The School of Movies Archive

[Digital Drift 2014] This is the first of two of the toughest movies we have ever had to review. With so much love for at least the first two Raimi films out there and no real time to be without Spider-Man and start to miss him, this movie made by necessity, along with its sequel trod on a lot of people’s toes. There are folks out there who absolutely hate them, many of whom are people whose opini...

[Digital Drift 2014] This one has been even more long-awaited than the first two Spider-Man reviews, because while it’s fun to listen to great movies being praised and slightly less fun to hear about the flaws that either don’t bother you or will now bother you every time you see the movie, everybody loves hearing a film that disappointed the entire planet getting torn to shreds. As it turns out,...

[Digital Drift 2014] This is the second of our Spider-Man shows and since last week folks have been champing at the bit for more. We take that as a good sign, but again this even more beloved entry in the original trilogy still has issues that bother us.  Some weak key casting, spurious character motivation and occasionally baffling leaps in logic are all elements that most people don’t tend to no...

[Digital Drift 2014] For the first of our Spider-Man podcasts we travel back to 2002 and the film that not only started it all for the wall-crawler on the big screen, but arguably brought the superhero blockbuster to true legitimacy.  Now this has long been considered a sacred cow, not quite as sacred as its sequel which you slight at your peril, but widely understood to be a superb superhero movi...

[Digital Drift 2014] The second solo outing for Captain America has already proved immensely popular and we focus on what a strong, lean, politically charged action thriller it is. Far now from the Nazi-punching Indiana Jones style adventure of The First Avenger and separated from the volatile super team of which he had to make his mark as a significant member, this time Steve Rogers is left all a...

[Digital Drift 2014] To coincide with the release of the 2014 remake, we bring you this journey into the flesh & metal heart of the 1987 original.  We were planning to cover the trilogy but the sequel bored us more than expected and the third movie (aside from a lunatic robot ninja chap) didn’t even have the decency to be amusingly terrible. Also if there’s no through-story or the sequels don’t ev...

[Digital Gonzo 2010 / Digital Drift 2014] Welcome to the introductory episode of Digital Drift. With the first two volumes of my podcast, Digital Cowboys and Digital Gonzo now complete that makes this the 370th podcast episode I’ve put out. For the third volume I have recruited a new co-host to share the creative load; my wife, Sharon Shaw. She’ll be offering the show a second voice and a ton of p...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] Passed off as simply enjoyable dumb fun, and about nothing more besides enormous robots hitting big monsters, this movie proved to be absolutely perfect for the Gonzo style of analysis, being in fact deeply textured, nuanced and detailed. I am joined for this joyful exploration of the lovingly crafted world of Guillermo Del Toro. We hope we can redress the balance on this and...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] Back with Avengers Phase 2, we have the second film in the series. This time, freed of his origin and following the events of the Avengers crossover, Thor is off on a world-spanning adventure to prevent some dark elf or other from bringing the universe to darkness and blah blah blah.  The plot was surprisingly unimportant to the grander scheme of things. It’s just a series of...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] We have had a deluge of opinion on this movie, which itself has been rather divisive. Like Superman Returns, Man of Steel and Watchmen, Iron Man 3 provoked strong feeling from many people who were able to express them creatively in this ensemble piece. So this is another rather fascinating Dynamic Analysis, alternating essay material with round-table chat segments. See you in...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] This week we’re back busting ghosts and investigating paranormal disturbances of all kinds. The majority of the show is spent discussing Ghostbusters II, the 1989 sequel that despite studio pressure, editing strife, shifting release dates, unhappy cast and crew, lukewarm reception and relative obscurity still manages to not be a terrible follow-up to one of the greatest comedi...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] Welcome to the movie that started it all… for me anyway. Ghostbusters was the first trip to the cinema for me, aged four. In effect, considering our twelve inch, wooden, push-button telly, it was the first experience that made me understand what a film could be. And what a way to start a lifetime of being besotted with this medium. It has everything a young lad could want; eye...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] We chose Green lantern to kick this off because he’s the first proper DC hero to get a big screen movie since superheroes became a serious business who wasn’t the Kryptonian or the Bat. Also because we just finished watching the now-canceled Green Lantern: The Animated Series and defying all expectation it turned out to be my second-favourite animated show after Avatar. I do n...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] On this episode we continue the Ninja Turtles discussion through the 2003 show, the 2007 CG movie and the 2012 Nickelodeon CG show.  Two things become clear over the course of events. One is that despite being less popular now than at the height of early 90’s Turtle Power the output itself is getting better and better, the other is that on a long enough timeline without a full...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] This is the first of two podcasts for 2013 covering the first 29 years of Turtle history, from their monochrome single issue comic book published by Mirage Studios back in 1984 all the way up to the new Nickelodeon TV show in 2012. It’s hard to remember now for some of us who were there at the time but turtlemania was a thing and we shall remind you of it. For the younger list...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] Returning to the seemingly never-ending stream of Batman movies ripe for Gonzo review, we’re back to cover the two-part animated adaptation of one of the most celebrated and important graphic novels of all time. The movies are way better than the book and we’ll tell you why throughout this podcast. These are available on DVD and Blu Ray and the second part is better than the f...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] This was an interesting one to cover. I went into a round-table debate with 18 pages worth of written material (only a small portion of it actually penned by me) and the intention to integrate broadly contributed prepared content with on-the-hoof discussion. Everybody seemed to have an opinion on this movie and many of the same points were covered over and over and over again....

[Digital Gonzo 2013] Continuing our in-depth investigations into the most important big screen depictions of The Superman, this time we’re looking at the 2009 adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal graphic novel, Watchmen. It contains a being of supreme power and a frightened world on the verge of self-destruction. It is also a satirical sideways glance at the otherwise ordinary people...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] This is going to be a challenge for me. We’re looking at a film that is not loved, not even regularly liked. It’s been derided, dismissed and largely forgotten. It holds a meager 41% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and I’m in the unique position of thinking it’s great. REALLY great. Not only that, but it’s my favourite Superman film to date and that includes Man of Steel....

[Digital Gonzo 2013] I’m trying out a new format this week. Rather than the usual round-table discussion this is a series of audio articles on Superman and in particular the 2006 film Superman Returns. This is the perfect film to do this for because it’s hated by so many, liked by several, it opens up the archetypal hero for analysis in a way none of the earlier films did and it had an incredibly...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] This is the first of five podcasts covering the Superman movies. Rather than being slavish to format and giving a show each to every single one including the many animated choices out there I have devoted my attention to the most interesting and significant portrayals of The Superman in the past three and a half decades.  This episode covers all four of the Christopher Reeve f...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] This is principally a review of the 2009 film directed by J.J. Abrams. Now every podcast I have listened to covering this movie is largely negative, so if you want to hear something along those lines you have an ocean of choice available to you. My crew and I however, love the film for a multitude of reasons of which we will go into in great detail, not forgetting of course to...

[Digital Gonzo 2013] This podcast is several things at once. First and foremost it’s a review of the 2011 film; The Muppets. Although I have to be honest and say that what I tend to do on Gonzo goes somewhat beyond the term ‘review’. The search is now on for a word to accurately describe just what that is.  Secondly it’s a look back on Muppet history, The Muppet show and their precious six theatri...

[Digital Gonzo 2012] The board is set, the pieces are moving and the final battle for Middle-earth begins. In this episode we discuss the thankless task of expertly performing Denathor, Arwen’s ultimate decision and some of the shakier moments in the trilogy. This final film was the product of an insane amount of high pressure, respite-free work for Weta and it is testament to their brilliance tha...

[Digital Gonzo 2012] The middle of a trilogy is always going to be a tall order. You can’t start and you can’t stop. What you’re delivering is an *episode* and the best you can hope for is some great characterization and memorable events, broadening the scope of the world you’ve already introduced. The Two Towers, especially in its extended cut manages this and more. Things get tense as the battle...