522 - That Was Then: Popeye (1980)

Gobbledygeek

Pop open a can of spinach and set sail for the far-off year of 1980, when noted auteur Robert Altman had his crew build an entire functioning town so they could shoot a Popeye movie. This unassuming comic strip adaptation represents the collision of the New Hollywood movement and the old studio system, both in their waning days; neither would survive “Stalag Altman,” as star Robin Williams coined it. Paul and Arlo are delighted by the end result, an improvisational-seeming ensemble picture in the Altman vein that also features cartoon gags, characters bursting into songs penned by Harry Nilsson, and a giant octopus. The boys discuss why the movie is so much better than its reputation suggests, Robin Williams’ and Shelly Duvall’s underappreciated performances, the surprisingly moving throughline of fatherhood, and so much more. Plus, a whole bunch of trailers for Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, the new season of animated sci-fi anthology Love Death + Robots, the animated Predator movie Killer of Killers, and Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme; Paul stuns Arlo by singing the praises of the new Amazing Spider-Man #1; and Arlo is still reading old school Fantastic Four.

NEXT: just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, it’s another That Was Then, as Paul, Arlo, and Eric Sipple take a bite out of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws on the eve of its 50th anniversary.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:46 - Intro / Even MORE Banter!

00:48:43 - Popeye

01:59:28 - Outro / Next

LINKS

• Thunderbolts*

• Love Death + Robots, Volume 4

• Predator: Killer of Killers

• The Phoenician Scheme

• Popeye Is the Best Movie Robin Williams Ever Made by Eric Spitznagel, Vanity Fair

MUSIC

• “I Yam What I Yam” by Robin Williams, Popeye (1980)

• “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man” by Robin Williams, Popeye (1980)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

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• The Trevor Project provides information and support to LGBTQ youth: thetrevorproject.org

• Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/

• National Center for Transgender Equality: transequality.org

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