School of Movies

Guest Lecturer: George Lucas on Star Wars

[School of Movies 2024]

He's responsible for some of the most adored and industry-changing films of all time, and for some of the biggest cases of fan backlash ever recorded. It's maybe a little harder to remember now, after year upon year of Disney's Star Wars being declared the worst thing that has ever been put to screen, but a few years earlier, similar guys were saying similar things about the man that many fans wish had never sold to America's Mousy Spirit of Capitalism.

What we have for you here is a focused collection of monologues drawn from commentaries across all six of the movies he was directly in charge of, bringing you from Star Wars in 1977 all the way to Revenge of the Sith in 2005. The cumulative effect of listening to George say one thing and then seem to contradict himself down the line, regarding what was planned and when gives way to the portrait of a frustrated storyteller hoping to be understood.

These moments are interspersed with monologues from his production teams, including Empire Strikes Back director, his mentor Irvin Kirshner, Empire and Jedi writer Lawrence Kasdan, FX master craftsman Dennis Muren, animation director Rob Coleman, producer Rick McCallum, concept artist Ralph McQuarrie and the irreplaceable Carrie Fisher.

Guest Lecturer Ben Burtt: The Sound of Star Wars

[School of Movies 2024]

This week, I have put together a presentation utilising footage drawn painstakingly from many, many hours worth of commentaries and archival interviews on the Star Wars movies, all focusing on one man.

I worked until the thumb and index finger and on my mouse hand no longer obeyed commands, in order to do justice to the astonishing amount of our experience of those movies is informed upon by the sounds he composed with. His decades of craftsmanship are as crucial to Star Wars as the sensational scores of John Williams. That's not even mentioning Indiana Jones, Willow, WALL-E or E.T.

You'll hear how the most memorable FX (as well as the ones used so subtly we don't even notice) are recorded in the real world to create that lived-in environmental ambience and audible character forever linked with that Galaxy far, far away. Here for your further movie education is one of the greatest and most ground-breaking sound designers in the history of cinema, Mr Ben Burtt.

Rise of Skywalker Revisited

[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, and as a result, felt largely mediocre, and did not become widely beloved. 

Now, after years of living with the pain of this creative fumble, a lone film aficionado sets out into the wilderness of fan edits to see what has been done with the conclusion that left him so disappointed. What he discovered may shock and delight you, or it might induce a powerful rage. One thing is certain, that pain has been put to rest. 

Obi Wan Kenobi

[School of Everything Else 2022]

There are two things about Star Wars that seem endemic, inextricable from the process of engaging with the multitude of stories that have emerged over the many years since 1977.

One is that we always seem to return to Tatooine. It ties in with the fact that Star Wars plays on nostalgia. Even as early as 1983's Return of the Jedi they were bringing us back to that sand planet only actually named out loud at the tail end of The Empire Strikes Back. That movie also continued the long procession of Death Stars. But if we accept that these touchstones will mean that many people's first Star Wars will feature Tatooine, we can accept that this nostalgia and going back to that feeling when you were a kid, and could get excited about all sorts of things, that's the source of its power. George's movie was itself based on his own nostalgia for spacefaring adventure, cowboys and samurai. 

The other element that one must accept if one is to be at peace with Star Wars is that as that multitude of stories emerge over the years of our lives we are going to encounter not just one but a cluster over a period of time that disappoint us and make us feel like this saga has lost its way and isn't for us any more. But inevitably if that love was there to begin with, something will come along and surprise us in a good way. 

And for us that was Obi Wan. 

Guests:

Chris Finik @finmonster09 who assembles New Century's TV Tropes Pages and who writes fanfic (including a Dark Tower / Tiger's Eye crossover)

Austin Wilden @WC_WIT of Wits-Writing

The Mandalorian (Season 1)

[School of Everything Else 2022]

A long-awaited visit to the first of Disney's new Star Wars TV shows. Weirdly we haven't had that many requests to talk Mando, but with Obi Wan launching this week and in the wake of the turbulent response to The Book of Boba we decided to journey back to the first and delve into what it did extremely well. 

We divided the eight episodes into three movies, loosely paralleling Sergei Leone's Dollars Trilogy with A Fistful of Beskar, For a Few Credits More and my personal favourite... The Good, The Bad and The Ugnaught. With us are two people who had literally never seen an episode of Mando before signing up for guest duty, so we get their fresh perspective without spoiling what comes later. 

Next week we begin the 'Rage Cage Season' as we explore the very brief period in the late 90s when Nicholas Cage was the hottest new high octane action star around! Three shows over three weeks as he gets madder and madder, The Rock, Con Air and FACE/OFF. 

I have spoken.

Guests

Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnew of Cinapse

From Sequentially Yours  Kaoru Negisa  @Moonpanther22

and Debbie Morse  @bastet8300

Taylor Nova of GameBurst @TaylorNova6

The Rise of Skywalker

[School of Movies 2020]

The Star Wars Saga draws to a close for the third and (not) final time. We got to see how J.J. Abrams was at finishing rather than beginning, and my guests and I were presented with the task of somehow making a show that would be satisfying to a lot of different people going through wildly different responses.

What we came up with may surprise you. And it culminates in a new way of seeing the Star Wars series in general, which might just be the key to us moving forward. 

Guests

Jason "Chewie" Slate of The Mana Pool @TheManaPool

Voice Actor Alex Eding @AlexEding

Brenden Agnew of Cinapse @BLCAgnew

Neil Taylor of TheKidDogg @KidDogg

The Sound of Gonzo: Vol 13 [The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy]

[School of Everything Else 2019]

In a bid to search for the best in everything I recruited James Batchelor to journey back to the three films with which I started my movie podcast career in earnest. Back in 2010 that took the form of a raw torrent of frustration and derision, but I'm trying to save that for the deserving.

Instead, this time round, my enthusiastic colleague and I have found the best pieces of scoring within those three films, to showcase for all of you. Join us for a journey from trade disputes to genocide, as we traverse the story of Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side retold through the scores of the legendary John Williams.

1. Star Wars theme/The Federation Battleship 

2. Fighting the Destroyer Droids

3. Arrival on Tatooine/The flag parade/Anakin is Free

4. Anakin’s Theme

5. The Duel/The Droid Battle

6. The Parade (Augie’s Great Municipal Band)

7. The Younglings/Meeting With Fett

8. Across the Stars

9. Confrontation with Count Dooku and Finale

10. Battle Over Coruscant (Intro)

11. Padme’s Ruminations 

12. The Great Jedi Purge

13. Anakin’s Dark Deeds/I’m So Sorry

14. Anakin vs. Obi Wan

15. The Immolation Scene

16. I Know There’s Good in Him

17. A New Hope/End Credits

Solo

[School of Movies 2018]

The second of the Star Wars anthology films emerges a mere five months after The Last Jedi. We are used to that in the era of the MCU but with the galaxy far, far away it feels strange, especially as Rian Johnson's film went out of its way to both evoke the formula of Empire Strikes Back and subvert it wickedly, challenging audiences everywhere, and what Ron Howard's effort delivers is more of a space romp.

It's the origin of how Han met Chewie, how Han met Lando, how Han met The Falcon, how Han made the Kessel Run in an average of 13 parsecs, and how certain characters betrayed other ones. This is so prevalent an occurrence it may as well have had the subtitle Solo: No Honor Among Thieves. 

And lots and lots of people have enjoyed this movie. And I'm going to lay down some thought-provoking reasons why I wasn't among them. Fortunately we have some lovely guests who can talk about its stronger points. 

Guests:

Voice Actor Alex Eding

Kaoru Negisa and

Debbie Morse of Sequentially Yours  

We Need to Talk About Anakin

[School of Everything Else 2018]

A very special show where we go back to the Star Wars Prequels and ask ourselves one question; If these were in fact not poorly written films, if they were instead historical documents, then who is responsible, for the eventually tragic actions of Anakin Skywalker?

The easy answer is to say Anakin himself, and that we should all be ultimately held accountable for our behaviour, and that's absolutely valid, but there were others who misled him, ignored the danger signs and in fact encouraged some truly unhealthy ways of thinking. It was by no means only Palpatine doing so, he was simply the one to see an angry young man, willing to be used as a weapon. 

In this serious look at a truly broken system we re-examine Lucas' Galactic Republic and perform a deep and disturbing psychological autopsy. 

The Last Jedi

[School of Movies 2017]

The eighth Star wars episode comes roaring onto the big screen. It's upset quite a few fans and delighted many others already. It's the kind of movie that blindsides you the first time so it might be an idea to watch it again. 

One thing is for sure, Star Wars will never be the same as it was before.

Full spoilers from the beginning, along with a serious think-piece about what this is saying to us. 

[NOTE: The first 20 minutes of this show are my YouTube episode on The Last Jedi so if you'd like to see one of the best videos I've ever put together go there and skip to 21.00 on the podcast]

[A Positive Analysis] What Star Wars: the Last Jedi Means

Guests:

Brenden Agnew of Cinapse

Kaoru Negisa and

Debbie Morse, both of Sequentially Yours

Neil Taylor of TheKidDogg