School of Movies

Rogue One

[School of Movies 2017]

The most requested show of the year finally arrives. I'm going to bet the many different people asking for this had different reasons. Some might be hoping that we love it (we don't) a few might suspect that we hate it (we also don't) and some of you might not be able to put a finger on what felt a bit off about the movie (we might be able to shed some light on that).

What's clear though is that this one was liked and popular. Standing at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, this received some solid, critical praise, which means our issues with it put us in the minority, which we're fine with. Allow us to present you with a critiquing sandwich, whereby we start and finish focusing on all the things it does right, with a meaty helping of where it falls short in the middle. 

There's also a scene we talk about where the whole movie collapses into grotesque absurdity (you might know the one already) and you won't be able to watch it with a straight face after hearing this. One thing's for sure, it will make you laugh more than Rogue One did (aside from everything K-2SO said, that robot was a treasure).

Guests

Neil Taylor of TheKidDogg

Alex Eding, voice actor

Logan

[School of Movies 2017]

This one took a lot out of us. 

The tenth X-Men-related movie, and just like the other two really great instalments in this series (First Class and Deadpool) most of its strengths are augmented by only having tenuous ties to what came before. 

Both a sobering goodbye to two of our established heroes and the actors inhabiting the roles, and an introduction to a little acting tornado who pulled off the performance of a lifetime right out of the gate, this film stands as testament to what a steady hand and a focus on character can achieve in a marketplace stuffed with citywide destruction and CGI final bosses without any personality… in fact it used the latter to make a statement on its central protagonist. 

Logan is impressive, sparing, powerful and heartbreaking, and more than worthy in all kinds of nominations among the best of 2017.

Next Week: Rogue One.

Thor: Ragnarok

[School of Movies 2017]

We return to the Marvel Universe with a bang, and discuss in detail the themes of the third and (hopefully not) final Thor movie. We begin with a piece I wrote about why humour plays a key role in MCU films. 

Guests:

Joshua Garrity of Cane and Rinse

Brenden Agnew of Cinapse

Kaoru Negisa and

Debbie Morse, both of Sequentially Yours

Neil Taylor of TheKidDogg

Jerome McIntosh of GameBurst

Our $5 Patreon supporters can look forward to a bonus 75 minute Cutting Class podcast collecting the reams of deleted material from this episode, as well as a chat about the potential for Marvel-owned X-Men movies. 

Justice League (2017)

[School of Movies 2017]

Comics featuring DC's Trinity gathering with various other brightly costumed heroes have been around since The Brave and Bold issue #28 in 1960 so this movie has been adrift for 57 years, waiting to be brought home, like Ellen Ripley.

With us are a gathering of keen, comic-hungry minds, ready to take a long hard look at what DC Warner have produced for the first ever big screen Justice League. The studio insisted we bring this show in at under two hours, so that's what we've done. They also recoloured us to make us more audience-friendly and digitally removed our various beards, swapping them out for cartoon mouths. But of course you won't see any of that. 

Guests:

Brenden Agnew of Cinapse

Kaoru Negisa and

Debbie Morse, both of Sequentially Yours

Extra thanks to Laureta Sela who makes a cameo as Harley Quinn here.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

[School of Movies 2017]

After fifteen years on the big screen and five major movies the wall-crawler finally returns to the house of Marvel (whilst still being a Sony distributed venture this is clearly a Kevin Feige project).

And it's our favourite of the six. 

Delivering a boatload of elements we haven't seen Peter interact with before whilst wisely swinging clear of things we've seen him do too much, this is a refinement of the Spidey formula that manages to feel fresh, smart and above all things, child-friendly.

Guests

Neil Taylor of TheKidDogg

Jerome McIntosh of GameBurst

A Series of Unfortunate Events

[School of Movies 2017]

This is a discussion about the books, movie and Netflix series. We kept clear of any spoilers beyond Book 4: The Miserable Mill.

Sharon and I are big fans of all three versions, though the movie has suffered a barrage of disapproval from both readers and general audiences over the years and singularly failed to achieve continuation. 

The show, however, has garnered pretty much universal praise. We talk about the differences in approach across all mediums. 

Guests

Kaoru Negisa and Debbie Morse of Sequentially Yours

Tyler Pollock

Devin York

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