Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

It's back to the 80s we go, with a pairing Buddy nicknamed "MindFi," which translates to mind-based science fiction! First up, what if you could not only share all five senses of an experience with someone else, but you could record it and play it back at your leisure, feeling everything the original "experiencer" felt? That's the topic of our first film, directed by special effects genius Douglas Trumball, 1983's "Brainstorm!" Starring Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood (in her last big-screen role before her untimely death) as Michael and Karen Brace, a couple in the process of separating. The cause of their marital rift is the amount of time Michael has spent working on a project codenamed "Brainstorm" with project lead scientist Lillian Reynolds (Louise Fletcher), but they've finally had a breakthrough: They can record all five human senses while a subject experiences something, and when it's played back for someone else, they experience it as if they had originally gone through the event! Cheered on by their boss, Alex Terson (Cliff Robertson), they begin experimenting with various experiences, including sexual ones, to see exactly what this technology is capable of. But when one of the team splices a particular experience into a loop, they see that there's a danger as well, and then when another records the moment of their death... things quickly steamroll into a battle between the scientists and the military as to who will control the tech! Also featuring Jordan Christopher, Donald Hotton, Alan Fudge, and Joe Dorsey in strong supporting roles!

Week two of our focus on real-life scandals brings us forward to the 1990s and the lengths one young writer will go to in order to be seen as successful by his peers. In 2003's "Shattered Glass," director Billy Ray brings us the story of Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen), the youngest write on-staff at the New Republic magazine. The editor of the magazine, Michael Kelly (Hank Azaria), is loved by everyone on-staff, but his constant head-butting with the owner Marty Peretz (Ted Kotcheff) sees him let go, replaced by Charles 'Chuck' Lane (Peter Sarsgaard), who Stephen views as a rival. After reporters for Forbes Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn) and Andy Fox (Rosario Dawson) do a follow-up on one of Stephen's stories, 'Hack Heaven." After discovering that they can confirm no facts, locations, persons, or companies mentioned in the article, they contact the New Republic and begin a series of meetings that ultimately result in the revelation that Glass has been fabricating story after story for years, something that, somehow, the extensive fact-checking system at the New Republic failed to uncover. The film also stars Chloe Sevigny, Melanie Lynskey, and Mark Blum. Plus, the trio unveil two 80s science fiction films they've dreamed up for the next pairing!

Scandals are the fixed-point for this pairing of films about real-life instances of dishonorable behavior! First up is the Robert Redford-directed tale of how American gameshow audiences lost their innocence in the late 1950s in 1994's "Quiz Show!" The film follows Herbie Stempel (John Turturro), an everyman from Queens, New York, who has a run of victories on the NBC quiz show "21." Unfortunately for him, however, along comes dashing and handsome Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes) who the producers of the show, Dan Enright (David Paymer) and Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria), think will be more popular with audiences. Stempel, who has been receiving the answers from the producers before actually competing on the game show, is told to lose to allow Van Doren to become the new champion, an instruction he is not happy to receive. As Van Doren becomes the new television sweetheart, also winning with answers provided ahead of time from the producers, Stempel tries to blow the whistle on the program. Along comes Richard Goodwin (Rob Morrow), who works as a Congressional investigator, and believes that Stempel's claims are true. Also appearing are Paul Scofield, Christopher McDonald, Elizabeth Wilson, and Mira Sorvino!

The second part of our pairing focusing on the Supreme Court of the United States leaps straight into a horror the likes of which we have not seen. Directed by veteran Alan J. Pakula, the film follows law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) as she navigates both her classes and her relationship with her teacher Thomas Callahan (Sam Shepard). When two Justices of the Supreme Court are assassinated, Darby puts together a wild theory so far out in left field that it's unbelievable. Unfortunately for Shaw, it also turns out to be true. Callahan gives the paper to his friend, and lawyer for the FBI, Gavin Verheek (John Heard), who passes it along up the chain. So intriguing is the paper, now called "The Pelican Brief," that it makes its way to the CIA and the White House. From there, Darby's life becomes a nightmare as she is hunted for being the author of the brief. Ultimately, she requests the assistance of famed Washington Times reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington) in her quest to both reveal the truth of the assassinations and survive to read about it in his newspaper! Also starring Tony Goldwyn, James Sikking, William Atherton, Robert Culp, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Hume Cronyn. Plus, the trio unveil which scandals-made-movies make up their next pairing!

With the Supreme Court of the United States in the news of late, this pairing focuses on two very different views of the Court. First, Ronald Neame directs Walter Matthau and Jill Clayburgh in a dramedey about the appointment of the first female Supreme Court Justice in 1981's "First Monday In October!" Based on a stageplay of the same name from 1978, this tells the story of the appointment of conservative Judge Ruth Loomis (Clayburgh) to the Supreme Court, something liberal Justice Dan Snow (Matthau) finds troublesome. The film follows the congenial relationship between Mr. Justice Snow and the "CJ," the Chief Justice of the Court (Barnard Hughes), and the contentious, combative, but ultimately friendly relationship between Justice Snow and Justice Loomis as they argue both economic and free speech cases back and forth. An intriguing look at how the Justices of the Court might discuss and debate the matters under their consideration, both in and out of the courtroom!

The second film in our "Bulgarian Biographies" pairing (because they're both biographies suggested by students from American University of Bulgaria) is also based on actual events as it follows the journey of a five-year-old Indian boy named Saroo (Sunny Pawar) who, when traveling with his older brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate), becomes separated and falls asleep on an empty train. Saroo awakens thousands of miles from home in Calcutta, is all alone, doesn't speak the dominant language, and almost runs afoul of several horrors before he is taken to an orphanage and, eventually, placed with John (David Wenham) and Sue (Nicole Kidman) Brierley, a couple from Tasmania. Saroo grows up in Tasmania (played at this point by the incredible Dev Patel) and it isn't until he has gone to trade school that a chance encounter at a party reawakens long-dormant memories of his life before the Brierleys. Saroo, with his girlfriend Lucy (Rooney Mara) begins his quest to find his birth family, with the help of a new tool of the day, something known as "Google Earth." This is a touching and courageous story that ends just as it should, and also lets us see the real folks behind this story before the credits roll as well! Plus, the trio reveal how the recent headlines about the Supreme Court prompted them to change their upcoming film list to include two films about the justices of the highest court in the land!

This pairing came about because of a class Jeff taught at the American University of Bulgaria on Media Criticism. His students chose films to analyze, some of which Jeff hadn't seen before, and the two films chosen for this pairing were both new to him (and to Buddy and Chad as well) and were films he never would have seen had it not been for his students' choice! Co-directed and co-written by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, "The Intouchables" is a 2011 masterpiece about a guy named Driss (Omar Sy) from the wrong side of the tracks who trips into a life-changing opportunity to become the primary caregiver for a wealthy quadriplegic man named Phillipe (Francois Cluzet). The two form an unlikely friendship, even when his secretary Magalie (Audrey Fleurot), his daughter Elisa (Alba Gaïa Bellugi), his housekeeper Yvonne (Anne Le Ny) and his lawyer Antoine (Grégoire Oestermann) all disapprove. The film is based on a true story, a gentle, good-hearted, touching tale about the power of kindness and honesty, and it surprised all three of the podcast crew with its heart and incredible visuals! You even get to see the real individuals the movie is based on at the conclusion of the film!

Part two of our pairing focusing on 80s college comedies only moves ahead a single year to a radically different look at going back to school! Directed by Alan Metter, this film focuses on successful businessman Thornton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) who, after getting divorced from his second wife Vanessa (Adrienne Barbeau), decides to head to Grand Lakes University to visit his son Jason (Keith Gordon) who isn't having as good a run there as he's told his father. Hitting campus with his driver and bodyguard Lou (Burt Young), he decides to enroll in college to prove to Jason that it can be done! Unfortunately, there are a few stumbling blocks along the way. Dean David Martin (Ned Beatty) has to be convinced to allow him to enroll as a freshman, he makes an enemy of snooty business professor Dr. Phillip Barbay (Paxton Whitehead) who is dating smoldering English professor Dr. Diane Turner (Sally Kellerman), and has to deal with an overly-enthusiastic history professor in Professor Turguson (Sam Kinison). Jason isn't having an easy time of it either, however. His roommate Derek Lutz (Robert Downey Jr.) is an outright anarchist, campus beauty Valerie Desmond (Terry Farrell) is dating jerk jock Chas (William Zabka), and the head of the diving team, Coach Turnbull (M. Emmet Walsh) won't give him a shot on the team. But when Melon and Melon decide to tackle college, determination triumphs over all obstacles, true love wins, and those who deserve to lose have to find solace in their ineptitude! And finally, discover why Jeff petitioned Buddy and Chad to suspend one of the rules for the podcast in order to field their next pairing!

We're going back to the 80s with this pairing, and specifically looking at the best college comedies to come out of that decade! And we're starting with the film that introduced a whole generation of movie fans to a young actor named Val Kilmer in 1985's "Real Genius!" Directed by Martha Coolidge, the story follows 15 year-old prodigy Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret) who has been hand-picked by scientist, professor, and TV personality Dr. Jerry Hathaway (William Atherton) to begin the fall semester at Pacific Tech, working alongside other prodigies like Chris Knight (Kilmer). Their task: To build an enormously-powerful laser. Complicating matters are a jealous wanna-be named Kent (Robert Prescott), the hyper-kinetic engineering genius, Jordan Cochran (Michelle Meyrink) who has become the object of Mitch's affection, and the mysterious Lazlo Hollyfeld (Jon Gries) who lives in Chris and Mitch's closet! But when they find out that the laser has already been commissioned for unethical military use, they re-purpose their genius towards thwarting that plan and not letting the military use their invention for evil! Also starring Patti D'Arbanville and Mark Kamiyama!

Concluding the horror anthology pairing is another from 1972, and a second from Amicus studios, who were responsible for over half a dozen other such anthologies in the 60s and 70s. This time, it's the anthology "Asylum!" When Dr. Martin arrives at his new position, he's greeted by Dr. Lionel Rutherford, a different administrator than he originally talked to, and subsequently finds out that the former head of the institution is now a patient. Rutherford announces that he'll still accept the offer made to Dr. Martin by his predecessor if Martin can identify the former head of the Asylum. Each patient's story is a vignette in the film. "Frozen Fear" stars Richard Todd, "The Weird Tailor" stars Peter Cushing (in a much more traditional role for him) and Barry Morse, "Lucy Come to Stay" features both Charlotte Rampling and Britt Ekland, and "Mannequins of Horror" stars Pink Panther-alum Herbert Lom! Jeff chose this one as an example of a very well-done connecting story that makes linking the vignettes make narrative sense! Plus, the trio reveal which two 80s college comedies make up the next pairing!