School of Movies

[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

[School of Movies 2026]

For the second week of Shakestember, now having talked about a dozen cinematic adaptations we look at his most widely-recognised gateway movie for teenagers. Thirty years old this year, Baz Luhrman's hyperkinetic modern reimagining for the MTV generation garnered sniffy responses from the critics, but this 1996 film has stood the test of time and remains memorable and most of all useful, long after the more critically lauded and financially successful Shakespeare in Love (1998) bagged its awards.

This is the one that contemporary teachers can wheel out in order to get schoolkids even remotely interested in this four-centuries-old body of work, and because of its hypnotic production design, costuming and music, it has not dated anywhere near as much as some of the stuffier, respected theatrical productions.

I loved this film immediately, having studied the play at school just a year or so before, and memorised every scene. Going back to it is like a blast of clear, fresh water washing over you, leaving you trembling.

This week's After School Club: The Dark Tower (Part II)

Next week: Much Ado About Nothing