Two Geeks And A Git Classic Movie Reviews

This is the first of two episodes focusing on the non-Muppet work of puppet-master Jim Henson, starting in 1982 with his first attempt at broadening the scope of his work, "The Dark Crystal." Directed by Henson and Frank Oz, the film is set in a unique fantasy world which is the site of the struggle between the kind and wise Mystics, and the evil and selfish Skeksis. In to this world comes Jen, the last of the Gelflings, who is sent on an epic quest by his Master, one of the Mystics. Along the way, he finds out he is actually not the last of his race, meets interesting characters, and ultimately is tasked with righting an ancient wrong (and saving the world)! Written by Jim Henson and David Odell, and voiced by Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, Barry Denning, Jerry Nelson, Thick Wilson, John Baddeley, and Sean Barrett, this film is unique in film history! Of course, it's not for everyone, as you'll hear, but you should see it (and show it to your children) and, as always, make you

The second part of our look at post-modern horror comedy brings us to 2010, and the sleeper hit-turned-cult classic, Tucker and Dale Versus Evil! This movie flips the typical "hillbilly horror" story on its head, with friendly, misunderstood hillbillies, stupid college kids, and "evil" in the guise of arrogance! Directed by relative newcomer Eli Craig, and written by Craig and Morgan Jurgenson, also a freshman to film-writing, this movie stars Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk, two stars whose names are well-known in certain circles, but relatively unheard of in others. The film also stars Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss, Philip Granger, Brandon Jay McLaren, Christie Laing, Chelan Simmons, Travis Nelson, Alex Arsenault, and Adam Beauchesne. It's a great film, it's funny, and it's horrifying in just the right way for a horror-comedy! Plus, hear what epic fantasy films will be the subject of the next podcasts! (Hint: They both involved Henson studios!)

Post-modern horror comedies (which are WAY more fun than they sound) are our targets for these episodes of the podcast. Jeff and Chad welcome guest geek Annette (sitting in for Buddy) as they look at 2004's slackers-meet-zombies classic, Shaun of the Dead! This is a bit like a combination of Clerks with George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead," if it were set in England. It's also something of a romantic comedy wrapped in horror paper. Written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, and directed by Wright, the film stars Pegg, alongside his partner-in-crime, Nick Frost. They're joined by Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, and Penelope Wilton, along with a brief cameo by none other than Martin Freeman!

The last episode warmed you up for presidential romantic comedy, but in this episode, Buddy, Jeff, and Chad bring you the best of the genre yet put on film, as they discuss 1995's "The American President!" Directed by the amazing Rob Reiner, and written by the person Jeff refers to as "The Master," the unparalleled Aaron Sorkin, this film stars Michael Douglas, Annette Benning, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Anna Deavere Smith, Samantha Mathis, David Paymer, Richard Dreyfuss, Wendie Malick, Joshua Malina, and John Mahoney in a tour de force of exactly what a presidential romantic comedy, really ANY romantic comedy in fact, can be when it's done by people who fully understand the structure and possibilities of the genre! It's a rare three-way top-score rating from the trio for this film, so listen in and find out why! And at the end, find out what chillingly funny films are coming up in episodes 44 and 45!

It's a presidential romance, with just the right amount of laughs thrown in, Jeff, Buddy, and Chad discuss all of the elements that make up the wonderful film "Dave" from 1993! From director Ivan Reitman, written by the amazing Gary Ross, and starring Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames, Ben Kingsley, and Charles Grodin, this is a movie that will simply make you feel good, as it's one of those rare RomComs that actually delivers the romance and the comedy both! And it features an oval office set that was so good it's been used in movies and TV shows ever since! Plus, Ving Rhames with hair is a sight you won't see in many other movies, so sit down with someone you love, get some popcorn, and learn about the next movie you should be watching!

In our second homage, as well as our second gloriously awful 80s movie, it's a martial arts-meets-motown mash-up with 1985's "The Last Dragon" from Motown producer Barry Gordy! This film pays tribute to Bruce Lee and the martial arts films of the 70s, but with a decidedly 80s Motown twist! Directed by Michael Schultz, written by Louis Venosta, and starring Taimak, Vanity, Julius Carry, Christopher Murney, Faith Prince, Mkie Star, Glean Eaton, and Ernie Reyes Jr., this film answers the question "What if a Bruce Lee movie were set in a 1980s dance club and cast with primarily African-American actors in the title roles?" It's truly a fun romp, but not exactly Oscar-worthy (although there was a song from this film nominated for a Golden Globe)! Finally, the trio discuss the romantic-comedy/romantic-dramady pairing coming up in the next two episodes!

It's a bit of a split-ticket in this episode as Geeks Jeff and Buddy introduce Geek-in-Training Chad to one of two gloriously awful 80s movies, "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension!" This film, modeled after the Doc Savage serials of the 1930s, is a low-budget cult classic that only truly found its audience on VHS after it failed at the box office. Directed by W.D. Richter, Written by Earl Mac Rauch, and starring Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd, Rosalind Cash, Lewis Smith, Pepe Serna, Billy Vera, and Vincent Schiavelli, this is the story of a man who can do anything, including drive a jetcar through solid matter. What happens afterwards, however, matters more!

Part two of our look at modern road pictures comes 25 years after our first film, and is a completely different type of road picture. 2004's "Sideways" is a "coming-of middle-age" story about Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) as they take off for a week of bonding and "guy time" the week before Jack's wedding. But Miles didn't plan for Jack seducing Stephanie (Sandra Oh), nor did he plan to fall for waitress and fellow wine-aficianado Maya (Virginia Madsen). This film is a journey on so many levels, even Buddy doesn't have time to discuss them all! DIrected and written by Alexander Payne, and co-written by Jim Taylor, based on the Rex Pickett novel, if you haven't seen this movie, you're missing out on more than just an education on wine and how to behave at a wine-tasting! As always, at the end of the episode, Buddy, Jeff, and Chad talk about the next two films they'll be reviewing, this time out of the "best of the bad of the 80s" category!

Episode 21 is focusing on modern "road pictures," where the journey (of one type or another) is integral to the story. And we're starting off with a film that is just plain fun no matter how young or old you are - 1979's "The Muppet Movie!" Made shortly after the Muppet Show took off on television, this movie tells the apocryphal story of how the muppets got together in the first place. Oh, and it's a musical to boot, with an Academy Award-nominated song (The Rainbow Connection) and lots of other catchy songs as well! Directed by James Frawley, written by two long-time muppet collaborators Jack Burns and Jarry Juhl, and starring the voices of Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and Dave Goelz, this is a must-see! The film also features Charles Durning and Austin Pendleton, and has cameos from some of the greats of the time, including Dom DeLuise, James Coburn, Madeline Kahn, Telly Savalas, Paul Williams (who wrote the music as well), Elliott Gould, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Milton Berle

Wrapping up our episode on political thrillers, we talk about the pinnacle of the genre, 1976's "All The President's Men!" Based on the book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, with a screenplay by William Goldman, and directed by Alan J. Pakula, this movie tells the story of how two junior Washington Post reporters uncovered the greatest government scandal in the history of the United States. The film stars Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Meredith Baxter Birney, Ned Beatty, Stephen Collins, Penny Fuller, and F. Murray Abraham! And, at the end, the Geeks unveil their weird and unique take on the road picture genre for Episodes 38 and 39!

Episode 20 is all about the political thriller genre, and we're starting with 1975's "Three Days of the Condor!" Directed by Sydney Pollack, written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel based on the novel by James Grady, the story follows Joseph Turner (Robert Redford), codenamed "Condor" as he is catapulted from being a CIA analyst into a world of danger and intrigue. Co-starring Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max Von Sydow, and John Houseman, this film explores the the country's loss of innocence through the eyes of a man betrayed by his government.

When Leonard Nimoy passed away in February of 2015, a world mourned his passing. Without him, we would not have had one of the most iconic charactgers in the 20th and (so far) the 21st centuries: Spock. Jeff, Chad, and Buddy will introduce you to a fascinating, heart-warming look at the life of Leonard Nimoy, both professional and personal, in this touching documentary directed by his son, Adam Nimoy. This documentary also features interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy (via archive footage), George Takai, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, director and writer Nicholas Meyer, Catherine Hicks, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, J.J. Abrams, Jim Parsons, Mayim Bialik, Jason Alexander, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. It's a tribute to an integral part of the trio's childhood, and likely yours as well! Plus, at the end of the episode, the guys talk about the next pair of films they're going to review, two films a bit too appropriate for today's political climate!

It was 1966, and this new program called "Star Trek" premiered on TV. Who would have known then that it would have turned out to be one of the biggest franchises in all of entertianment? And one of the first to really influence people's daily lives, giving them a future to look forward to and to try to make happen? Who would also have known that it would begin the phenomenon that is cosplaying? Buddy, Chad, and Jeff take a look at a love-letter to the emphatic, sometimes over-the-top, cult of personality that is Star Trek fandom as celebrated in the 1997 documentary "Trekkies!" Directed by Roger Nygard, and featuring interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, Wil Wheaton, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Tim Russ, Robert Picardo, and NASA Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, it's an honest look at a fandom that has spawned followers, casual, to devoted, to a

As if time travel isn't strange enough, unleash Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, from Monty Python, on a time travel script and what do you get? 1981's "Time Bandits!" This is also an interesting episode, as it's the first time one member of the podcast experienced a movie he absolutely just didn't like, so we have a truly split decision on whether the film is worth watching or not! Starring David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Craig Warnock, a cast of little-person actors, Ralph Richardson, and David Warner, you have an interesting film. With cameos from Michael Palin, Shelley Duvall, Sean Connery, John Cleese, Ian Holm, Peter Vaughan, Katherine Helmond, and Jim Broadbent, you get a *very* interesting film. Unfortunately, in this case, interesting doesn't mean enjoyable for one of the crew. Listen in to find out which one gave this film a big thumbs down! And, as always, the filmic trio lets you in o, coming up mid-February!

A favorite time-travel film for Buddy and Jeff, and a fun introduction to Chad, it's 1979's Nicholas Meyer writen and directed "Time After Time!" This film stars Malcolm McDowel, Mary Steenburgen in her 2nd film outing ever, and the incomperable David Warner. It's a fun romp through time, changes in social conventions, time travel, and, of course, love. It also features an extremely young Corey Feldman in his first-ever movie role... see if you can spot him! While a little dated, this film holds up well enough that, coming in March 2017, ABC television is premiering a series based on this film! Impress your friends with your knowledge of the series when it airs by watching the source material ahead of time!

The first horror film to completely untether the audience from traditional storytelling is our focus for this episode! Join Jeff, Buddy, and Chad as they take on 1960's Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece of terror, "Psycho!" Directed by Hitchcock, written by Joseph Stefano (based on the novel by Robert Bloch), the film stars a young Anthony Perkins in the role that re-defined his entire career, along with Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Martin Balsam! This film changed the way we watched movies as well as the way stories were told... in short, this is a turning point in horror cinema and, in fact, in film itself! And, as always, hear what's ahead in Epsiodes 32 and 33!

Life, as seen through a window, can be truly fascinating... and horrifying! Join Buddy, Chad, and Jeff for Episode 17A as they focus on the Alfred Hitchcock classic "Rear Window!" Directed by Hitchcock, written by John Michael Hayes (based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich), this tale of suspicion and suspense stars Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr! One of the movies that created a plot type that gets used in films to this day, and one of Hitchcock's finest outings!

Renegade angels, two prophets, a forgotten apostle, the metatron, a demon, and a Golgothan? That can only mean it's writer/director Kevin Smith's religious action film Dogma from 1999! Join Buddy, Chad, and Jeff for a look at this truly different, thought-provoking, and downright fun examination of Catholicism as only Kevin Smith can create! Starring Linda Fiorentino, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, George Carlin, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, Salma Hayek, Jason Mewes, and Kevin Smith, this is a story that asks all the right questions, and leaves you with an idea of your own! Plus, the trio reveal what part of the thriller genre they're going to delve into for the next two episodes!

Even though they're not even supposed to be here today, join Buddy, Chad and Jeff for a trip to a convenience store that offers as much insight as it does humor! This week, they review writer/director Kevin Smith's maiden foray into filmmaking, 1994's Clerks! Starring Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Jason Mewes, and Kevin Smith himself, this film informed generations of filmmakers that if you want to make a film bad enough, you can (and it can find an audience too)! Plus, it was the film that made black and white cool again, even though that's not what it set out to do!

Another of our favorite christmas films, this time it's an action-adventure story set in a warm Los Angeles evening! Of course, we're talking about 1988's "Die Hard," directed by John McTiernan and starring Bruce Willis, Gonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, and Alan Rickman! There are those would would argue that Die Hard isn't a Christmas film, but Jeff, Buddy and Chad disagree, and will persuade you to their view if you let them. :) All this, plus a preview of which great writer, who started as an independent filmmaker and went on to become a Hollywood name, the trio will be examining next!