School Of Movies

[School of Everything Else 2024] We initially started watching this 2017 Paramount TV series just for some back-story context on a pair of commissioned podcasts we have upcoming on the first two seasons of the sister show about the crew of the Enterprise; 'Strange New Worlds'. As it turns out, after a rocky start, Discovery is really excellent in its own right and we wolfed down the first four seasons.  So, this is a largely spoiler-free round-table discussion on those seasons, to give you folks who haven't yet watched it incentive to maybe give it a go, along with details and character development to keep an eye on. And if you have watched it you will almost certainly love hearing our take, because, as it turns out, we are now in the middle of an unexpected Golden Age of Trek.  Guests: From Sequentially Yours  Kaoru Negisa  @Moonpanther22 and Debbie Morse  @bastet8300 Chris Finik @finmonster09

[School of Movies 2024] It's always a risk, setting a sci-fi dystopian movie only a few years from filming. You're going to make predictions about how the world might look and operate, with new technology or sociological and political upheaval within a time period so immediate that it's the difference between the launch of the Sony PlayStation and the PlayStation 2 But we are currently living in a dystopia increasingly left to the devices of the dumbest of AI, and many of us are wondering "How the hell did all this happen between the PS4 and PS5?". Plus, the writer/producer of this one warned us about Skynet before. James Cameron here teams up with director (and occasional wife) Katherine Bigelow to deliver a grimy neo-noir that failed abysmally at the box office when everyone wanted Batman Forever. A disregarded cult favourite with a mysterious and twisted psychopath murdering people in truly stomach-churning ways, the same year Se7en was a massive smash hit.  The tech is effectively Virtual Reality, only it

[School of Movies 2024] After decades of very patchy sequels and spinoffs to the 1987 sci-fi classic, Predator, we finally get one that is not only worthy of, but in many ways surpasses its stealthy action-beefcake-slasher source. So far we've had Predator 2 (1990), Alien vs. Predator (2004), Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), Predators (2010) and The Predator (2018). But this one takes note of there frequently being a woman of colour on the cast of the previous movies and this time put her front and centre, telling her story, rather than the grizzled guys she's babysitting. Relative unknown Amber Midthunder (who has nonetheless been acting since 2001 at the age of 4) stars as Naru, a Comanche girl on the great plains of America, circa 1719. Her skills lie in being highly observant and resourceful, and her frustrations stem from the guys  in her group not letting her be a hunter. This of course goes upside down when an outsider touches down in their territory and starts bagging trophies with horrifying ease

[School of Everything Else 2024] This is one we have been planning and looking forward to for a long, long, LONG time. One of the most significant indie video games of all time, and for our child, maybe their favourite forever (up against Minecraft and Stardew Valley). In a gaming marketplace overflowing with charming retro-styled games with a dark, absurd sense of humour veiling heart-breaking stories about coping through pain, loneliness and grief, this one shines out as an inspirational beacon. With Earthbound on the SNES as his chief influence, creator Toby Fox set out to make a game that confounded, mocked and disapproved of RPG tropes, but in doing so, made an adventure where you could kill every enemy you meet... or make friends with them. And doing the latter results in profound and deeply memorable connections. If you've not played it by now, you probably won't. So, throw the notion of spoilers aside and let's get into the juicy skeleton meat on this one, together. Guests: Hollywoo Actress Maya Souri

[School of Everything Else 2024] Part 6 of 6 We come to it at last. The final episodes of one of the greatest animated shows ever gifted to TV. And we pulled out all the stops this time, because it's bittersweet to say goodbye again.  Originally I planned to get this whole season discussed in one sit-down session, considering how much ground we had covered back in Season 1 with two sessions. But in the end a second was essential. What we have here is that unplanned final session with Kaoru & Debbie (joyfully back after a long absence while they brought a small person into the world) blended with segments held over from that first recording to close us out with fireworks. Many thanks to everyone involved in this challenging and rewarding project. You made it special, like it deserved to be.  Episodes Covered: Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future / Xpcveaoqfoxso / Escape from Reality / Take Back the Falls I / Take Back the Falls II Guests: From Sequentially Yours  Kaoru Negisa  @Moonpanther22 and Debbie Morse  @

[School of Everything Else 2024] Part 4 of 6 Back in early 2020 (pre-pandemic even) just as Disney+ had launched, making this show super-accessible to everyone at last, we recorded three podcasts on the first season. Now we are finally back to talk about the second and final season and one of the most satisfying, bittersweet endings of any television series, and I am not being hyperbolic with that statement. Dipper and Mabel Pines are a pair of tweens who have to spend the summer in the strange Pacific Northwest town of Gravity Falls with their conman Grunkle Stan. Now answers to the big mysteries of the first season finally bubble to the surface, presenting us with both hilarious hijinks and mind-bending sci-fi. It's the kind of smart, emotionally sensitive, poignant and genuinely funny programming for kids that we've seen rise most reassuringly over the past decade. Episodes Covered: Into the Bunker, The Golf War, Sock Opera, Soos and the Real Girl, Little Gift Shop of Horrors, Society of the Blind Eye, Ble

[School of Movies 2023] This is one of the hardest episodes we have ever had to record. I'm not dealing in hyperbole when I describe the shockwave that rippled through our house when we found out that without the slightest warning Chadwick Boseman passed away in the night. He represented, for want of a better term a great responsibility. And much of these few hours is spent talking about that impact. On top of that, there were elements of the film that bothered both of us, and our guests, but the undertaking of bringing this movie into existence, soaked in real world tragedy and during a pandemic was so challenging that how could we possibly be critical? This is why it has taken us a silent year to gather our thoughts. And we are so grateful to our guests for being able to manage the weight and breadth of what gets discussed and land -as intended- in the most human place possible. Special thanks to Maya Souris who was actually IN this movie and gifted us with some precious insight into the filmmaking process.

[School of Movies 2023] One of only FOUR movies directed by the all-too-soon-departed anime darling Satoshi Kon (along with Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Paprika), this is by far and away his most heartfelt, funny, camp and soulful tale, and it is most definitely Christmassy in nature, considering it concerns three impoverished homeless people and their desperate attempts to protect and ferry back to her parents a holy infant, so tender and mild. But as well as being a fair and compassionate story of the destitute, this film has an exceedingly rare trans heroine in the shape of Hana, a hot mess who nonetheless has the most determined and forthright of dispositions. Together with the alcoholic Gin and the runaway girl Miyuki, they experience a series of unlikely coincidences that require them to do the right thing in order to reverse an interconnected web of hilariously bad situations. No matter how lonely and depressed a viewer might feel at the beginning there is no way someone can reach the end witho

[School of Movies 2023] If you love Love Actually this show is for you. If you hate Love Actually this show is for you. If you consider Love Actually to be kind of a mixed bag and there's actors and/or scenarios in there that you really like and yet some of the characters behave in awful ways that the film doesn't judge as awful, but overall it seems to have its heart in the right place, this show is for you. And if you've never seen Love Actually... then this show is for you. What we have done is recruit Doctor Hunter Mulcare from the Two Shrinks Pod and asked him to help us with a challenge (that it turns out Cinema Therapy did last year - though their half-hour show and family audience doesn't allow for anywhere near as much detail or not-safe-for-work content). Join us as we rank the relationships in this 2003 film, written and directed by British institution Richard Curtis, ranging from most unhealthy to out and out life-goals.  The winner may surprise you. Guest: Dr Hunter Mulcare @realhuntermmm 

[School of Everything Else 2023] The first global blockbuster hit in this long-running series from Squaresoft. As we noted before, the excellent Final Fantasies IV, V and VI were not released in Europe (neither were I, II or III) until long after this one, and it was utilising the power of the PlayStation, so this really was the introduction to what a modern-day cinematic RPG video game could be, for an entire generation in 1997. Playing it today, there are a number of drawbacks, some of which (annoying random battles, slow-progression) are mitigated by Quality of Life additions in  recent remastered versions (the Switch version that Sharon played all the way through this adventure for the first time). However, the blocky, awkward character models and static backgrounds do warrant the glossy Remake that we are still only halfway through, and will not be taking about until it's over... in 2028. None of these drawbacks of the PS1 original can taint the fact that this really is beloved for plenty of great reason

[School of Movies 2023] Arguably director Hayao Miyazaki's finest hour, and by extension the peak of composer Joe Hisaishi and for Studio Ghibli in general. This one is almost too easy to either sing the praises of, or to dismiss because it was so popular. Disney distributed it in America, and it made $395 million, which might make it the most successful theatrical release for an anime movie. By contrast, My Neighbours the Yamadas two years prior in 1999 made $11 million on three quarters the budget. Spirited away was showered with critical praise and won many awards. It's the popular girl. But this girl is also endlessly fascinating; stirring, whimsical, intelligent, exciting, funny, and unforgettable. She stays with us, and we return to her again and again for comfort and to feel that sense of quiet awe. It's also noteworthy that this has one of the best American language tracks for any Japanese film; Daveigh Chase (Lilo of Stitch fame, Donnie Darko's sister and the girl from The Ring), Jason Marsden (Max i

[School of Everything Else 2023] This is the good stuff. Look no further than the 2012-2013 one-season 3D animated show for the absolute best Green Lantern experience. Co-Created Giancarlo Volpe of Avatar and Bruce Timm, one of the key figures in the beloved and critically acclaimed classics of Batman: The Animated Series, along with the connected Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice League Unlimited, all of which constitute a true encapsulation of the DC comic heroes. What we have here is the archival spoiler-free section from our 2013 Digital Gonzo episode talking about this fantastic cartoon. That is then followed by a 90-minute, spoilerific contemporary discussion about what happens to the various characters. This series is so unappreciated that we actively recommend you listening to this whole thing. It's the NOBODY watching it that's the real spoiler. Hal Jordan (Earth's GL lost in space with this tiny crew) Razer (A disgraced Red Lantern trying to make amends)  Aya (The prototype ship's computer, learning

[Digital Gonzo 2013] This is a special, re-edited, re-release of a classic episode of Digital Gonzo. Back in 2013 we talked all about Green Lantern, under the impression that Warner Bros. & DC had big plans for superheroes over the next decade. And while they have genuinely given more heroes an airing, audiences seem to only be interested in The Bat and the Joker, (oh, and Aquaman, because he has laser-sharks). So, what this is is a pared-down and pacier version of the first part of that show with more focus and music. This is then followed by a contemporary take as Sharon and I rewatch the film with the benefit of hindsight to see if it has perhaps improved with age. The second half of the 2013 podcast was all about the extremely good Green Lantern: The Animated Series, and that will be coming next week with an all-new 90-minute full-spoilers discussion to tie into our DC Animated Universe shows. 1. The History of Green Lantern (2013) 2. The Comics (2013) 3. The 2011 Movie (2013) 4. The Movie Revisited (

[School of Movies 2023] A strange period for Ghibli brings us to the end of our current run, still with the closing triumph of Spirited Away (2000) to cap this body of work off, as well as this year's The Boy and the Heron paving the way for a future tenth instalment. What we are looking at is the last film from Isao Takahata (who died only five years later) the visually resplendent as well as distinctive Princess Kaguya, which is my favourite of his works, but still has one glaring bad decision inherent to the edit. Then there's the most astonishing surprise from this entire project, which is quite how I unexpectedly adored When Marnie was There (from Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the director of Arrietty). The most delicate, Gothic tale in their back catalogue. After that, yet another film that deliberately defies the established Ghibli aesthetic, the first collaboration with a non-Japanese director Michael Dudok de Wit and the wordless caveman-accessible tale of a red turtle (who is secretly a woman, or vice versa

[School of Everything Else 2023] We all knew this would happen eventually. No Intellectual property that has been known to rake in a billion dollars for a single movie will ever be left alone to stand in glorious completion. Whomsoever holds the rights will use them. Some folks expected a (potentially very misguided) attempt at making the entire Silmarillion for television, or for Amazon to do what it seems likely Warner Bros. eventually will with Harry Potter and just re-tread the books we've already seen adapted exceptionally well to film in the 2000s - this time to a 2020s TV series (ostensibly so that they can use the additional time allowed by the format to be truer to the original text, but you KNOW there would be a ton of new stuff in there that would drive the long-time fanbase crazy!) Instead, Amazon took the first eight minutes of The Fellowship of the Ring, the prologue describing the end of the Second Age, conveyed so memorably and elegantly at the opening of that 2001 film, and cracked that serie

[School of Movies 2023] An absolute landmark in terms of stop-motion animation within cinema. Conceived in the early 80s by Disney animator Tim Burton and manifesting first in an 11-minute poem after the style of both A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas from Doctor Seuss. That was developed into this oddball story of a pale loner of an outsider (who is also wildly popular because of course he is, this is Tim Burton). The skeleton king of Halloween town falls in love with the unfamiliar and delightful trappings of Christmas itself. This leads him into drumming up the spooky but hapless monster people of his realm into crafting their OWN Christmas, with all kinds of horrors! Our guest tonight has literally written a thesis on stop-motion, and we have been waiting for him to record this show. It launches almost exactly at the 30-year anniversary of the movie. Coming this weekend we have a Cutting Class episode on Patreon  with all the material that didn't make thi

[School of Movies 2023] For our Halloween Spooktacular episodes we begin with a compilation of three After School Club shows, covering the first three of the eight instalments in the Howling franchise. However, despite two of them being from the same director (Philippe Mora) and two of them involving the writer of the original book (Gary Brandner) I struggle to think of three films that feel less like each other in a series. The incoherence and absence of any connective tissue or even thematic consistency almost seems intentional. And it might be a dismal and disjointed experience if it wasn't so hilarious! The 1981 original, directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins, Matinee) is most definitely the nastiest, with the Mum from E.T. (Dee Wallace) being stalked by a werewolf, which then leads to a communal retreat that hosts the world's most obvious werewolf cult. But the 1985 second film "Your Sister is a Werewolf" then seems to yank us away to find out what's happening in the former Czech Republic (what's happening is

[School of Movies 2023] With the grandfather of the studio, Hayao Miyazaki retired and his son Goro not warmly welcomed by the fans, there was now an enormous question mark over the future of Ghibli that persists to this day. Luckily, there was still amazing talent to be found within their walls. Hiromasa Yonebayashi (better known as Maro) made his directorial debut with one of our faviourites, which positively cries out for watching in HD, The Secret World of Arrietty. It's the tale -adapted from yet another classic children's fantasy book- of tiny people who live unnoticed in our houses, and the perils of their survival. Notable for its different British and American voice actor teams, since over here we got Saoirse Ronan and Tom Holland!  After this, Goro attempted a second movie about confused teenagers, this time with a more delicate touch which achieves it low-key melodrama qualities. And in the absence of a breakout new direction, his father Hayao came back out of retirement to direct one of his most s

[School of Everything Else 2023] There are many reasons why this 1994 instalment in the long-running Square franchise winds up high on lists of the very best RPGs of all time. It is an ensemble piece with an immediately engrossing story and endearing, growing party of misfits, oddballs and freaks.  The concept of an oppressive, evil empire messing with powerful magic to secure its dominance isn't new at all, but rarely does a single self-contained game tell such a world-spanning tale with no one character standing out as the obvious leader. They are all heroes in their own stories. This, along with Chrono Trigger and Earthbound was the high bar on character-based RPGs that followed in the 90s, and notably during the return to retro style that followed the MMORPG goldrush of the 2000s. Astonishing music from the legendary Nobuo Uematsu gave so many of these memorable characters their own themes, while the superficially simple pixel art and modest map pushed the Super Nintendo to its limits with rich, hidden de

[School of Movies 2023] Having now won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Ghibli was facing the retirement of one of their absolute linchpins. Hayao Miyazaki wanted to go out with a bang, so adapted another favourite book of his. Howl was popular, but readers had things to say about changes that were made. After that, his son Goro Miyazaki tried his hand at being a director in the elder's absence. adapting another treasured childhood fantasy, which was declared the worst Ghibli ever upon launch (we don't think that's fair in hindsight; Goro has done way worse since). So, the grumpy Dad returned with a sweet little mermaid story about why his grandchild is just as cute as a button. He would later attempt and fail at retirement several more times! 2004: Howl's Moving Castle (1m 35s) 2006: Tales from Earthsea (44m 21s) 2008: Ponyo (1h 3m 35s) In the middle of our show there is an essay piece from our friend Alejandra Vargas. (NOTE: Part 6, which will be Spirited Away has not yet been recorded, but we will be rel