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Private Notes
This season, Gene introduces a new feature on the show called “Take 2” where they take a more in-depth look at movie genres, issues and trends, where movies are now and where they are headed. This show is about midnight movies and what makes a cult film. Featured are discussions of “Reefer Madness” (1936), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Night of the Living Dead (1967), Pink Flamingos (1972), and Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979).
Gene and Roger look for laughs in Blake Edwards’ new comedy “10”, Carol Kane is terrorized by a vicious crackpot “When a Stranger Calls”, Burt Reynolds experiences life after divorce while “Starting Over”, and Francis Ford Coppola sends Martin Sheen to kill a renegade colonel in “Apocalypse Now”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene’s “City on Fire” shows third-degree burns in close-up, while in Roger’s “The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula” kung fu meets Peter Cushing, but not necessarily the other way around.
Reviews of “Meteor”, “Luna”, “And Justice for All”, “The Silent Partner”, and “Nosferatu the Vampyre”. Dogs of the week are “Disco Godfather” and “Avalanche Express”.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger discuss landmark films, movies that changed the movie business for better or worse. Featured are discussions of “Airport” (1970), “Easy Rider” (1969), “Sweet Sweetback” (1971), “Jaws” (1975), Vixen (1968), “Beyond and Back” (1978), and Spot finds the grandaddy of dogs, chop-socky “Five Fingers of Death” (1972).
Gene and Roger greet a slate of dreary November titles, Michael Douglas tries to win the Olympic marathon while “Running”, the mainstream courtship of the 70’s “Head Over Heels”, roller disco movie “Skatetown, U.S.A.”, haunted house mystery “The Legacy”, and John Schlesinger’s simple wartime romance “Yanks”. They try a change of pace and skip “Dog of the Week” to recommend a list of movies playing on television.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger revive some overlooked classics in a discussion of 1970’s films that nearly everybody missed. Featured are discussions of “Sorcerer” (1977), “The Late Show” (1977), “Night Moves” (1975), “Straight Time” (1978), “Images” (1972), “Mean Streets” (1973).
Gene and Roger travel abroad with a group of American students in “French Postcards”, “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh” is not a disaster film about a friendly shark, Rainer Werner Fasssbinder’s study in post-war Germany ambition “The Marriage of Maria Braun”, Bette Midler sells herself for rock ‘n’ roll in “The Rose”, and Toronto Film Fest hit “Best Boy”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene’s “Killer Fish” has a lot of bite, while Roger finds another lousy kung-fu movie “The Tongfather”.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger explore who’s falling in love with who and how in today’s movies. Featured are discussions of “An Unmarried Woman” (1978), “Starting Over” (1979), The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979), and Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).
Gene and Roger discover a new trend in romance pictures that is “Something Short of Paradise”, a strange young preacher is out to start his own church in John Huston’s “Wise Blood”, Sunn Classic Pictures produce another biblical psuedo-doc “In Search of Historic Jesus”, and Werner Herzog returns with his strange and offbeat retelling of “Woyzeck”. As a change of pace, Spot dons his mailman outfit to deliver letters from viewers for our critics to answer.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger go bonkers and start recommending guilty pleasures, great trash they are almost embarrassed to admit they love. Each choose to defend three films. Roger secretly loves “Infra Man” (1975), “The Fury” (1978), and “The Last House on the Left” (1972), while Gene confesses his affection for “Superfly” (1972), “Emmanuelle” (1974), and “The Greek Tycoon” (1978).
Gene and Roger try out Steve Martin’s movie debut “The Jerk”, marriage divorce and child custody get serious treatment in “Kramer vs. Kramer”, Captain Kirk reunites his crew to investigate a mysterious alien force in “Star Trek”, a comedy special banned from TV “Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video”, and this year Walt Disney dusts off “Sleeping Beauty” for the Christmas season. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene has a tipoff to a cheap ripoff “Arabian Adventure”, and Roger finds another film worth cutting up to make ukelele picks, “The Stud”.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger recall strong and vivid emotional experiences in the best films of the 70’s. Featured are discussions of “Last Tango in Paris” (1972), “An Unmarried Woman” (1978), “The Sorrow and the Pity”, “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Annie Hall” (1977), “Amarcord” (1974), “ The Emigrants/The New Land”, and “Breaking Away” (1979).
Gene and Roger journey with this holiday season’s eagerly awaited big-budget Disney production “The Black Hole”, a man a woman and a horse in romantic comedy “The Electric Horseman”, Bob Fosse’s musical showbiz autobiography “All That Jazz”, Sean Connery is an aging mercenary fighting a lost cause in “Cuba”, three retired old men plan a robbery in “Going in Style”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger’s beach blanket ripoff “Roller Boogie” falls flat on its face, while Gene’s “Scavenger Hunt” finds a collection of trash.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger explore the different ways in which Hollywood has chosen to treat various aspects of Vietnam War. Featured are discussions of the only pro-war film about the war “The Green Berets” (1968), and post-war sentiments in “The Deer Hunter” (1978), “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Hair” (1979), “Rolling Thunder” (1977), “Coming Home” (1978), and “Hearts and Minds” (1974).
Roger and Gene look back on the year 1979 and pick their top ten films which is not that hard for Gene considering it was an off year. Featured are discussion of “Breaking Away”, “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “The Marriage of Maria Braun”, “Manhattan”, “Apocalypse Now”, “Hair”, “Saint Jack”, “Time After Time” Plus, they each select their choices for “Dog of the Year”. Roger was blown away by “Hurricane” and Gene hopes the decades’ run of disaster films has come to an end with the bust “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure”.
In this special edition of Take 2, is it sight gags and slapstick or comedy that makes you laugh and think? Gene and Roger debate with film clips who is funnier: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen.
Gene and Roger start a new year and decade with the jealously voyeurism and sadism of “Windows”, the free-spirited beat generation in “Heart Beat”, Dick Van Dyke is a conflicted priest in “The Runner Stumbles”, and one woman struggles to confront her rapist in court in French film “Rape of Love”. For their “Dog of the Week” segment, Spot sniffs out Gene’s Omen-ripoff “The Godsend”, and Roger has anything but a “Silent Scream” for his gruesome disaster.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger give due to great performances and in some cases entire careers that have been overlooked and undervalued. Featured are discussions of John Cazale, Shelley Duvall, Genevieve Bujold, Martin Sheen, Malcolm McDowell, and Robert Mitchum.
Gene and Roger take a chance with Peter Sellers in satirical comedy “Being There”, John Carpenter is trying to scare us all over again with “The Fog”, Neil Simon adapts his autobiographical play “Chapter Two”, Richard Gere plays a male prostitute in “American Gigolo”, and “Fatso” is one of the most lightweight comedies of the year. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger thinks “Guyana: Cult of the Damned” cheapens and exploits a true story, and Gene finds “The Bermuda Triangle” has all marketing and no answers from the fast-buck operators at Sunn Classic Pictures.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger compare differences between space movies of the 50’s and their re-invasion in the 1970’s. Featured are discussions of “Destination Moon” (1950), “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951), “2001: a space odyssey” (1968), “Star Wars” (1977), and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977).
Gene and Roger are intrigued to find out why George Segal and Natalie Wood are “The Last Married Couple in America”, Al Pacino’s new picture “Cruising” rides a wave of controversy into theaters, Ali MacGraw is a mistress scorned in “Just Tell Me What You Want”, John Ritter is a real-life superhero in “Hero at Large”, and Farrah Fawcett stars in sci-fi thriller “Saturn 3”. Spot leaps into the balcony to announce the “Dogs of the Week”, Gene’s chop-socky “A Force of One” alternates anti-drug messages and kicks to the groin, while Roger hones in on Spot’s jealousy of the big brave collie dog in “The Magic of Lassie”.
In this edition of Take 2, Gene and Roger pull back the curtain to show us just how they go to the movies as critics. From coming attraction commercials to expectations, press agents to screening rooms, then back to the office for a final review. We are invited along as they see the new comedy “The Black Marble”, plus they try to explain just how critics come to have their opinions.
Gene and Roger report on the thematic balancing act of WWII drama “Soldier of Orange”, Otto Preminger’s spy thriller “The Human Factor”, Sissy Spacek is more than just a “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, and Henry James’ conniving gold-diggers in “The Europeans”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger is repelled by Disney’s nasty PG-Animal House “Midnight Madness”, while Gene discovers the overwrought sequel nobody asked for “The Wilderness Family Part 2”.
Gene and Roger are back with their annual Academy Awards program. They survey nominees in the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and speculate on who the winners might be.
Gene and Roger check out the racetrack for old-fashioned remake “Little Miss Marker”, Marshall Brickman’s first solo effort “Simon”, two “Little Darlings” compete in summer camp shenanigans, the classic story of a boy and a magical horse “The Black Stallion”, and James Caan cannot find his kids in “Hide in Plain Sight”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene argues “Don’t Answer the Phone” or just don’t go see this movie, and “Last Rites” is the worst vampire movie Roger has ever seen.
Gene and Roger experience a critical year in the life of “Nijinsky”, a satirical dissection of Marin County in “Serial”, a young woman pursues “My Brilliant Career” turn-of-the-century Australia, four teenage “Foxes” grow up in a Los Angeles suburb, and George C. Scott moves into an old Seattle mansion in “The Changeling”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Roger finds a schlock in half-baked disaster “When Time Ran Out”, and Gene advises us to stay off “The Fifth Floor”
Gene and Roger investigate the north sea oil rigs due for hijacking in “Ffolkes”, Bill Murray plays Hunter S. Thompson “Where the Buffalo Roam”, intrigue finds romance and baby seals in “Nothing Personal”, Harvard college kids flirt with love during the Vietnam protest movement in “A Small Circle of Friends”, and Gary Busey falls in love with Annette O’Toole in“Foolin’ Around”. In their “Dog of the Week” segment, Gene finds an old Nazi “Death Ship” but the production goes overboard, and Roger digs through Roger Vadim’s trash-y exploitation “Night Games”.
