School of Movies

Return to OZ

[School of Movies 2021]

The Commissions Season continues with a show sponsored by Maya Santandrea. Much like last year's Labyrinth show, this is also a story about a girl who travels inward on her fantasy adventures and winds up uncovering certain key things about herself.

It is based on two of the L. Frank Baum OZ novels, from which The Wonderful Wizard of OZ was also adapted in 1939. There have been other adaptations before and since, including Wicked and OZ: The Great and Powerful.

This one, however, released by Disney in 1985 to critical derision and scared, offput audiences who seemed to want a bouncy musical rather than a dark fairytale, eventually became an obscure cult classic. Those who love it do so with a passion, and we are here to talk about why that may be. It should be available to view on Disney+.

Guests:

Hollywoo Actress  Maya Santandrea @Mayasantandrea

Jason "Chewie" Slate @TheManaPool 

From Sequentially Yours  Kaoru Negisa  @Moonpanther22

and Debbie Morse  @bastet8300

WandaVision

[School of Everything Else 2021]

This one gets HEAVY. But what did you expect from a podcast which has examined every one of the MCU movies and found the hurt and pain at the core of the characters, being presented with a show that is absolutely about that principle?

Now all the rampant speculation has passed, we can sweep aside our assumptions regarding what this *might* have been about and focus on the melancholy story of its lonely antagonist.

One of the core themes explored is that everyone's line for forgiveness falls in a different place. We hope that two hours of delving into how it handles grief, bringing along some deeply personal accounts of loss, might lend some perspective on the MTVU's first big show.

Guests:

Victoria Luna B. Grieve: @VixenVVitch 

From Sequentially Yours  Kaoru Negisa  @Moonpanther22

and Debbie Morse  @bastet8300

Taylor Nova of GameBurst @TaylorNova6 

Mike Hearn @MikePHearn 

Hades

[School of Everything Else 2021]

An absolutely phenomenal game which took 2020 by storm. We talk about, among other things, why being trapped inside for month after month just made a game where you're trying to escape the Underworld weirdly more resonant.

There's an astonishing amount of story in there, astonishing art design and aesthetic, some of the most engrossing, multi-layered and sexy characters to ever grace a video game and action that's smoother than the downy fur on Cerberus' belly. 

This was also a special session because we recorded with everyone on-camera and since Sharon has played ten times the amount I have, she hosts. 

This was a commissioned episode from Nicholas Jaragosky, Jesse Ferguson, Chris Finik, Toby Jungius, Mackenzie Eastram, Maya Santandrea and Laureta Sela.

And our guests are Victoria Luna B. Grieve, Laureta Sela, Maya Santandrea, Matt Wardle, Greg Downing and Toby Jungius.

 

Next week... WandaVision

Kung Fu Hustle

[School of Movies 2021]

This is a commissioned show by Alex Vargas and Joe G. Stephen Chow's cartoonishly absurd, occasionally brutal, breathtakingly elegant and frequently side-splitting opera of kung fu. 

Back in the 1940s Shanghai The Axe Gang rule the streets, massacring those who stand in their way (with axes). One day a pair of inept conmen come calling at Pigsty Alley and try to grift slim pickings from the locals, only to find, (along with the Axe Gang) that they are guarded by martial arts masters.

What follows is a war between plucky heroes and rotten villains, and some of the most stunning and hilarious fights you will ever see.

Guest:

Victoria Luna B. Grieve: @VixenVVitch