School of Movies

The Fifth Element

[School of Movies 2017]

One of my favourite movies of 1997, this crazed sci-fi space opera is something of a cult favourite. Never popular enough to be considered a classic, and clearly disliked by many people it is nonetheless beloved by its ardent fans, as well as being a consistently reference-quality example for home cinema enthusiasts.

This was a commissioned show from Marc Lucksch

Guest

Neil Taylor of TheKiddogg

Night, Dawn, Day & Land of the Dead

[School of Movies 2017]

This show was recorded in the autumn of 2016 less than a year before George A. Romero passed away. A listener named Innes Clatworthy made a generous donation and I asked him if he'd like us to do a show as a thank you. He asked for one of the Romero zombie films. Never one to do things by halves we covered the first and best four.

I've already fielded questions as to why Survival and Diary aren't on this list but it boils down to three reasons; 1, the show is already 2h 45m long, 2, they don't really fit with the first four and 3, we don't like either of them one little bit, so we have nothing to say about them. 

In fact quite a lot of this episode is about unseating the original Dawn of the Dead, from its throne of "Best Zombie Movie" and highlighting the qualities of Land and Day in particular. 

That being said, what we know as a zombie in pop culture would be very different today were it not for at least the first two, astonishingly influential films (as well as some legal rights mumbo jumbo).

So get your machete's ready (chainsaws are heavy, noisy, fuel-dependent, and more likely to kill the wielder than a zombie) and let's start exploring the bleak, shuffling landscapes inhabited largely by the Living Dead. 

Guests:

Kaoru Negisa & Debbie Morse of Sequentially Yours

Brendan Agnew of Cinapse

The Golden Compass/Northern Lights

[School of Movies 2017]

This is part post-mortem on the 2007 movie, The Golden Compass and why it failed in such dismal fashion. It’s not terrible, just underachieving, bland, patronising and not really *about* anything.

Our show is also an exploration of the rich and weighty book by Philip Pullman, which is called Northern Lights in England. It is one of the most special pieces of literature to Sharon and I, we named our daughter after the lead protagonist and had been awaiting the movie with Harry Potter levels of excitement. So, you will have it outlined with pin-sharp clarity, how the makers of the movie abjectly refused to capture the spirit of the book, as we bring that unrealised world to life through examination. 

You will encounter some amazing music, some stirring readings from the audiobook by Pullman himself and you will leave with a far clearer understanding of the pitfalls of bringing literature to the big screen.

This episode is released just before the new book set in Lyra’s world hits store shelves. It is called The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, and is naturally exciting fans. For those of you wishing to dig deeper, however, your first port of call should be to work your way through the original book, Northern Lights, and then move on to its follow-up; The Subtle Knife. It will never be a movie, but good lord is it a gripping read. 

Guests

Iain Hopwood

Megan Hopwood

Bojack Horseman [Seasons 2, 3 & 4]

[School of Everything Else 2017]

We delve deeper into the broken minds of this occasionally famous horse and his supporting cast of human beings and other animals.

Each season is covered in turn and we keep spoilers on later seasons for their section. But we strongly recommend you watch all four seasons and then listen. It is a HARD show to watch sometimes, and a lot of the gags and scenarios feel too real to laugh, but it's relentless, engaging, hilarious, sensitive and smart to a degree few other animated shows can match on a consistent basis. 

Guests

Kaoru Negisa & Debbie Morse of Sequentially Yours

Maya Santandrea of Hollywoo 

IT: Chapter 1

[School of Movies 2017]

The follow-up to our extensive discussion on the source novel and the 1990 miniseries, this is the show all about the 2017 movie. 

The original show can be found on the School of Everything Else podcast feed

One of the most immediately and wildly successful horror films of all time, this has been one of the standout experiences of 2017. In the show we discuss why some people declassify it as horror, the many levels of applicability within the text to all kinds of social problems and just exactly why clowns scare the shit out of most people.  

And we will be back in Derry as soon as the next movie (in what's likely to be an unexpectedly broad franchise) drops. 

Guests:

Brendan Agnew of Cinapse

Kaoru Negisa and Debbie Morse of Sequentially Yours

The Room

[School of Movies 2017]

At long last, after years of preparation, we bring you a truly epic three hour show all about one of the worst movies ever made.

It's an exercise in absurdity, as unprepared actors are thrown in front of a camera and made to chew out abysmal dialogue, wrestle with characters that make no sense, get stuck in loops of expressing the same, contrary thoughts out loud, and all to please the ringmaster, Mr Tommy Wiseau, an extraordinary man, and by all accounts a nightmare to work with. 

There are the most appallingly awkward pauses, inexplicable games of football, and expressions that sound like they never came out of a human being before or since (or during). It's also compulsively quotable as a result. 

It is operatic in its farcical mishandling of every aspect of filmmaking, and we are going to take you through each second of this feast of silliness, just in time for The Disaster Artist, a film about its troubled construction, starring James Franco and based on the hugely entertaining book by the long suffering Greg Sestero who plays Mark. 

With us, we have Jason "Chewie" Slate, Aaron LaCluyze and Bill Bloodworth of Monday Night Magic and Random Discard.

Bojack Horseman [Season 1]

[School of Everything Else 2017]

This is the first of several episodes on the fantastic Netflix animated show Bojack Horseman. Next week will be an episode on seasons 2 & 3 and at some point we will probably do season 4.

It starts off as a black adult comedy about show business and Hollywood and you could be forgiven for lumping it in with Family Guy, however, it quickly establishes itself as a drama about various deeply flawed, human characters.

Unlike Rick and Morty, though, the core of the existential dread isn't the bleakness of everything, but our desperation to be better, worthwhile people, even as we fail over and over.

It is so worth your time.

Joining us are our good friends Kaoru Negisa and Debbie Morse of Sequentially Yours, and genuine stunt actress Maya Santandrea, who brings her insight as to what the business of filming is frequently like. 

Donnie Darko

[School of Movies 2017]

Prepare for a twisting, mind-bending journey into a tangent universe and back again as we tackle one of the most head-scratchy of cult films of the 2000s. Directed by Richard Kelly when he was only 26 years old and accompanied by an extensive website filled with extra reading to help you understand what goes on in the movie, this is still pretty difficulty to completely grasp, even if you've seen it. So we spend the first half of this show examining those explanations and the second half delving into the stronger, clearer elements like character, music and script. 

This was a commissioned show by Jesse Ferguson, who wanted to like this movie, despite itself, and decided to have us make a case for it.

Next week; Book of Life.

Stranger Things [Season 1, Part 2]

[School of Everything Else 2017]

This is our second of two episodes on Season 1 of Stranger Things. 

We lost Alasdair Stuart for this one, but we gained a recomended friend of his, Guy Adams, author of Notes from the Upside Down - Inside the World of Stranger Things: An Unofficial Handbook to the Hit TV Series, now available in Hardcover and Kindle format and coming soon in Paperback.

The wonderful Laura Kate Dale of Let's Play Video Games and Podquisition guests again, along with Debbie Morse of Sequentially Yours, accompanied now by her husband Kaoru Negisa. 

For this second part we covered the following episodes.

4. The Body

5. The Flea and the Acrobat

6. The Monster

7. The Bathtub

8. The Upside Down

We'll be back with Laura next week with a show all about a video game you guys all need to mplay. You will require ten dollars and five hours, along with a Steam account. It is called To the Moon. 

And finally my new website has launched and you can check it out at www.newcenturymultiverse.com whether you know nothing about the books or podcast and would like to, or if you're a fan looking to dig deeper, come along and don't forget to sign up for the mailing list. 

 

Stranger Things [Season 1, Part 1]

[School of Everything Else 2017]

This is our first of two episodes on Season 1 of Stranger Things. 

One of our most requested topics, which ironically makes for a daunting prospect, because we have to cover something that means so much for so many people? We eventually relented when this was commissioned by Stephen Maxwell Lowe, Toby Jungius, Nick Grugin and Joel Robinson. 

For this first part we cover the following episodes.

1. The Vanishing of Will Byers

2. The Weirdo on Maple Street

3. Holly Jolly

Our guests include Laura Kate Dale of Lets Play Video Games and Podquisition, Alasdair Stuart of Escape Artists and Debbie Morse of Sequentially Yours. 

We'll be back next week for the remaining five episodes.