442 - Geek Challenge: Sunset Blvd. vs. My Favorite Year

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">For Norma Desmond, the pictures got small when words stole her mystique; for Alan Swann, it was when his drunken antics got him downgraded to the boob tube. They’re both stand-ins for larger-than-life stars past their prime, Norma in Billy Wilder’s scathing</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sunset Blvd.</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">(1950) and Alan in Richard Benjamin’s cozy</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">My Favorite Year</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">(1982). In our latest</span> <strong>Geek Challenge</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Paul and Arlo discuss these fallen idols and how their respective movies take much different approaches to a mentor/mentee relationship. The boys break down the ways in which both films echo real-life Hollywood legends; praise Gloria Swanson’s arch turn as Norma and Peter O’Toole’s thinly veiled take on Errol Flynn; pine for dead monkey funerals; and wonder what things would be like if Jessica Harper ruled the mob.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">NEXT: on this month’s</span> <strong>Four-Color Flashback</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">, we conclude the post-apocalyptic adventures of Gus and Jeppard in Deluxe Editions 2 and 3 of Jeff Lemire’s</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Sweet Tooth</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style= "font-size: 10pt;"><strong>BREAKDOWN</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 10pt;">00:00:40  -  Intro / Guest</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">00:06:28  - </span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Sunset Blvd.</span></em></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">00:52:15  - </span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">My Favorite Year</span></em></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; f