Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

Episode 178: This pairing focuses on the work of writer/director Woody Allen, and the trio jump into the film that won Allen a Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Academy Award, along with a Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar for leading lady Diane Keaton! Directed, written by, and starring Woody Allen, "Annie Hall" is the story of the ill-fated relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and Annie Hall (Keaton). Told almost as a retrospective on their relationship, the film also features Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon in a rate cinematic role, Shelly Duvall, Colleen Dewhurst, and Christopher Walken. Plus, cameos from Dick Cavett, Jeff Goldblum, Shelly Hack, Beverly D'Angelo, and (if you look REALLY closely) Sigourney Weaver! This is also the farthest apart the trio have ever been regarding a movie in the history of the podcast!

Episode 177: The second film in our pairing of modern war movies is from 1998, and may very well be the finest, most honest, most horror-filled, and most accurate war film in the history of cinema. "Saving Private Ryan" was directed by modern master Steven Spielberg, and features an amazing cast of talented actors including Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Matt Damon, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, and Dennis Farina, to name but a few! The first 30 minutes of the movie takes you to the invasion of Normandy in a way no film has ever even attempted, let alone succeeded this well! Brutal, bloody, and brilliant, this film (like "Full Metal Jacket") doesn't shy away from showing the horrors of war, but being set in World War Two, it doesn't take quite as pessimistic an approach as the previous film. And then, find out what director (enjoyed by two of the three hosts) will be the focus of the next pairing, and which host isn't looking forward to it at all!

Episode 176: We turn to modern war films for this pairing, starting with legendary director Stanley Kubrick's last good film, 1987's "Full Metal Jacket." Starring Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, Arliss Howard, and the premiere of the incredible R. Lee Ermey as Gny. Sgt. Hartman, turning in a performance that actually caused Stanley to allow him to improvise, something Kubrick was famous for prohibiting in his actors! This film is a no-holds-barred look at the true horrors of war and the toll it takes on those who enlist during wartime. Set in the Vietnam War, this film is a two-part story: The first follows the squad through the hell that is basic training for the Marines, while the second part shows some of them out in the wilds of Vietnam, coping with the moral ambiguity that comes on a battlefield. And while this film is difficult to watch, it's a movie everyone should see at least once!

Episode 175: Romero waited 10 years to release a sequel to "Night of the Living Dead," but when he did, he had the support of fans across the world as well as other filmmakers! Italian horror-master Dario Argento offered up his house so Romero could write undisturbed, acted as script supervisor, and even wrote and performed the score (with his band "The Goblins"), all in exchange for the editing rights to the European release. This film solidified Romero's rules for zombie films, rules he would follow in every other "Dead" film he'd ever make. This one, in color, was going to be assigned an "X" rating by the MPAA due to violence alone, so Romero released it unrated. Were it any other filmmaker, and any other film, this would have spelled disaster, but everyone wanted to see this film, so distributors actually sent it to theatres unrated. The end result is the 2nd seminal zombie film, this time taking place in an early fully-enclosed shopping environment we would come to know as a "mall." Plus, the trio reveal which first-time (for them) genre they'll be tackling for the next pairing!

Episode 174: It's the first of our Halloween episodes, this time focusing on the father of the modern Zombie genre, George Romero! Written and directed by Romero (co-written by John Russo), the film was shot on a shoe-string budget, with a lot of barter being done for set elements, props, and make-up, in exchange for the business owners getting to be zombies in the film! But what came out of it is a frightening film that set the tone for decades of zombie cinema to come! Starring a cast of unknowns, this is truly the independent film that becomes known all over the world, but perhaps not exactly for the reason you might think. The trio talk about how a mistake just before release was bad news for Romero, but it turns out to be wonderful news for this film and the burgeoning zombie genre! High marks from every member of the trio too!

Episode 173: The second film in our "Forgotten Disney" pairings moves ahead one year to 1980 and another genre not attempted before by Disney studios, a suspense-thriller! Helmed by veteran Disney director John Hough, and starring the incredible Bette Davis, this is a ghost story, pure and simple, until it's not. The film co-stars Lynn-Holly Johnson (of "Ice Castles" fame), Kyle Richards (sister of Kim Richards who starred in the Witch Mountain films), Carroll Baker, David McCallum (yes, Illya Kuryakin from the "The Man from U.N.C.L.E. television series), and Benedict Taylor. This is a story that, admittedly, does take a little while to get rolling, but once it does it's definitely worth the wait! Plus, the trio reveal what treat they're serving for this year's Halloween episodes!

Episode 172: We travel back to 1979 for the first of our "Forgotten Disney" films, for director Gary Nelson's sci-fantasy epic "The Black Hole!" This was the first non-G-rated film ever released by Disney studios, and it was a stunning first step away from pure children's fare! Starring Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine, and the uncredited voices of Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens, this film explores the phenomenon of a black hole and the depths one man may sink to in order to explore its reaches! Pair this story and cast with a stunning score from James Bond composer John Barry, along with truly (for the time) ground-breaking special effects, an ending that's full of nuance and sub-text, and you have a space opera for the ages (although not everyone agrees).

Episode 171: Our second episode in our listener-suggested Robert Rodriguez pairing focuses on a film unlike any other, one that transformed a graphic novel into cinematic art in a way never before seen, 2005's "Sin City!" Based on the Frank Miller graphic novel, the film was so faithful to the novel that Rodriguez insisted on a co-directing credit for Miller, along with a guest-director credit for friend Quentin Tarantino! With an all-star cast including the likes of Bruce Willis, Benecio Del Toro, Clive Owen, Michael Madson, Rosario Dawson, Jessica Alba, Powers Booth, Josh Hartnett, Rutger Hauer, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, Brittany Murphy, Carla Gugino, Michael Clarke Duncan, and more, this is perhaps the greatest homage to pulp comics and film noir yet! Not to mention creating a style that is unique in film history, and carving a story out of it that gets top ratings from all three hosts! Plus, the trio celebrate International Podcast Day and talk about the new podcast documentary they're featured in that's released on September 30th! All of this, and the trio discuss the "forgotten Disney" films that will make up the next pairing as well!

Episode 170: This episode begins our listener-suggested pairing of films by independent director Robert Rodriguez, with the film that marked Quentin Taratino's first paid screenwriting job, 1996's heist-turned-horror, "From Dusk Till Dawn!" Starring George Clooney, Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, and Michael Parks, this film follows the infamous Gecko brothers as they flee the United States into Mexico to meet up with their latest employer and turn over all but their percentage of ill-gotten gains. Unfortunately for them, their employer picked a true den of iniquity for their meeting place. Now if they can just survive the night and still be able to conduct business when the sun comes up...

Episode 169A: In the 2nd of our pairing of "Vengeance Films," we move ahead to a date out of our normal time-period and look at the American version of the South Korean neo-noir action thriller "Oldboy" from 2013. Directed by powerhouse Spike Lee and starring Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen, this film follows the life of alcoholic salesman Joe Doucett who, after blowing a big deal for his firm, gets fired. As if that isn't bad enough, he's then kidnapped and imprisoned in what, at first, appears to be a hotel room. It turns out it's a gilded cage, and that's just the beginning of the story! Who's doing this to him, and why, is something he'll try to find out... if he can escape! Also starring Sharlto Copley, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Imperioli, Pom Klementieff, Lance Reddick, and a very early appearance by Remi Malek! Plus, the trio reveal the latest listener suggested pairing that they'll be doing in the next set of reviews! NOTE: This is a spoiler-free review, so if you haven't seen the movie, it's safe to listen to. A second spoiler-filled episode, which details the twist ending to this macabre tale, follows this one.