Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

It's our "Race Around the World" pairing for the next two episodes, starting with the globetrotting Jules Verne story first put on film in 1956! "Around the World in 80 Days," directed by Michael Anderson and starring David Niven, Mexican superstar Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Newton, and featuring a veritable cavalcade of cameos, follows English gentleman's gentleman, Phileas Fogg (Niven), and his manservant, Passepartout (Cantinflas) as they accept a wager that one could travel around the world in but 80 days during the latter half of the 19th century. Along the way they run afoul of a Scotland Yard Inspector (Newton) and pick up a damsel in distress, the Indian princess Aouda, who accompanies them on the rest of their voyage. With a score by Victor Young, this Academy Award-winning film embodies the best of the "epic" films of the 50s and early 60s!

SPOILERS AHEAD! The trio are, once again, splitting their review into two parts, to preserve the integrity of the viewing experience for those who haven't seen "Unbreakable" yet! This is a supplement to the previous episode (139A) and contains only the discussion of the ending of the film!

Our second film by writer/director M.Night Shyamalan is one that flew under the radar for many, and thus came out with few expectations. It surpassed all of them, however, and more, and turned in a truly unique superhero film unlike any other we've seen on the big screen, even today! Security guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is the lone survivor of a train crash, who reunites with his estranged wife Audrey (Robin Wright) and his devoted son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark). He then finds he has gained the attention of art gallery owner and anthropological theorist Elija Price (Samuel L. Jackson) who suggests that David's survival may not have been a fluke, but an indication that he's at the upper end of the curve of what we define as "human." Again written and directed by Shyamalan, shot by Eduardo Serra, and also scored by the genius that is James Newton Howard, this film has a look and feel that is unlike any other superhero film you've ever seen, and treats it with more seriousness as well! For this film also, the trio have chosen to do a spoiler-free review and release the spoilers as a separate supplemental episode, so listen to this, watch the movie, and then listen to the supplement! Also, the trio talk about the two globe-trotting classic films they'll be reviewing next!

SPOILERS AHEAD! The trio split the review into two parts, and this is the part with the spoilers! It's a supplement to the previous episode (138A) and contains only the discussion of the ending of the film!

Writer/Director M. Night Shyamalan is the focus of this pairing, and the trio are going back to look at his first two breakout hits, starting with 1999's "The Sixth Sense." Child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) tries to help Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), a very troubled young boy, discover a way to heal from his illness. It turns out, however, that his illness isn't so much sickness as it is paranormal ability! Written and directed by Shyamalan, the film also stars Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, and Donnie Wahlberg in a role you won't recognize him in! Couple that with the amazing cinematography Tak Fujimoto and the beautifully disturbing score by James Newton Howard, and you have a film that keeps you interested, unnerved, and fascinated right through the very end, which we don't discuss (in full) in this episode, but in a separate supplemental episode, so as not to spoil the experience if you haven't seen this film yet! Check out the next episode to hear the spoilers about the ending!

Our second episode in our "Films that made directors famous" pairing hit in 1975 and scared a nation away from any of the ocean beaches for a time! We are, of course, talking about Steven Spielberg's break-out hit, "Jaws!" Based on the Peter Benchley novel and starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb, Jeffrey Kramer, and Susan Backline, this is the story of a great white shark who decides to make the waters off the small resort town of Amity its private feeding grounds, and the three brave men who set out on a small ship called "The Orca" to stop it once and for all. This film also made John Williams a household name, and netted Williams an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1976! And finally, hear which on-again, off-again director the trio will be reviewing films from next week (the good ones, of course)!

This episode begins our "Films that made directors famous" pairing, and we start in 1973. Fresh off his critical success with "THX 1138," George Lucas decided to create an homage to the last year Americans lived in blissful ignorance of the turmoil to come, when boys and girls, rock and roll, and hot rods were everything, and life was just a little easier. "American Graffiti" was Lucas' first huge box-office hit, and it started the careers of so many actors who would go on to become household names! Directed by and co-written by Lucas, along with Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, the film features Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, and the one and only Wolfman Jack, in a tribute to the 50s lifestyle, which had carried over into 1962. And while the film doesn't exactly follow a traditional three-act structure, the individual stories are held together by the incredible 50s rock soundtrack!

The second film in our 1972 Blaxploitation pairing arrived in November of 1972. Directed by Ivan Dixon, and written by John D.F. Black (who wrote the original Star Trek series classic "The Naked Time" in 1966), the film follows "T", sometimes called "Mr. T" by those who respect him, as he works to protect the people in his neighborhood, help them through their hardships, and see that their life is generally just a little better. But when he gets framed for the murder of a crime boss, he has to go to great lengths to find the solution to his own trouble! Starring Robert Hooks, Paul Winfield, Ralph Waite, Paula Kelly, and Gordon Jump, this is one of the best of the genre, made even greater by its score, the only one ever written by Marvin Gaye! And find out what films the trio will be reviewing next that catapulted George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg into the Hollywood spotlight (and it may not be the movies you think)!

It's back to the 70s, and back to Blaxploitation films for the next pairing! First up, it's August of 1972 and a new phrase becomes part of the vernacular: Super fly. But why? Well, because a movie with a message, a philosophy, and an amazing soundtrack introduced it to everyone! Priest and his partner, Eddie, want to get out of the cocaine-dealing business, so they plan one last major score to set them up for their retirement! Directed by the legendary Gordon Parks, and starring Ron O'Neal, Carl Lee, Sheila Frazier, and featuring a soundtrack/score written by musician extraordinaire Curtis Mayfield! A classic early example of the genre, and such a good film considering the tiny budget it was made from!

The second film in our tribute to Penny Marshall is one of her lesser-known films, not as successful as "Big," but no less deserving attention. "Renaissance Man" from 1994 was directed by Marshall, and stars Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines, James Remar, Ed Begley Jr., Lillo Brancato, Stacey Dash, Kadeem Hardison, Richard T. Jones, Khalil Kain, Peter Simmons, Gregory Sporleder, Mark Wahlberg, and Cliff Robertson. It's the story of Bill Rago, an unemployed advertising executive who gets assigned to teach comprehension on an Army base. Stuck trying to figure out how to teach the course, he inadvertently interests his students in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and transforms his students while transforming his own life as well! If you're a teacher, or know a teacher, or have ever had a good teacher, you'll appreciate this film! Next up, the aforementioned second look at Blaxpoitation films!