Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

Our next pairing is pure balm for whatever is causing any stress you're feeling, as they are two comedies that hold nothing back and are just genuinely funny! First up, for Episode 224, it's 1980's classic film spoof "Airplane!" Directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, the movie is based largely on a 1957 thriller called "Zero Hour," that the three caught on VHS tape by accident! They were so taken with how over-the-top the melodrama was in "Zero Hour," that they decided to turn it into a comedy, and created one of THE comedies of the 20th century! Starring "serious actors" like Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, Lesley Nielsen, and Robert Stack, and partnering them up with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julie Hagerty, Robert Hays, Lorna Patterson, and Stephen Stucker, this movie wove its comedy into the straight-faced performances by its entire cast and created a classic that's just as funny today as it was when it premiered! This film also gave us an absolute treasure-trove of memorable lines to quote from here to eternity! A classic that still makes all three hosts laugh!

Episode 223 is the second of our look at Peter Sellers films with, arguably, his finest performances. Yes, plural. Sellers, in fact, plays three separate roles in the film, all three very different! The film is a perfect satire of cold war paranoia and the military's love affair with nuclear weapons, and features some of the most biting commentary on, at that time, modern military thinking ever captured on celluloid. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-starring George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, and featuring the very first cinematic appearance of James Earl Jones, this is one of those movies we think everyone should see at least once! And the trio reveal which "balls-out" comedies they're pairing up for the next two episodes!

For the next two episodes, we're focusing on the genius that was Peter Sellers! Episode 222 is the film that started a franchise that Star Wars has only just matched: 11 films! We are, of course, talking about 1963's "The Pink Panther." The film was supposed to be a starring vehicle for David Niven, but after Peter Ustinov was replaced with Peter Sellers, things changed. Sellers and director Blake Edwards bonded over a shared love of early silent comedy, and the role of Inspector Jacques Clouseau was re-written as a hapless, bumbling detective, and he ended up stealing the film from Niven! Also starring a very young Robert Wagner, Capucine, Brenda de Banzie, and the stunning Claudia Cardinale, the film is, at once, comedy, mystery, bedroom farce, and more!

Episode 221 is the second in our look at the films of Charlie Chaplin with his 1931 hit, "City Lights!" The film Chaplin himself named as his favorite (and the trio agree), this film too stars his famous character known as the Tramp, this time wandering a big, modern city. There, he meets a lovely but blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) and falls in love. He allows her to believe he is a rich man, and shortly thereafter meets an actual rich man, an Eccentric Millionaire (Harry Myers) to be exact who, after being saved from a drunken suicide by the Tramp, declares them fast friends! Unfortunately for the Tramp, this friendship is only felt when the Millionaire is drunk - when he's sober, he doesn't remember his friend at all! More entertaining hijinks occur, but this film also results in a happy ending... maybe. It's left up to the audience's interpretation. And the trio reveal what comedic superstar their next pairing will focus on, who arrived some three decades later!

Episode 220 begins our look at truly classic comedy, with the first of two films from the silent era and one of the founding comedic actors in all of film history, Charlie Chaplin, and his 1925 film "The Gold Rush!" The film follows Chaplin's iconic little Tramp character as he travels to the Yukon to try and find his fortune. He becomes lost and wanders into a cabin that is currently inhabited by the villainous Black Larsen (Tom Murray), and soon after by another explorer of the tundra, Big Jim (Mack Swain). Eventually, after some hijinks in the cabin, Chaplin's self-described "little fellow" finds his way to a mining town. There he spots Georgia, a dance hall girl, and is immediately smitten. Trying to find a way to woo her, the Tramp offers to make dinner for her and her friends on New Year's Eve. The film winds its way to a happy ending, despite the trials and tribulations endured by the Tramp. The trio also delve into the reasons this film is considered a classic, and why Chaplin is an important part of the history of American cinema!

Episode 219 is also the result of a listener request! Tom Barclay asked us to check out "12 Angry Men" (which we talked about in our last episode) and we picked an equally-amazing film to pair it with, from 1962, "To Kill a Mockingbird!" Based on the Pulitzer-winning novel by Harper Lee, this film recalls three summers (and a bit more) in the life of young Scout Finch (Mary Badham), her brother Jem (Phillip Alford), and their friend Dill Harris (John Megna). Their father, Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck, in probably his best role ever) is asked by Judge Taylor (Paul Fix) to take on the task of representing an African-American man named Tom Robinson (played by the incredible Brock Peters) who is accused of beating and raping a young girl in the South of the 1930s. But, cast against this story, is the children's fascination with their supposedly violent and captive neighbor Boo Radley (Robert Duvall in his first credited film role). As the summers pass, the stories are told, eventually culminating in an ending that blends both storylines together. Another example of just what American Cinema can be at its finest! Plus, the Geeks and G.I.T. reveal what classic comedian will be the focus of their next two reviews!

Episode 218 comes to you via a listener request! Tom Barclay told us he "would love to hear a 12 Angry Men episode (my new fave classic film)." Well, ask and ye shall receive! Directed by the legendary Sidney Lumet, and written by Reginald Rose, this is a certified American classic! The film focuses almost solely on 12 men in the jury room, deciding the fate of an 18-year-old boy accused of murder. If convicted, he will be executed. At the beginning, there are 11 for conviction and just one juror who has "reasonable doubt." As the film unwinds, so does the evidence and testimony from the trial as the 12 try to determine what the right thing to do actually is! Starring Martin Balsam (Juror 1), John Fiedler (Juror 2), Lee J. Cobb (Juror 3), E.G. Marshall (Juror 4), Jack Klugman (Juror 5), Edward Binns (Juror 6), Jack Warden (Juror 7), Henry Fonda (Juror 8), Joseph Sweeney (Juror 9), Ed Begley (Juroro 10), George Voscovec (Juror 11), and Robert Webber (Juror 12). An absolutely top-notch example of just what film can be, and a not-to-be-missed treasure of American cinema!

Episode 217 is the second review in our pairing of Carl Reiner films. Reiner passed away on June 29th, 2020, but he was, and will always be remembered as, one of the best comedians in the history of media in the United States. This time, we move ahead to 1987 for Reiner's directorial take on the high school comedy genre, one that shows a deeper affection for its characters than almost any of its contemporaries. The story follows gym teacher Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon in an unusual comedic role) who gets drafted to teach remedial English in summer school by his nasty Vice Principal Phil Gills (Robin Thomas). And were it not for the help of AP History teacher Robin Bishop (Kirstie Alley in her first Hollywood film role), he'd have no chance of succeeding and securing tenure! Add to this a cast of amazing supporting actors like Patrick Labyorteaux, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Gary Riley, Kelly Jo Minter, Ken Olandt, Shawnee Smith, Richard Steven Horvitz, Fabiana Udenio, and the incredibly funny Dean Cameron, and you have an absolutely watchable (and re-watchable) comedy that leaves you feeling happy and satisfied! Plus, the trio divulge what listener request they're fulfilling for their next pairing!

Episode 216 begins our pairing in honor of comedy legend Carl Reiner, who passed away on June 29th, 2020. The first film in the pairing is a feat of technical brilliance and comedy genius that sends up classic film noir in a way different from any other, in 1982's "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid!" Directed by Reiner, written by Reiner, George Gipe, and Steve Martin, the film follows Martin as hardboiled private dick Rigby Reardon, about to head out on vacation when he meets Juliet Forrest, played by Rachel Ward. Forrest hires Reardon to find her father whom she fears dead, but that's just the start of the story! Featuring clips from nineteen other classic film noir movies, this is a blending of past and present that reveals the true genius in the writing, directing, cinematography, editing, and acting that this film has to offer! Also starting Reiner and veteran character actor Reni Santoni, who also recently passed away, this is a comedic package sure to please discerning fans of funny, whether you're also a fan of film noir or not!

Episode 215 is, perhaps, one of the finest films ever made, and one of the most impactful. Finishing our Films You Should Definitely See Once, we turn to 1993's "Schindler's List." Directed by Stephen Spielberg, with a screenplay by Steven Zaillian based on the book by Thomas Keneally, this film details the real life of Oskar Schindler, a German entrepreneur during World War II who became an unlikely hero to the 1,200 Jewish prisoners he employed in his factories. Schindler (Liam Neeson) brings Jewish prisoner Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) into his business as his bookkeeper to help him rescue Jewish prisoners from the Holocaust by employing them in his metalworking factory. He meets Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) who is in charge of the camp the Jewish prisoners are incarcerated in. Slowly, Schindler's factory gains a reputation as a haven, somewhere where workers aren't abused or killed. As the war goes on, and the atrocities continue, Schindler begins to see that his haven may just be his chance to help change the lives of so many unfortunate victims of the Third Reich. Make sure you watch to the very end! Plus, the trio reveal which films they're going to review in the next pairing as a tribute to Carl Reiner!