Just Two Guys in the SJ-R

That's right, Micah and I are "In the Spotlight" at the SJ-R this week. Yesterday, Micah and I got all dressed up in our Just Two Guysiest thrift store jackets and marched down to the SJ-R to have our picture taken and to hand in our "Spotlight" questionnaire to Nick Rogers.

The feature reveals much about us you likely don't know. For example, how we got our start in television, our favorite moments on the air, and what our dream projects would be. It was great fun to be recognized for doing something that we love to do so much.

For you print paper people, you can find it in the A&E section.

Movie Geeks Club - Amelie

Capital City Bar and Grill

Tuesday, August 28

7:30 pm - Amelie

Amelie is our second foreign (subtitled) film. Run Lola Run was our first. This French film was released in 2001 and stars Audrey Tautou as the title character Amelie. We are looking forward to changing up our films from the two previous comedy titles. This is a story about a sweet and imaginitive young waitress who begins to discover the joy of random acts of kindness. As the stories of her acts unfold, her own loneliness becomes apparent. With the help of a friend, she begins to initiate her own happiness through the pursuit of a man that she loves.

I think the audience will appreciate the quality of this film. It is listed as #33 in the #250 on the Internet Movie Database user ratings. I actually use that list as a good indicator of the quality of the film. It does not always match my tastes as exampled in our previously taped television show but you can almost guarantee that all of the films on that list are very good.

We hope to see you all tomorrow night!

One other piece of Movie Geeks Club business. John and I have randomly selected the nominees for next month's film. Here they are:

The Machinist (2004) - This is a coincidence that it was selected again as a nominee but you will have a chance to vote for it again.

Memento (2000) - Great film. Ranked #27 on IMDB's list.

Rear Window (1954) - Brilliant thriller. Ranked #13 on IMDB's list.

New Show

As John posted yesterday, we taped a new show last night. I believe it may be the best show that we have done. Or at least the show that I had the most fun taping. We actually got to relax with some wine and beer and talk about some films that we both enjoy. It may sound boring to watch but we will try to throw in some clips of the films when we edit.

Our next show is scheduled to be taped in three weeks. Nick Rogers of the SJ-R is scheduled to appear and we are really excited to grill him on his movie reviews. Uh, I mean discuss. Actually, Nick does a great job and his reviews are really insightful. I rarely find myself on the other side of his opinions. After that show, we have some ideas floating around with a possible Halloween themed show and another good surprise guest. We'll see if that works out.

I pose this question. Does anyone have any GOOD ideas for a show topic or guest? The reason I emphasize "good" is that we actually get many ideas on show topics and guests. Unfortunately most of them go like this, "You gotta get my sisters boyfriend on the show. He's crazy. He knows everything about hampsters."

Just let us know by leaving a comment or e-mailing us at justtwoguys@hotmail.com.

Show Taping Tonight

Through a short and uninteresting series of events, we find ourselves heading into a show taping tonight with no guest. Originally, we tried to book a guest for tonight's show, but when said guest informed us she would be unable to attend, we both decided we were a little "guested" out. It's been great fun the past year interviewing smiling people from the Springfield community, but we decided that for this taping we're going to get back to basics: two guys sitting around talking about nothing.

To that end, Micah and I will be discussing movies again over a wine and beer of our choosing. We decided to go with some of our favorite 80s movies. We had some rules established beforehand. Rules like we couldn't choose any movies from the Star Wars franchise, the Indiana Jones franchise, or any of the most obvious cult classics from the 80s, i.e. Goonies, Gremlins, The Care Bears Movie, The Last Temptation of Christ. You know.

So tonight, we'll be discussing the following movies and our love for them:

Real Genius
9 to 5
St. Elmo's Fire
The Princess Bride
The 'Burbs

Also, although Micah and I have not discussed it, I would love to talk a little bit about Joe Vs. the Volcano. I think this is a much-overlooked 80s classic, and it needs to be recognized.

New Poll: What kind of boss do you have?

I've been hungry for some new episodes of The Office, and I started thinking about what a hopeless, clueless schmuck Michael Scott is. Then I started thinking about all the different types of boss I've had during my relatively short career path, and I thought it would be interesting to see what boss types are most prevalent out there.

So get your vote-casting fingers ready, because I want to know what kind of boss you have. If you happen to be a boss, feel free to rate yourself. You can vote for more than one attribute.

It's Time to Pimp Your Credit

Thanks to Shoo for the heads up on this video. It definitely falls in the category of Flea Market Montgomery.

Amelie Teaser

Amelie is a beautiful, quirky movie. Moving and rich with humanity. Colorful, imaginative, inspirational, and satisfying. Come watch it with us on August 28th, 7:30 PM at Capital City Bar and Grill.

Here's the trailer from youtube. You don't need to understand French to see that this is a sweet movie.

Mad about Mad Men

During the last show Micah and I taped, we talked briefly about our television favorites. We're both big fans of sitcoms, and we really don't care much for reality television. During that discussion, I told Micah that I really longed for a new, good drama. I've always been a pretty picky television watcher for a couple of reasons. Number one, I don't really have a lot of time for television, so I usually like to find one or two shows that I like and just stick to those shows. Number two, I've never really liked cop dramas, hospital dramas, or spy dramas. I'm more into realistic dramas that shed an interesting light on the real world.

I was a big fan of West Wing during it's run. It had such great characters, such great stories, such great dialogue. The set design was incredible and the way the show was shot and directed really gave a fast-pace feel to the show, which I think probably mirrors the fact-paced life of working in the White House. Since West Wing ended, I haven't really found anything to fill my craving for good drama.

Then a little over a month ago, I started seeing advertisements for AMC's new show, Mad Men. The ads didn't reveal a lot about the show's premise, but it looked super cool: the retro late fifties/early sixties designs, the men in dark suits and women in bright dresses, the contrast between the grit of the city and the sterility of the suburbs. It looked awesome. I've always been interested in American culture during that time period. So much happened in the early 60s to shape the culture of America, and I find it a fascinating time period.

A few days before the show was set to air, I heard an interview on NPR with the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, who also worked on the acclaimed series The Sopranos. He was discussing the premise of the show and describing some of the show's themes and characters, and I thought, "I have to watch this show." Mad Men casts you back into the just blossoming advertising world in the early 1960s. It carries with it a great cast, and the sets are amazing. The dialogue is incredible, and so much of the shows tone is subtle and subversive. One of my favorite features of the show is that it is shot entirely on film to give it an old classic look. Very nice.

In addition to a behind-the-scenes look at the advertising world, you also get glimpses at the changing American culture. A recently divorced woman moves into the suburban neighborhood and causes a stir among all the suburban wives busily painting their pictures of perfect home lives. The introduction of the birth control pill. Scientific research that indicates that smoking might be bad for you. The Nixon-Kennedy election. Marriage, love, infidelity. So much of the world at that time is brought to you through these characters. It's great.

Mad Men is on Thursday nights at 10/9C. Tonight is the fourth episode, but don't worry. If you've missed the first three, you can either download them from ITunes, or, if you have Insight On Demand, you can watch them for free. They are part of the free On Demand section under the category for AMC.

New Poll: Best Weekend Getaway Withing Driving Distance

Well, it's time for a new poll. The last one closed out with a three way tie. The winners were The Godfather, The Shawhank Redemption, and Pulp Fiction. Thanks to everyone who voted.

For the new poll, I was wondering where people like to go to get away for the weekend. It's rarely convenient to fly from Springfield, so I am speaking exclusively about locations that are accessible by car. So, the question is, "What is the best weekend getaway within driving distance?" I couldn't include all the potential spots for weekend getaways if I included spots you would reach by air. So, if you want to get away for the weekend, and you are going to drive 2-6 hours, where do you go? Six hours is about my cutoff for what is reasonable for a long weekend trip.

Vote over there-->

No State Fair Show This Year and Other News

We will not be taping a State Fair show this year. We enjoyed doing last year's live show from the State Fair a great deal, but we decided after long consideration that we didn't have the time or the energy right now to do it again this year. I've never been busier with work, and I have some side projects going on that take a lot of time. Micah has his reasons, as well.

We are strongly considering doing a real, actual "live" show from a Springfield location sometime this fall. This show would be shot and produced in a "late night show" format similar to Late Night with David Letterman. We are working on finding a location, securing a "house band" for the show, and lining up some possible guests. More details will follow as we develop our idea more fully.

Just Like a Mini Mall -- UPDATE

Here's a funny parody of the video from the last post. It features Sammy Stephens, the star of the previous video, but this time he has a creepy visitor dancing along. Be warned . . . the audio and video don't synch. Still funny.



And this next video parody features Sammy Stephens performing for American Idol judges.



And then there's this weirdness.

Flea Market Montgomery

I tend to hate local television commercials like the Hyundai commercials that are in circulation right now, with the Hyundai guy dressed like Abe Lincoln. Terrible. Or the Brahler Tire and Lube Center commercials; that song is horrendous. There's another one, too. The All-American T-Shirt and Embroidery commercial. The song in that sounds like the entrance music of a horrible patriotic professional wrestler from the mid-80s. Just bad.

Just today, I discovered this gem of a local commercial on Youtube. It has nothing to do with Springfield, but it just shows you how local television advertising can be even worse than anything you've ever seen before.

This is ridiculous. Bad hip-hop about living room sets and dinettes, a flea market that's like a mini mall, and then a terrible dance.

Enjoy!

Ebert and Siskel and Roeper

When I was growing up, I loved watching Siskel and Ebert. It was really the first experience I had with people talking about movies in a critical way, similar to the way people might review a good book or a work of art. Up to that point, my exposure to movies had consisted of someone saying either, "It's good," or "It sucked." It was nice to hear two guys discussing style and content, themes and tone, imagery and allusion. I just really have always enjoyed a good movie review. I think Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel are among the best movie critics of all time, and I think Richard Roeper has a nice approach to film criticism, too.

Last night I was talking to Micah on the phone, and he told me that a website exists that features over 5,000 movie reviews from the history of Ebert, Siskel, and Roeper. Apparently, Ebert and Siskel had to fight to keep their shows archived. No one at the networks believed saving that much expensive tape was really worthwhile. But thanks to E and S' foresight, you can now go back in time and watch the reviews from classic films like Goodfellas, Full Metal Jacket, and The Last Temptation of Christ, as well as their most recent movie reviews. Pretty cool, huh?

For those of you who have been and are a fan of these guys and their shows from over the years, this site is for you. You can check it out here. You can search by movie title, actor, or director.

As a sidenote, I'd like to provide a little outtake clip from a promo that Siskel and Ebert cut in the early 80s. They start off at each other's throats, even tossing around asshole at each other. Then, it devolves into a rant about WASPs. Pretty good stuff. Gives you a completely different idea of how things might have really been with these two guys when the cameras weren't rolling.

New Poll: Which Movie Is Best?

A big thanks to everyone who voted in our Badass Animals poll. It looks like the Honey Badger came out on top with 57% of the votes (12 votes). Grizzly Bear came in second with 19% of the votes (4 votes). Lions and Crocodiles tied for 3rd with 9% of the votes (2 votes each). In last place was the King Cobra, with a mere 4% of the vote (1 vote).

This new poll is derived from the IMDB top 250 list. I've taken the top 10 movies from that list, and I'm asking you to choose your favorite. I intentionally avoided selecting my own top 10 movies because that's hard (whines). I just used the IMDB list because it's a list of movies that have been determined based on a popular voting system. See what you think. Happy voting.

The Great Grape Stomp

If you've never seen this, you're in for a treat. It is one of the funniest events in human history.

Gentleman Johnny

I learned about this interesting fellow while researching for some new test content. Thought I'd pass it along. Next time you're at a party and someone says, "You know, I really wish I knew more about Scottish burglars from history," just bust this story out for them.

When Johnny Ramensky was a boy, his coal miner dad died, leaving little Johnny, his two sisters, and a loving wife behind in the slums of Glasgow. At a young age, Johnny was forced to take his father's place, working long hours down in the coal mines.

As Johnny grew up doing hard manual labor, two things happened. One, he grew up incredibly strong and athletic. Two, he grew to despise the life of the working class. He sought to escape poverty any way he could.

"Why not cat burglary?" Johnny said to himself one day, and in a flish-flash, he was scaling buildings by night and making a living in stolen goods. But here's where Johnny was different from your average run-of-the-mill burglar. Johnny had morals you see. He refused to burglarize regular people. Instead, he opted to rob from businesses and government offices.

Johnny was also one of the few burglars who could pull off a job with dynamite. He knew that if he really wanted big paydays, he'd need to be able to get into safes and vaults. He had worked with dynamite, and he knew how to use it to his advantage. So, Johnny carried dynamite along on every job.

Unfortunately, Johnny wasn't very lucky. He got caught. A lot. Always the moral high-roader, however, Johnny refused to put up a fight. The way he saw it, getting caught was as much a part of his job as anything else. When busted, Johnny went cordially. He hated violence, and never wanted anyone to be hurt by his actions. As a result, the police and newspapers of the day called him "Gentleman" John Ramensky.

"Gentleman" John spent most of his life in prison. Forty years in all. But prison was always a fairly temporary place for Johnny. It seemed that just about any time he decided to leave prison, he found a way out. He escaped from Peterhead (har, har, I know) Prison anywhere from 5-10 times during his incarceration. Three times in 1958 alone.

But we're reaching the part of the story where you may be saying, "So what?" Why does history shine on a lifetime criminal like Johnny Ramensky? Because he was a nice guy? Because he had a penchant for dynamite? No. It's because he was a war hero.

In 1942, Allied forces were ready to invade Rome. As part of their plan to invade, they wanted to sweep over as many embassies as possible, but they'd need a safe-cracker. They called on Gentleman Johnny, who was on a several year sentence in Peterhead at the time. In the first day of the invasion, Johnny moved in with the front wave of troops. He blew the safes in 14 embassies in one day, and became a national hero of the Scottish.

He was brought back to Glasgow and decorated as a war hero. He was granted a pardon for all of his crimes, and his sentences were all commuted.

And Johnny went right back to burglary. He was back in prison by the early 1950s, and he bounced in and out of prison for the rest of his life. In 1970, at the age of 65, he fell from the top of a government building during a break-in and suffered injuries from which he never recovered. He died two years later.

During one of his prison stints, Johnny wrote an autobiography, but he couldn't get it published without permission. He submitted it to the Scottish government for permission to get it published. They told him that they would only allow him to publish the sections about his war effort. He decided to pass. He only had a few years left, so he decided to bide his time and publish the book when he got back out into the real world. When he finally made it out, he asked prison officials to return his journals so he could publish his story. Sadly, they had already incinerated the stories. He never bothered to make another attempt at an autobiography.

Carl Madonna Show is Now Online

Episode 16 of Just Two Guys is now available online. You can watch it by clicking here, or by clicking Episode 16 in our Episode list in the right sidebar.

This episode is different for a few reasons. One, we opted to run key scenes from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey as our background instead of our usual fireplace DVD. The result is strange and thought-provoking. Number two, there's a bit of an overrun blooper after our Q & A before the interview with Carl. We though the cameras had stopped rolling, but apparently we were wrong.

Movie Geeks Club for August: Amelie

In August, the Movie Geeks Club will be screening Amelie.


When: August 28; Doors at 7:00, Movie at 7:30
Where: Capital City Bar and Grill

For more information on Amelie, click here.