Podcast Review: Silva & Gold

A podcast that is most certainly not for everyone!

Silva & Gold

The Gist

Two friends have been getting together since the middle of 2011 to discuss movies, specifically movies that are more off the beaten path. Silva & Gold is hosted by Zom and Loaf, two guys from different parts of the United States who share a common love of movies and wrestling, or wrasslin’ as some of us like to call it. The premise of the show is an exploration of lesser seen movies, usually of the B or exploitation variety. The actual format of the show is a what we’ve been watching segment, a segment where the hosts give their reviews of that week’s pair of films, and a feedback segment. The general length of the episodes, well now, that’s hard to peg down. The episodes I listened to were all over two hours, but at least one of them clocked in at close to three and a half hours.

Episodes Listened To

#27: Tough Girl Gangs
#28: Stories of Strong Men
#29: More Silva, More Gold

My Thoughts

I’m not sure where to begin with Silva & Gold. Listening to the podcast was an odd experience, fulfilling, surprising, and frustrating at the same time. Before I get ahead of myself let me make one thing clear, I did like Silva & Gold, a lot. It is a podcast that I will continue to listen to, but it’s not a podcast for everyone. I know plenty of my readers who would turn Silva & Gold off after five minutes, but I keep coming back for more because there is a lot about the podcast that I enjoy.

I discovered Silva & Gold through The Gentlemen’s Guide To Midnite Cinema. After becoming a fan of that podcast I became immersed in the community that surrounds The Gentlemen’s Guide To Midnite Cinema. Silva & Gold was a podcast often mentioned by the supporters of The Genetlemen’s Guide To Midnite Cinema. I went into Silva & Gold expecting something along the same lines as The Genetlemen’s Guide To Midnite Cinema. There are similarities, but I quickly found out that Silva & Gold is very much its own podcast. The focus in Silva & Gold is on the same type of movies as The Gentlemen’s Guide To Midnite Cinema, but Silva & Gold is structured far more loosely and ties a lot of its talk into professional wrestling.

The professional wrestling angle of Silva & Gold was surreal, because for some odd reason I’ve never encountered many people whom are both hardcore film buffs and big pro wrestling fans. I know there are a lot of those people out there, but I never come across them. For those who don’t know I grew up a huge fan of pro wrestling. At one point in time I had something like a one thousand strong VHS tape collection. I was into anything pro wrestling, from the more entertainment based World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment stuff to the hard hitting action from All-Japan Pro Wrestling. I eventually left pro wrestling behind, I still dig it but it’s just not something I make the time for. That being said, I really dig the way that the two hosts, Loaf and Zom, weaved talk of old territorial wrestling (of which I was a huge fan) into their conversations. Sometimes it was related to a film they were talking about, and at other times it was a tangential conversation that sprang out of nowhere. I know this is something that not everyone will relate to, but I greatly enjoyed the inclusion of wrasslin’ talk in Silva & Gold.

The film talk itself was surprisingly sound. On the surface Misters Zom and Loaf don’t sound like they will have much to offer in terms of film discussion. However, the more they talked about a movie and the deeper they delved into a film the more my initial impression was dispelled. They aren’t film critics, but Misters Zom and Loaf are two guys who can dig deep into a movie and really relate why a movie did or didn’t work for them. They do talk about a lot of stuff that others won’t care about, like whether or not they’d have sex with the star of a movie. But, in between all of the jokes and superficial talk Silva & Gold manages to deliver a surprisingly high level of film discussion about movies that wouldn’t always get such deep treatment.

By the third episode a few things about Silva & Gold had started to bother me. The episodes do feel their length, the three and a half hour More Silva, More Gold episode did become a chore to get through by the halfway point. Luckily in this day and age I can break the lengthier episodes into smaller listening chunks, so the length is a problem but not a major one. Another problem that began to crop up by the More Silva, More Gold episode were the various sound effects provided by Mr. Zom. He likes to change his voice, offer impressions, and make belching noises at random times. I can see why this would be off putting to a lot of people because it did start to get to me. Mr. Zom is a funny and interesting guy who can offer serious insight into a movie. I could have done without all the voice changing and sound effects, but other people may find their mileage to vary in this regard. This does play into the feedback segment feeling like it is super long. By that time in the show the festivities have begun to wind down and the feedback segment always feels like it takes forever to get though. Still, the feedback segment is where the hosts interact with their listeners, and I can see why they spend so much time on it.

Jesus H. Christ I wrote a lot about Silva & Gold, that’s what happens when I like a podcast a lot but am bugged by certain elements of it. In the end I know that Silva & Gold isn’t for everyone but I’m still going to supply a verdict to subscribe. There are others like me who would dig the show and I hope that they do discover the show and enjoy it like I have. Silva & Gold is a podcast with faults, but it’s still an entertaining podcast and one that I take the time to listen to. Week after week I enjoy the podcast more and more, to the point where Silva & Gold is now one of my favorite podcasts, warts and all.

The Bottom Line

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Cheers,
Bill