Episode 525: "Sing Sing, "Doctor Jekyll," and "Peak Season"
Release Date: 08/02/2024
Episode 538: "Here," "High Tide," and "Music by John Williams"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week, Dave gets boomerific yapping about the new Robert Zemeckis film (3:14), starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, and a bunch of other actors who should have known better, as they tackle Zemeckis’ latest blundered technology cry-fest. Gah. Then Megan and Evan talk about (13:54), Marco Calvani’s queer love story, set in Provincetown, Mass., between a heartbroken undocumented Brazilian immigrant and a man leaving the country in a week. Finally, Dave and Megan discuss (34:36), which is a documentary about the storming of the Bastille. Weird that a documentary about the Bastille would...
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Episode 537: "The Line" and "Magpie"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week we watched (2:41), a drama (sometimes called a thriller, but eh) about a fraternity brother who gets mixed up in his frat’s shady pledge shenanigans. Does it result in someone’s death? Does the Pope shit in the woods? Then we watched (27:12), an atmospheric thriller starring Daisy Ridley (from an idea she had) about a woman dealing with her absolutely reprehensible husband's emotional affair. But is he really having an emotional affair? Are things even what they seem? As Evan says, does it all add up? And over on Patreon, we watched , the winner of our October poll.
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Episode #536: "Woman of the Hour," "MadS," and "Smile 2"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week, Megan reviews (2:06), Parker Finn's grisly sequel to his great horror film SMILE, about a pop star (Naomi Scott) contending with addiction recovery and a new tour amidst sinister occurrences. The sequel is much more nerve-wracking and gory! Then, we all (Dave, Evan, and Megan) talk about (16:09), David Moreau's unique and intense French horror film about a trio of teens dealing with a potentially bad drug trip and gnarly bodily issues. Lastly, we discuss (40:39), Anna Kendrick's sharp, tense, and compelling directorial debut about the true-crime story of an aspiring actress (Anna...
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Episode 535: "Last of the Sea Women" and "The Outrun"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week Evan and Dave kick things off with (3:07) (after Dave forgets to do his own intro at the top; whoops), a documentary about the haenyeo, a declining and aging community of women in Jeju, South Korea, who dive for seafood as a job - or, as Evan more accurately describes it, a calling - while dealing with climate change, over-fishing, and crucially, wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Then Megan joins Evan and Dave for (17:17), director Nora Fingscheidt’s adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s memoir (with a screenplay by Liptrot, the director, and Daisy Lewis). Saoirse...
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Episode 534: "Hold Your Breath"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
Hey, gang! There were some delivery problems this week, so we only have one new movie on the docket: ! (Just kidding. That's on Patreon. Patrons can listen to that episode .) No, this week we cover the new Dust Bowl psychological drama/horror flick (2:22), starring Sarah Paulson as a woman living through the Dust Bowl (natch) and kind of losing her mind because of some maybe-it's-real-maybe-not-tee-hee specter called The Grey Man who lives in the dust. Sound like a concept ripe for horror? No? Ya ain't wrong! We're not going to lie: We didn't like this one and we go off the rails talking...
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Episode 533: "Will & Harper" and "Megalopolis"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
With Megan on vacation this week, Evan and Dave take on (2:42), the documentary about the friendship between Will Ferrell and writer Harper Steele post-Harper's transition. This funny and tender (and occasionally sad) documentary about long friendships (Ferrell and Steele met at "Saturday Night Live") and the ways they change is the anti- (22:56), writer-director Francis Ford Coppola's bizarro take on whatever-the-fuck-it-is, with each actor performing in a different movie, a production design from Hades, and a story - or many stories - that add up to absolutely fuck-all. (It's not entirely...
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Episode 532: "Rez Ball" and "In the Summers"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week on the show Megan and Dave talk about (2:20), director Sydney Freedland’s drama about a Navajo high school basketball team. After a series of tragedies forces the coach and players to rethink the way they play ball, they adopt a technique they dub “rez ball,” which includes fast play and getting the ball to the hoop as quickly as possible - preferably within seven seconds of possession. Then Evan, Megan and Dave talk about writer-director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s (22:29), which follows two sisters from adolescence to adulthood as they navigate their loving but...
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Episode 531: "Speak No Evil" and "Seeking Mavis Beacon"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
On this week’s show, Megan and Dave watched (2:29), writer-director James Watkins’ remake of the Danish film from 2022. As with many non-American horror films remade for American audiences, the new SPEAK NO EVIL leaves the original’s first two-thirds relatively unchanged and then kicks the last third in the ass, replacing it with a watered down ending that, while not entirely stupid, ain’t exactly aces. (That being said, the Danish original is extreme. Take a listen to our reactions to it .) So while we weren’t enamored of this new version, we think leads Mackenzie Davis and James...
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Episode 530: "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," "His Three Daughters," and "Merchant Ivory"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
It's a big week! Tim Burton's long-awaited (2:08) finally arrives after its thirty-six-year gestation — Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara reprise their roles, and Jenna Ortega co-stars — and does it live up to the praise being heaped upon it? Megan lets you know! Next, we all saw (18:42), Azazel Jacobs' family drama about three sisters (Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, and Natasha Lyonne) grappling with their father's imminent demise. This flick is getting raves, but not from us. Finally, Megan and Dave watched (39:31), Stephen Soucy's documentary about the legendary...
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Episode 529: "The Deliverance" and "Mountains"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
It’s a 50-50 week on Spoilerpiece, as one of the movies we watch is crap, and one is a joy from start to finish. First, the crap, because we didn’t want to end on a sour note: Lee Daniels’ (2:12), a derivative dumpster fire of a possession story cribbed from better possession stories. What makes it so awful, though? Glad you asked! Every character but one in this movie is an asshole. Like, a serious asshole. Andra Day’s Ebony? Asshole. Glenn Close as her mother, Alberta? Asshole. Mo’Nique as the world’s meanest social worker? Total asshole. We at Spoilerpiece don’t usually need...
info_outlineDave jokes that it’s Megan’s big week on Spoilerpiece: She saw all three movies on the docket! First, she fills Evan and Dave in on DOCTOR JEKYLL (2:27), Joe Stephenson's gothic horror film starring Eddie Izzard as Dr. Nina Jekyll (good) and Rachel Hyde (bad) in a contemporary update of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Then Megan talks about SING SING (14:14), Greg Kwedar's tender and incredibly moving drama starring Colman Domingo and based on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison. Megan loved Colman Domingo’s and Paul Raci’s performances, and has heaps of praise for the movie. Finally, everyone saw PEAK SEASON (24:48) Steven Kantner and Henry Loevner's poignant comic drama about the bond a burned-out New Yorker (Claudia Restrepo) makes with her fishing guide (Derrick Joseph DeBlasis) on a trip to Wyoming. We all loved it. Over on Patreon, Evan and Dave talk about Robert Altman’s 3 WOMEN, which stars Shelley Duvall, who left us in early July.