Episode 556: "The Rule of Jenny Pen" and "Starve Acre"
Release Date: 03/07/2025
Episode #573: "Sweet Relief" and "Sorry, Baby"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
Megan and Dave are a duo again this week (Evan returns next week!), and they tackle (2:57), a movie being marketed as "mumblegore." Like ! (Get it?) What did we think? Here's the short version: Could have used a lot more gore and a lot less mumble. And then Megan and Dave move on to (23:48), Eva Victor's debut as writer-director. And here's the CliffsNotes on it: Best movie of 2025 thus far. No hyperbole. Both of us were moved to tears more than once. Its performances, pacing, and storytelling are all top-notch, and Victor, while giving a great performance themself, gets superior work...
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Episode #572: "M3GAN 2.0," "Rent Free," and "My Mom Jayne"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
On this week's episode, Megan talks about (2:58), the sci-fi action sequel which sees the return of the murderous robotic doll, directed by Gerard Johnstone and starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, and Jenna Davis. Flawed yet intermittently fun, it's inferior to the sharply crafted and delightful original horror film. Then, Megan talks about (17:17), Fernando Andrés's indie comedy about two queer best friends (Jacob Roberts, David Treviño) attempting to live for a year without paying rent in Austin, Texas. Lastly, Dave and Megan discuss (29:01), Mariska Hargitay's emotional...
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Episode #571: "28 Years Later," "Elio," and "The Queen of My Dreams"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
Evan is off this week, so it's Dave and Megan as a duo. First, Megan discusses (1:42), Fawzia Mirza's comedy-drama about a Bollywood-loving queer Pakistani-Canadian woman (Amrit Kaur) navigating her complicated relationship with her mother (Nimra Bucha) after a tragedy. It's a lovely film with great performances, vibrant costumes and production design, and a clever narrative structure. Then, Dave delves into (12:27), the long-awaited third film in the post-apocalyptic zombie horror series. Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, it stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson,...
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Episode 570: "Materialists," "Best Wishes to All," and "Echo Valley"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week, Megan took in , written and directed by Celine Song. Don't be fooled by the poster: It's not a romcom (though it does have some of those elements); it's much more than that. Megan really loved it. Then Evan and Dave joined her for , a bizarro Japanese horror film about what one family does to maintain it happiness, and whether one of the family members will accept the horrifying realities of that choice or reject them. Then they watched , a thriller in which widowed horsewoman Julianne Moore's junkie daughter Sydney Sweeney makes Moore's already difficult life much, much worse when...
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Episode 569: "The Life of Chuck" and "From the World of John Wick: Ballerina"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week Dave braved writer-director Mike Flanagan's adaption of Stephen King's (3:19) and deems it strangely affecting despite not being in love, generally, with the weird maudlin nostalgia of King's non-horror work. Then Megan, Evan, and Dave weigh in on (this is actually its full title) (20:47). It largely works for Evan, kind of works for Dave, and Megan didn't like it much at all, though they all agree it has some great action set pieces and it's always good to see the late Lance Reddick. , we discuss the 1985 slasher-legal thriller .
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Episode 568: "Lost in Starlight" and "Tornado"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
Megan is off this week, so Evan and Dave tackle (2:14), an animated romantic sci-fi drama about a dedicated scientist determined to go to space - but she meets the love of her life just before her departure. Then it's (19:13). Set in the 1860s Scottish highlands, it's part western, part Samurai film, part heist flick, and all killin'. , our second May poll movie is (2007) starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling.
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Episode #567: "Fountain of Youth" and "Fear Street: Prom Queen"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week, Dave and Megan talk about (2:47), Guy Ritchie's incredibly derivative and frustrating adventure film, starring John Krasinski and Natalie Portman as siblings on a globe-trotting trek for (you guessed it) the mythical Fountain of Youth. Then, we all (Evan, Dave, and Megan) discuss (29:21), a slasher horror film and the latest entry in the franchise based on the R.L. Stine novel. Directed by Matt Palmer and starring India Fowler, Suzanna Son, and Fina Strazza, it follows high school prom queen finalists dying one by one. One of us had a lot of fun, but two of us were disappointed....
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Episode 566: "Sister Midnight" and "The Old Woman with the Knife"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week, we review two international films featuring unconventional women protagonists. First, Evan and Megan talk about (1:56), Karan Kandhari's "genre-bending" dark comedy (from the UK and India) about a woman in India (Radhika Apte) in an arranged marriage who experiences strange events. One of us loved the weird and bold film for Radhika Apte's excellent performance as the defiant protagonist, Kandhari's assured direction, the film's vivid cinematography and soundtrack, its irreverent humor, and horror genre subversion. But one of us initially liked it but found it too strange and...
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Episode #565: "Clown in a Cornfield" and "Another Simple Favor"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
This week, the whole gang is back together! Yay! Evan and Megan start out by reviewing Paul Feig's whodunnit dark comedy, (2:33), a sequel to you guessed it, A SIMPLE FAVOR. While it retains the crackling chemistry between its leads, Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, the movie doesn't have much going for it other than its gorgeous location and fashions; its writing and dialogue are abysmal, and it's glacially paced. Next, we all discuss Eli Craig's horror film (19:43), which is set in a small midwestern town that's terrorized by a killer clown in a cornfield. There's a lot more to this slasher...
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Episode #564: "Thunderbolts*," "Audrey's Children," and "My Robot Sophia"
Spoilerpiece Theatre
Dave can't make it this week, so Megan and Evan review this week's very different films as a duo. First, Megan covers the Ami Canaan Mann's biopic (2:32), which chronicles a period in the life of world-renowned children's doctor Dr. Audrey Evans (Natalie Dormer), as she works to revolutionize treatment of childhood cancer during the late 1960s and helps co-found the first Ronald McDonald House. Come for Natalie Dormer's excellent performance. Next, they discuss Jon Kasbe and Crystal Moselle's disappointing documentary (17:41), which follows inventor David Hanson's attempts to build...
info_outlineIt's a week for horror on Spoilerpiece. Megan and Dave talk about THE RULE OF JENNY PEN (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 STARVE ACRE (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. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2025 Oscars.