School of Movies

[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

[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.

[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. 

[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.

[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. 

 

[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. 

[School of Everything Else 2017]

This week, on commission from Nicholas Kosky and Joel Robinson, we cover the first season of the celebrated mid-90s animated series. 

Released in 1994, just a little after we were getting into sit-coms like Friends and Frasier, this show somehow attained a cult following AND a 52-episode second season. Those two things don't happen together very often. 

With us is longtime Gargoys aficionado Greg Bishansky to keep us in the know on all the background detail of the production. 

Next week: Stranger Things

[School of Movies 2017]

This is a big one, a DC movie that we not only don't hate, but actively love.
Wonder Woman is breaking all sorts of new ground and Gal Gadot looks set to be the next universally beloved big screen superhero, joining a fairly small group that includes Reeves as Superman, Maguire as Spider-Man, Downey Jnr. as Iron Man and Evans as Captain America.

To mark this occasion we assembled a dream team of Bob Chipman of Geek.com and Laura Kate Dale of letsplayvideogames.com

We spend two and a half hours discussing Diana's debut in solo form, highlighting the best aspects and touching on a few of the flaws. Largely though this is a celebration of a magnificent, empowering, inspiring experience.

[School of Movies 2017]

Back with Marvel for one of their best movies yet. We kick off with why this hit me like a freight train, right in the soul, and then move on to an extensive and tasty discussion about these wonderful characters, old and new. With us are Joshua Garrity of Cane and Rinse, Brendan Agnew of Cinapse.co and Jerome McIntosh of GameBurst. This episode, like the movie, is very special. 

We also kick off with a big announcement for not one but TWO brand new podcast feeds, which I've set up to make our back catalogue as accessible as possible to absolutely everyone.

So search your podcatcher app for

The School of Movies Archive: http://schoolofmoviesarchive.podbean.com/

 and

The School of Everyone Else Archive: http://schoolofeverythingelsearchive.podbean.com/

[School of Movies 2017]

This episode will be the deepest single Disney show we will ever do. It weighs in at just under four hours long, so I'd recommend absorbing it in two sessions, unless you have a long drive or a flight. But if you love the film you'll feel like you've died and gone to never-ending Lion Heaven!

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits joins us again to examine this magnificent beast of a film. Disney had taken a year off after Aladdin to develop their next two theatrical, animated projects, a sweeping Broadway musical melodrama, sure to go down in history as one of their greatest achievements (Pocahontas... it didn't) and a fun little movie about lions (which became known as one of their greatest achievements).

More than anything else, this movie made Bambi redundant for me. I never much gelled with the little dear, and while the death of his mother did have a shocking impact its repercussions were felt for all of 90 seconds. Lion King spends the rest of the movie either overtly avoiding confronting grief or stepping up to face it. The courageous subject matter, the beautiful animation, the majestic James Earl Jones, the amazing music and brilliant songs put this one at the highest peak for me.

This super special episode also includes the debut of the SteamHeart trailer.

Guests:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits