Guys Of A Certain Age

If The Guys version of the yearly movie awards are the GOSCARS, does that make the TV awards the GEMMYS?  Sounds more like a condition young children have when they want something that doesn’t belong to them, but that’s another podcast for another day.  

This episode focuses on what The Guys thought made for the best binging in 2023.  And let’s just note that all three of them more or less chose the same show as the number one.  It’s a strange world, indeed.  

Jay and Art keep their Geeks of the Week in the DC universe, with news of Superman:Legacy casting and a new Batman holiday special.  Robbie’s news involves a new movie from a former Marvel actress who finds herself in the middle of a civil war, and it’s not Captain America’s.  

Welcome to the 2023 GOSCARS!  It’s the most informal awards show on the interwebs, when The Guys try to remember everything they’ve seen this year on big screens and small that can be called a movie.  And that’s no small feat, given the fact that remembering is hard.  

But thanks to the aforementioned interwebs, memories are recalled, and the top movies of 2023 are more or less ranked.  And believe it or not, only a few superhero movies made the cut.

 In Geeks of the Week, Jay wonders “what IF?” but not in a Marvel way, Robbie spoils the Christmas gift he bought Jay at auction, and Art leads in mourning the loss of another actor with a link to geekdom.  Listen to see if your favorite movie (Barbie) is on the list.  

In this episode, Robbie and Art pay tribute to Norman Lear, the legendary producer who created All in the Family, Good Times, the Jeffersons, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and many other shows that changed television forever. 

Aside from the night The Guys recorded an episode immediately after a superhero movie, this may be the quickest turnaround yet.  Yes, The Marvels movie has been out a few weeks, and it took that long for them to find a time to go see it together, but it only took a few days to get to the studio to talk about it.  And it’s a shame, because it’s the highest rating for a comic-based flick The Guys have ever given!  

They could have turned around the box office disaster with these 30-plus minutes of lavish praise for a movie panned by lesser critics.  Okay, suffice it to say they liked The Marvels.  Nick Fury is back as Nick Fury, the flirkins get their moment (if “memory" serves), and there is backstory, action, and fan service packed strategically into basically a 90 minute movie.  

Meanwhile, Geeks of the Week are all about throwbacks: Jay looks at the history of Marvel at Macy’s, Art turns to the BBC for a bit of Bond, and Robbie announces a sequel to one of the greatest mockumentaries of all time.  Listen to this one and marvel.  

As always, The Guys are on the cutting edge of geek culture news, this time bringing you their take on Loki, Season 2, which aired its finale weeks ago.  But hey, they’re busy dudes and for some reason they can’t keep Robbie out of Vegas.  

Finally, though, they give Loki the attention he deserves, and also initiate a new ratings system.  Listen carefully to hear how many Guys this series rates!  Lots of spoilers in this episode by the way, but also lots of thoughtful commentary on their favorite actors and a bit of a disagreement on how the ending played out.  

Geeks of the Week are all discombobulated: Jay has the obit this time (RIP the life-sized pinball machine), Robbie tells how to get fashionable when on Hoth, and Art discovers we’ve been mispronunciating lots of celebrity names.  Apologies to all those celebrities who listen to this podcast and may have heard their names being butchered.  Stop, Loki, and listen to this episode.  

"Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" is usually the case, but not in this episode, as Robbie and Art share some of their memories (or vague recollections) of times spent in the Entertainment Capital of the World. After almost taking up residency this past year, Robbie also shares tips and pointers on staying in Vegas. 

It’s the podcast episode you can’t refuse, and one that The Guys didn’t have to negotiate with a crime family to produce.  Speaking of crime family vibes, Robbie was in Vegas this week looking for one secret formula. Or something of the sort: he said it had to stay in Vegas.  That left Art and Jay to reach into the Wayback Machine and talk about another streaming series Jay finally finished.  

This week it’s The Offer, the Paramount + story of the making of The Godfather .  The movie, that is - not the actual Godfather.  It’s a fascinating story of how the movie was made, how it was almost ruined, and how it might not have ever been made at all.  (Just a typical week in the Guys of a Certain Age production cycle.)  Jay also finished Tom Hanks’ novel about the making of a motion picture masterpiece (which is pretty much the title), which was an interesting companion reader to the series.  

Robbie did drop in for Geeks of the Week, where news was shared about the Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and another action hero: Jack Reacher.  If you have to choose between listening to this episode or the cannoli, why not both?

In this episode, we learn that Jay does take the other Guys’ watchlist recommendations from time to time, and because Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had minimal zombies, he might actually take a recommendation again.  

Yes, Robbie and Art did an episode on SNW shortly after Season 2 ended.  Jay, on the other hand, took a little longer to finish, but it was well worth his time.  While Art visits the Atlantic, Robbie and Jay get caught up on Captain Pike and his musical crew.  Okay, that’s just one episode, but we all know Jay loves a good musical.  In fact, he loved the entire series, and was quite disappointed to learn that Season 3 was almost certainly delayed by various and sundry strikes that, thankfully, have finally ended.  

In other Star Trek news, Robbie found a podcast hosted by two Enterprise crew members that are friends in and out of space, while Jay happened upon a trailer for yet another Ghostbusters movie coming soon.  Maybe he’ll have time to watch the last one before this one comes out.  Listen long and prosper.  

The challenge was issued: pick a movie all The Guys would watch (again, presumably - yes, even Jay had seen this one, he thought).  Then come back and talk about how it held up 39 years later.  Wait, what??  

It’s been 39 years since The Last Starfighter hit the silver screen?  That’s right.  It was a cutting edge science fiction flick when it came to digital graphics, but what do those cutting edge scenes look like now?  And most importantly, is this a movie begging for a remake?  The Guys talk all that along with a nod to The Music Man himself, Robert “Centauri” Preston.  

Back on Earth, Robbie tells about his recent trip to a space-age concert venue in Vegas (but he won’t tell what happened) and brings us up to speed on all things Who.  Art listened to a new old Beatles song, and while Robbie walked the F1 racetrack, Jay went back to his NASCAR roots by way of an X-wing Fighter.  Buckle up!

While Robbie is off visiting a giant eyeball in the Nevada desert, never fear!  Art and Jay are still here.  But it’s Halloween - or it was - so there may be fear involved.  Before we get to the scary part of this episode, however, The Guys discuss alternatives.  Those clever Batman artists are releasing an alternate ending to a 1988 comic that could give one particular Robin another chance.  

And if you don’t want to end up in the ground or in an urn when your time on Earth is expired, why not leave Earth entirely?  There are ways, and it may be cheaper than a funeral.  When it comes to Halloween, The Guys also discover that there are lots of alternatives when it comes to costumes for grown-ups, from Mickey Mouse to the Mad Scientist.  

Art’s been watching The Fall of the House of Usher, with a story line that’s most definitely an alternative to Poe’s original work, but with lots of Easter eggs.  Or Halloween eggs?  Jay took one for the team and watched Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.  If that’s not an alternative ending, there isn’t one.  Despite all the alternative podcasts, you should listen to this one.