Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

This episode begins our pairing of 80s musicals with the one that affected SO many kids in junior high or high school! If you were in performing arts, this movie spoke to you and your dream of attending a school like this! We are, of course, talking about the 1980 blockbuster "Fame!" Directed masterfully by Alan Parker, the film follows seven students from freshman through senior year at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts: Coco (Irena Cara), Leroy (Gene Anthony Ray), Bruno (Lee Curreri), Lisa (Laura Dean), Montgomery (Paul McCrane), Ralph (Barry Miller), and Doris (Maureen Teefy). Their trials, tribulations, and successes are all chronicled, including the lesson that fame is elusive and fleeting. The film spawned a TV series in the 80s, and was remade in 2009!

For the 2nd film in our pairing focusing on films by director John Ford, we move ahead to 1946, and the second western he directed! It's off to Tombstone with the Earp brothers, driving cattle across the country to California. After a chance run-in with local cattlemen the Clantons, their cattle is stolen, and one of the Earp brothers killed. Wyatt (Henry Fonda) decides to accept the position of Marshall of Tombstone as a means of seeking justice for his brother James' death. Virgil (Tim Holt) and Morgan (Ward Bond) are at his back, while patriarch Old Man Clanton (Walter Brennan) and his sons Ike (Grant Withers) and Billy (John Ireland) circle. Add to the mix the town's resident gambler Doc John Holiday (Victor Mature) and the two women vying for his attention, Chihuahua (Linda Darnell) and Clementine Carter (Cathy Downs), and you have the full cast. It's an absolutely beautifully-shot film, and features (according to Ford, anyway) the most authentic version of the shoot-out at the OK Corral that's ever been put on film! Plus, the trio announce what two early-80s musicals will be the focus of their next pairing!

Director John Ford is the focus of our pairing for the next two episodes! And we begin with the film that brought the Western into the realm of feature films (as opposed to shorts or B-pictures) with the epic tale of class conflict and clashing character that is 1939's "Stagecoach!" Directed by Ford and starring Clair Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell (who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Doc Josiah Boone in this film), Louise Platt, George Bancroft, Donald Meek, Berton Churchill, and the first feature appearance of one Mr. John Wayne, this film follows a stagecoach as it travels from Tonto in the Arizona Territory to Lordsburg, New Mexico. With a driver and a Marshall riding shotgun, the passengers of varying social classes cope with threats and setbacks from several sources as they attempt to survive passing through Apache country while Geronimo is reportedly on the warpath! This is the film that created many of the tropes that would become staples for the Western film genre!

The second film in our look at what happens after the aliens arrive on earth takes a much more socially-realistic view and draws its inspiration from South Africa's apartheid in 2009's "District 9!" Directed by Neill Blomkamp and written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, the film is presented partically in documentary style, and focuses on Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a mid-level beaurocrat who is chosen to lead the "re-settlement" efforts of the South African government in dealing with the alien species, nicknamed "prawns," who arrived 30 years ago. The film does not sugarcoat the inherent hypocrisy of the government's approach to re-homing the aliens, nor does it shy away from public attitude towards the prawns or how badly they're treated by... well... everyone. This film is a much starker look at how we would likely treat such new residents of our planet, and features an absolutely amazing performance by Copley, who must be credited, at least in part, for the film's four Academy Award nominations! And finally, the trio reveal which two classic westerns will make up their next pairing!

So many movies deal with aliens coming to Earth, but few look at what happens afterwards, especially if we "adopt" them. That's what this pairing is all about, and we're starting with a forgotten gem out of the '80s, 1988's "Alien Nation!" Directed by Graham Baker, the film follows police detective Matthew Sykes (James Caan), a bigot who seems to hate the "newcomers" more than anything. After his partner is killed by newcomers, he swallows his bigotry and volunteers to be paired with the first newcomer detective, Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin), to try to find out who killed his partner. During their investigation, they run across one of the most successful newcomers, William Harcourt (Terrance Stamp), who may or may not have had a hand in several suspicious deaths, human and newcomer alike, that have occurred lately. With an amazing subtext that tackles racism at its worst, this film spawned a short-lived TV series and several made-for-TV movies! It's a wonderful movie that, sadly, did not get the attention it should have when it was released. That's why it's getting some now!

Tony Montana (Al Pacino) was a nobody, a Cuban refugee trapped in a refugee camp. But for the price of a politically-motivated killing, he and his friend Manny (Steven Bauer) were given green cards and released into the streets of Miami, Florida. From there, it was only a matter of time before Tony rose through the criminal ranks, starting with working for mob boss Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia). This gave Sonny the ability to start taking care of his mother and his sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). But it also introduced him to Frank's girlfriend, Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer). And between his hunger for power, money, and Elvira, Sonny begins to carve out his own path to glory, a story that never ends well. Directed by Brian De Palma, and co-starring F. Murray Abraham, Paul Shenar, Harris Yulin, and Angel Salazar, this film ends in the only way a real-life criminal fairy tale can end. Plus, the trio reveal which two science fiction classics they'll be turning their attention to for the next pairing!

In 1972, a pair of robbers attempted to make off with an enormous amount of money from a metropolitan bank. But the bank had almost no money at the time of the robbery. The police arrived before the robbers could escape. The hostages became more than just bystanders. And the fact that the stories depicted in the film actually happened makes 1975's "Dog Day Afternoon" just that much more compelling! Masterfully directed by Sidney Lumet, and starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, James Broderick, Sully Boyar, Carol Kane, and featuring the first on-screen appearance of Chris Sarandon, this story has so many twists and turns to it, it's a low-key thrill-ride from start to finish! Plus, the trio offer an explanation of the famous "Attica! Attica!" chant, something few in the 21st century will know anything about!

During the final years of the Cold War, a Russian submarine captain takes his brand new Typhoon-class vessel into international waters, headed for America. Is he intending to fire his missiles at the Eastern coast of the United States or, as one CIA analyst maintains, is he planning to defect and turn the vessel over to the Americans? A tense game of cat and mouse played out underwater may have explosive results in 1990's "The Hunt for Red October!" Episode 237 concludes our tribute to the late Sean Connery with this incredible Tom Clancy book brought to the screen. Directed by John McTiernan (of "Die Hard" fame), Connery plays Captain Marko Ramius of the nuclear submarine "Red October." Alec Baldwin is the first actor to portray CIA analyst Jack Ryan on-screen. With a supporting cast including the masterful job done by Scott Glen, the film also features Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Joss Ackland, Richard Jorden, Peter Firth, Tim Curry, Courtney B. Vance, Stellan Skarsgard, Jeffrey Jones, Fred Thompson, and Daniel Davis! Plus, the geeks reveal what actor they'll be focusing on for the next pairing!

The year is 1964. A German businessman is plotting to become owner of the new global gold standard, after he renders untouchable the entirety of the gold in Fort Knox! Only Agent 007, James Bond, can get the girl and save the day! Episode 236 begins our tribute to Sean Connery in 1964's "Goldfinger!" Directed by Guy Hamilton, based on the novel by spymaster Ian Fleming, the film stars Connery as James Bond, Gert Frobe as the titular character Auric Goldfinger, Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore, Shirley Eaton and Tania Mallet as the ill-fated Masterson sisters Jill and Tilly (respectively), Harold Sakata as Oddjob, Bernard Lee as 'M', Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, and Desmond Llewelyn as 'Q'. This is the Bond film that set the standard for every other Bond film that would come after it, and established James as a wise-cracking spy, lethal to his enemies and the embodiment of desire for every woman he crossed paths with! A Connery classic!

The second film in our official Holiday pairing is about as far away from "A Christmas Carol" as you're able to get! It's "Ernest Saves Christmas," a story about Santa Claus choosing his successor, a task that would have been made easier, but also wouldn't have been possible, without the help (or interference) of one Ernest P. Worrell! Ernest is, of course, played by the multi-talented Jim Varney, who ends up driving Santa Claus, played expertly by veteran actor Douglas Seale, to a meeting with local personality and former children's TV host Joe Carruthers (Oliver Clark) who has, unbeknownst to him, been chose to be the new Santa. Along the way, they pick up Harmony Star (Noelle Parker), a street-kid who isn't buying the whole "Santa" thing. But when Santa's sack goes missing, Joe fails to believe Santa, and Ernest is left in charge of getting the reindeer and sleigh to Santa, who must have his successor in place before 7:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, it looks like this might be the end of Christmas! But, of course, as the title suggests, Ernest saves Christmas. A surprisingly sweet film at its core, behind Varney's clowning, and a wonderful film to show to children during the holidays, especially those who might not know who Ernest is! Knowwhuddimean? And the trio reveal which two films they'll be reviewing as they honor the passing of the great Sean Connery in the next pairing!