School of Movies

Episode 500

[School of Everything Else 2016]

Alex's 500th Podcast.

 

I've been at this game for almost a decade and produced and hosted  four media discussion shows, Digital Cowboys, Digital Gonzo, Digital Drift and School of Movies. 

What we have here is a collection of highlights from the first few years. This celebratory episode ended up as two, simply because there was so much to choose from. So Episode 501 will be released next week. Consider them like Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2. 

This is significant interviews, first meetings, moments of particular insight and of course the absolute funniest bits, many of which were suggested by you guys while I was putting this together.

Volume 1. Digital Cowboys

• Another Day at the Office [Joinee Radio, Early 2007 - 0.01.22]
• Curse of the Golden Flower [Digital Cowboys Episode 01 - 0.06.36]
• An Important Announcement [DC48, 2008 - 0.08.58]
• First Meeting With Daniel Floyd [DC10, 2009 - 0.12.13]
• Red vs Blue Interview [DC126 - 0.15.24]
• Giant Bomb Snackbox [DC104 - 0.19.40]
• Jonathan Coulton Interview [DC121 - 0.22.23]
• Dominik Diamond Interview [DC133 - 0.27.07]
• The Wii - First Meeting With James Batchelor [DC130 - 0.32.51]
• First Meeting With Neil Taylor [DC167, 2010 - 0.34.37]
• Duke Nukem Kicked Out [DC180 - 0.35.18]
• Legends of Zelda - Opening Montage [DC164 - 0.38.41]
• Paul & Storm Interview [DC163 - 0.42.53]
• Digital Cowboys - The Last One [DC109, 2011 - 0.49.10]

Volume 2: Digital Gonzo

• New Solo Show [Digital Gonzo Episode 42, 2011 - 0.55.23]
• Thor - Alex Doing Mr Plinkett Doing Thor [DG70, 2012 - 0059.44]
• Never Mind the BuzzGeeks: Cosmocats [DG33 - 1.02.20]
• Back to the Future - Time Travel [DG19 - 1.05.00]
• Fire [The Internet News - 1.09.42]
• Never Mind the BuzzGeeks: Coffee Commercials [DG39 - 1.13.06]
• Movie Clichés - The Wilhelm Scream [DG34 - 1.15.43]
• Schools [The Internet News - 1.17.44]
• Blue Sun Audio Drama [DG35 - 1.22.25]
• James Bond - The Henchman Agent #1 [DG43 - 1.29.30]
• James Bond - Henchman Agent #2/Herr Stamper [DG45 - 1.33.51]
• Firefly - The Henchman Agent #4 [DG106 - 1.33.52]
• Batman Returns - The Henchman Agent #3/The Finale [DG77 - 1.36.51]
• Alien - Shotgun Penis [DG74 - 1.41.36]
• Alien Resurrection - Alien DNA/Executives [DG82 - 1.45.29]
• Superman IV - Physics! [DG133, 2013 - 1.51.56]
• Sound of Gonzo - Snowboarding Spy [DG102 - 1.57.00]
• The Last Airbender - Exposition Scrolls [DG95 - 1.59.26]
• Sound of Gonzo - Vice City/Dance Hall Deadlock [DG142 - 2.00.47]
• Iron Man 3 Avengers in Advertising [DG154 - 2.02.51]
• Return of the King - Lyra on LOTR [DG112 - 2.06.40]
• The Two Towers - Gollum [DG111 - 2.07.36]
• An Unexpected Journey - Gollum-Off [DG113 - 2.11.29]
• Fan Response - First Meeting With Bob Chipman [DG149 - 2.12.25]
• Pacific Rim - Signing Off [DG161 - 2.21.30]
• Tower of the Sorcerer - "Can I Ride It?" [DG150 - 2.32.15]

The Hero's Journey

[School of Everything Else 2016]

This show (which is one of the best individual podcasts we've ever put together) is all about The Hero's Journey. It explores the monomyth, the idea that nearly all of the tales that we embrace as a species are telling the same story. 

Carl Jung theorized with the collective unconscious that our brains are all roughly the same shaped organ, with very similar emotional responses which have remained very similar for thousands of years, so it stands to reason that there would be certain universally appealing themes that we like to explore time and again. 

Joseph Campbell codified this in the 1940s by examining our mythology, dating back to ancient times and analyzing recurring patterns in the most abiding stories from all over the world when he put together his seminal work; The Hero With a Thousand Faces. This includes a multi-part symbolic series of events a hero always seems to go through in some form or another and what that really means. 

Christopher Vogler took this further with his book The Writer's Journey, examining the most popular and successful movies and the similarities therein.

And we ourselves have produced literally hundreds of podcasts covering our favourite movies, the greater proportion of which this manner of thinking can be applied to. 

So it's time to take a deep dive into what those steps are and why they are so important to our species. 

Joining us are Megan Hopwood and Lorin Grieve, both of whom have also taken a longtime interest in this. 

You're in for a treat here.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

[School of Movies 2016]

We start off with my initial thoughts on coming back from the cinema. The first 16 minutes is relatively spoiler-free and Sharon asks me the following questions. Then we get to the rotten meat of the whole bloody affair. 

 

Then there’s a considerably more positive ten minute piece from Eric Jones 

 

Then we hit the main event and Bob Chipman joins myself, Sharon Shaw and Jerome McIntosh to discuss the film in a more meta context, including what DC Warner’s options are, moving forward. 

00.00.30: First Impressions
00.40.00: A More Positive Response
00.56.00: The Main Event

Sucker Punch

[School of Movies 2016]

In the run-up to Batman V Superman, let's take a dive into the mind of director Zack Snyder. Let's look at how he sees the world, how he sees the human psyche and how he sees women.

 

Prepare for a furious battle of wills as Alex goes in guns blazing to take apart a film he never wants to talk about again, and Lorin Grieve of A Year of Steam defends the movie he loves. Sharon lies somewhere in the middle, but there's a hell of a lot about this that bothers her too. Get some interpretations that the filmmakers definitely didn't consider, and learn how very vague their feelings are on what this story is actually about.  Is this a determined feminist text or something far more clumsy and unintentional? The evidence gets presented in and epic disassembling that hopefully will leave your minds clearer. 

Guest:

Victoria Grieve  @VixenVVitch  

 

The Force Awakens

[School of Movies 2015]

Part 1: A film so important and so passionately adored by us that we needed two shows and two groups of guests to fully cover, welcome to part 1 of our Force Awakens show. With us for this first outing in which we discuss Rey, Finn, Ren, Han, Huxx, Snoke and the hugely positive side of this effectively being a retelling of the events of A New Hope.

Part 2: The second installment in our epic Force Awakens show brings in three new voices and a Star Destroyer-full of speculation.  We move onto the characters we have not yet covered, as well as talking details and theorizing wildly about later movies in this series as well as talking about how the landscape of Star Wars in cinema has now changed forever. 

If you love these shows support their production on patreon.

 

Guests:

 

Jerome McIntosh of GameBurst

James Carter of Cane and Rinse

Parris Lilly of Film Tangent

James Batchelor of the Bond and Beyond

Alex Eding of Plaid Hat Games

Mad Max: Fury Road

[Digital Drift 2015]

We had planned to release The Lost World this week but Mad Max: Fury Road appeared out of nowhere and turned out to be rather special. So we broke suddenly, veered off the road, picked up a couple of passengers and thundered into an epic analysis review. 

We begin with a 45 minute discussion of the original Mad Max trilogy, all of which contain elements that found their way into this new incarnation. You can listen to that without spoiling the new movie, but then go see it and come back for the next act.

I lay down my thoughts on the meta-story that developed upon its release, specifically it’s detractors and the symbolism that layers on as a result. After that we talk long and hard about every aspect of this astonishing and deeply surprising new blockbuster. Surprising both in how the story develops and its sheer quality and fulfilled ambition. This is a film we want absolutely everyone to see. 

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw

Guests:

Joshua Garrity of Cane and Rinse

James Perkins of The Digital Fix

The Great Mouse Detective / Oliver & Company

[School of Movies 2016]

We're back on the Disney shows with Daniel Floyd, this time on the cusp of the 90s renaissance. This episode delves lightly into two of the last examples of their Dog/Cat/Mouse fetishism that defined the post-Walt wilderness years.

The Great Mouse Detective, originally named Basil of Baker Street (from the novel) is Sherlock Holmes with rodents. Oliver is the Twisty Dickens tale with a cat and a bunch of dogs in a painfully late 80s New York, presided over by prostitute-hating mayor Rudy Giuliani. We never see him in the film, but he's there all the same, along with his derision for people of colour and the impoverished, which fits rather well into the Victorian principles of the source novel.

This show was actually recorded several years ago and I apologise for my frequent interruptions of Dan and Sharon. I knew better than that back then and I have no excuse. I'll simply try my level best to let them speak without butting in as we record the next Disney shows.

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of New Frame Plus

Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh / Rescuers / Fox & Hound / Black Cauldron

[School of Movies 2016]

Continuing our Disney podcasts with Daniel Floyd of Extra Histories, this one covers the fifteen year period between 1970 and 1985. 

It was a dark and odd time for the once great animation studio. Their mentor and namesake had fallen and they were carrying on without him, or the acclaim that went with the bold and beautiful films of their golden years.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh theatrically released a package of three animated shorts. The Rescuers had a budget so low it barely had to sell any tickets to succeed commercially. The Fox and the Hound swung in the other direction, piling on the budget, only to receive middling critical and box-office response.

And as the company reformed in the early 1980s, having lost a dozen animators in a crippling walkout, the decision was made to throw untold amounts of money into a project that is now barely mentioned in the hallways of the House of Mouse, principally because the Black Cauldron only made half of that money back. 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of New Frame Plus

Disney's Robin Hood

[School of Movies 2016]

Robin Hood (1973) is 83 minutes of amusing shenanigans. It's twee, minimally dramatic, fun and light with lovable simple characters. It did not restore Disney to the heights of Snow White and Cinderella popularity it had previously reached. 

Originally we recorded a paltry ten minute chat about Disney's Robin Hood during our sessions with Daniel Floyd, because there really wasn't much to talk about aside from it being a pleasant experience. We decided to add to this with an in-depth discussion about the impact of this movie on a community that's been going far longer than any of us have been alive; the furries.

Since Sharon and I are not experts in this matter we brought in the ever-foxy Victoria Luna B. Grieve to explain how these folks tick in different ways, what media they love and some of the history, whilst dispelling a few prejudices along the way. 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Victoria Luna B. Grieve: @VixenVVitch 

101 Dalmatians / Sword in the Stone / Jungle Book / Aristocats

[School of Movies 2016]

The Disney shows return. Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits is back to talk us through the difficult 1960s period for Walt Disney Studios.
*101 Dalmatians
*The Sword in the Stone
*The Jungle Book
*The Aristocats
Animation was changing, cinema was being influenced by television and for some reason people really liked British writers. In this show we'll talk about where Disney went after their expensive Sleeping Beauty project failed to hit Snow White status, and the aftermath of Walt's passing.

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of New Frame Plus