[School of Everything Else 2024] Our years-long journey through the DC Animated Universe comes to a close, and it is both melancholy as we say goodbye to Kevin Conroy and at the same time wildly enthusiastic for some of the very best episodes across all that we have watched. It is strange to think that we started this in 2020 when the DC movies at the cinema were on a high note: After years of the only success story being Batman, they had a billion-dollar hit with Aquaman, a cheerful adventure with the original Shazam!, we were moving past the embarrassments of Justice League and Suicide Squad ..read more

[School of Everything Else 2024] The DC Animated Universe marathon reaches its Avengers phase, as the established animated Batman and Superman from their own Animated Series' which had already crossed over, team up with Wally West's Flash (who had guested on Superman) John Stewart's Green Lantern (as opposed to the Kyle Raynor who guested on Superman) Diana Prince who should absolutely have gotten her own Wonder Woman: The Animated Series, J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter (not to be confused with the unrelated Manhunters from the later Green Lantern: the Animated Series, which takes place in ..read more

[School of Everything Else 2024] The conclusion (for now) to this series of shows on the triumphant return of Star Trek. Season 2 slaloms between unsettling and dark episodes which would feel more at home in Discovery if they weren't so personal to the characters in this rich ensemble... and some of the most hilarious, touching, light-hearted yet heart-breaking downtime episodes which highlight the comedy strengths and the charisma of everyone in the crew. It's bumpy, but so worth the journey. Kaoru's recommended episodes of the original 1966 series, AND the redheaded stepchild of Star Trek, t ..read more

[School of Movies 2024] Is this the last true swashbuckler of the 20th Century? It's certainly the Zorro movie so great, and so wildly successful in all of its aims that there hasn't really been a landmark big screen appearance since then (that wasn't the leading man playing a cat). Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones in their prime, and Anthony Hopkins delivering my personal favourite performance of his.  Here, in this commissioned episode, we go through every department, exploring the multitude of exceptional craftspeople, thespians, stunt coordinators, wardrobe heads, practical F ..read more

[School of Everything Else 2024] This is one of two commissioned podcasts on the first two seasons of the best Star Trek shows in decades. Refreshingly lacking in cynicism and tapping into the Kennedy-era energy of exploration and endeavour with a tight focus on character development, this one really is worth your time. We spend two and a half hours of spoilerific, textured discussion time really delving into these first ten episodes.  Kaoru's recommended episodes of the original 1966 series to watch for additional context... S1-11 & S1-12: The Menagerie S1-13: The Conscience of the K ..read more

[School of Everything Else 2024] This was originally going to be an After School Club episode, but a combination of the community discourse regarding the X-Men, and an extremely well-timed trailer drop for the '97 reboot, AND a horrendous cold that has ravaged Sharon and I, along with our timetable, we're making this a Main Event. If you're a little younger than us, you may well have been the exact right age and state of mind for this early-2000s animated series, which in many ways surpasses the much-vaunted '92 show. It is gratifyingly forward-facing, accepting that the Claremont era was thor ..read more

[School of Everything Else 2024] The infamous animated series with a theme tune you can hear just by looking at stills of it, finally gets a well-deserved podcast. We actually recorded this several years back, to coincide with the launch of the new X-Men '97 animated show on D+, and we're finally seeing images from that now. Whether it's good or bad, THIS ONE is worth watching, at least some choice episodes of. While often held up with the likes of Batman TAS, this one's strengths lie less in the flawless execution of those DCEU shows, and more in the goofy heart, wild Claremont-era stories an ..read more

[School of Everything Else 2024] We initially started watching this 2017 Paramount TV series just for some back-story context on a pair of commissioned podcasts we have upcoming on the first two seasons of the sister show about the crew of the Enterprise; 'Strange New Worlds'. As it turns out, after a rocky start, Discovery is really excellent in its own right and we wolfed down the first four seasons.  So, this is a largely spoiler-free round-table discussion on those seasons, to give you folks who haven't yet watched it incentive to maybe give it a go, along with details and character d ..read more

[School of Movies 2024] It's always a risk, setting a sci-fi dystopian movie only a few years from filming. You're going to make predictions about how the world might look and operate, with new technology or sociological and political upheaval within a time period so immediate that it's the difference between the launch of the Sony PlayStation and the PlayStation 2 But we are currently living in a dystopia increasingly left to the devices of the dumbest of AI, and many of us are wondering "How the hell did all this happen between the PS4 and PS5?". Plus, the writer/producer of this one warned ..read more

[School of Movies 2024] After decades of very patchy sequels and spinoffs to the 1987 sci-fi classic, Predator, we finally get one that is not only worthy of, but in many ways surpasses its stealthy action-beefcake-slasher source. So far we've had Predator 2 (1990), Alien vs. Predator (2004), Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), Predators (2010) and The Predator (2018). But this one takes note of there frequently being a woman of colour on the cast of the previous movies and this time put her front and centre, telling her story, rather than the grizzled guys she's babysitting. Relative unknown ..read more