Two Geeks And A Git Classic Movie Reviews

From a castle somewhere in Ohio to the Paris of the mid-1930s we go for the second film in our "tranvestite musicals" pairing, courtesy of master director Blake Edwards! This time, it's a starving former opera singer, Victoria Grant (Julie Andrews) who, thanks to a chance meeting with cabaret performer Carole 'Toddy' Todd (Robert Preston), winds up as a woman, pretending to be a man, pretending to be woman, as they embark on a musical con to become rich and famous, and Victoria becomes Count Victor Grazinsky, Polish aristocrat, and Europe's greatest female impersonator! And it would have worked, were it not for the arrival of King Marchand (James Garner), his moll/girlfriend Norma Cassidy (Lesley Ann Warren) and his bodyguard 'Squash' Bernstein (Alex Karras) to witness Victor's debut. After King is smitten with Victoria, he refuses to admit that "he" is really not a "she" and embarkes on a mission to get the girl (after he proves she IS a girl). It's am amazing romp and a true tour de force for both Andrews a

This week we review a cult film. Okay, we review THE cult film. Our pairing is "transvestite musicals" and we're starting with the grand marshal of them all, the theatrical play-turned-movie-turned-Broadway smash, the midnight movie to end all midnight movies! That's right, it's time to get your toast and your Scott toilet paper ready, we're looking at 1975's flop-turned-cult-classic, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show!" And, although it's now meant to be accompanied by a veritable ton of audience participation, the trio are looking at it solely as a stand-alone film! Created by Richard O'Brien (who also plays "Riff Raff" in the film), and directed by Jim Sharman, the film stars Tim Curry (in his first cinematic role) as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a mad scientist (and also a lyrically-proclaimed transvestite) who, with his assistants Riff Raff and Magenta (Patricia Quinn), and groupie Columbia (Nell Campbell), is throwing a party to celebrate his Frankenstein-esque animation of his "monster," a hunk known only as Rocky

Part two of our pairing of films about satanic children covers birth through age five in 1976's horror classic "The Omen!" Written by David Seltzer and directed by the late, great Richard Donner, this is the story of newly-minted American Ambassador to England Robert Thorn (the incredible Gregory Peck) and his wife, Katherine (Lee Remick). The film begins with Katherine's newly-born baby dying and a priest convincing Robert to accept another child, born at the same time, in its place. He accepts, keeps the truth from his wife, and they name the child Damien (Harvey Stephens). At first, all is idyllic but, as the child grows, strange things begin to happen. At Damien's birthday party, his nanny commits suicide in a very vivid and public way after the appearance of a demonic hound. This is followed by the appearance of Mrs. Baylock (Billie Whitelaw),a new nanny neither parent hired, the arrival of Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton of "Dr. Who" fame), a fanatical priest who tries to warn Robert about the truth o

Satanic children are the theme for this pairing of horror films, starting with conception through birth in 1968's Roman Polanski-directed "Rosemary's Baby!" Polanski also wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Ira Levin. The film tells the story of Guy (John Cassavetes) and Rosemary (Mia Farrow) Woodhouse, attractive newlyweds looking for their first apartment together. Guy is an up-and-coming actor, while Rosemary is a homemaker who is soon adopted by eccentric elderly neighbors Roman (Sidney Blackmer) and Minnie (Ruth Gordon) Castevet who live next door. Their friend Hutch (Maurice Evans) is sad to see them move away but remains supportive. When Rosemary finds out she's pregnant, Minnie sends her to her trusted physician, Dr. Sapirstein (Ralph Bellamy) who takes Rosemary under his wing. But when Rosemary starts having severe pains, and no one else seems overly concerned, she begins to wonder. When Hutch is suddenly struck down, Rosemary receives a book from him about witches, adding to Rosemary's parano

The second film in our pairing celebrating the movie serials of old moves ahead 7 years to another episodic hero, the legendary Zorro! Directed by Martin Campbell, "The Mask of Zorro" (1998) tells the story of the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins), and his capture and the kidnapping of his infant daughter. Flash forward 20 years and we meet the infamous Murrieta Brothers, Joaquin (Victor Rivers) and Alejandro (Antonio Banderas), wanted outlaws who are... different than they seem at first. After a run-in with the remorseless Captain Harrison Love (Matt Letscher) who is working for the original Zorro's nemesis, Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson), fate intervenes and connects Diego and Alejandro, and the former agrees to tutor the latter and help him become the new Zorro! Plus, with Montero's return comes the return of Elena Montero (Catherine Zeta-Jones), actually Elana de la Vega, and, as they say, the plot thickens! Plus, because, according to Jeff's calendar, Halloween season starts Sept

Back in the day, audiences were treated to episodes of movie serials before the main feature when going to the picture shows. This pairing celebrates those old serials, the ones that inspired George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg. This week, it's the film based on the serial-turned-comic book "The Rocketeer" from 1991! Originally called "The Rocket Man" as a serial, this film tells the story of racing pilot Cliff Secord (Billy Campbell)and his chief mechanic Peevy Peabody (Alan Arkin) who find a strange rocket-pack stowed in their hanger. When an old friend tries to fly Cliff's "clown act" and gets in trouble, Cliff dons the rocket back and blasts into the sky to save him, the first sighting of "The Rocketeer!" But add in the FBI, the mafia, and the Nazis, and the story just gets stranger from there! Co-starring the lovely Jennifer Connelly, Timothy Daltin, Paul Sorvino, Terry O'Quinn, Eddie Jones, William Sanderson, and Margo Martindale, this is a fantastic love-letter to the cinematic episodes of the 1930s! Pl

The second film in our Paul Verhoeven pairing is one that fully displays the satirical nature of this director's work, much more so than the first film we reviewed. Moving ahead a decade, we find ourselves a couple hundred years in the future, and the world now lives under a single government. Unfortunately, it is a fascist government, one that lies to its citizens and seduces its young people into throwing their lives away in Military Service, all so they can become "Citizens" and earn the right to vote. This story follows high school graduates Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards), Isabel "Dizzy" Flores (Dina Meyer) and Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris) as they all decide to join the Federation Military and enlist in the war against the "Bugs," an alien species intent on protecting their territory after a group of Mormons decide to settle on one of their planets unasked. The true genius of Verhoeven's vision is on clear display in this film, and its depiction of the inherent violen

We're focusing on Dutch director Paul Verhoeven for the next two films, starting with his first U.S. blockbuster, 1987's "Robocop." Verhoeven, and writers Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, took what was basically a rip-off of the movie "Terminator" and turned it into a satire of corporate America. Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is a cop in future Detroit. He's just been transferred to a precinct deep in the crime-ridden "Old Detroit," and assigned as partner to Officer Lewis (Nancy Allen). On their first day out, Murphy is essentially killed, only to re-awaken in a laboratory of sorts. It turns out that OCP, the company who has privatized the police force, has plans for what's left of Murphy. Through a lengthy transformation, they replace much of his body with robotic and computer components and turn him into the one-man police force equivalent known as Robocop. But is Murphy really gone, or is he still in there somewhere? And can be bring down both the criminals who did this to him and the evil corporation that

The second film in our pairing focusing on the work of Willem Dafoe resulted in one of his two Academy Award nominations. The year is 1922, and acclaimed director F. W. Murnau (John Malkovich) is shooting what he hopes will be the ultimate Vampire film! Unfortunately, he was unable to get the right to "Dracula" from Bram Stoker's widow, so the names are changed, including calling the vampire "Count Orlok" and retitling the film "Nosferatu." His leading man, Gustav von Wangenheim (Eddie Izzard) and lady, Greta Schroder, have already started filming, and Murnau has his producer Albin Grau (the great Udo Kier) and the writer of the screenplay Henrik Galeen (Aden Gillett) at his side when they move the shoot to Czechoslovakia. There, the production meets up with Murnau's secret weapon: A German method actor named Max Schreck, who is protraying Count Orlok. But as the shoot continues, strange events begin to unfold, and one by one, the crew begin to suspect that, perhaps, Schreck isn't just playing a vampire... he

This pairing is dedicated to one of the most prolific and talented character actors working: Willem Dafoe. The trio chose two films that they believe demonstrate the versatility that makes this gentlemen one of the great character actors of our time! First up: It's writer/director Troy Duffy's brainchild that almost didn't end up seeing the light of day, but ultimately created a film that is beloved of many around the world. Two Irish-Catholic brothers, Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) MacManus believe themselves to be the hand of God, and that He has chosen them to rid Boston of evil men. Their first task is to save their neighborhood pub from Russian mobsters. This, however, draws the attention of FBI Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) who begins to hunt the brothers as they continue to try to clean up their Boston neighborhood. This is a tour de force for Dafoe as perhaps one of the most entertaining FBI agents ever put on film!

The second documentary in the pairing resulted in as wide a split amongst the hosts as any film reviewed thus far! Thierry Guetta moved from France to the United States in the early 1980s. He believed that every moment should be recorded because we just don't know when moments will stop being made by certain people, so he began filming everything in his life, to the point where he was never seen without a camera. Thanks to a relative, he began filming the world of street art, and slowly became known to the community. But it was a chance meeting with the famous artist Banksy that changed his life, although some would say not for the better. Initially, Guetta was the filmmaker the Banksy the subject, but partway through the story, they exchange roles, with Banksy documenting the rise of Guetta's art-making alter-ego, "Mr. Brainwash." A documentary unlike any other made, at least when this came out, and to this day no one really knows if it's a legitimate documentary or another of Banksy's statements on the hypo

It is to documentaries that we go for this pairing, starting with a favorite of all three hosts! Kirby Dick, two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, turned to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the organization that provides the ratings for all films released in the United States, at least those that want to be shown in established theater chains. He attempted to discover how the ratings system works, but found out so much more! He discovered that the MPAA is, essentially, a private clandestine organization whose membership is kept a closely-guarded secret, and that there is no one on the ratings board, or the ratings appeals board, who has any education in film! In fact, all but one person on the ratings board is in violation of even the MPAA's own rules on who can be a rater! But to find all of this out, he turned to a private investigator in Los Angeles who helped him discover who the secret raters actually are, and revealed the one-sided application of Christian dogma t

Our second film in our pairing honoring the late Ned Beatty couldn't be more different from the first. From backwoods horror, we turn to the father of all modern superhero films, the first theatrical outing for a comic book character to present its story seriously for adult audiences! Richard Donner, who also recently passed away on July 5th, 2021, led an all-star cast including Margo Kidder, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Glenn Ford, Valerie Perrine, and Marlon Brando to create the film that made audiences believe a man could fly. But it was newcomer, Juilliard-trained actor, Christopher Reeve, who brought both Clark Kent and Superman to the screen in a way no actor will ever surpass, in 1978's "Superman: The Movie!" From Hackman's suave and insidious Lex Luthor, to Kidder's gumption-filled Lois Lane, to Reeve's dual identity, this film is replete with performances that were Oscar-worthy, regardless of whether the Academy recognized them as such or not (hint: they didn't). And when you add in speci

For this pairing, we are honoring actor Ned Beatty, who passed away on June 13th, 2021. To do so, however, we're pairing what are arguably his two most noteworthy films, but two films that absolutely do not go together well, so this becomes our most unusual pairing yet! The first film in the pairing is also Ned Beatty's first theatrical film, and one that got him noticed by Hollywood. Alongside Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, and fellow first-timer Ronny Cox, and directed by John Boorman, this film follows four friends from Atlanta who choose to go out into the wilds and travel down the Cahulawassee River in Georgia, before a nearby dam is finished that will destroy the river and the surrounding land, burying it under a man-made lake. Unfortunately, the world the four enter is one where unforgiving nature will have its way, and the Mountain folk they encounter act as its footservants. Between the locals, and the perils of the river itself, the adventure turns quickly into a horror that only some of them will survi

The second film in the pairing Jeff calls "The Myth of the Post-Apocalyptic Recovery" moves ahead in real time six years to 1976. Based on a 1967 novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johns, and directed by Michael Anderson, this film introduces viewers to a seeming utopia within a domed city. Run by computer, each person born has a crystal embedded in the palm of their left hand, which changes color as they age. When the crystal quickly blinks red and black, they are expected to report to the arena-like "Carousel" where they will attempt to gain renewal and be born again. Those who run from this responsibility are known, fittingly enough, as runners, and it is the job of the Sandmen to hunt them down and kill them. The story follows Logan 5 (Michael York) and Francis 7 (Richard Jorden), two Sandmen who revel in their work. But when a chance encounter with an ankh ensares Logan in the master computer's quest to find a place called "Sanctuary," his lifeclock is sped up and he become a runner himself. He

This pairing is what Jeff calls "The Myth of the Post-Apocalyptic Recovery," in that both films take place after an armageddon of sorts, when life has supposedly gotten back to an idyllic status quo. The first film in the pairing is a rarity on this podcast: A sequel! Only the third sequel reviewed thus far. It's 1970's budget-crippled "Beneath the Planet of the Apes." The film picks up at the final moments of the original, and follows Taylor (Charlton Heston) and Nova (Linda Harrison) as they head out into the wilds of the Forbidden Zone. After trying to confront something that could not possibly be, Taylor vanishes, and Nova stumbles upon Brent (James Franciscus), another astronaut who was part of the mission to find out what happened to Taylor and his comrades. Nova leads Brent to Cornelius (this time played by David Watson) and Zira (Kim Hunter), after which they escape capture and flee into the Forbidden Zone, only to find out there are other humans left alive as well, but not quite fully human any longe

We have to move ahead 27 years to find our other Stephen King adaptation, which also turns out to be about a hotel, but this time is not about the hotel itself, but a specific room IN the hotel, a room that has been blamed for over 50 deaths. In 2007's "1408," director Mikael Håfström spins a tale based on a King short story about another writer, Mike Enslin (John Cusack) who, despondent over the death of his daughter Katie (Jasmine Jessica Anthony), has abandoned his wife Lily (Mary McCormack) and his aging father (Len Cariou) to begin writing books which debunk the idea of spirits and hauntings. When he receives a postcard warning him not to enter room 1408 at the Dolphin hotel in New York, he reluctantly returns to the city he lived in before with his family, and goes to the hotel. The manager of the hotel, Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson) tries his best to dissuate Mike from staying in the room, but in the end Mike's stubbornness wins out and he enters the killer room. What happens then is a slowly-evolvin

We dedicate this pairing to how difficult it seems to be to successfully adapt a Stephen King story for the big screen! We've chosen two examples of when it's been done right, starting with the Stanley Kubrick-directed horror classic, 1980's "The Shining!" Based on the King novel with a screenplay written by Kubrick and Diane Johnson, this film is a tour de force of how to make a movie audiences will love and the author will hate. The film stars Jack Nicholson as writer Jack Torrence. He's looking for a job while he's working on his novel and chooses winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in Colorado. He travels there with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and his son Danny (Danny Lloyd). There, they meet Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers), who immediately connects with Danny on the basis of their shared psychic gift. He warns Danny that the Overlook is a place he must be careful in, and it turns out to be prophecy as the hotel reveals its ghostly spirits, along with the alcoholic variety as well, as it begins t

The second film in our pairing celebrating the great city of Chicago is a true American classic, and absolutely deserving of being included on this podcast! From the last film, we move ahead six years to 1986 and the John Hughes-directed hit film that is "Ferris Bueller's Day Off!" The story follows young Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) as he attempts to finagle his 9th sickday during his senior year of high school. After rousting his somewhat hypocondriacal friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck) and convincing him to come over, they hatch a scheme to spring Ferris' girlfriend Sloane Peterson (the stunning Mia Sara) from class. They run afoul, however, of the Dean of Students Ed Rooney and his somewhat vapid secretary Grace (Edie McClurg). The charming trickster and his friends navigate the Chicago landscape throughout the day, dodging repeated attempts by Rooney to catch him. This film is beloved by people of all generations and the topic of frequent questions as to why we haven't reviewed it yet, so we are fixi

This pairing is unlike any we've done before: It's a geographical pairing, with films set in and around the great city of Chicago, Illinois! First up, one of the few successful films to spin off from a Saturday Night Live skit. Directed by the amazing John Landis, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd star as (respectively) Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues, otherwise known as the Blues Brothers. When the orphanage they grew up in is threatened by a tax bill it can't pay, the duo head out on a "mission from god" to reunite their old band and gig their way to five thousand dollars! Along the way they meet up with many different police officers, and a group of Illinois nazis, as they try to make it to the Palace Hotel Ballroom and play their show! This film features amazing music throughout from R-and-B artists famous for their skill and talent, along with the original Blues Brothers band from SNL as well!