Ep. 50 - The School For Good and Evil (2022)

[00:00:00] We'll say catch me!

[00:00:02] That got me!

[00:00:04] I'm all done getting on that map.

[00:00:08] Let's go!

[00:00:09] Let's go!

[00:00:10] Get out!

[00:00:11] Don't get any ideas, Mr. Blythe.

[00:00:14] Please don't take us.

[00:00:16] No, no.

[00:00:17] Please don't take us to the team.

[00:00:19] We can do whatever we want.

[00:00:22] Nothing matters.

[00:00:24] Hello and welcome to episode 50 of The Complete Works Season 3, So there are some caps absolutely. It's understandable why it's only 50 movies at this point. But yeah, it is kind of crazy to feel this season winding down so much faster than previous seasons of the podcast. Yeah. And remember that one time that we were like, we're going to record episodes ahead. We did for like a month and then we blew through those immediately. So that's crazy to think about.

[00:01:42] I was going to say it's not even a full year for Goldbloom. It's called They Shot the Piano Player. That's a Jeff Goldbloom title. It's just a fake biopic about it. Yeah. Well, so it's actually a studio level like a, no, I don't think a major studio is bankroll in this one. Yeah, it's like a second. Hold on. But like, what if though, you know? Which one was friend of the show EJ Super Into? Ooh, I think it was Tibergion. I think he hate red Tibergion. Like he was into it, but didn't want to admit he was into it maybe.

[00:05:41] Yeah, like a hate, curiosity thing.

[00:05:43] I remember that when those movies came out

[00:05:45] he was like, I guess I have to go see these.

[00:05:47] Like he was all bad coming to an end. There's one moment that I always like to point to as the end point of the YA movie adaptations, and that is the last Divergent movie, Mike. So that movie was intended to be split into two parts. I don't know if you remember this when this was happening.

[00:07:02] I had my finger on the...

[00:07:03] No, of course I don't know.

[00:08:21] I'll watch it at home for free.

[00:08:23] Yeah, that might be how I do it.

[00:08:25] I don't know.

[00:08:26] Were you a Hunger Games fan at all, Mike?

[00:08:27] Not really.

[00:08:28] I never read any the Twilight books, but I have now seen all of the Twilight movies, thanks to my girlfriend, who made me watch all of them. And we watched them all at home and I was like, I don't like these.

[00:09:40] Yeah.

[00:09:41] And then last year at the Roxy Theater at the end of the dinner my house in New Zealand,

[00:09:45] Montana, for five months straight, once a month, actually Battle Royale did it. Excuse me, Battle Royale. You say you were an asshole, but the thing is Battle Royale. Pretty kick ass. I just watched it again like two weeks ago. It's on criteria channel now, right? Yeah, that's where I watched it. Yeah. In the high school horror collection. Great movie. Great movie. Hadn't seen it really. That's famously amongst our friends and producer Colin.

[00:11:01] I tried to pirate that movie a couple times.

[00:11:05] And so we could all watch it and failed and gave up and went to So, Mon Chainani, the book's author, was hired to co-write the film's screenplay, which was finished in 2015, and then nothing happened. Classic. And I have to imagine the waning success of the YA genre maybe had something to do with that, maybe even that diversion example specifically where part one bombed the box office. Yeah.

[00:12:20] And so it languished in development hell.

[00:12:22] But then in 2017, which become the stories.

[00:13:43] That change the world. Is there a best friend. Evil is controlling you.

[00:15:01] I like the new rule. reasons unrelated to the actual musical itself recently. Classic. But she plays Sophie, she wants to be a princess, but is mistakenly sent to the school for evil. Then you have Sophia Wiley, both named Sophia. Sophia Wiley. And one of the characters is Sophie. It was very confusing looking at this cast list. Sophia Wiley, who is best known for high school musical,

[00:16:21] the musical of the series on Disney Plus,

[00:16:23] she plays Agatha, who didn't want to go to either school,

[00:16:26] but is sent to the narrator for the film. Also funny thinking about it, like the Oscar race this year was between Kate Blanchett and Michelle Yeo for two different movies. And here they are in the same film. Both in tiny roles. Yes, Yeo barely on screen, Kate Blanchett a voice role in the film.

[00:17:40] Also, we have a couple of last Christmas reunions here, Mike.

[00:17:44] Hit me.

[00:17:45] You got Peter Sarah Fenowitz.

[00:17:46] He plays Yuba, yeah, truly. Black Adam opened this weekend in 2022. The other near lease was Ticket to Paradise, the rom-com with George Clooney and Julia Roberts, which I also didn't see, but I kind of wanted to seem charming enough. I think I've heard good things. Yeah, there you go. The rest of the top 10 consisted of Smile, Halloween ends, La Lao

[00:19:01] Crocodile, The Woman King, Terrifier 2, Don't Worry Darling, Amsterdam, I don't know. I just, I don't know. Timothy Chalamet is really wonka. I don't see it. But the I am. It's the Wonka who fucks. Yeah. And what does he fuck? Oompa-loomp. Oh, God. Jesus Christ. That's actually all the movie is. You're not, yeah. The I Am View plot stops is for the school for good

[00:20:21] and evil reads, best friends, Sophie and Agatha,

[00:20:23] find themselves on opposing sides of an epic battle

[00:20:26] when they're swept away into an enchanted school That is true. Like there's always gonna be young kids who wanna read stuff aimed at them. But as far as movie adaptations go, which is kind of what I'm talking about, like, you know, there's definitely less of it than there was back in the mid 2000s. That was a real like high point for the YA adaptation genre. 100% absolutely. Yeah. So yeah, I was not familiar with this being a book. I didn't know that until I looked at the letterbox reviews and everybody is like, oh

[00:21:42] man, I read this as a kid.

[00:21:43] Or like, I based my know. It's okay. It's cool. I think really it shines in the set design and costumes and all that and the performances are pretty good from everybody. It's just two and a half hours of setting stuff up because it's going to be a six-movie franchise or whatever.

[00:23:01] You got to establish all the things.

[00:23:04] It's okay.

[00:23:05] I was mostly just kind of bored a little didn't want to talk about this. Where like that scene comes in, Michelle, you had that one scene an hour ago. And- Yeah, in a beautification class. Yeah, in beautification class, you see her as, she's the teacher, she's like, you know, giving Agatha failing marks for not smiling well and all that stuff. And then you see her like in the, like sitting around like a table

[00:24:20] with like a bunch of other teachers at one point.

[00:24:22] High council kind of thing.

[00:24:23] Yeah, exactly.

[00:24:24] And then later, I think it's,

[00:24:26] I think they're talking to Agatha, right?

[00:24:27] Like Agatha's like, you think I give a shit about beautification? And that was the moment where I was like, fuck, yeah, let's go. Like, here we go. She's going to be in this like Magic Battle or whatever. Something cool is going to happen. And then that scene ends and she's never in a movie again. She pops up again at one, she pops up at the very end. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, she doesn't really do

[00:25:41] anything else. She at the very end of the movie, I mean, I guess later in the, you know, true love, whatever, I guess that's probably in other movies or other books, not the first one yet, but it's just like, come on, what are we doing here? So I think I did enjoy this movie more than I expected to. I feel like- I think yeah. That's where I am. You know, I don't think I liked it all that much,

[00:27:00] but I did enjoy it more than I thought.

[00:27:02] I think when it first started, I was like,

[00:27:04] ah, not into that.

[00:27:05] I'm out.

[00:27:06] For that reason, I'm out.

[00:27:07] Like that first half hour when I was like, like she actually has a dream of being like a fairy tale princess and all that. And then Agatha's mom is also like sort of practicing witch or like a tried to be a witch kind of thing. And so like both of them have like good and evil streaks in their families kind of thing, right? Right. Yeah, it's very strange. I mean, on one level, I'm kind of a sucker for that

[00:28:21] sort of thing where you like mix the fantasy,

[00:28:23] like fairy tale stuff into real world

[00:28:26] and like give sort of explanations.

[00:28:27] But like, I love the one of the people who was like, yeah, I don't want it. I'm out of here. And I was so crushed because Chris Columbus directed it. And I was like, he did the first two Harry Potter's. He knows what he's doing.

[00:29:40] That's how I felt with the Golden Compass movie also.

[00:29:44] Which I guess we got some vinication

[00:29:45] with the BBC series.

[00:29:46] But his dark materials, right? I've been, you know? That's crazy. That is wild. He could have had his Adventures of Tin Tin back in the year 2000 or something, and it would have just been the first three Harry Potter books. That would have been dope. That would have been crazy, which is actually what he did with Tin Tin. Now that I'm thinking of the real, that's like three different stories that he kind of like mushed together into one story. And then yeah, that's also Tin Tin rules. People should go watch Tin Tin if they haven't.

[00:31:01] There was recently a clip from Tin Tin

[00:31:03] like floating around on Twitter,

[00:31:04] and then I was like, man, I should watch Tin Tin again.

[00:31:06] I knew you were on.

[00:31:08] Sure, Tin Tin. And all that stuff for those fairy tales are like artifacts in the museum or whatever kind of in the school, which is weird because then it's like, King Arthur's son is here. And other just like overt fairy tale characters or Captain Hook's son is all set in school. Yeah, Captain Hook's son is a student. Yeah, that's just like a lot of like, and it sort of like half hardly does that, I feel like.

[00:32:22] Like if it's gonna do that,

[00:32:24] maybe we go all the way and just everybody is

[00:32:26] a descendant of somebody famous or something. They sort of do that. I don't know. They call them like readers, right? Cause they're like people that only read about their characters and stuff like that, which I thought was pretty clever in like the Nefers and the Evers or whatever, all that stuff. But also, you know, I think we're just not the target for. That's also true. Which is definitely not the target. It's fine. I was watching the movie the other night and my girlfriend watched some of it with me.

[00:33:43] Like she kind of was in and out of the room and like hung out for a little bit.

[00:33:45] And then afterwards, she was like, you know, I think maybe you should have watched that

[00:33:48] on my Netflix profile. letterbox review that I think they're referencing. I think that was from a letterbox review. I'll give that credit there. Only because it's like, you know, all Sophie had to do was enter her villain era, serve cunt and fall in love with her best friend. Just like, yeah, yeah, you're right, I guess. Yeah, and yeah, it's, you know, she opens the roof, like opens the door to the room and she has like an entourage behind her. And, you know, she's just like, oh, I'm badass now.

[00:35:02] And you're going to stick a needle in my hand and take my blood and all that stuff.

[00:35:05] And that's, that's basically, I reject this whole heart. Yes. Like in my mind, I was like, why would they make a school just for people to turn evil? And then I was like, you know, I accepted it with Slytherin and Harry Potter. So I guess I can, I guess I can accept it. Yeah. I mean, the way the movie starts with that prologue, right, with the two, and there were once two brothers

[00:36:20] that founded the school to maintain balance.

[00:36:22] And then it's like the two of them.

[00:36:24] And one of them's got these fucking

[00:36:25] little nerdy glasses on, right?

[00:36:26] Yeah.

[00:36:27] He's a good guy.

[00:36:28] Yeah. towards good and some tendencies towards evil and we have to kind of make our way in this crazy world. And yeah, I think the movie does a pretty good job of like kind of setting that tone, setting that balance and having the two characters, Sophie and Agatha discover those sides of themselves in their respective other, the schools that they think they're not supposed to be in. Right. And I think the real lesson from the School for Good or Evil

[00:37:42] is that just more movies should let Lawrence Fishburne

[00:37:46] be a weird little guy.

[00:38:42] and it happens and it's like, this is the coolest shit ever. Yes, absolutely.

[00:38:43] I've also just been thinking about deep cover recently.

[00:38:44] And man, what a great movie that is.

[00:38:47] Yeah, Lauren Sischbrohn, season five, everybody.

[00:38:49] Let's make it happen.

[00:38:49] Let's make it happen.

[00:38:51] Get your votes in now.

[00:38:52] Yes.

[00:38:54] So like we've said, Michelle Yeo is in the movie.

[00:38:56] We've kind of covered pretty much the entirety

[00:38:58] of her performance, but what did you think

[00:39:00] of Michelle Yeo in the movie, Mike?

[00:39:02] I think it's, you know, there's hashtag layers

[00:39:06] to her performance.

[00:39:06] Sure.

[00:39:07] I don't know. So F, all that stuff. But then that facade all drops and that scene where it's like the Secret Council meeting or whatever's going on in that scene where like magical history department was closed and she has to be the beautification teacher, even though she's got this deep wealth of arcane knowledge that she should be sharing with her students but they won't let her anymore, god damn it.

[00:40:21] And she doesn't give a shit about smiles or whatever.

[00:40:22] Because of the bureaucracy.

[00:40:24] Yeah, exactly.

[00:40:26] All that kind of thing, which is definitely certainly possible too. Yeah, I think she is perfectly fine in the movie, but how do you think this fits into the roles that we've seen so far, Mike? I mean, I guess, Crazy Rich Asians, like I mentioned. Sure, yeah, I think that counts. But it also is sort of just that kind of a continuation of like the authority role figure, somebody that is there that kind of commands the respect of all the youngins in the cast

[00:41:43] and the stories and stuff.

[00:41:45] So I don't know, I haven't really Michelle Yeo be like a martial arts master. That's true. Yeah. She is the greatest swordswoman that ever lived. So. Yeah, exactly. Like there's something going on in boss level

[00:43:00] despite her being in it for about 30 seconds.

[00:43:02] But yeah, I think this was a situation where, you know,

[00:43:05] she liked to work with Paul Feagan last Christmas

[00:43:07] and so he brought her back. other just random stuff throughout the movie. There's a moment, like I think it's about halfway through. I mean, I also agree this movie should have been way shorter. I think two and a half hours. It's like I was on board with it for a while and then by like the last half hour, I was like really like, man, this is not enough to warrant two and a half hours. It's really egregious. Yeah.

[00:44:20] And I think part of that is just like, you know,

[00:44:22] all of these YA movies were super long.

[00:44:24] True.

[00:44:25] So that might be part of it,

[00:44:26] but this one does not have the juice to sustain The idea is that she has to be in the forest, he has to rescue her, and she has to like, survive on her own until he gets their sort of thing. And there's like, you know, crazy monsters in the forest. And Agatha shows up to actually help her out before he arrives, and that's against the rules. But also I wanted to mention that there's a pumpkin scarecrow with a scythe in this section that is pretty cool. Pretty cool.

[00:45:40] That's the one thing I was gonna say.

[00:45:42] This movie is like weirdly horrific.

[00:45:44] One, there's like the wolf soldier guys,

[00:45:46] which fucking rule as a concept.

[00:45:48] They're awesome. He kills him. He comes back as the, which I guess so you don't turn into the teapots, but he comes back as like the skeletal bird that brings people to the school. Yeah. From the real world. And he's like going to Agatha for help and Tedros mysteries the situation and draws Excalibur and kills him. And then she kisses him at the end of the movie.

[00:47:00] And then he's the hero.

[00:47:02] Yeah.

[00:47:03] What the fuck?

[00:47:04] So that's wild.

[00:47:06] Yeah.

[00:47:07] And then there's a couple other things like I just said it like three times. I got to stop now. God. Don't look in the reflection in the window. Oh, yeah, that's crazy. I didn't even notice that. I mean, that's just my immediate thought. It's like, oh, weird that he's here. Yeah. I guess we should explain the plot a little bit, right?

[00:48:20] So other than that they get separated and they go to the wrong schools, in order to

[00:48:23] switch back or be sent home, I forget which one Lawrence Fishburn challenges them that who is the evil brother. He's doing it at the beginning. Yes, who the one who cheated at the beginning, he starts talking to her through the mirror, like the green goblin talking to Harry Osborn. Yeah! Like 100%. You know, and so they're kind of having like their conversations and he's like influencing her to become more and more evil. And as she becomes more and more evil, she like becomes uglier and uglier.

[00:49:40] Like she, you know, like, you know,

[00:49:41] her nose starts to grow and her hair turns gray

[00:49:44] and she gets older and all that stuff.

[00:49:47] And then she like does like super evil stuff ends with a battle between Sophie gives herself to Rifal. And she's has fallen in love with this evil person. True love. Yeah, and so that actually is her true loves kiss sort of, or it seems like it until Agatha kisses her at the end, right? Yeah, he reveals his evil plan. Be with me and will rule the school together and they kiss.

[00:51:01] And then the whole school collapses.

[00:51:03] And I understand there's been this blood magic home. She's like, well, I've cost enough damage here. I'm leaving. And she kind of gives Agatha the out. Like if you want to stay here with Ted, she's like, yeah, maybe.

[00:52:22] And then she goes back to kiss Ted, she's like, ah, no, I'm going to go hang out with you.

[00:52:26] And then she goes back to the village also. this going over the students like show me what you've learned so far right now like i can make this desk turn into chocolate or whatever and that's where so he is like. It's like i think half with the movie she's like no i can't be here i don't have anything. And be a tricks like birth that tattoo skeleton demon out of her shoulder. I'm like attacks so few of it until so few think summons all the bees whatever she does or fall shows up and all that stuff is like this kind of like the first and somebody wants to watch it and it being like secretly more fun than I anticipate because I'm watching it with a big group of friends or something like that. In the discord I'm always talking about, I feel like it's got those kind of vibes for me. But otherwise like solo by myself like here we go Saturday night, you just settle into the couch and some popcorn and watch school for good and evil again or whatever it's

[00:55:03] going to be called. So this is interesting. Like I said, it's like people talking about, oh, when I was 12, I based my whole personality on these books and stuff. And I'm like, wow, wow. Here's a whole world I didn't know existed. Yeah. So I read some of them. So yeah, Letterbox to you is here's a three and a half star of you from Emma. Love the side plot of Charlie Staren and Carrie Washington being in love and Michelle Yeo knowing all along.

[00:56:22] Yeah, let them kiss.

[00:56:23] Yeah, that was a very like knowing glance

[00:56:25] that Michelle Yeo had at the very end of the movie.

[00:56:27] Yeah, maybe like, you know, premiered at the Chinese theater or something and probably that. I got one more. It's a two and a half star review from Chelsea Mackerel. Just want you all to know that when I was a kid, a girl in my class made fun of me for reading the book this movie was based on.

[00:57:41] So I tried to use the magic powers I was convinced that I had to make her fall over

[00:57:44] and look stupid in front of the whole class.

[00:57:47] That didn't work. Blue Sky. If you'd like to donate support the show, you could do that at our Ko-Fi page, which is Ko-fi.com slash Mike and Mike Pods. And if you want merch, we have merch available on our Redbubble, which is Mike and MikePods.redbubble.com. Yes, it is. And you can find me online at M Smith Film Blog on Twitter, Mike Smith Film on Letterbox and Radio, Mike Sandwich and Instagram. Thank you for listening to Complete Works. I'm Mike Smith. It's my decree show. Don't forget to rate and review the show on Apple

[00:59:02] Podcasts or any other podcast app. And if was really sad, so we never own anything anymore, unless you own physical media, so get physical media.

[01:00:21] Yeah, is the moral of that story,

[01:00:22] but I'm just always Witcher in my brain all the time.

[01:00:25] Yeah, you're a like all in on these four episodes. Maybe what I've heard is that they're not very good. And also, I have never watched The Witcher, like The Main Show. You'll be fine. Nor have I read any of the books, nor play the video. I am a Witcher virgin going into The Witcher Blood Origin. That'll be great. So yeah, it's gonna be fun. We're gonna have a Witcher expert and a Witcher non-expert kind of talking

[01:01:41] about this show together.

[01:01:42] I can't, yeah, I'll just explain all the things.

[01:01:44] It'll be great.

[01:01:45] Yeah.

[01:01:46] And I think if I remember this,

[01:01:48] it's like a thousand years in the past,