Blockbuster Film School

This week the boys get a talk storm going about maybe the greatest actor ever known by one name. Eat that, Charro. It is the legendary Denzel!!!! Everybody has a Denzel movie they like, if they don’t they are aliens wearing human skin and you should tear their face off even if it gets you fired from being a co-host on Fox and Friends. Training Day is good. Denzel is handsome. Some people like Virtuosity, I guess. Jump in, the Blockbuster Film School is mighty fine!

So you’e decided to become a fancy pants movie person? Step one, listen to Blockbuster Film School tell you some sweet Criterion Collection picks which will make you cool. Step two, start ONLY WATCHING The Criterion Collection, wear a beret, and start referring to things as “ a lesser work." Step three, become the coolest kid in your screenwriting 2 class! But remember you gotta start by listening to the boys here at their Blockbustin movie schoolin!!! Cowabunga!

Oh the weather outside is weather. Locally it is winter at the Blockbuster Film School but you might be experiencing summer or stuck in a strange time dimension located behind your daughter’s bookcase. No matter where or when you are the Office Hours winter streaming picks will provide you with hours of entertainment and/or distractions while avoiding frostbite, Scarlett Fever, and Anne Hathaway. Sit back and pretend you can relax.

What’s the best way to appear completely over something while also flaunting how powerful you are? Sell it for billions of dollars then give away the loot. Being one of the most successful film producers while also one of the more divisive movie directors has garnered George Lucas uneven career highlights. He went from creating two of the most cherished cinematic worlds of all time with Star Wars and Indiana Jones to utterly destroying them *repeatedly* to being celebrated for threatening to crush someone else’s franchise like a bug. Even by the end of the recording we weren’t exactly sure to feel. There is one thing we definitely do know: Blockbuster Film School does not want to be contacted by George Lucas’ lawyers so everything heard within is a joke. Except that we hate sand; that bit’s true.

Caped Crusader. Dark Knight. Jennifer Garner’s husband. He may have lots of monikers but there is only one name that criminals fear when the sun goes down: Alfred. No, crap; we meant Batman. Listen as we run down the entire Batman catalog from comic books and groovy 60s TV show to Tim Burton & Sir Michael Keaton giving birth to modern superhero films swiftly followed by every other franchise director murdering it in the street. Oh D.C. Comics, when will you stop? No, seriously, when? Jiminy jillickers, it’s Blockbuster Film School.

There is a scene in Sonic the Hedgehog - yes, the Sonic movie is better than it ever deserved to be and we all have to deal with it- where Sonic’s entire life is shattered and he must pick the pieces. That’s how everyday in 2020 felt. Luckily, as always, there were movies. We at Office Hours picked some of our favorite films that debuted this year in cinemas, on streaming, and by hacking Christopher Nolan’s computer to see his director’s cut of Tenet. Spoilers: it’s even more confusing. You survived the longest year of your life. Relax for a moment, take a deep breath, and get ready for Blockbuster Film School...to talk at length about Sonic the Hedgehog. Don’t judge us without seeing it !

Nicole Kidman is not like the others, sure is she a super tall attractive alien from Australia? Yes. But is she also one of the best award winning actors in the world? You know it. Also, she married to a 4 foot tall king of Scientology and a country music star and was friends with Kubrick. Also, Australia sucks, not the country, just the movie. Alex ad Nick are gonna talk about it.

The best part of being a multi talented artist is that when one skill fades away the rest get stronger. Rather than going blind and hearing better as a result, John Carpenter directed John Carpenter’s Vampires and then went on tour with his band. In Carpenter part two we discuss the rapid decline of his films that lead to him making a Chevy Chase comedy. Blockbuster Film School traveled to the bottom of that sinkhole because we know you just can’t keep a good ghoul down. They just pick up a synthesizer and grow their skullet longer. Tsunami, John Carpenter, tsunami.

They said the power of the skullet could never really be harnessed, that it was too dangerous, that the synth chords it created would be too spooky and that the action horror movies it could unleash would be too amazing for mortal men. They would be half right. Young John carpenter and his spooky sexy, movies along with his killer scores, wild casting, mayhem special effects, and smart ass dialogue is still rattling around in the heads of anyone who ever encounters it. And like all great filmmakers this will last forever. Put on your eyepatch and get your blowtorch, Alex and Nick are your ancient sorcerer guides through the lands of John Carpenter

Hard to believe but there was a time when a person wearing another person’s face while wielding a chainsaw was not a normal part of cinema. Did you know that slasher movie tropes had to be invented? Are you aware Richard Dreyfus used to be both young and handsome?! Don’t worry your worried little head: Blockbuster Film School is here to teach you the blueprints of the modern age with 70s horror. Your favorite directors were young and everything was fresh but Donald Pleasance was already old. That worked for him though. Get your ears ready; you’re gonna need bigger speakers.