Super in-depth analysis of movies (and occasionally TV, and video games). Hosted by veteran podcasters Alex & Sharon Shaw with different guests for round-table ...
[School of Movies 2025]
This is not a Horror movie (or rather, it qualifies enough for that genre in terms of certain expected tropes and elements, but that is not its mode of conduct, and for people expecting conventional Horror, there's a lot more there in its place).
That's what should have been on the poster and promotional artwork, and in the trailers, and threaded through the interviews and general marketing speak surrounding this film. Though doing so might have hurt its 25x multiplier as yet another Blumhouse success story.
That misdirection helped it THEN, in 2017, I'm thinking more about helping it NOW in the 2020s, when viewers who do not like Horror genre movies (in particular cruel slasher movies) would almost certainly steer clear of what is actually one of the freshest, funniest star features in recent years, spotlighting Jessica Rothe, an actress of insane range with serious comedic chops.
It is superficially Groundhog Day with a stalking masked killer, but concerns itself less with the gory specifics of womanslaughter and more with the mechanics of trying to get oneself out of a blackly comic and fatal time-loop, as what is built up around the character of college student Tree Gelbman is a much-needed break in her cycle of self-destruction.
And on our Patreon bonus feed this weekend we have a full-length episode on the 2019 sequel; Happy Death Day 2U which leans even harder into the sci-fi, actively forgetting it was pitched as a slasher (and thus only doing seven times its budget at the box office).
Guest
Jesse Ferguson @TheDapperDM
from the Recorded Tomorrow Podcast
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1:37:16
The Wizard of Oz
[School of Movies 2025]
One of history's abiding classics, and one of the oldest films we have ever covered on this show, the 1939 Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland is joined here with several key points of comparison to establish why it really hold up.
We've already recorded a whole episode on the dark, late sequel, Return to Oz (1985) though it does get mentioned here, as well as Jon M Chu's 2024 cinematic adaptation of the first act of the Wicked stage musical.
But we also invoke the original book, written by L. Frank Baum in 1900, reference the tumultuous filming process by MGM, the toll it took on Judy Garland, as seen in the 2019 biopic Judy. And finally we sing the praises of The Wiz (1978) a valiant effort to make this story relevant to black America. One thing is clear, this is the most I've ever enjoyed talking about Wizard of Oz, and a lot of that comes from having the ever-insightful Willow on as a guest.
Next week it's Happy Death Day (2017). You can listen without watching the movie but definitely make plans to see the movie! And we have a rather important announcement to make at the end of this one.
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1:50:56
Groundhog Day
[School of Movies 2025]
We’ve been holding this episode back for a special occasion and it seems like 2025 'The year of Joy' is the time to finally crack into one of the richest and most universally gratifying films in history. A hundred years from now, people will still be watching this film, It’s a Wonderful Life and The Shawshank Redemption.
Accompanying us in this time loop journey from mundane resentment to confusion, to panic, to exploitation, to emptiness, to the nadir of self-destruction, to the revelation of reflection, to the zenith of living to enrich the lives of others, and thus experience repletion is Jesse Ferguson. Jesse is one of the few guests we know who can comprehend the knottiest of time-travel conundrums whilst fully understanding that the story at the heart of what's being told is far more important than any speculative, temporal shenanigans.
Plus Bill Murray is a hoot, this is his best film, as well as being the finest offering from his friend and director Harold Ramis. It is endlessly memorable, profound, and touches upon a universality of shared experience. We are all alone, and we are all together.
Guest
Jesse Ferguson @TheDapperDM
from the Recorded Tomorrow Podcast
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1:53:23
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
[School of Movies 2025]
The first Dungeons & Dragons movie emerged in the year 2000, wildly underachieving in every department; characters, story, screenplay, costumes, technical proficiency, directorial flair, casting, scope, music, awareness of what it was adapting, sense of humour and dragons! All of these things were straight-to-video grade. It was, in effect the anti-Lord of the Rings, a year before that masterpiece-containing-masterpieces raised the bar impossibly high.
23 years later, on the 49th anniversary, Honour Among Thieves emerged to empty theatres for various reasons I will be going into in my opening monologue. Among other notions broached, there is an imperative upon us to redefine success.
And our packed adventuring party are all here to do just that, and gush about this hidden gem, this buried treasure that knocks it out of the park in all the departments named above. This is a special episode where we get to talk about exactly why Honour Among Thieves is precious, and the unseen, Lego Movie-style subtext of these events.
Guests:
Hollywoo Actress Maya Souris @Mayasantandrea
Victoria Luna B. Grieve: @VixenVVitch
Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnew of Make Me Watch It
Chris Finik @finmonster09
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2:35:47
The Muppet Movie
[School of Movies 2025]
In the name of joy, this year we are looking back across every Muppet movie we haven't yet covered, starting right here with the original 1979 film. For perspective, Jim Henson had made two successful TV shows up to this point, the well-known Muppet Show, which began in 1976 and was in the middle of its third season when this was being made, but before that, a weird series of little black and white skits called "Sam and Friends" which aired beginning in 1955.
We recruited Muppet experts Mackenzie and Nathan Eastram to delve into the story of how Henson and company got to this place, as well as extolling the copious virtues of this instantly melancholy little tale about fame and dreamers, and money-men, crammed with celebrity cameos, none of which your five year old will recognise. Some of which are legendary comedy figureheads of the 20th century that I had to look up, and I'm in my mid-40s!
Guests:
Mackenzie Eastram @KenziePhoenix of Rainbow Connection @MuppetsPod
Nathan Eastram @bertnerdtram These two are also part of DiceWeave @DiceWeavePod
Super in-depth analysis of movies (and occasionally TV, and video games). Hosted by veteran podcasters Alex & Sharon Shaw with different guests for round-table chats every week.