School of Movies

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 

Grease

[School of Movies 2021]

The Commissions Season continues with this classic, sponsored by Matthew A Seibert. It's a film made in 1978, set in 1958 meant for adults who were teens in that time period, now being watched more than 40 years later in 2021 by the children of those adults who grew up watching it and are now themselves adults. So this is going to be a kaleidoscope of shifting perspectives. 

The premise is simple, a sweet-natured Australian girl meets a sweet guy at the beach in Chicago. Then when she later turns up in his high school he acts like a different person in front of his male buddies. The girl throws her lot in with an indimidating gaggle of punky ladies, and the two groups sniff around one another, preparing for the horrors of real life after they graduate. 

It's a world where adults barely feature and teenagers clash, excitably, make fun of one another, and are sexually interested. This was made at a time when that sort of alchemy was new and thrilling, rather than a dead cert. Amid the peer pressure and societal expectations heaped upon these panicking hormonal kids (all played convincingly by adults) there's also a bunch of incredibly memorable and abiding songs.

Guests:

From Sequentially Yours  Kaoru Negisa  @Moonpanther22

and Debbie Morse  @bastet8300

-Ali-

[School of Movies 2021]

This is our 700th Podcast. I began in April of 2007, and through four generations of my show, myself and then Sharon have covered a hell of a lot of media. Fittingly, this episode is one of the very greatest. 

On the twentieth anniversary of the 2001 Michael-Mann-directed biopic of maybe the greatest sportsman who ever lived, we finally go up against Ali in the ring. It's not just a fantastic film, this account of the real life events that took place between his fight with Sonny Liston in 1964 spanning all the way to the Rumble in the Jungle with Foreman in Zaire, '74 changed the way I saw the world.

It did so, decades ago, drawing my attention sharply to the African-American experience, and the injustices it exposes in the heart of America. This informed upon the way I think, the way I speak, and it has definitely informed on how I write. It's also the performance of Will Smith's life (in case you needed any more excuses to track it down). Sharon and I move through the events, people and decisions that effected this flawed, infuriating, dazzling, inspiring man, and how he reacted to them, in a manner that transcended the limitations heaped upon him. 

The two accompanying films we also suggest as further viewing afterwards are 'The Greatest' (1977) and 'When We Were Kings' (1996).

The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert

[School of Movies 2021]

This is a commissioned show by Kevin Veighy, who specifically wanted to make a kind gesture towards his friends and all of our listeners in the LGBTQ community. And what began as a desire to extend a sympathetic hand turned into something rather special, and a landmark episode.

I haven't been entirely sure about this movie for several years. I know I loved it when I saw it in the 90s (make sure you listen to the end for my story on that), but I also know that there are troublesome elements that are less cool by the standards of the 2020s.

Fortunately, we had the extremely enthusiastic Victoria Grieve, who always makes our show better, and provided a hell of a lot of perspective on the trans narrative.

I am not the least bit sorry for all of my attempts at the Australian accent! I regret nothing!

Stonespring Maidens is now available to buy from Amazon in paperback.

Guest:

Victoria Luna B. Grieve: @VixenVVitch 

Bill & Ted Face the Music

[School of Movies 2021]

The trilogy of Time, Space and The Afterlife culminates in the best one yet. And while we've had loads of folks express delight with the first two episodes as they grew in complexity, this one is really special.

There's a sizzling energy to our discussions as things get very meta and concerned with generational responsibility, and the music that flows throughout is some of my favourite editing in a long career of talking about movies, games, books and TV.

I would say you must see this film to avoid us spoiling it, but it can't be spoiled. I would then say you must see this movie, because you should.   

Tweet us @SchoolofMovies

Guests:

Rachel Schenk @IAMRachelQuirky from Screen Snark and

Scott Thomas @OGScottieT from And the Winner Is

BOTH also from The Infinity Podcast

Jesse Ferguson @TheDapperDM

from the Recorded Tomorrow Podcast

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

[School of Movies 2021]

We got some real love for our Excellent Adventure show. It seems like you folks were responding to the pure joy threaded throughout, so let's see what we can do for the black sheep of the B&T Trilogy. This sequel turned up just two years after the first, having been hastily greenlit when executives got dollar signs in their eyes and saw franchise potential.

The writers began with a re-tread of the original, where the duo went through great works of literature and dragged out the characters for yet another school report. Then when they got to Moses and company from religious texts, it was decided this should get more metaphysical. So it became "Bill & Ted Go to Hell" and the rest of the film was written around how that could have happened. Who killed them? Why a pair of evil, robot doubles from the future! 

It did not delight audiences. But as we delve deeper than even Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson could have predicted we would like to present to you, some of the reasons why this movie is actually not Bogus at all.

Tweet us @SchoolofMovies with what you think about Station. 

Guests:

Rachel Schenk @IAMRachelQuirky 

from Screen Snark and

Scott Thomas @OGScottieT 

from And the Winner Is

BOTH also from The Infinity Podcast 

Jesse Ferguson @TheDapperDM 

from the Recorded Tomorrow Podcast

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

[School of Movies 2021]

We begin a trilogy of shows taking us through time, space and the afterlife that begins here with this abidingly enjoyable romp through history, pilfering various key figures to make the deadline on a school report.

We talk about how the time travel seems utterly nonsensical at first, but actually remains consistent and makes an internally logical sense within the adventure itself. And also how Bill & Ted, with their affable approach to life often touch on a profound wisdom by accident.

We also hear from a couple of air-guitarists who have travelled right the way through delusion to emerge the other side as rock gods, before going back in.

Our guest for all three shows is Jesse Ferguson of the Recorded Tomorrow podcast, which is all about time travel. You might want to go back to Episode 6 and start with paradoxes, because I'm on that one. Jesse's co-host, Jonathan also joins us for this first outing.

Guests:

Jesse Ferguson @TheDapperDM and

Jonathan H. Liu @jonathanhliu 

from the Recorded Tomorrow Podcast 

Wonder Woman 1984

[School of Movies 2021]

This follow-up to a fantastic debut in 2017 was long-awaited, much-anticipated and spent several years in production. At the end of a blockbuster-drought of a year, we were all looking forward to sinking back into the comfortable environs of an inspiring superhero story. Perhaps with some tactfully handled real-world symbolism in there, and a call to arms for women in particular.

Unfortunately, this thing is a HUGE mess. It makes so many baffling decisions that it was actually tricky to keep up with. By the time we'd finished reacting to one moment, another had flown by. So we're giving this one the all-clear for you to listen to, whether you've seen the movie or not. Because we CANNOT spoil it any more than Warner Bros. have done. 

The show ran long, so there is a 45-minute Cutting Class episode coming to Patreon with everything that didn't make the final cut. Because editing is important! 

Stonespring Maidens is now available to buy from Amazon in paperback.

Guests:

Hollywoo Actress  Maya Santandrea @Mayasantandrea

Victoria Luna B. Grieve: @VixenVVitch