School of Movies

The Great Muppet Caper / Muppets Take Manhattan

[School of Movies 2025]

The second and third parts of the original Trilogy of Muppet movies made while Jim Henson was alive, voicing Kermit and taking a heavily active role in production.

The former from 1981 is a jewel heist that brings the anarchic furry ones to England, populated by only polite people (a trope which causes the two of us endless amusement) and very much concerns itself with pushing puppetry magic tricks on the big screen to their limits. This one, directed by Jim was in the immense shadow of the original Muppet Movie.

The latter, from 1984 brings them back to New York as college graduates who want to put on a big Broadway musical and run up against the gritty realities of real life (along with a cloyingly cute debut for The Muppet Babies. This more grounded take was directed by Frank Oz and for us it is a commissioned show by Dean R.

Guests:

Mackenzie Eastram  @KenziePhoenix of Rainbow Connection @MuppetsPod  

Nathan Eastram @bertnerdtram These two are also part of DiceWeave @DiceWeavePod

Palm Springs

[School of Movies 2025]

We round off Groundhog Month with a time loop movie that explores with even more depth how being stuck in a single day would effect a person's outlook on life, their philosophy and their actions.

Taking its cue from the early script idea for what became the Bill Murray classic, we begin by observing a man named Niles, already locked in his time loop, from the point of view of Sarah. She then gets dragged into a loop of her own and finds herself trapped as Maid of Honour for her sister's wedding every single day, a scenario made so much worse due to Sarah's shameful secret. To make matters worse, Niles is also being stalked by the last person he blunderingly marooned in Today; a steaming-mad J.K. Simmons.

It's blackly comic, filthy and thought-provoking with things to say about our existence, and it makes for the ideal existential closer on this topic (for today at least).

Guest

Jesse Ferguson @TheDapperDM

from the Recorded Tomorrow Podcast

Happy Death Day

[School of Movies 2025]

This is not a Horror movie (or rather, it qualifies enough for that genre in terms of certain expected tropes and elements, but that is not its mode of conduct, and for people expecting conventional Horror, there's a lot more there in its place).

That's what should have been on the poster and promotional artwork, and in the trailers, and threaded through the interviews and general marketing speak surrounding this film. Though doing so might have hurt its 25x multiplier as yet another Blumhouse success story.

That misdirection helped it THEN, in 2017, I'm thinking more about helping it NOW in the 2020s, when viewers who do not like Horror genre movies (in particular cruel slasher movies) would almost certainly steer clear of what is actually one of the freshest, funniest star features in recent years, spotlighting Jessica Rothe, an actress of insane range with serious comedic chops.

It is superficially Groundhog Day with a stalking masked killer, but concerns itself less with the gory specifics of womanslaughter and more with the mechanics of trying to get oneself out of a blackly comic and fatal time-loop, as what is built up around the character of college student Tree Gelbman is a much-needed break in her cycle of self-destruction.

And on our Patreon bonus feed this weekend we have a full-length episode on the 2019 sequel; Happy Death Day 2U which leans even harder into the sci-fi, actively forgetting it was pitched as a slasher (and thus only doing seven times its budget at the box office).

Guest

Jesse Ferguson @TheDapperDM

from the Recorded Tomorrow Podcast

The Wizard of Oz

[School of Movies 2025]

One of history's abiding classics, and one of the oldest films we have ever covered on this show, the 1939 Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland is joined here with several key points of comparison to establish why it really hold up.

We've already recorded a whole episode on the dark, late sequel, Return to Oz (1985) though it does get mentioned here, as well as Jon M Chu's 2024 cinematic adaptation of the first act of the Wicked stage musical.

But we also invoke the original book, written by L. Frank Baum in 1900, reference the tumultuous filming process by MGM, the toll it took on Judy Garland, as seen in the 2019 biopic Judy. And finally we sing the praises of The Wiz (1978) a valiant effort to make this story relevant to black America. One thing is clear, this is the most I've ever enjoyed talking about Wizard of Oz, and a lot of that comes from having the ever-insightful Willow on as a guest.

Next week it's Happy Death Day (2017). You can listen without watching the movie but definitely make plans to see the movie! And we have a rather important announcement to make at the end of this one.

Groundhog Day

[School of Movies 2025]

We’ve been holding this episode back for a special occasion and it seems like 2025 'The year of Joy' is the time to finally crack into one of the richest and most universally gratifying films in history. A hundred years from now, people will still be watching this film, It’s a Wonderful Life and The Shawshank Redemption.

Accompanying us in this time loop journey from mundane resentment to confusion, to panic, to exploitation, to emptiness, to the nadir of self-destruction, to the revelation of reflection, to the zenith of living to enrich the lives of others, and thus experience repletion is Jesse Ferguson. Jesse is one of the few guests we know who can comprehend the knottiest of time-travel conundrums whilst fully understanding that the story at the heart of what's being told is far more important than any speculative, temporal shenanigans.

Plus Bill Murray is a hoot, this is his best film, as well as being the finest offering from his friend and director Harold Ramis. It is endlessly memorable, profound, and touches upon a universality of shared experience. We are all alone, and we are all together.

Guest

Jesse Ferguson @TheDapperDM

from the Recorded Tomorrow Podcast

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

[School of Movies 2025]

The first Dungeons & Dragons movie emerged in the year 2000, wildly underachieving in every department; characters, story, screenplay, costumes, technical proficiency, directorial flair, casting, scope, music, awareness of what it was adapting, sense of humour and dragons! All of these things were straight-to-video grade. It was, in effect the anti-Lord of the Rings, a year before that masterpiece-containing-masterpieces raised the bar impossibly high.

23 years later, on the 49th anniversary, Honour Among Thieves emerged to empty theatres for various reasons I will be going into in my opening monologue. Among other notions broached, there is an imperative upon us to redefine success.

And our packed adventuring party are all here to do just that, and gush about this hidden gem, this buried treasure that knocks it out of the park in all the departments named above. This is a special episode where we get to talk about exactly why Honour Among Thieves is precious, and the unseen, Lego Movie-style subtext of these events.

Guests:

Hollywoo Actress  Maya Souris @Mayasantandrea

Victoria Luna B. Grieve:  @VixenVVitch 

Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnew of Make Me Watch It

Chris Finik @finmonster09

The Muppet Movie

[School of Movies 2025]

In the name of joy, this year we are looking back across every Muppet movie we haven't yet covered, starting right here with the original 1979 film. For perspective, Jim Henson had made two successful TV shows up to this point, the well-known Muppet Show, which began in 1976 and was in the middle of its third season when this was being made, but before that, a weird series of little black and white skits called "Sam and Friends" which aired beginning in 1955.

We recruited Muppet experts Mackenzie and Nathan Eastram to delve into the story of how Henson and company got to this place, as well as extolling the copious virtues of this instantly melancholy little tale about fame and dreamers, and money-men, crammed with celebrity cameos, none of which your five year old will recognise. Some of which are legendary comedy figureheads of the 20th century that I had to look up, and I'm in my mid-40s!

Guests:

Mackenzie Eastram  @KenziePhoenix of Rainbow Connection @MuppetsPod  

Nathan Eastram @bertnerdtram These two are also part of DiceWeave @DiceWeavePod

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

[School of Movies 2025]

An extremely long-awaited show on a game-changer of a blockbuster movie.

The first Pirates film, released in 2003 before Lord of the Rings had completed brought the world many things: A fantabulous extravaganza of practical effects, combined with a surprisingly light smattering of digital VFX that would be leaned into a lot harder later down the line, The notion that the swashbuckler could still do big business (the hidden caveat was that Johnny Depp being strange absolutely must be present) Keira Knightley as a leading lady, Gore Verbinski as a major director, the supposition that audiences would flock to cinematic adaptations of Disney park rides (they won't, just this one. See above regarding Johnny Depp) and Geoffrey Rush as an all-time iconic big-screen presence embodying the most consistently enjoyable pirate of all time.

But there's more going on, beneath the frothing surface, a fantastically witty, urbane and efficient script by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, one of the greatest scores ever composed (in a shockingly short amount of time) and Orlando Bloom's character actually being quite good, especially when held against Jack Davenport's Lawful Neutral Commodore James Norrington.

This was a commission for Lincoln Alpern and features clips from the best audiodrama I've ever composed; Panther Soul, and the first chapter of the brand new Dracula adaptation Castle of the Moon.

Guests:

Hollywoo Actress  Maya Souris @Mayasantandrea

Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnew of Make Me Watch It

The Mask

[School of Movies 2025]

We begin the new year as we mean to go on; joyfully. This is a commissioned episode for Alejandra Vargas. Back in 1994 Jim Carrey was having the most amazing year in cinema that he would EVER have, pretty much redefining what people wanted with madcap comedy for that era. Rubber-faced and bellowing catchphrases. This thing should have aged terribly after more than thirty years.

But it hasn't, in fact it feels like a key precursor to the superhero boom round the corner, whilst challenging the contemporary crop of Batman and his imitators. It's also genuinely funny and eminently quotable (with gusto, when you're doing it) and pulls off a neat double-reversal of feminine characters in a way that doesn't feel cynical at all. A 'Nice Guy' story that didn't make us grimace, a bit with a dog... and that flippin'. toe-tappin' swing soundtrack!

Ultraman Rising

[School of Movies 2024]

You don't need to know a single thing about Ultraman to love this film.

We brought in Kaiju and Sentai expert Dan Hoeppner to educate us along with you, regarding the history and cultural background of this character, but the film itself, viewable on Netflix is an absolutely perfect starting point. It is a smashing standalone story about the son of Ultraman, who grew up to be not especially great in the role himself, and instead pursued his mother's passion, becoming a baseball player. He's selfish and arrogant, not a team player, and has estranged himself from his widowed father, Hayao, with neither of them finding fulfilment.

Then Kenji had an adorable, ginormous baby space dragon dropped into his lap, and he's about to find out that being a Dad is harder than it looks.

It also sits confidently alongside the most gorgeous, dynamic and thrilling animated films of recent years, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, The Sea Beast and even the hallowed Spider-Verse.

This one was commissioned by Thomas Meehan, and we're so glad he prompted us into tackling it now and not holding back because it felt too intimidatingly special. Sometimes we need that fire lit under us.

Guest:

Dan Hoeppner  @MightyMegatron0  of Leftover Army Monsters