[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]

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]

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