School of Movies

Raya and the Last Dragon

[School of Movies 2021]

Disney tries its hand at a South-Asian fantasy, and what do you know, we really like it.

Daniel Floyd returns as we talk about the first of the animated classics series which was not launched exclusively to theatres, but also Disney+ for a preview for of $30 / £20

Quite apart from everything else that makes this a difficult sell for people living on their own, or in households where only one person likes Disney. However, so much of this being created at home by various Disney artists while on lockdown breaks all kinds of new precedents and makes this one rather special. 

Stonespring Maidens can be had in paperback form

The New Century Multiverse Podcast 

Guest

Daniel Floyd of New Frame Plus  @DanFloydPlus

Ralph Breaks The Internet + Frozen II

[School of Movies 2021]

The Disney series continues with two sequels. 

In the first of these Ralph and Venelope travel to a version of the internet as reimagined by Disney. The little race driver then finds a newfound calling in the apocalyptic street combat of Slaughter Race, which sends Ralph into a spiral of separation anxiety. 

And in the second, six years in the making, the follow-up to maybe their most beloved film of the modern era, the treasured characters are taken on a new adventure up North to discover things about themselves. 

Next week we're back on track with their excellent latest instalment, Raya and the Last Dragon. Dan sat this episode out but will be back for Raya. 

Stonespring Maidens can be had in paperback form, and the first episode of the audiodrama will air May 6th.  

Guests:

Hollywoo Actress  Maya Santandrea @Mayasantandrea

Godzilla vs. Kong

[School of Movies 2021]

The fourth, and potentially final outing in the Warner Bros. Monsterverse series. Following Godzilla II: King of the Monsters (2019) which is magnificent and to many the pinnacle of this quartet, Kong: Skull Island (2017) which is most definitely worth seeing to acquaint yourself with *this* version of the giant gorilla, and finally Godzilla (2014) which was the most popular at the box office yet seems to be the least enthusiastically recalled. 

In this show I come up with yet another food metaphor for each of these four, and we discuss what might have been left on the cutting room floor in the attempts to streamline this thing into a lean, fun, colourful, fast-paced series of spectacular wrestling matches. 

Guests:

Dan Hoeppner  @MightyMegatron0  of Leftover Army Monsters

Brendan Agnew of Cinapse  @BLCAgnew

The Others

[School of Movies 2021]

An elegant, haunting Spanish-style ghost story of obsession and loss. This Gothic chiller materialised in 2001, from director Alejandro Amenabar (who also composed the score, which flits from comforting flute and harp to clangourous and menacing cacophony).

This was a commissioned show from Nicole-Kidman-appreciator Colin L. Dysart, and he picked one of our favourite performances of hers. This was the one that made us think she would be an ideal Marisa Coulter in His Dark Materials. She plays the whole thing with a brittle, fierce tenacity, clinging to what she believes is true, as her world unravels in this shadowy Jersey stately home.

It's also got some terrific child-actor performances, as the two endangered kids start to cotton onto the possibility that there may be more going on with the intruders to their home. It is a ghost story where light is so much more threatening than darkness.

Zack Snyder's Justice League

[School of Movies 2021]

After the moderate box office takings and middling-to-negative critical responses to Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Warner Bros. became increasingly worried that they had placed the DC Expanded Universe in the hands of a director who appealed to an increasingly niche crowd who would not make them the billions of dollars they wanted.

Seeking to just get the third film finished quickly and cheaply in a way that would appeal to the middle, so that they could course-correct for later financial investments WB relieved Snyder of directorial duties (which coincided with family tragedy) and hired Joss Whedon to magic the footage they had into an Avengers-level success. The result delighted few (we covered it at the end of 2017).

Then after years of online demands, and a pandemic which made traditional filmmaking extremely difficult, Warner invested a sizable additional chunk of change into the prospect of Snyder restoring his version. The resultant four-hour opus was utilised to upsell an online subscription service. The niche audience were delighted.