School of Movies

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

A Christmas Story

[School of Movies 2024]

Mostly overlooked when released in cinemas in 1983, it took nearly a decade for Ted Turner to realise this thing was funny as hell, authentic, heart-warming, and a little dark and twisted, only to then screen it hundreds of times on his many networks until America was both in love with the movie and thoroughly sick of it!

Meanwhile the rest of the world is unaware of its existence, and Sharon and I as the only two Brits in on this Yankee secret would like to both illuminate its qualities for the listening world outside of North America and Canada, AND remind you folks who do live there and groan every time you hear that another 24-hour marathon of screening this thing back to back is due, quite how good it really is.

It's not often we cover straightforward comedies on this show. It's tricky to explain how or why something is funny without stepping on the gag itself, so think of this as a testbed for potential future episodes on comedies.

To folks on Patreon; I finished the Winnie the Pooh sequel novel; it's REALLY good, and I'll get it edited with Sharon and send out copies for you folks to read around Christmas Day! Thank you for waiting so patiently. 

The Rocketeer

[School of Movies 2024]

A story ripped straight from the pages of Golden Age comic books, as dastardly gangsters and Nazis on the rise seek out a secret rocket pack that has fallen into the hands of a well-meaning, square-jawed chap who accidentally becomes something of a superhero. Starring a moustache-twirling Timothy Dalton, a luminous Jennifer Connelly, along with Billy Campbell, Alan Arkin and Paul Sorvino, this is a favourite of many of our listeners and was commissioned by Sarah Montgomery.

We kick off a Christmas season of commissions, and considering how stressful November was for everyone, we have decided to set the tone for 2025 by seeking out pure joy. They will be movies we will love talking about enthusiastically, and focusing on to bring you folks a measure of weekly happiness in a dark time.

The ones we have chosen for this December all seem to have that joy in common, as well as an old fashioned sensibility. We have A Christmas Story coming up next week, then Ultraman Rising, then at New Year's we have The Mask, and to see in January it's Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl!

Sunshine

[School of Movies 2024]

This is an exceptionally long-awaited episode for us. One of the very first films discussed on our very first episode, way back in April 2007, mentioned repeatedly in the intervening 17 years, and promised over and over.

Now we finally reach it, one of the most special and meaningful films to us.

It was directed by Danny Boyle after 28 Days later but before Slumdog Millionaire. It very overtly draws inspiration from Aliens and 2001, it stars Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Hiroyuki Sanada Cliff Curtis, Benedict Wong and Mark Strong. It was written by Alex Garland, scored by John Murphy and Underworld, it made one twentieth the box office of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar.

...and it is quite literally BRILLIANT.

Beetlejuice

[School of Movies 2024]

A perennial Halloween favourite for our family, this was Tim Burton's Sophomore effort, after his debut with Pee-Wee's Big Adventure but before he became a Hollywood Titan with Batman (starring Beetlejuice). And I know we give him a hard time a lot, as a purveyor of populist Goth chic to the masses, but when he hits right you get this movie.

And it really does hold up after three and a half decades. Possibly because it's so much fun and so child-friendly that new generations can embrace this ghostly monster party every few years, giving it an evergreen quality. Certainly Willow has loved it since they were tiny, and goes into why on this episode with us. Each member of the cast and crew are firing on all cylinders. It's visually stunning, wickedly gruesome, wildly quotable and utterly hilarious.

And this weekend we get to visit the messy but enjoyable 2024 sequel for the Patreon bonus podcast feed.

Psycho II

[School of Movies 2024]

This was a commissioned episode for Dean R who was very keen for us to examine this 1983 follow-up to the 1960 classic. This film brings back Anthony Perkins after Norman has served his time and behaved well in crazy-jail, with the 'Mother' persona seemingly dormant.

But now we, as the audience may find ourselves strangely onside with the mild-mannered, respectful man, seemingly genuinely trying to go straight, and surrounded by people who want to give this multiple-murderer a piece of their mind (knock it off, idiots, it's crowded enough in there!).

Meg Tilly (sister of Chucky's bride, Jennifer) plays Mary, a down-on-her-luck waitress whom Norman really seems to want to help back onto her feet, as this torrid story circles into an operatic and tragic conclusion. We close out with a synopsis of the entirely unrelated book "Psycho 2" by Robert Bloch; a novel so hated by the studio that they made their own sequel here.

Psycho

[School of Movies 2024]

For this rather special episode, we firstly welcome to the show for the first time, director Alfred Hitchcock, as we examine his most famous and most revisited film, Psycho (1960). This became the wellspring from which modern-day detective thrillers emerged. But it also has tangled roots in Horror and the grubby stepchild of its sub-genres, the slasher. While other films like Charles Laughton's Night of the Hunter (1955) and John Lee Thompson's Cape Fear (1962) -both weirdly starring Robert Mitchum- were also hugely important, Psycho was less about the stalking killer as it was a torrid dive into the swampy waters of their mind.

Deriving from a 1959 novel by Robert Bloch, who lived down the road from Ed Gein as he was being arrested for trying to make a woman-suit, this story, along with Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Thomas Harris' Silence of the Lambs (1988) assisted greatly in the lurid, pulp sensationalism of the twisted deviant killer-man-in-a-dress mythology. Despite quiet, clear, firm, researched and experienced protestations from trans folk and their allies who keep having to remind the world at large that they aren't toilet-lurking monsters.

We also look at the stunningly ill-advised shot-for-shot remake of the Hitchcock film, directed in 1998 by Gus Van Sant. Superficially, these are exactly the same film, but the devil is in the details. Next week we will be returning to Bates Motel with the far less well-known, but actually pretty good Psycho II, which more pronouncedly paints Norman as a victim.