School of Movies

Free Guy

[School of Movies 2021]

Since this theatrically released movie, based on no particular existing IP barely made a couple of hundred million dollars in its first fortnight, statistically speaking that means the majority of you won't have seen it.

That's why we're giving you a deep dive episode, delving into the subtext that a lot of folks either took for granted or missed entirely. And far from spoiling the story we hope it actually makes it even better for you.

The short of it is, what if one of the civilians in Grand Theft Auto started thinking for itself. Cue a lot of familiar moments, and some surprising directions. The devil is of course in the details, and that's what we have for you.

Guests:

Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnew of Cinapse 

From Sequentially Yours  Kaoru Negisa  @Moonpanther22

and Debbie Morse  @bastet8300

Greg Downing @MightyGregDoge of Through the Wind Door 

Alexa Vargas @Plutoburns whose YouTube channel is here 

Chris Finik @finmonster09 who assembles New Century's TV Tropes Pages and who writes fanfic (including a Dark Tower / Tiger's Eye crossover) 

The Suicide Squad

[School of Movies 2021]

Militarized slaves are sent to an island to clean up a violent mess with plausible deniability. An instant hit with both audiences and critics on release, this 2021 film is the realization of the John Ostrander-era of the Suicide Squad/Task Force X concept that actually first appeared as far back as 1959 (prior to Marvel's Silver Age of The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and The Avengers.

And yet it faltered at the box office, due to several reasons. Being R-rated in the middle of a pandemic, the sour taste of the 2016 David Ayer film, the absence of Joker and let's not discount an abundance of dark superhero satire in TV and movies, which this feels like. By all rights, fans of The Boys and Invincible should have turned up in droves, and yet that association may have worked against the film in the end.

This episode is simply me telling Sharon about the experience of watching the film in the cinema for the first time, augmented by further thoughts as I mulled it over in the interim days. It was a mixed bag for me, with strong elements sat side by side with things I've seen done better elsewhere. 

Aquaman

[School of Movies 2021]

By far and away Warner's highest grossing superhero film of the DCEU so far*, this one had the global market sewn up with a dazzling, epic ocean-hopping fantasy quest. Dismissed as 'dumb' by the critics, Aquaman is nonetheless one of my very favourite superhero films, and on today's show we go into detail as to the thriving ecosystem that exists just under the surface. 

The pandemic, and constant studio shake-ups have definitely hurt the DC brand (sadly including The Suicide Squad which we're covering next week). But at least this one and Wonder Woman proved that DC could find success beyond endless Batman, Superman and Joker movies.

*Aquaman $1.1b / Batman V Superman $873m / Wonder Woman $822m / Suicide Squad $746m / Man of Steel $668m / Justice League $657m / Shazam! $366m / Birds of Prey $201m / Wonder Woman 1984 $166m / Zack Snyder's Justice League $70m

Guests:

Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnew of Cinapse

Jerome McIntosh of GameBurst @JeromeMci

Shazam!

[School of Movies 2021]

Our Summer season of DC spotlighting reaches Captain Marvel. This was a big change for the recent movies, eschewing the epic scale of gods among humans and focusing on a regular kid imbued with the power of the gods.

Part 1980s coming of age movie, part found-family drama, part weirdly disturbing villain origin. And unlike most other superhero movies this one has an unusual time limit on it as a series, which is why we recruited some very particular guests this time around.

https://franchisekillerpod.podbean.com/

Guests:

From the Franchise Killer Podcast: @FK_Podcast

David Schmitzer

Irena Schmitzer

Rhys Paine

Birds of Prey

[School of Movies 2021]

One of our very favourite DC universe movies, added to the towering collection of three dozen shows we've covered in the past (and yes I do list all of them).

Criminally underviewed and undervalued, and launched mere weeks before lockdown began in early 2020, this is a crazed cult crime caper for the ages. A collection of disparate, separate, embattled women all find that their aggressors lead to one place. 

It's filthy and violent and only one person has a superpower which gets used once. This was Margot Robbie's treasured project that couldn't be more different from 2016's Suicide Squad. 

[Next Week: Shazam!]

Guests:

Hollywoo Actress  Maya Souris @Mayasantandrea

Victoria Luna B. Grieve: @VixenVVitch 

Jerome McIntosh of GameBurst @JeromeMci

Loki (Season 1)

[School of Everything Else 2021]

A time-bending, space-bending, reality-bending miniseries about an unrepentant villain who did a colonialism on account of his upbringing in a society that was founded on precisely this principle.

And an introduction to yet another Marvel leading lady who has been kidnapped, gaslit and abused for most of her existence and definitely deserves better. 

Loki has been a frustrating watch for many and a source of relentless joy for others. The slew of fan art that has dotted our Twitter feeds suggest people are getting a great deal of spicy satisfaction from the chemistry. But the slew of hot negative takes, also suggests it once again disappointed fans. 

Our show on what we found out at the end was the first season is quite special for a number of reasons, so listen closely.

Guests:

Victoria Luna B. Grieve: @VixenVVitch 

Theo Leigh of The New Century Multiverse

Jerome McIntosh of GameBurst

Jesse Ferguson @TheDapperDM

from the Recorded Tomorrow Podcast

Black Widow

[School of Movies 2021]

Two years have passed since we were last in the cinema watching a Marvel movie. It feels like an astonishing amount of time, and a lot of you folks will have watched on Disney+ 

This one has been a long time coming, kicking off Phase 4, despite the core concept of Natasha Romanoff's solo outing being ideally placed in Phase 1, prior to Avengers (perhaps instead of Iron Man 2), or Phase 2 when Avengers proved she was big-screen dynamite (perhaps instead of Thor 2) or Phase 3 where after all the years of lollygagging DC beat Marvel to the leading lady post by almost two years (even though this could have been ideally placed instead of Ant-Man 2: Featuring The Wasp).

As it stands, Black Widow serves many masters, and is about more than simply Natasha herself. It's a fitting send-off and a welcome introduction all at once. 

Guests:

Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnew of Cinapse

Mackenzie Eastram @KenziePhoenix of Rainbow Connection @MuppetsPod

Pump up the Volume

[School of Movies 2021]

A movie nobody has seen, but we want to tell you about. A movie that was barely released in the cinema, on VHS, DVD and now Blu Ray. A movie unavailable to legitimately stream anywhere. A movie about a pirate radio station speaking truth to power and making silenced voices heard. 

This one came out in 1990, it's directed by Allan Moyle who was behind Times Square (1980) and Empire Records (1995). The three films, spread across fifteen years all speak of disaffected kids, cast aside by a society they aren't able to comfortably slot themselves into, and their subsequent means of rebellious self-expression. They're all worth watching (with Empire being the lightest and easiest to underestimate). 

You should absolutely listen if you haven't heard it, because we have effectively adapted the story for radio. And because this movie is so punk, once you've listened we did find a way you could then watch it Pump up the Volume at Archive.org 

The Shadow

[School of Movies 2021]

This might be the worst superhero ever. Not the movie, I'm sure there are a bunch out there more poorly constructed. Some of the sets and costumes and Jerry Goldsmith's score are great. I'm talking about The Shadow himself, especially now, and especially to me personally.

Welcome to a post--Burton-Batman world that might be the 1920s, 30s or 40s. A gangster-laden New York presided over by a millionaire who dresses up at night and prowls the streets with his guns and his mocking laugh. From the director of Highlander, and the star of The Cat in the Hat, Alec Baldwin embodies the worst qualities of Batman, the worst qualities of The Punisher and the ignorant racism of Golden Age comic books. 

For this episode we brought back on the folks from the Franchise Killer podcast, since this one definitely didn't get a sequel, for reasons we'll go into. Side note, as always it's okay to like this movie. It's entertaining as hell. The guy is just a massive tool!  

https://franchisekillerpod.podbean.com/

Guests:

From the Franchise Killer Podcast: @FK_Podcast

David Schmitzer

Irena Schmitzer

Rhys Paine

War for the Planet of the Apes

[School of Movies 2021]

Back in 2014 we began a journey through the many movies of the Planet of the Apes franchise. We began with the original quintet made in the late 60s through the 70s. Three of those are pretty great, two of them are meandering and lose the thread of what the simian analogy was getting at in the first place.

After that we covered Tim Burton's mess of a blockbuster which ruined my 21st Birthday! And then we began on the 2011 reboot with Andy Serkis as Caesar, an extraordinary chimpanzee born in the modern era. We followed that with a show about the then-just-released sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Now, many years later we have returned to finish what is one of the low-key best sci-fi trilogies in cinema history. A journey from birth through childhood, maturity and fatherhood all the way to messianic saviour. But unlike their predecessors these three always remember that central tenet; The apes are us... and always have been.