Renaissance of the Nerds

By Margaret Lyons in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 13, 2004 8:54PM

It’s a good week to be a movie geek.

Tickets went on sale at 9 AM today for Spamalot, “the musical lovingly ripped off” from one of the movies most-quoted by guys you went to high school with: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Chicagoist covered the 411 on this back in July but it’s worth noting here that the opening of the box office featured an appearance by the Spammobile along with free cans of Spam and um, spankings to the first 100 people in line. Ticket prices are…well, they’re really freaking expensive. But hey--isn’t it worth it to see the performance of “Fetchez La Vache,” which marks the first performance on the Chicago stage of a song about a French Knight and a cow? Perhaps we can convince enough geeks to join us so we can rock it group-rate style.

A more affordable option for your inner geek is the Napoleon Dynamite.
Chicagoist saw this flick at a preview screening a couple months back and thought it was hilarious but not exactly destined for wide-spread popularity. But lo and behold, the movie finally cracked the top ten this weekend after 14 weeks in release. Basically plotless, the movie follows the high school burdens of Napoleon, a geek who lists nunchucks and bowhunting as “good boyfriend skills”, draws ligers (a crossbreed of a lion and tiger “bred for its skills in magic”) and believes that sweet dance moves might be the key to winning student elections (there’s your ticket, Alan Keyes!). It’s currently at AMC River East, the Landmark Century Centre, the Davis and the Century 12 in Evanston.

Lastly, there’s the theatrical re-release of George Lucas’s first film THX 1138 also playing at AMC River East and coming to DVD on Tuesday.

You know what they say: if you see something twice then it’s a coincidence, three times and it’s a trend. Get on the geek love bandwagon now you sons of a silly person! Right, off you go.
(Thanks, Scott!)