School of Movies

[School of Movies 2026]

This trio of double-bills are arranged across three distinct stages of Rocky's life. As a thirty-year-old Boy he was fighting to prove he could go the distance. Now, as the Man of the hour he has ascended way beyond all of us mere mortals to World Champion Superhero for two helpings of 1980s American excess that are quite differently flavoured from their humble 70s roots.

In III he meets Hulk Hogan and Mr T, loses his beloved mentor and has to find that role anew in his former opponent Apollo Creed. But then in IV the Cold War comes calling and while Creed battles in vain to prove America is better than The Soviet Union, it ultimately falls to Rocky to finish the fight and end historical global conflict by boxing really well.

For IV however, after Creed II was released and during Lockdown Stallone went back to new transfers sourced from the original negatives to reconstruct it as a more serious and focused effort that would fit better with the new movies as well as the older ones, giving Sharon and I a lot to talk about regarding how her original favourite changed, both for better and worse.

Still to come, the consequences of getting hit in the head over and over again, and a surprise favourite for the original six.

This week's After School Club: Shakespeare in Love (With an Upstart Crow)

Next week: Rocky V + Rocky Balboa

[School of Movies 2026]

Welcome to a saga of films spanning fifty years and being more about male vulnerability and the struggle for self-esteem than they actually are about boxing. They skirt the line between super-marketable, modestly-budgeted mass-appeal and heartfelt and very personal artistic expression.

We have long-promised the Rocky series, and finally we are able to cover them in a trio of double-bills spanning three stages of life for the lovable, tragicomic pugilist. We have also recorded on the two remaining Creed sequels, and those will be released as a final show (for now) next year.

Here we begin in Philadelphia, 1976 with a young, broke, unknown Silvester Stallone writing a piece about his struggle to gain work and recognition, utilising the analogy of a sports movie. Then after three years of uncertainty, can he, and Rocky prove that they weren't just one-hit wonders?

This week's After School Club: Shakespeare in Love (With Anonymous)

Next week: Rocky III + Rocky IV

[School of Movies 2026]

This was a commissioned show for Sarah Montgomery, though it is a film we have promised to cover for years and needed the right time. Turns out sandwiching it between Shakespeare and the Rocky Saga is appropriately ideal.

It was released the same year as The Empire Strikes Back and watching any one minute of it will convey to newcomers why this campy space opera could not possibly compete for the attention of an audience craving Star Wars. However, it still did well enough, especially in the UK where the many fans of Queen celebrated this, the first ever sci-fi blockbuster film underscored with rock music.

It has subsequently gained a cult following and a revival of interest when forgotten star Sam J. Jones turned up as a parody of himself in Seth McFarlane's two Ted films. His life story is in fact just as compelling as the tale of a simple quarterback opposing the cruel emperor of the universe; Ming (the Merciless)!

This week's After School Club: Hamnet

Next week: Rocky & Rocky II

[School of Movies 2026]

The final week of Shakestember brings us to a modern teen high school adaptation that far surpasses the dodgy original by an as-yet-unseasoned William, blushingly groping for a satirical take on misogyny in the sixteenth century and landing by accident upon dystopian horror with Taming of the Shrew.

10 Things was the debut of Heath Ledger, and is intensely fondly remembered, being the sweetly dry retreat for those who mourned his passing just nine short years later. It is also the most prominent early onscreen role for Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and David Krumholtz. This one was a favourite for us from the first word, but we found out things we never knew whilst exploring these hallowed hallways.

Our Shakespeare season may be ended here, but the Patreon bonus feed for the next few weeks will play host to a series of discussions on movies that explored the real life man, some heartbreaking, some hilarious and one utterly despicable!

Coming soon, we unexpectedly find ourselves training up to tackle the Rocky movies after years of putting them off. This next month will be our long-awaited, long-promised Rocktober!

This week's After School Club: Cutting Class on 10 Things

Next week: Flash Gordon (1980)

[School of Movies 2026]

For the third week of Shakestember, we move away from tragedy to comedy... except we don't really. By and large, scholars agree that the tragedies are actually funnier than the comedies, in principle, because the man writing them needed some real winning moments to help you invest emotionally, rather than heaping on doom and gloom (King Lear does that and we aren't fans). In other words, if he gives you a taste of the sweet, taking it away as bitterness descends feels more of a contrast, and sweeps you up in a more powerful feeling of loss.

Much Ado takes the beguiling form of a sexy, Tuscany holiday of a comedy, but Kenneth Branagh -in directing and starring- very overtly brings it down as we reach the halfway point, and some really serious and upsetting decisions are made. Some of the most memorable and cherished of his characters are in the memorable mix here, and Billy Shakes appears to be pronouncedly building upon and evolving his earlier works. This 1993 production is one of our favourites, so thank you to Matthew A. Seibert for commissioning it and effectively bringing this whole month-long project into being.

This week's After School Club: A Special Project

Next week: 10 Things I Hate About You