Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

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 survive!

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. Helped by Jessica (Jenny Agutter), a woman who has connections in the underground, Logan must outwit Francis and escape the dome. But when he does, what he finds is not at all what he expects! The proto-typical science fiction film about the truth of utopias and the necessity of freedom, this is a seminal work in the genre, even if the special effects haven't aged particularly well. And the trio explain why they've bumped back their list in order to pay tribute to a famous character actor who recently passed away!

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 longer. An able attempt by director Ted Post, which would likely have been better had the studio not cut their production budget in half!

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-evolving nightmare based in the room's inherent evil and Mike's tortured spirit! Plus, the trio disclose which two films they'll be reviewing for a pairing Jeff calls "The Myth of the Post-Apocalyptic Recovery!"

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 to warp Jack from a devoted family man into a homicidal maniac! One of the films most likely to be found on any top horror list anywhere!

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 fixing that now! Plus, the trio reveal which Stephen King books-made-films they've chosen for the next pairing!

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!

The second film in our "Psychedelic 70s Animation" pairing moves ahead four years from the last, to 1977, and features the work of underground animator extraordinaire Ralph Bakshi and his film "Wizards!" In a post-apocalyptic world, magic and technology co-exists, although technology is forbidden as it caused the destruction of the world once already. A pair of brothers, born to a fairy queen, face off against each other, as one embraces nature and magic while the other seeks power in technology and stumbles upon relics of the old world: Nazi propaganda! He uses it to rally his troops like never before and to lay siege to the peaceful magical kingdoms. Only the good brother, along with a (mostly) fairy princess and an elven warrior, along with a former assassin turned helper, seek to find the leader of the mutants and put a stop to the war once and for all! A true classic, and a final confrontation like no other in cinematic history! Plus, the trio discuss which American city is the focus of their next pairing!

We begin our "Psychedelic 70s Animation" pairing with a film from 1973, started in Czechoslovakia and completed in France, a film that took five years to finish, and which won the audience award at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Rene Laloux, with a score written by Alain Goraguer, this film tells the story of a planet of human-like creature known only as the Oms, who are either pets or vermin to the ruling species, the Draags. The story follows an Om named Terr (voiced by Barry Bostwick), orphaned through the unintentional cruelty of a group of adolescent Draags, who is adopted as a pet by the Draag female Tiwa (voiced by Jennifer Drake) and raised to adulthood. Terr learns the same knowledge that Tiwa is absorbing and leads a revolt amongst the Oms to try to save their species. Beautiful animation and a quality score, nevertheless not all three of the hosts were as enamoured as some, resultinng in a rather spirited discussion and some... unique comparisons!

This film is part two of the pairing of "Psychopath" films, with the movie requested by listener Joe Nash, a rather searing indictment of Wall Street and the end of the Reagan era, 2000's "American Psycho." Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) seems to have it all! Co-workers he can socialize with (Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, and Jared Leto), his doting girlfriend Evalyn (Reese Witherspoon), his devoted secretary Jean (Chloe Sevigny), and his mistress Courtney (Samantha Mathis). But what he doesn't have is peace of mind, or happiness, or satisfaction, or any other vaguely positive human emotion. Instead, he begins a killing spree of people he decides he has nothing in common with. This brings him to the attention of Detective Donald Kimball (Willem Dafoe), and starts his desparate spiral into true madness and self-destruction... or does it? This is one of those films where everyone has a slightly different take on the way it ends, reading it however their brain deciphers the flimic text. Plus, the geeks reveal which two 70s psychadelic animated films they're going to torture Chad with in the next pairing!