School of Movies

Lightyear

[School of Movies 2022]

It is hard to approach the Pixar of the 2020s with the same eye as the Pixar of the 2000s. For a long while this was a barely-interrupted chain of truly excellent and game-changing 3D animated films which signified to other studios that they didn't have to copy Disney in order to attain success, they could get their own Shrek. Their story structure was always reliably potent and they could blindside you with poignancy. 

Then, as with disposable blockbusters, live action remakes of their hand-drawn heritage, unnecessary sequels, spin-offs, Star Wars and now Marvel, Pixar fell into the rhythm of the infernal Disney machine which appears to prize quantity over quality. But I feel uncomfortable even in the act of criticising a megacorporation who I want to see do better because there are so many bad-faith commentators out there getting performatively angry over every release. 

Lightyear is based on a premise which instantly neither works nor makes sense. It is ostensibly a film from 1995, and yet at no point does it NOT feel like Pixar's fifth film release since the Pandemic began. And this is where the missed opportunities only begin!

Analyze This

[School of Movies 2022]

Our favourite mafia movie, even over the venerated classics, for reasons that will become immediately apparent. This 1999 comedy directed by Harold Ramis was made at almost exactly the same time as The Sopranos first season was developed. Both explore the very real anxiety that comes with a lifestyle that is inherently dangerous, as well as one that involves such a close-knit family and all the loyalties, hopes, dreams, betrayals and disappointments that come with every other family, only this kind whack people for betrayal.

And we knew exactly who to call on for this analysis, our Australian buddies from The Two Shrinks Pod. Together with these professionals we delve into Robert De Niro's disarmingly vulnerable take on a worried father and a still-grieving son, along with Billy Crystal's harangued shrink, positively terrified of winding up sleeping with the fishes, whilst nursing his own paternal resentment.  

School of Movies and Two Shrinks are part of the podcast group Fireside Alliance. Come along and check out the other shows we rub shoulders with. https://www.firesidealliance.com/

Guests:

Dr Hunter Mulcare @realhuntermmm 

Amy Donaldson of @TwoShrinksPod

Four Slices of American Pie

[School of Movies 2022]

WARNING: This episode contains foul language and repeated references to very crude sexual situations, bodily fluids and some nasty-as-hell behaviour. Thou art warned!

This began as a simple re-watch of the original 1999 film "American Pie", but it quickly spiralled into a look back on the gross, frat-house movie craze of the early 2000s. We go through each film in turn and mine them for anything even remotely positive, before spanking the living hell out of them for their awful, creepy and sometimes disturbing attempts to wrestle laughs out of an audience that was growing up faster than they were.

American Pie 2 (2001) reunited the gang for spring break, American Wedding (2003) saw two of the more wholesome characters get married, whilst also depicting what I dubbed then and now as the death of comedy, maybe even the death of narrative cinema! And then the one with the most potential for retrospection on our own filthy, mistake-filled youths American Reunion (2012) brought everyone back as adults, thinning hairlines and disappointment all-round. And somehow, despite all the ingredients being present, they managed to bake their most rotten apple pie last! And yet despite all this, we managed to pull together one of the most fun shows we've done. This is going to be a favourite for some listeners. 

Thor: Love and Thunder

[School of Movies 2022]

Back when this was announced there was all kinds of excitement. Thor, much like his buddy Hulk was a character it seemed like Marvel took a while to get a handle on, relative to the duo of immediate home runs with Iron man and Captain America. The first film was a relative success, he contributed greatly to the chemistry of The Avengers, but then underwhelmed in The Dark World and felt vestigial in Age of Ultron.

But Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth's 2017 Ragnarok reinvention revealed a hilarious and savvy rogue still with his roots in the earnest early performances. This was followed by two wildly popular Avengers outings which harnessed a palpable rage and grief (though not without a problematic amount of fat-shaming). This evolving dimensionality made it seem like it was worth a victory lap, bringing Waititi back in. The spotlighting of Jane Foster and Natalie Portman's unexpected returned to the series adapting Jason Aaron's recent comic run. 

It seemed very likely we would get an evolution of what the world saw Thor as. Especially considering the villain this time was largely sympathetic, as a simple man entirely let down by a pantheon of absurdly privileged complacent gods...

And then we watched the movie.

Guests:

Nama Chibitty @namathenerd

Austin Wilden @WC_WIT of Wits-Writing

Everything Everywhere All At Once

[School of Movies 2022]

A truly magnificent film about pondering the nature of existence and being trapped between nihilistic despair and existential motivation.

But also a touching and painful drama about a little, broken Asian family who no longer know what to say to each other any more.

But also a spectacular running battle of martial arts and clownery, nestled inside a high-concept sci-fi about jumping between dimensions and occupying the bodies of the alternate versions of yourself, and borrowing the abilities they honed leading different lives to you.

This was a commissioned show, because there was SO MUCH to talk about that we would have delayed it forever otherwise. But now it's one of our very best shows. And that is due mostly to our guests who had so much to say. Nothing but editorial was cut. We've given you Everything!

Guests:

Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnewof Cinapse

Maya Souris @TheStuntLady

Greg Downing of Through the Wind Door @MightyGregDoge

Alejandra Vargas @Plutoburns

Chris Finik @finmonster09

Speed Racer

[School of Movies 2022]

Our unexpected year of the Wachowskis continues with a 2008 movie that fans feel passionately about, and a strong sense of it never really having a chance, being released the same summer as Iron man and The Dark Knight.

A squeaky-clean blockbuster painted in a dizzying kaleidoscope of primary colours with intense greens, pinks and purples to deliver what was supposed to feel like an anime in live action, but due to its unique and striking editing style of talking heads describing past, present and future events as they transition in real-time it winds up being entirely singular in its cinematic field.

There really genuinely is no other film quite like Speed Racer. Allow us to elucidate why you need to see this on the biggest, brightest screen available.

Guests:

Alexa Vargas @Plutoburns

Nama Chibitty @namathenerd

They Live

[School of Movies 2022]

We venture back to John Carpenter for maybe his least marketable, most angry movies. You are probably aware of all those memes where a guy looks at a sign with sunglasses on and sees something direct and insidious usually masked with advertising. This is the film that's from.

In fact what surprised me after we finished recording was checking out those memes and finding that so goddamn many of them are from dudes who have decided that the liberal media, feminism, and the LGBTQIA+ community are the dominant overlords manipulating civilisation from a place of supreme power. It is tragicomic as a conclusion.

Anyway, this 1988 Matrix prototype starring a charismatic WWF wrestler is all about how alien lizard people control us through brainwashing. It can be a tough pill to swallow, you may have to spend an hour punching your best friend in the junk until he will accept this reality. 

Guest:
Maya Souris @TheStuntLady

Man on Wire & The Walk

[School of Movies 2022]

The Summer Commissions Season continues with an unexpected highlight.

Here we have a brace of films focusing on the same real life event: Man on Wire (2008) and The Walk (2015). The former is a documentary about Philippe Petit the man who walked on a wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The latter is the Robert Zemekis dramatization of that fairly astonishing heist. We recommend you see one or both of them, because they're fantastic in different ways.

The year was 1974, the towers were in the process of being built in Manhattan, and thousands of miles away a French street performer was cultivating a deep longing to traverse the tallest wire in the world. One tiny mistake, one miscalculation and he would plummet to a very public death. But first he had to get up there, and for that he and his cronies were going to need to pull off one of the most extraordinary real life heists of all time. 

The Incredibles 1 & 2

[School of Movies 2022]

Our summer commissions season continues. It's surprising that this show has been going as long as it has only covering a handful of Pixar movies. So this one will be welcome to many listeners.

Putting the original 2004 film in perspective, it was incredibly important as a touchstone for what became the age of superhero blockbusters. It has so many significant elements that Marvel applied to their works (appropriate since this is to date, the best Fantastic Four movie!)

So, fourteen years later the sequel takes place fourteen seconds after the first while we've all gotten a lot older. 

Next week two films focusing on the same real life event: Man on Wire (2008) and The Walk (2015). The former is a documentary about the man who walked on a wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the latter is the Robert Zemekis dramatization of that fairly astonishing heist. We recommend both.

Blade Runner 2049

[School of Movies 2022]

Five years after our show on the 1982 original (which you will now find next to this on the podcast feed) and coincidentally falling on the 40th anniversary of that film, we look at the follow-up, directed by Denis Villeneuve.

Astonishingly, considering its seminal position in film history the Ridley Scott original was treated dismissively by our parents and grandparents. It fell to Gen-Xers to rediscover it on video in the early 90s to really elevate its status. The wonders a Director’s Cut will do for those first impressions.

And 2049 followed suit, garnering a surprising level of disinterest despite being magnificently crafted, insanely scored, impeccably performed and beautifully photographed. But again, in home format, this one has been gaining traction. And if it is the last Blade Runner film, then the duet currently in existence work together supremely well, for reasons we delve into here.

This episode was a commission for Parker. We’ve been wanting to cover it for years, but it has just been so intimidating to attempt that we appreciate the hard nudge and we hope we and our excellent guest did this one justice.

Guest:

Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnewof Cinapse