School Of Movies

[School of Everything Else 2024] When the Roman Empire looted the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, the amount of gold they found inside dropped the price of gold by 50% throughout the Empire. If something like that happened today, it would have caused the collapse of several First World countries overnight. But that amount of loot pales in comparison to the value of the One Piece; both the fictional mysterious pirate treasure that has everyone in this wonderful waterworld taking to the high seas, but also the third best-selling comic of all time and the phenomenally popular anime, both of which have been running since the late 90s. For those of us who need to catch up really fast without reading or watching over a thousand things, the new Netflix live action series is the best place to start. Just eight utterly compulsive episodes long, so far, this will give you a grounding in the major characters the same way it did for us in this commissioned episode. And we brought in both the sponsors and two more Straw H

[School of Everything Else 2024] Our years-long journey through the DC Animated Universe comes to a close, and it is both melancholy as we say goodbye to Kevin Conroy and at the same time wildly enthusiastic for some of the very best episodes across all that we have watched. It is strange to think that we started this in 2020 when the DC movies at the cinema were on a high note: After years of the only success story being Batman, they had a billion-dollar hit with Aquaman, a cheerful adventure with the original Shazam!, we were moving past the embarrassments of Justice League and Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman was still a shining beacon and even though barely anyone saw it Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey kicked absolute ass... and now as we finish it, Aquaman 2 was a damp squid that made about a third of the original's box office, Black Adam finally appeared after over a decade of development for a "...that was it?" response, Shazam 2 pootled away the goodwill of the original, Justice League came back to sati

[School of Everything Else 2024] The DC Animated Universe marathon reaches its Avengers phase, as the established animated Batman and Superman from their own Animated Series' which had already crossed over, team up with Wally West's Flash (who had guested on Superman) John Stewart's Green Lantern (as opposed to the Kyle Raynor who guested on Superman) Diana Prince who should absolutely have gotten her own Wonder Woman: The Animated Series, J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter (not to be confused with the unrelated Manhunters from the later Green Lantern: the Animated Series, which takes place in the Young Justice timeline) and Shayera Hol, Hawkgirl (not to be confused with Carter Hall, the unrelated Hawkman) of Thanagaria, the bird-people planet. Comics are weird. The first two seasons, simply called Justice League are an odd fit. It doesn't have an explosive beginning that has all these new personalities playing off each other, and the event of them being revealed and meeting feeling like a special, momentous

[School of Movies 2024] This is an idea for a new kind of show that I've been developing. It just so happens to coincide with a period where my voice has been wrecked from illness and I'm trying to limit talking for long stretches so that my vocal cords can heal up. I've been pulling together an archive of Director's Commentaries from the various discs that nobody seems to want any more. These represent a window of just over a decade wherein we got to hear what was in the heads of the filmmakers. As we move into the era of the vast majority of movies being watched over streaming, with scant few extras or documentaries on their construction, it is even easier to dismiss the works as 'content'. The general public never much cared for these materials, but if you love movies like we do, the bonus features are troves of creative insight to be uncovered. However, most commentaries are a little bit dry, or might need the film there viewable for context, or the speaker falls back on saying what they're seeing onscree

[School of Everything Else 2024] The conclusion (for now) to this series of shows on the triumphant return of Star Trek. Season 2 slaloms between unsettling and dark episodes which would feel more at home in Discovery if they weren't so personal to the characters in this rich ensemble... and some of the most hilarious, touching, light-hearted yet heart-breaking downtime episodes which highlight the comedy strengths and the charisma of everyone in the crew. It's bumpy, but so worth the journey. Kaoru's recommended episodes of the original 1966 series, AND the redheaded stepchild of Star Trek, the much maligned Enterprise series which ran for 98 episodes from 2001-2005. TOS S1-24: Space Seed TOS S2-7: Wolf in the Fold ENTERPRISE S4-4 to 6: Borderland/Cold Station 12/The Augments Chris' Suggestion: The Orville - Season 2 Debbie's Suggestion: Talistheintrovert on YouTube with her presentation "PSYCH the best Sherlock Holmes adaptation in existence". Jesse's Book Pick: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-

[School of Movies 2024] Is this the last true swashbuckler of the 20th Century? It's certainly the Zorro movie so great, and so wildly successful in all of its aims that there hasn't really been a landmark big screen appearance since then (that wasn't the leading man playing a cat). Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones in their prime, and Anthony Hopkins delivering my personal favourite performance of his.  Here, in this commissioned episode, we go through every department, exploring the multitude of exceptional craftspeople, thespians, stunt coordinators, wardrobe heads, practical FX masters, all the while accompanied by the music of the late, great master of horns, composer James Horner. All of their work blends together into an absolutely magnificent, sweeping romantic adventure of revenge and liberation, with not only the greatest fencing scenes ever filmed, but the sexiest!  This is the second of a trio of absolutely astonishing films directed by Martin Campbell. We have already covered the third, (

[School of Everything Else 2024] This is one of two commissioned podcasts on the first two seasons of the best Star Trek shows in decades. Refreshingly lacking in cynicism and tapping into the Kennedy-era energy of exploration and endeavour with a tight focus on character development, this one really is worth your time. We spend two and a half hours of spoilerific, textured discussion time really delving into these first ten episodes.  Kaoru's recommended episodes of the original 1966 series to watch for additional context... S1-11 & S1-12: The Menagerie S1-13: The Conscience of the King S1-14: Balance of Terror S1-19: Arena S2-01: Amok Time Guests: From Sequentially Yours  Kaoru Negisa  @Moonpanther22 and Debbie Morse  @bastet8300 Jesse Ferguson of Recorded Tomorrow @TheDapperDM Chris Finik @finmonster09

[School of Movies 2024] The late 2010s. It is a period of civil war. The vast Empire of Disney has released four of its five first Star Wars movies, to mixed reception. Critically and financially, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi have done very well, as has Rogue One. However, the two episodes have divided the smaller portion of the global audience that amounts to the vocal fanbase, between those who are thrilled and those who are disgusted.  In a vain effort to smooth things over, it is decided that the pitched final film in this nine-episode Saga be made with nothing upsetting or challenging within. Writer/Director Colin Trevorrow is relieved of duty and replaced by the director of The Force Awakens and the writer of Batman V Superman. These two are then given a hard crunch time to get the movie developed, filmed, finished and released by the end of 2019. It must be by then, because a dark period for the cinema has been prophesised for the 2020s. What was released was designed to mildly please everybody,

[School of Everything Else 2024] This was originally going to be an After School Club episode, but a combination of the community discourse regarding the X-Men, and an extremely well-timed trailer drop for the '97 reboot, AND a horrendous cold that has ravaged Sharon and I, along with our timetable, we're making this a Main Event. If you're a little younger than us, you may well have been the exact right age and state of mind for this early-2000s animated series, which in many ways surpasses the much-vaunted '92 show. It is gratifyingly forward-facing, accepting that the Claremont era was thoroughly X-plored by its predecessor. And while its release clearly coincides with the early Fox movies, it holds to a high school relationship drama in a world initially unaware of mutants, and in distancing itself from the big screen, manages to be better, and more focused.  That said, there are some annoyances and character-handling that ground our claws, but it's in amongst some of the most relatable incarnations of th

[School of Everything Else 2024] The infamous animated series with a theme tune you can hear just by looking at stills of it, finally gets a well-deserved podcast. We actually recorded this several years back, to coincide with the launch of the new X-Men '97 animated show on D+, and we're finally seeing images from that now. Whether it's good or bad, THIS ONE is worth watching, at least some choice episodes of. While often held up with the likes of Batman TAS, this one's strengths lie less in the flawless execution of those DCEU shows, and more in the goofy heart, wild Claremont-era stories and memorably crystallised colourful characters. In many ways, this is the evolution* of several decades of comic book storytelling, coming out to the world at large, at the opening of their most successful and popular decade. Planting a flag in the ground with a big old X on it, to mark the spot. We elected to focus only on Season 1 here, as after recording we went on to watch all of it, and that show would be five hours

[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