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[School of Movies 2026] Because literally nobody demanded it, here is our Main Event show on the third of the Warner Animation Lego quartet, making it the final one we have not spoken of up to now. The Ninjago line began in 2011 as part of Lego's new approach at creating multimedia sub-franchises with purposefully limited lifespans. The plan was to put out a simply animated and fun kid's show which drew from Power Rangers and TMNT and tied in with a series of lavish playsets centring around this nonspecifically Asian mystical tech mythology. The plan was to close out within two years and move on to a new line called Chima about battling animal people. What they didn't expect was a passionate fanbase that pleaded with Lego to extend the show and toy line beyond Season 2. Ninjago is still wildly popular today, but in between then and now this movie emerged, scrapping all the established continuity in order to tell a tale accessable to all... about another Lego kid with a deadbeat Business Dad. However, while it's the least of the four there is still much to like about this visually-stunning and fast-paced adventure.

[School of Movies 2026] Grindhouse is a deliberate evocation of grotty late night movies at the most questionable and sticky of back-alley theatres in the 1980s. The kind of places you go if you wish to purchase a human kidney. Robert and his frequent colaborator Quentin Tarantino remember these dives fondly and wanted to bring us that feeling with an audacious double-bill of two authentic-feeling movies, Planet Terror and Death Proof, accompanied by trailers for films that did not exist (at least at the time, three of them were made for real afterwards). How did this bold experiment go for them? Here you can find out from a variety of angles, including a journey back to one of the first podcast episodes I ever recorded, as well as the direct response to the first time Sharon and I ever got to see the double-bill as intended and finally a culmination discussion regarding a very decisive re-edit of both films by me. Here is a turning point in the career of Robert Rodriguez, and here is where our Director Season will close out (though we are continuing with discussions on Alita: Battle Angel, Machete and Spy Kids 4 on the patreon After School Club bonus podcast feed for everyone who throws in five bucks or more a month).

[School of Movies 2026] Robert Rodriguez reaches his masterpiece. This film is truly magnificent as an adaptation of cinema to the aesthetics and hallmarks of this particular pitch black graphic novel series. It seems like every element combined in swift, smooth and effortlessly striking fashion as this sleazy, stark crime opera anthology drew on every skill Robert had learned over the 90s and somehow focused all of his haphazard digital work into one infinitely sharp point. The flourishes of colour and thundering automobiles hypnotising us like deer in the darkness of a snowy woodland road. It was also blessed with an astonishing cast; Mickey Rourke making a comeback that would lead him to The Wrestler (2008), Bruce Willis in one of his last great performances, Clive Owen at his snarling hungriest, Rosario Dawson setting the screen on fire, Benicio Del Toro as a powder-keg of entitled misogyny, Michael Clarke Duncan delivering a captivating Terminator-Bear hybrid, Rutger Hauer, Powers Booth and Nick Stahl as the most detestable richly-connected psychopath villains imaginable, and even little Elijah Wood chilling our blood by playing a sprightly cannibal who neither talks nor blinks. Bringing in Frank Miller himself and crediting him as co-director while humbly taking the mantle of the man who ‘Shoots and Cuts’, Robert was able to make this feel extraordinary in a way its imitators, including Zack Snyder's 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009), Frank Miller's own The Spirit (2008) and even Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For (2014) could not possibly match. And folks supporting us for five bucks on our Patreon bonus feed can, this coming weekend hear all about how that second film imploded.

[School of Movies 2026] The Robert Rodriguez series continues. After Desperado and then From Dusk till Dawn, Robert stayed in the Horror milieu and was shunted onto the Scream bandwagon by his regrettable Dimension Films keepers, the Weinsteins. Written by Kevin Williamson (who wrote Scream and recently directed the seventh in that undying franchise) this one brought a predatory serial killer vibe back to the high school, but with an alien infiltration plot from an earlier script. It's amazing that this one shaped up to be as likable and memorable as it did, and we put that down to Rodriguez and his enthusiastic direction, and the truly stellar cast of talented young people, including newcomer Josh Hartnett (who had only just finished Scream-aping Halloween H20, also from Dimension Films, also with a very familiar Marco Beltrami Score) Clea DuVall (who co-starred in lesbian cult favourite 'But I'm a Cheerleader' the next year), a pre-X-Men Famke Jansen, a pre-Furious Jordana Brewster, the always-fantastic Chris McDonald and Bebe Neuwirth, a T-1000-evoking Robert Patrick, a pre-Daily Show Jon Stewart and a pre-Fellowship Elija Wood. It's The Breakfast Club meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and it had all the cool kids shouting "F*ck you, t*tbags!" along with various other colourful turns of phrase in its dialogue.

[School of Movies 2024] NOTE: This episode was originally released two years prior to the Robert Rodriguez director season, in 2024's Cloon June. This was George's first significant lead part after over a decade of sheepish appearances in shonky Z-List horror and then two years of his breakout role in E.R. as eminently desirable paediatrician Doctor Ross. This is a firestorm of a counterpoint to that gentle healer, fugitive thief Seth Gecko is a deeply angry man, though he is a charming picnic next to his monstrous brother. This episode is also an intersection between two director-seasons we have in preparation, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Rarely has a collaborative movie been made that is such an appealingly riotous showcase of the distinct styles of two auteurs, whilst being humbly grimy, memorably quotable, and so very excited just to exist. WARNING: This movie is nasty, and we will be discussing sexual assault, extreme violence, florid language and Quentin being a weird creep.

[School of Movies 2026] Here we begin a Director Season on the films of Robert Rodriguez. This first show is kind of a roller coaster as we get to know his style, what makes Robert tick, and we chart his progress from absolute indie obscurity, making a film for almost nothing and garnering recognition on the festival circuit, charting that up through his awkward TV movie pitstop, until he hit actual popularity with genuine audiences with a sequel that is also a remake, and just happens to star Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek at the peak of their sizzling onscreen sexiness. After this came his collaboration with Quentin Tarantino, Four Rooms, From Dusk till Dawn and then the neo teen-Horror wave of the late 90s with The Faculty (coming next week). After this he began his slew of Spy Kids films, which appealed to a completely different audience. But we conclude with the third and final part of what became his "Mexico Trilogy", when Robert charged in on the wave of new film tech, both shooting and editing digitally. His career would change irrevocably at this point. 1. El Mariachi (1992) + Road Racers (1994) 2. Desperado (1995) 3. Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

[School of Movies 2026] A surprisingly personal and tender show, dealing with some difficult subject matter comes out of this criminally forgotten 1989 Ron Howard family comedy drama. It was a staple of my childhood and looking back, it seems like I took on board a great deal of the life lessons experienced by the amazing ensemble cast of the Buckman Megafamily, which include Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Diane Wiest, Rick Moranis, Harleyy Kozak, Tom Hulce, Martha Plimpton, Jason Robards and stellar performances from both a young Keanu Reeves and Joaquin Phoenix. Whether you're a parent yourself or not, you had someone appointed with the task of looking after you when you were a child, and whether they did a good, bad or mixed bag of a job, chances are you're going to find something in here to relate to. Definitely one to listen to when you can give it time to absorb, and my god, watch this movie!

[School of Everything Else 2026] This is the best thing Marvel have ever made out of X-Men. That is not hyperbole. Stack up every comic, every animated series, every video game and every movie, and only a handful even come close to this level of both crafted quality and ferocious realisation of evolved central themes. The original X-Men '92 show ran all the way up to September 1997 with the 76th episode "Graduation Day". The show had suddenly plummeted in quality after a really solid first four seasons when the budget was slashed and the animation switched to the lowest bidder studio possible. Marvel were broke and this was a sorry end to their flagship animated series which in the 90s was really only rivalled by Batman and Radioactive Spider-Man in terms of cultural footprint. That theme song lives in our head rent-free and the MCU have been teasing us with the jingle for years now. However, this follow-up series that requires no prior knowledge to appreciate, hit the ground sprinting with a voice cast that were a mix of the familiar and powerful new performers, stunning hand-drawn animation and an uncompromising, fearless confrontation of the world that hates and fears mutants, holding up a black mirror to our own. Guest: Chris Finik @finmonster09

[School of Everything Else 2026] This is a commissioned episode for Chris Finik, and Alejandra Vargas (both of whom guest on this show) as well as Sarah Montgomery and Self. The remnants of the shattered team at Telltale, seminal adventure game developers of the 2000s and 2010s return as AdHoc Studio with one of the very best of its type. The premise is simple enough, almost rote by today's standards; In a world of superpowered criminals private security firm SDN send out problem-solving metahumans. The A-Team are all Avengers-Level heroes that America can be proud of, but we don't get to interact with them. Instead, we as the weary Robert Robertson III, last in his family to wear the Mecha Man suit, have been tasked with coordinating the Z-Team, a bunch of grumpy, rude losers circling the drain and all on the cusp of being fired. What we do and say as Robert, the people we grow closer with, and the jobs we send them out to do will be the difference between a complete disaster and perhaps a group of friends who do something right for once in their wretched lives. It's fantastic! Guests: Alejandra Vargas Chris Finik

[School of Movies 2026] Finally, after twenty years of half-assed attempts (thirty if you count the Roger Corman production never intended to see the light of day) to bring Marvel's First Family to the big screen, they actually nailed it... mostly. First Steps delivers not just the Silver Age superheroes, but the era itself, in a gorgeous, memorable, hopeful vision of the Kennedy-Era 1960s (one where racism has been dealt with, and women don't struggle to be taken seriously). This alternate Earth of 828 is put in jeopardy when a version of Galactus (who isn't just a big angry CG cloud) comes calling. Setting aside a dedicated section to air our misgivings over two crucial factors, (wherein Sharon comes up with one subtle but significant story change that blows me away) this episode brings us closer to Doomsday, where these fantastic folks will play prominent roles.

[School of Everything Else 2026] It's not often we talk about audiodramas on here, the last one I recall that wasn't made by me was the phenomenal World War Z in 2011. THESE three were what I needed in order to care about Star Wars again. Scholar Ian Doescher published the first three (of what would expand to nine and beyond) in lovely hardback book form between 2013 and 2014 envisioning how The Star Wars Original Trilogy would have sounded had it been written by William Shakespeare. But the audio versions we had not listened to until recently, and we absolutely love them. On this show you will be transported to a galaxy far, far away, one dimension over from the version we're all familiar with, where Rebels and Imperials alike speak in iambic pentameter and soliloquise their innermost thoughts and motivations. It's funny as hell, often rather disarmingly touching and helps garner a fresh perspective on these immortal tales.

[School of Movies 2026] For this episode we were lucky enough to be able to bring in stand-up comedian and 18th Century history nut Jenny Zigrino. We gave Jenny free reign on the choice of movie to talk about and she went for her favourite; the story of the greatest composer who ever lived, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This masterpiece, directed by Milos Foreman and based on a 1979 stage play swept the Oscars in 1985 and if you've never had the pleasure you'll soon find out why. You can find Jenny's standup material easily on YouTube, and check out her website where she is currently fundraising for her next show: https://www.jennyzigrino.com/ It was an absolute pleasure to have her on. And for fans of irevenrent sexy alternate history I also showcase one of my own personal favourite projects, The Princess Thieves, the audiodrama of which can be found here: https://newcentury.bandcamp.com/ Guest: Jenny Zigrino

[School of Movies 2026] The 1994 film that ate The Shawshank Redemption's lunch, dinner, supper, breakfast and second-breakfast at the Oscars. A deeply polarising melodrama recounting several decades of American Boomer history, showcasing cutting-edge face-mapping technology that looked unintentionally unsettling even then, and laying down confused messages along the way. We attempt to read Gump fairly, consulting the direction the source book took, and taking into consideration Robert Zemekis' own views on the world, in particular focusing on the mostly-glimpsed journey of Forrest's running mate, Jenny.

[School of Movies 2026] One of the most passionately beloved movies of the 1990s, and indeed all of film history, it is peculiar that while you will meet people who haven't seen this film, you will never meet people who don't like it and gleefully tell you so. The fact that when Shawshank first emerged it was largely ignored or made fun of for having a convoluted name, and lost almost every award it was nominated for to Forrest Gump (coming next week) is remarkable in retrospect. It really only hit and became abidingly popular when it reached television screens. Perhaps the story itself does not suit being sat in a cinema with a lot of strangers feeling awkward and emotionally charged over this prison drama, and it in fact calls for a more intimate, quiet level of attention One thing is for sure, it made for one hell of a podcast, and we were lucky enough to get back Ryan Estrada, our man in South Korea who once again holds a deep connection with this very special movie: www.ryanestrada.com Guest: Ryan Estrada

[School of Movies 2026] Truman Burbank lives a charmed existance, residing on a little island town that is distinctly old fashioned and twee. In reality, Truman's every movement is being broadcast to the viewing planet, and has been since his infancy. But Truman is beginning to suspect something is up, and his unseen father figure Christoph (compellingly played by Ed Harris) is working hard to restore the show to its comforting routine. A surprisingly abiding dramatic sci-fi classic from the late 90s and one of Jim Carrey's finest (and least irritating) performances. This movie is somehow more relevant today in the era of parasocial fixation on people who broadcast their lives all day and night, than it was in the late 90s when this wasn't possible. And welcome back to the show, Ryan Estrada, our man in South Korea who has a special attachment to this multilayered film: www.ryanestrada.com Guest: Ryan Estrada Next Week: The Shawshank Redemption