The School of Movies Archive

[School of Movies 2019]

"Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold"... No wait, 

"There can only be one!" 

A good question would of course then be "Why was there more than one?" Because the answer certainly isn't "Money!"

The original Highlander is a sci-fi fantasy that awkwardly mashes together slightly-too-serious delivery with crazy camp ostentatiousness and a kickass Queen soundtrack. Nowhere near enough people have seen it, and we want to help remedy that.  

Back in 2016 we recorded a pair of shows on Highlander which sat in raw form for three years, waiting to be released. Recently, when I began the edit I found myself disappointed by the general lack of energy and meandering nature of the show on the first film (mainly down to me rushing everyone through a running synopsis) yet my guests still said some fascinating things.  

So a week ago I brought them back for a gathering and we did a show on Highlander again. This time for the edit I seamlessly interwove the best bits of the old show with the main body of the new version. Next week you'll get to hear our 2016 episode on Highlander II: The Quickening, which was much more on-point because that film is utterly bananas. 

Guests:

Nikki Taylor of TheKidDogg 

Jesse Ferguson of Recorded Tomorrow 

[School of Movies 2016]

We're back talking about Disney and we've jumped from their 21st animated classic all the way to the 55th.

[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.

[School of Movies 2017]

A commissioned show from Joel Robinson, this is the first of the LAIKA studio movies. 

Written by Neil Gaiman of Sandman fame, Coraline is the story of a girl dissatisfied with her boring parents and finding her way into a strange pocket universe, and a mirror of her new house, itself containing a woman who claims to be her "Other Mother".

This film has, what I like to call a "Twisted sumptuousness", and Sharon and I delve into the many details hidden throughout.

Also we haven't seen most of the rest of the cast in the interim years either, but that's what happens when you throw 22% of your budget ($17 million) at one actor and find yourself short on what is obviously an ensemble film. This also serves as a weirdly specific prototype for Marvel's Avengers movie which came out nine years later in 2012. 

So join us for ourr 199th movie covered as we go on a voyage with these men who aren't very extraoriary, certainly not gentle and the best of their number is a woman (notably the only person in the film without a Y-chromasome.) 

A little-seen animated film from 2014, produced by Guillermo del Toro, directed by Jorge Gutierrez, the man behind the award-winning show El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. This is a celebration of mexican culture, centred around the Day of the Dead, and the Lands of the Remembered and the Forgotten, as much about life as it is about death, and dealing with ancient gods making wagers with one another over the actions of humans. 

Masquerading as a cute, colourful, hyperactive, kid's movie, this in fact has more in common with the work of LAIKA, and slowly, over time, introduces more and more texture and personal touches from its creators who strove to make the art match their beautiful concept work. 

A commission by Abel Savard, who encouraged us with his supporting of this episode to dig deeper and find something really rather wonderful. 

[School of Movies 2017]

A commissioned show, but for a film we adore. The only reason it's taken us this long is that L.A. Confidential is as rich and complex and powerful as a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle's Buffalo Trace Bourbon, and frankly... it was intimidating. 

It's a beautifully crafted film noir from 1997 which pretty much sets the bar for the genre from this point on, blending the best elements of the classics with contemporary filmmaking sensibilities, focusing on defying character expectations and showcasing physically expressive acting. 

Featuring career high performances from Russel Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, James Cromwell and David Strathairn, a darkly crooning score by Jerry Goldsmith, and an endlessly quotable script from Brian Helgeland, adapted from the novel by James Elroy.

It's the finest film Curtis Hanson ever made and the fact that Titanic gobbled up all the Oscars for that year is nothing short of a travesty (and I REALLY like Titanic!). 

Enjoy, and especially enjoy the toe-tapping jazz soundtrack. 

[School of Movies 2017]

Truly a work of classic British animation, less know outside this island, but a tale of rabbit society in Rural England, just waiting to be discovered.

OR

A horribly misjudged, mercilessly brutal, relentless, casually sadistic massacre of rabbit-kind, made by aloof Brits who don't understand story structure from a source novel thrown together by a man who hates the idea of anyone finding allegory in his work. And a film responsible for irresponsibly traumatising a generation.

You decide... with our help.

A commissioned show sponsored by Jamas Enright.

[School of Movies 2017]

This one was an unexpected commission and pushed us well out of our comfort zone. It's an obscure little indie film about being isolated from civilisation, and it has a couple of particularly... provocative ways of illustrating that point.

Many thanks to Dan Mayer for getting this episode made, because I can ASSURE you that without his backing it absolutely would never have happened.

So for better or worse, here's what Sharon and I think of Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe in the movie Swiss Army Man.

Next week, make sure you get hold of a copy of L.A. Confidential in the highest resolution possible. It's an amazing film and you don't want it spoiled before watching. 

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