?  Does it matter?  Inquiring Arts want to know.  

Meanwhile, back in the light, a dead fictional character gets an actual tombstone, and Ed Norton’s alter ego appears on a rival network in a bizarre twist in the comic universe.  This episode is best heard in a dark cave or a parents’ basement, which may or may not be the same thing.  

Free Jay!  Free Jay!  Such is the new cry of the NPC’s in Free City, the virtual world in which a blue-shirted Ryan Reynolds lives and loves and is perpetually happy, even after being run over by a train ... until he’s not.  

In this episode The Guys (of a Certain Age, not the one Guy in the film) chat about the nods to other films (some obvious, some not), the consistency of Mr. Reynolds’ style (Green Lantern notwithstanding), and the plain ol’ fun this movie brought to their otherwise crazy lives.  In other words, Three Guys give a thumbs up to Free Guy.  

And despite the Marvel references in the movie (spoiler alert, sort of), the Geeks of the Week focus largely on DC, as The Batman makes a move to HBO Max and Another Batman (and Superman) get new voices as sidekicks to super pets.  Art’s news may not be a true deathwatch announcement, but it may turn to be the demise of our kids’ free ride on Netflix.  Listen free and listen often.  

When the microphone cuts off in the Guys of a Certain Age studio, the talk doesn’t necessarily stop.  And often, one of They Guys (usually Art) will say, “we should save this for another episode.”  Or sometimes Jay will get home and think, “I completely forgot to say ….(insert great idea here).”  

This episode is all about those loose ends.  Filling in the blanks that the listeners may not have realized were even there.  From Charlie Brown to Beetlejuice, Scooby-Doo to the F1 racing series, Blue Dog to the Galactic Star Cruiser, they cover it all and somehow still cover not much at all.  

But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a lot to say!  Come on in to the studio, sit a spell, and catch up on all that stuff you didn’t know you missed.    

If you’re old enough to remember “You’ve Got Mail” or you’ll Say Anything while walking around Notting Hill on the way to your Best Friend’s Wedding, you might just be a guy (or gal) of a certain age.  

Especially if that sentence conjured up the memory of your original AOL address, or that night you stood outside your girlfriend’s window holding a boom box because it worked for Jon Cusack.  Admit it or not, even geeks love a rom-com every now and then.  Good Housekeeping’s list of the 60 best rom-coms ever happens to include a couple that even the geekiest nerds may be willing to concede they’ve watched, whether they’re actually rom-coms are not.

A comment by Jay’s wife inspired this discussion/confession with The Guys, as they go down the list and name their favorites, as well as the ones that had the most impact on pop culture.  

In Geeks of the Week, the Guys note the passing of someone who could be considered Star Wars’ most crucial supporter, the shifting of a big mass of Marvel from one streaming service to another, and some interesting Bat-Spinoff announcements.  Listen as The Guys reveal their softer side, and we’re not just talking about love handles.  

Another Disney+ mini-series is in the books and The Guys are ready to share their takes on it.  Bounty hunter, lovable rogue, benevolent daimyo, holiday special crasher: this is truly the Book of Boba Fett.  There was much anticipation for this Jon Favreau enterprise after the success of The Mandalorian, and The Guys had  high expectations.  

Were they met?  Was it worth the seven-ish hours of our lives?  The Guys answer all those questions and more, in a recorded live broadcast from Mos Studio in Tatooine County, Mississippi.  

But before the Star Wars discussion ensues, Jay rides in on a tiny landspeeder, definitely not with the new Mt. Dew in hand.  Mrs. Reed would never allow such.  And did you hear they’re making a new Star Trek movie?  Apparently the actors didn’t either.  The Guys can’t make this stuff up, but they’re not above it.  

In this week’s episode, we learn why Robbie went to Chicago without Art and Jay.  A

s it turns out, it was a pretty cool reason: the premiere of The Loyola Project, a documentary film that Robbie may not have starred in, but definitely has close ties to.  The Loyola University Chicago's basketball team of 1962-63 made history, and the university that employs Art, that Robbie attended, and that Jay paid to give his son mad engineering skills, was a part of that history.  It’s an important story, and Robbie tells us all about it, as well as the really important stuff: Chicago pizza.  

Geeks of the Week tell tales of revived cartoons and the passing of a film director whose most famous movies Jay has actually seen.  

This week Robbie goes to Chicago to seek fame, fortune, and pizza.  

And he took his wife instead of Art and Jay.  So they did an episode without him, and invited a special guest to take his place: Zac Ashmore.  Zac brings us into the world of Rowan Drake, Wolf Slayer, the low fantasy novella he is in the process of writing.  

They talk book research, the writing process, the difference between low and high fantasy, and explain (without too much spoiler) the difference between a dire wolf and a gavir.  (Hint: in Rowan’s world, a gavir is not an antiviral drug.) Meanwhile, back on Planet Hollywood, a new Spider-Verse movie casting is announced, and it has shades of grey.  

And a famous director announces that he’d like to see a little more “relating” in the superhero multiverse.  The Guys aren’t so sure.  This Robbie-less episode is still, somehow, fascinating.