Episode 531: "Speak No Evil" and "Seeking Mavis Beacon"
Release Date: 09/13/2024
Episode 557: "The Electric State" and "Novocaine"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week Evan, Megan, and Dave watched one dud and one banger. The dud: (1:55), the latest crap-fest from the Russo brothers. This unfunny sci-fi comedy stars Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, and Ke Huy Quan. The banger: (26:00), in which assistant bank manager Jack Quaid has a genetic condition in which he can't feel pain. So when bank robbers kidnap his would-be girlfriend (Amber Midthunder), he uses the condition to his advantage to try to save her. , we talk about the 2006 Spike Lee heist film .
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Episode 556: "The Rule of Jenny Pen" and "Starve Acre"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
It's a week for horror on Spoilerpiece. Megan and Dave talk about (2:10), featuring Geoffrey Rush as a judge recovering from a stroke, John Lithgow as a sadist, and Jenny Pen as Lithgow's evil puppet cohort. Then Evan joins in for (20:59), in which two grieving parents find a mummified oak tree and tend to a reanimated rabbit that may or may not be malevolent. Yeah, it's weird. , we talk about the 2025 Oscars.
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Episode 555: "Captain America: Brave New World," "The Monkey," and "My Dead Friend Zoe"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week we catch up on two current releases and a new film. Megan and Evan talk about (2:28), and Megan and Dave discuss (26:02). Then we all talk about the new film (41:03), a dark comedy/drama about an Afghanistan war veteran (Sonequa Martin-Green) dealing with the trauma of losing her friend and fellow vet Zoe (Natalie Morales), who keeps popping up in her day-to-day life as a ghost. , we talk about because it's 25 years old (yikes!).
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Episode 554: "Cleaner" and "The Quiet Ones"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week Dave is under the weather, so Megan and Evan tackle the two films as a duo. First, we review Frederik Louis Hviid's true crime heist film, (2:59), which recounts the largest robbery in Denmark's history. Next, we discuss Martin Campbell's action thriller (28:09), which features Daisy Ridley as an ex-soldier turned window cleaner who must save a building full of people after they're taken hostage by eco-terrorists. , we talk about Jeremy Saulnier's 2024 Netflix crime thriller .
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Episode 553: "Rounding" and "The Gorge"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week Megan, Evan, and Dave discuss (1:59), about an ambitious medical resident who relocates to a rural hospital after an elderly patient dies in his care. He soon becomes obsessed with saving a young asthma patient while suffering from horrific visions brought on by sleep deprivation and his previous trauma. Then we talk about (27:48), an action-rom-com-horror-thriller starring Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Sigourney Weaver. , we watched , the bizarro sort-of sequel to THE WIZARD OF OZ.
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Episode 552: "Heart Eyes" and "Love Hurts"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week Dave spoils director Josh Ruben’s latest, the horror comedy (2:11), about a serial killer who targets couples on and around Valentine’s Day. Then Evan and Megan join him to discuss (18:09), which stars in his first leading role. , we talk about Billy Wilder’s in honor of its 75th anniversary.
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Episode 551: "Dog Man" and "Love Me"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
Evan and Dave are a duo this week. Dave took his children to see the ridiculous animated movie , which he - surprisingly? - liked. And both Evan and Dave took in , a romantic drama in which Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun play a buoy and a satellite falling in love long after every lifeform on Earth has gone extinct. , we discuss the 2006 Tony Scott film with Denzel Washington.
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Episode 550: "Rocky's" and "Inheritance"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week we watch two films, the indie comedy-drama (2:26), about five friends in their mid-20s who come together for a funeral, but first regroup in the parking lot of the 24-hour deli they loitered around in high school. Then it’s (23:11), a spy thriller with Phoebe Dynevor and Rhys Ifans as an estranged daughter and father caught in a conspiracy. (Please excuse Dave’s room noise when the podcast begins; his space heater ran for a few minutes.) , we talk about the 1989 Nicole Kidman thriller .
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Episode 549: "Wolf Man," "Night Call," and "Back in Action"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week Megan saw (2:20), director and co-writer ’s latest trip down the horror highway, starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner. Megan likes this new take on Universal’s legendary Wolf Man…until she doesn’t. A good start, a meh finish. Then Evan and Dave join in when the conversation turns to (16:17), Michiel Blanchart's tense and nimble French-language thriller about a locksmith (Jonathan Feltre) who has the misfortune of opening a door…TO CRIME! (See what we did there?) A seemingly innocent call makes a normal shift turn nightmarish as lead character Mady is conned into...
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Episode 548: "Get Away" and "Red Rooms"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week Evan, Megan, and Dave take in the new -written-and-starring horror comedy (2:50), about a family that goes to a remote Swedish island for a holiday weekend, only to be trapped as a killer is on the loose. Zoinks! Blood and guts ensue! But do the laughs follow? DO THEY?!! Two-thirds of us felt one way, and one-third of us felt another way. Then we watch (26:02), the French-Canadian drama about obsession (among other things) about the trial of a man accused of absolutely horrifying, grisley murders - all captured on video as snuff films (thankfully, the visuals of said snuff films...
info_outlineOn this week’s show, Megan and Dave watched SPEAK NO EVIL (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 here.) So while we weren’t enamored of this new version, we think leads Mackenzie Davis and James McAvoy (at 100 percent) do excellent work, and the changes do have a few good moments sprinkled in. (And Megan likes Aisling Franciosi’s performance, too.) Then we talk about SEEKING MAVIS BEACON, a documentary by director Jazmin Jones about her attempts, along with producer Olivia McKayla Ross, to find Renée L'Esperance, the Haitian (and original) model for the software program Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. We had varied reactions, with Dave being more forgiving (!!) than Megan and Evan, who feel the film is dragged down by its pacing and all the problems that can come with uneven editing. Over on Patreon, we watched another movie that has a big twist: PRIMAL FEAR with Richard Gere, Laura Linney, and Edward Norton. It was a first-time watch for Evan, and we have fun talking about how the ending and wheether it holds up 28 years later.