School of Movies

[School of Movies 2026] I did not expect to be proudest of this third show on the Pirates Trilogy. While the first was spent delving into the rich details of the many factors that made it a classic as well as an instant success (the two are not always the same thing) and the second was spent finding where the good movie was, hidden between the hindrances of pacing and focus issues. But this third one was revalatory. At World's End always frustrated me deeply, by amplifying all of the problems of the previous two, delivering convolution and dropped threads at the point when things need to be at their most emotionally clear, and drowning the climax in a maelstrom of crowd-pleasing VFX. But through this episode and talking with Sharon, Maya and Brendan I was able to actually find the meaning in this ending that the filmmakers either through lack of preparation or lack of courage to deliver a tragedy with the most expensive film ever (hey, it worked out for Titanic) told a story about the passing of an age without an ending. There is no end to a world where there's always more booty to be had. Alex's Audiodrama: Panther Soul on Bandcamp Maya's Book: Realm of Kings on Amazon Guests: Hollywoo Actress  Maya Souris @Mayasantandrea Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnew of Make Me Watch It This week's After School Club: The Lone Ranger Next week: Predator Badlands

[School of Movies 2026] The original trio of Gore Verbinski Pirates films have become sacred cows to millennial movie commentators on YouTube, spoken of in hushed tones alongside the likes of The Prequel Trilogy and Shrek. Back when I was in my twenties, I absolutely loved that first one and had a great time at the second, it was only the third (one of the first films we reviewed in the early days of Digital Cowboys) that threw me for a loop. What we've done here, following our effusive 2025 show on Curse of the Black Pearl is reconvene with Maya and Brendan, and in some cases go back for only a second viewing of that second movie, to watch with contemporary eyes that have seen a thousand VFX extravaganzas in the two decades since. This was a mammoth undertaking for the filmmakers, and in this week's show and next week's we zero in on where the film's strengths are still seaworthy, and where they sink like a stone. Alex's Audiodrama: Panther Soul on Bandcamp Maya's Book: Realm of Kings on Amazon Guests: Hollywoo Actress  Maya Souris @Mayasantandrea Brenden Agnew @BLCAgnew of Make Me Watch It This week's After School Club: Cutthroat Island Next week: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

[School of Everything Else 2026] This is a commissioned show for AJ. We recorded it several months ago, but banked it until the long-awaited release of Christopher Nolan's Odyssey. It is an independent, serialised concept musical, released across nine digital EPs from December 2022 through to December 2024 by Jorge Rivera-Herrans (who also plays Odysseus, amongst others). And this took a certain portion of the Internet by storm, garnering fan projects to animate each of the songs, all of which you can find assembled here in one 2h 22m work of collaborative passion made on one iota the budget of Nolan's IMAX titan. Willow showed this to us on Christmas day and the music and handling of the many characters really stuck with us. This is the most excited I've been about a musical since Hamilton and the original Moana. Statistically, almost none of you have heard this, so we specifically crafted this show to introduce what Jorge and company achieved here and hopefully get a bunch of new people with these catchy-ass songs bouncing round their heads. This is DreamWorks' Prince of Egypt and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas to Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods & Kings and his Robin Hood. This week's After School Club: Ulysses 31 Next week: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

[School of Movies 2026] Following on from the sunny and heartfelt success of James Gunn's 2025 Superman we have the scrappy follow-up by Craig Gillespie, detailing the lifestyle of Kal-El's cousin. Gillespie most likely got the job after two filmic accomplishments in spotlighting grubby, depressed punk girls who nobody likes except the audience; I, Tonya and Cruella. Sharon and I went all out on this, reading the source book, 'Woman of Tomorrow' by Tom King & Bilquis Evely, which itself draws structural and thematic inspiration from specifically the Coen Brothers adaptation of True Grit by Charles Portis. What we are able to do is outline clearly where the film differs from the book and where the book differs from both film and original book to create this turducken of revenge. This episode is totally worth listening to, even if you haven't seen this box office bomb that everyone we talk to seems to like and everyone we don't know personally seems to despise. This week's After School Club: Aquaman 2: The Lost City Next week: EPIC: The Musical

[School of Movies 2026] After the 2022 failure ($226m on a $200m budget) of Lightyear to succesfully spin-off from the main Toy Story franchise (and we did a show about that at the time), they went back to the billion-dollar well that is the direct link to so many warm feelings across multiple generations. And here they finally tackle the issue of tech, tablets (and the strangely absent phones and even video games) and their role in drawing modern children's attention away from their traditional toys. This felt like it was a long time coming and (especially after covering WALL-E for MA.I.) I had built up in my head a hard-hitting critique of not only losing our kids to glowing screens, but losing ourselves. And from the glowing critical acclaim this has received across the board (92% freshness and 95% audience score) I appear to be wildly out of step with contemporary critics and cinemagoers. I have... some things to say. This week's After School Club: Toy Story Shorts Next week: Supergirl (2026)

[School of Movies 2026] Back in 2011, early in my podcasting career I recorded three shows with Daniel Floyd on what seemed at the time to be a now-completed very rare example of a Perfect Trilogy. Even legendary grump Mark Kermode remarked on how neither Star Wars nor The Godfather could pull that off. And to a degree that Trilogy became enshrined in the eyes of many millennials who grew up alongside Andy. Many years have gone by, and what was always a temptation was breaking that world back open and making more movies at the potential cost of outraging Disney fans (something that seems easier each year, despite making billions from mediocre remakes and sequels). The artists and creators at Pixar maintained that this would only go ahead if there was a phenomenally good hook for the story, and in 2019 they presented us with this. This is the first time Sharon gets to talk about Toy Story, as she wasn't the host back then. This one wound up being her favourite of the first four! This week's After School Club: Blacksad Next Week: Toy Story 5

[Digital Gonzo 2011] The third and final of this short series of archival re-releases, this time dealing with what we thought at the time was the last ever Toy Story film. An ending that moved the world to tears and became not only the highest earning Pixar film at the time, but the first animated film to break a billion. It also repositioned who the toys were and who Andy was. Now, suddenly grown-up, this young man was going off to start the rest of his life. The day Woody has always dreaded. Now all these questions about what to do start slamming home, and his responsibility to the others become so much more important. It's gripping and funny as hell and occasionally disturbing (Buzz takes to being a jackbooted thug way too easily when reset). And in the end it is intensely meloncholy as we are presented with the vibrant spring green of Bonnie and her fresh imagination, making for one of the most memorable, powerful and bittersweet closing scenes in cinema history. Once again, thank you so much to Dan for gamely joining me for all these and never once getting irked when I interrupted him. He's always got a friend in me.  Guests Daniel Floyd of New Frame Plus

[Digital Gonzo 2011] Another archival show from my early days, but one that is good enough to be re-released without re-editing. Toy Story 2 was originally begun as a straight-to-VHS sequel, and then-CEO of Disney Michael Eisner was fine with it being done in cheap, 2D animation, similar to Aladdin II: The Return of Jafar, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II and of course the unforgettable (and tasteful) Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World. Pixar undertook the challenge of making this themselves and at a certain point mid-way through production proposed that it be a full theatrical release with a higher budget. The result is still many people's favourite of the series, bringing in complexity and serious decisions for toys that fear for their own existance.  Once again Daniel and I, (here accompanied by Nikki Taylor) delved into the making and execution of this evolving elaboration, which in so many ways represents what Pixar at its best could reach for.  Guests Daniel Floyd of New Frame Plus Nikki Taylor of GameBurst

[Digital Gonzo 2011] This is an archival re-release from my early days of solo podcasting with weekly guests. It is a rare example from that era that doesn't need a revisit or re-edit. I'm proud of how much Dan and I brought to the table, though I am even more disappointed in retrospect of how much adulation I heap upon John Lasseter. His mantra of 'Quality is the best business plan" has always been hugely influential on me, and he has been a key figure in creating and spotlighting some of the greatest animated films of all time... he's also a testament to why having real life heroes is a minefield. Toy Story 1 absolutely holds up, more than three decades later. The elegance and joyful momentum carry it to the stars, and it is an absolutely key Rosetta Stone from which modern animated movies draw their inspiration.  Guests Daniel Floyd of New Frame Plus

[School of Movies 2026] This is a fun one. Statistically speaking if you're under the age of 45 you didn't go and see this summer blockbuster funded by Amazon. When you think about it, this probably should have been made in the late 2000s, just after Michael Bay's immensely successful Transformers, and notably around the time they started planning the movie anyway. Instead it has taken another twenty years to hit the big screen and now faces relevance to only late Gen Xers like Sharon and I. The film, directed by Bumblebee and Kubo second-stringer Travis Knight is an enjoyable MESS! It does have heart, and an adorable softboy lead who seems to have understood the assignment. It's a higgledy-piggledy remix of all four Thor movies, with traces of sixteen unfinished scripts floating around, and yet somehow Jared Leto manages to be entertaining for once in his life. Sharon is our audience surrogate as I take you all by the hand and lead you through Eternia. This is one to listen to, even (especially) if you haven't seen it. This week's After School Club: Masters of the Universe: Revolution (2024) Next Week: Toy Story 4 & 5

[School of Movies 2026] The first Star Wars movie released in cinemas after seven long years since The Rise of Skywalker. It's a crowd-pleaser, a simple, space western from the director of Cowboys & Aliens, Zathura and Iron Man 1 & 2. And not a lot of people showed up for it, which feels like a damn shame, since just the experience of being sat there with the Ludwig Göransson score blasting through a sound system that costs a hundred times what most of us have in our living room was quite extraordinary. There's also something to be said for the miraculous creations we get to see blown up to proportions suited to IMAX, from the gestalt entity of Mando himself, to the pugilist son of Jabba the Hutt, and most especially the special little green gremlin who we get to spend some unexpectedly intense close time with. This film has been easy to dismiss, but there's more to it than the homogenisation of Disney Plus affords us. This week's After School Club: Happy Birthday to Me (1981) Next Week: Masters of the Universe (2026)

[School of Everything Else 2026] Kicking off our Summer Blockbuster Season, before we get to the first theatrically released Star Wars movie in seven years we need to bring you folks up to speed on where The Mandalorian & Grogu have been since Season One. This is two back-to-back episodes previously on After School Club talking about The Mandalorian Season Two and The Book of Boba Fett (which I contend should have been The Mandalorian Season Three). What I managed to edit together here and talk about extensively is three movie edits, which revolutionised how much I appreciate these two shows. And you folks can somewhat recreate the experience I'm describing here if you watch the following episodes... Once Upon a Time in a Galaxy Far, Far Away... PART 1 (Mando S2 - E1: The marshal / E5: The Jedi / E6: The Tragedy / E7: The Believer and E8: The Rescue) Son of the Sand (Book of Boba Fett - E1: Stranger in a Strange Land / E2: The Tribes of Tatooine / E3: The Streets of Mos Espa / E4: The Gathering Storm) Once Upon a Time in a Galaxy Far, Far Away... PART 2 (Book of Boba Fett - E5: The Return of the Mandalorian / E6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger / E7: In the Name of Honor) Playlist of my YouTube Star Wars videos, including multiple editing and music flourishes detailed in this show. This week's After School Club: Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Next Week: The Mandalorian & Grogu

[School of Movies 2026] As we perform a shutdown on MA.I. with a rousing singalong of 'Daisy Bell', we get to one of the least-seen-yet-best of the whole bunch. 2025s Companion seems to have had a hard time really hooking audiences in. "What, it's about a killer robot or something, but she looks like a cute girl." No, that's M.3.G.A.N. and that little brat poisoned the well for this absolute beauty, TWICE with her TikTok dancing and nothing below the surface! Companion is following in the eerily perfect footsteps of The Stepford Wives (the savagely satirical 1975 original, not the embarrassing Nicole Kidman remake). It's about autonomy and escape from exploitation. It's hilarious and inventive and touchingly sad, and frightening and exhilarating, visually striking, and Sophie Thatcher -especially following her turn in Heretic (2024)- is absolutely one to watch in modern-day thrillers. We take you through the film scene by scene, knowing full well that very few of you will have seen it. So we suggest you listen along until you're desperate to watch it for yourself and find out how it ends.

[School of Movies 2026] The main event Electric State episode was recorded at the start of the year with Willow, a powder-keg, ready to go thermonuclear. We decided to include it in MA.I. as it is absolutely thematically relevent. What we have here is an adaptation of a haunting 2018 art book by Simon Stålenhag depicting an alternate 1997 where mankind has slowly descended into an advertising-plastered corporate Matrix. A teenage girl and her robot companion travel America while she recounts their story in dreamlike prose, accompanied by unsettling imagery of people who have become trapped in Virtual reality while mechanical behemoths stalk the land. The 2025 Netflix version is the most repugnant, empty $320m blockbuster bastardisation of elegant art we have ever seen, and it is all the worse coming from directors the Russo Brothers, Marcus & McFeely, the superstar writing team that made the MCU great, the legendary Alan Silvestri composing, even Jeffrey Ford, the editor of Captain America: The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier and Civil War and Iron Man 3, AND The Avengers, and Age of Ultron and Infinity War and Endgame. Basically almost everyone at the top of the production team is coming back for Doomsday and Secret Wars. What the hell happened? Following that nightmare we have Ron's Gone Wrong, a much more compassionate little 2021 animated movie about another kid with another robot, but this one takes the opposite approach of highlighting how frighteningly easy it is to become trapped by 24/7 performative self-presentation on Social Media. Nowhere near enough people saw it, and we're hoping to get a few of you to change that. By that same token, absolutely everyone is advised to watch the criminally underseen gem that concludes MA.I. next week... Companion. The Curious Archive video: The Breathtaking Horror of The Electric State There is a much better adaptation of Stålenhag's art that we are currently watching; a streaming monoseries named Tales from the Loop (2020). It is quiet and unsettling and patient.  This weekend's After School Club: Upgrade & I Am Mother And Next Week's Main Event again: Companion

[School of Movies 2026] MA.I. continues, and here we're getting into relationships between humans and Artificial Intelligence with two stories about two lonely men who find an intense connection with a computer lady and have to live with the consequences. Alex Garland's Ex Machina (2014) explores the cold province of a Tech billionaire genius who wants to cerate a robot woman so convincing that men cannot tell the difference. Spike Jonze's HER (2013) brings us to an alternate reality where everything seems to be going okay with the world, it's a cosy and warm, comfortable and intelligent place to be... and yet we're still isolated from one another, still frustrated and looking for someone, unable to let go of our past mistakes. Then a company launches Operating Systems that will help us with our daily organisation, but also happen to be personable and inquisitive. This might actually not end in disaster... We conclude with a bone-chilling look at a real life lady who is obsessed with her real life A.I. chatbot. You will wish you lived in the Spike Jonze reality. This weekend's After School Club: Short Circuit 1 & 2 and D.A.R.Y.L. And Next Week's Main Event: The Electric State & Ron's Gone Wrong

[School of Movies 2026] Our month of movies about A.I. continues, this time with something everybody loves. And WALL-E is in fact pulling double duty on this one, because we get a heartwarming story about robots who fall in love despite their differing classes and stations, and having to defy their employees in order to not only be happy but bring Earth back to life again... AND we get an unexpected sledgehammer of a glimpse into the future from 2008. It was as though Andrew Stanton and Pixar saw how easily Social Media would take hold of us as a species, and cater to our every dopamine whim in order to keep our attention, as we sacrificed everything about ourselves for the sake of convenience, including but not limited to complacency over ecological disaster. This movie is a masterpiece, and has become chillingly, shockingly more relevent with every year. This Week's After School Club: Weird Science Next Week's Main Event: Ex-Machina & HER

[School of Movies 2026] This is the beginning of a month-long project on films exploring humanity's relationship with Artificial Intelligence. We will take you from early estimations that veer between cautionary tales and deluded fantasies about what computers could do in the 80s through to robotics and the potential for a soul inside of a machine, and onward to the effect of Social Media and algorythimic learning upon unprepared 21st Century phone-owners. Some of the films are terrible, some are stupid, some are intriguing and a few are brilliant! Welcome to MA.I. We begin with cold war paranoia and the pitfalls of handing over total control of our nuclear arsenals to unstable mechanical systems with WarGames from 1983 and Colossus: The Forbin Project from 1970. After that, a film that presents the world's first digital actor with S1M0NE, although as you'll find out, this isn't simply the recent Hollywood anxiety over artificial people being given work over real ones, this nightmare is so much worse! Next Week: WALL-E