Episodes
Friday Mar 20, 2020
Resident Evil 2
Friday Mar 20, 2020
Friday Mar 20, 2020
[School of Everything Else 2020]
This show was recorded back in 2019 not too long after the remake of the 1998 game was released (in fact it was before the free DLC emerged) so there will be speculation regarding when Capcom would naturally proceed to a remake of Nemesis (which at the time of release is due out in a matter of days).
This was one of my favourite games of the 1990s, and the remake is one of my favourites of the 2010s, as well as being one of the most impressive and accomplished reworkings of a game that by modern standards is fairly simple and even clunky.
This show is being released at the time of a pandemic, the biggest in my lifetime, and people are scared. So there's a certain strange appeal about the notion of confronting our fears and seeing them symbolically rendered into disgusting undead beasties we can shoot, stab and evade. That makes this game either wildly inappropriate for our times or the most appropriate.
Guests:
James Perkins @Mijmeister
Derrick Ritchie @thenewdelboy
Friday Mar 13, 2020
The Phantom of the Opera
Friday Mar 13, 2020
Friday Mar 13, 2020
[School of Movies 2020]
I was six years old in 1986 when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh released this hit musical adaptation of the 1909 Gaston Leroux Gothic novel. Far too young to appreciate it, and yet, thanks to a double cassette tape they brought back and many long periods in my bedroom building things with Lego it became a production that was very special to me.
And then in 2004 when I was 24 the Joel Schumacher film adaptation of that stage musical emerged and was mostly derided. Critics panned it, Phantom fans considered it unworthy and it seemed like only Sharon and I thought everyone involved did a great job with a tough to balance production.
This podcast episode is an absolute epic. We focus on the film and contrast it with the stage version, highlighting the original cast and the 25th Anniversary show which is available on blu ray. It’s not going to be for everyone, some people don’t like musicals, and some musical lovers don’t like Phantom, BUT if we’ve done our job right then some of you will be able to watch this thing with fresh eyes and listen with keen ears, with more focus on the details we draw out.
Guest:
Michaela Gray: @bookiesnacksize
Friday Mar 06, 2020
The Bruce Lee Season
Friday Mar 06, 2020
Friday Mar 06, 2020
[School of Movies 2020]
This began life as a commissioned show for a PC game called The Stanley Parable, which we had never played, and on our run-through proved to be infuriating to us on many levels; mechanically, aesthetically and philosophically. We were sent back to play the Beginner's Guide, which was even worse, throwing Sharon into frustrated tears.
So we requested from our sponsor that he pick something else. His choice was the Bruce Lee film "Fist of Fury". But having seen that I knew we wouldn't be able to mine from it alone, a show of the kind of thorough, entertaining and informative depth we usually go for.
So because we had failed to connect with the indie PC game (and let this stand as a warning to all those of you who believe your indie PC game of choice will somehow surpass all the others and enrapture us, it most likely won't) we went all out and covered Bruce Lee's film career. This is the first of what's likely to be at least two shows on Bruce Lee, as we first cover his films and later on in some other context, the man himself, behind the camera. But in this one we examine in a modern context the following movies, some are okay, one is pretty great, one is absolutely wretched.
1. The Big Boss (1971)
2. Fist of Fury (1972)
3. Way of the Dragon (1972)
4. Game of Death (1972-1978)
5. Enter the Dragon (1973)
And many thanks to the commissioner: Paschal Dooley
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Friday Feb 28, 2020
[School of Movies 2020]
Our year of Spielberg continues. Prior to Jaws in '75 he directed Duel and The Sugarland Express, and after it came Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 1941. We talk about all of these on our Quick Review Patreon bonus feed, but we are saving the Main Event shows for the ones we have a LOT to say about.
In 1981, a year after The Empire Strikes Back, Steve collaborated with his buddy George Lucas to give Harrison Ford his second iconic silver screen role; embodying the most famous adventurer of all time. Now the Indy movies may not be overflowing with deep, philosophical quandaries, but at least two of them are cinematic entertainment in its purest form, and we worked extra hard to find the details and flourishes that make this first outing such a classic.
Guest
Kevin Veighey @GoldenTalesGeek
Friday Feb 21, 2020
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Friday Feb 21, 2020
Friday Feb 21, 2020
[School of Movies 2020]
The immediate question will be "Hang on, where's the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" show? Why are we starting on Film Two? I'll go into detail on why in my intro, and we will hopefully do a show on Fantastic Beasts 1 in the future, but right now THIS is on the table.
The Magical World is at its lowest possible ebb. It's hard to say whether The Cursed Child or this movie were more unpopular, there's different gauges of success between the theatrical and cinematic mediums. But suffice to say we are now a long way from the deeply satisfying, bittersweet, not to mention highly lucrative end of the Harry Potter saga, both in book an movie form.
We brought in Lorin Grieve to pick over this confusing mess of a story, to try to figure out what went wrong, and maybe suggest some positive directions they could move in further down the line.
Guest:
Lorin Grieve
Friday Feb 14, 2020
Chrono Trigger
Friday Feb 14, 2020
Friday Feb 14, 2020
[School of Everything Else 2020]
A game I have a 25-year history with, just starting and stopping over and over like Groundhog Day (as I will detail in the opening of the show) and have now finally concluded my staggered, protracted journey with.
In the UK during the 90s things were not as richly abundant in terms of readily available JRPGs (again, I'll detail this), so Chrono Trigger was yearned for, but never released in 1995 over here. In fact the first official physical copies on sale on British store shelves were the DS version, 14 years later in 2009.
But it's one of the most beloved of its type, and on this show (which I had to recruit a couple of experts for, to fill in all those details and secrets) hopefully should go some way to determining why it became such an abiding favourite.
And before you ask me to delve into a dozen more fifty-hour JRPGs, take into account that this commission was a VERY special case!
Guests
Kevin Veighey
Alexander Peregrine
And many thanks to the commissioners: Kevin Veighey, Alexander Peregrine, Nicholas Kosky, Matthew A Seibert and Brian Legg.
Friday Feb 07, 2020
Gen:Lock (Season 1)
Friday Feb 07, 2020
Friday Feb 07, 2020
[School of Movies 2020]
It's going to feel like we're teasing you with our cast-in-stone No Anime rule. However, there are various factors at work here. 1. This has an American writing team, so it's closer to Avatar and The Dragon prince. 2. It had a great first episode which we watched to decide whether we could talk about the rest. 3. It has an amazing cast. 4. At 8 quick episodes it's about the length of a long movie, rather than RWBY from the same team, which currently weighs in at 92 episodes and what we watched did not appeal. And 5. it was a commission, and we occasionally bend the rule with those.
All that said, you are in for a treat here, as the spiritual successor to both Pacific Rim and in a way RoboCop delivers dazzling visual treats with a progressive, inclusive and fun cast of colourful characters. It is absolutely worth checking out. You can either listen to our show first or afterwards. We do detail plot movements but I hope our discussion enriches rather than spoils the process of witnessing them for yourself, because you get some bonus perspective.
Well done, Rooster Teeth.
And many thanks to the commissioner: David Schuttenhelm
Friday Jan 24, 2020
The Lost Boys
Friday Jan 24, 2020
Friday Jan 24, 2020
[School of Movies 2020]
I am continuously baffled with the dearth of teenage vampire films. It sounds like a trope, but can you really name that many where the focus was on teenagers becoming vampires as a metaphor for being a teenage outcast, and disconnected with both the world of adults and that of the childhood just left behind?
Twilight, a bit. Near Dark, kinda? On TV we had The Vampire Diaries. Seriously there's a goldmine here if somebody can get the alchemy right in a way that hits whatever the current teen generation is.
Anyway The Lost Boys (1987) wasn't originally intended to be that at all. It was supposed to be about vampire kids, Director Joel Schumacher simply engineered the ages upwards so it could be sexier, and mission accomplished. Our commission season continues with the bloodsucking Brady Bunch.
Guests
Brenden Agnew of Cinapse @BLCAgnew
From Sequentially Yours Kaoru Negisa @Moonpanther22
and Debbie Morse @bastet8300
And many thanks to the commissioners: Andy Rodriguez, Maya Santandrea and Bradford Yurkiw.
Friday Jan 17, 2020
Willow
Friday Jan 17, 2020
Friday Jan 17, 2020
[School of Movies 2020]
Our Winter commissions season begins with this cult classic fantasy from 1988. Largely dismissed at the box office, Willow found a home market of kids who grew up wearing out their VHS copies, and will still talk of it today with misty-eyed affection. This was one of those movies that kept me going between the hibernation of Star Wars and the emergence of Lord of the Rings.
While this is easily passed off as a Hobbit lite or an attempt to siphon Star Wars’ space fantasy into conventional fantasy, what we talk about here are some arresting hidden depths, and how charmingly it manages to pull off its magic trick. Enough to capture the hearts of some fans for life. If you’ve not yet had the pleasure, we recommend the Blu Ray for a Sunday afternoon of feeling like you’re nine again.
Guests
Brenden Agnew of Cinapse @BLCAgnew
Hollywoo Actress Maya Santandrea @Mayasantandrea
From Sequentially Yours Kaoru Negisa @Moonpanther22
and Debbie Morse @bastet8300
And many thanks to the commissioner, Joel Robinson
Friday Jan 10, 2020
Jaws
Friday Jan 10, 2020
Friday Jan 10, 2020
[School of Movies 2020]
Throughout this year we will be covering the films of Steven Spielberg in Main Event shows as well as Quick Reviews. And we figured we would start with a bang with a transformative work from 1975 that may not have been the first summer blockbuster, but definitely started the trend of the event movie that everyone goes to see and talks about, one that that grew with Star Wars into what big budget cinema is today.
However, this creature feature is really, REALLY strong in so many other ways beyond spectacle, and it was an absolute nightmare to film. We brought in a special guest for his first time on our show, and the enthusiasm just bounced off the walls within our recording session. He will definitely be back.
Guest
Chris Chipman of The Chipman Bros Tangent @The Chippa