Author Archives: Spoilerpiece

02.25.22
by

KIMI, STUDIO 666, and HELLBENDER on Episode #398

Zoë Kravitz stars in Steven Soderbergh's thriller Kimi

It’s a suspenseful week on Spoilerpiece with two horror films and a thriller. First up is John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser’s creepy family-made horror flick HELLBENDER (2:12), which is about a lonely teen uncovering her family’s connection to witchcraft. Next is BJ McDonnell’s STUDIO 666 (19:14), a horror comedy about the Foo Fighters trying to record their 10th album in a haunted mansion. Then we review Steven Soderbergh’s thriller KIMI (39:25), starring Zoë Kravitz as an agoraphobic Big Tech employee who stumbles onto a conspiracy. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we talk about the winner of our poll, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s 2000 romance LOVE & BASKETBALL, starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps!

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

02.18.22
by

A BANQUET, STRAWBERRY MANSION, and THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE on Episode #397

Jessica Alexander stands in the woods with her mouth agape staring at something above her in the movie A BanquetThis week we have strong opinions about all the movies we cover. First up, is Josephine Decker’s THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE (1:43), a surreal romance none of us could stand about a teen coping with the death of her older sister. Next, we cover Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney’s colorful sci-fi romance STRAWBERRY MANSION (19:08), a story that’s stylized and smart, but becomes way too weird for one of us. Lastly, we review A BANQUET (30:50), Ruth Paxton’s tense psychological horror film, which we all agree falters in one key area. And in honor of Black History Month, this week we talk about Spike Lee’s biopic MALCOLM X starring Denzel Washington for our Patreon exclusive audio! 

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

02.11.22
by

MARRY ME, NIGHTMARE ALLEY, and ENCANTO on Episode #396

Jennifer Lopez as Kat Valdez and Owen Wilson as Charlie Gilbert in Kat Coiro's rom-com MARRY ME.

We start the show by offering our brief reactions to this year’s Oscar nominations, which were released this week. After that we review Disney’s ENCANTO (6:39), a heartwarming animated tale about a magical Colombian family, which features incredible songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Next, we dig into Guillermo del Toro’s stylish, yet long film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (25:44), which has us split. Then we discuss Kat Coiro’s delightful rom-com MARRY ME (40:09), a film about nice things happening to nice people, starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we talk about Greg Berlanti’s 2018 queer teen rom-com, LOVE, SIMON!

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

02.04.22
by

BOOK OF LOVE, A GRAND ROMANTIC GESTURE, and BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER on Episode #395

Sam Claflin and Veronica Echegui sit next to each other on steps in the movie Book of Love. He is smiling at her and she looks more serious.

As Evan describes it, BOOK OF LOVE is better than your average bad rom-com

This week it’s documentary full of rom-coms! First up, is Thomas Hamilton’s doc BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER (2:22), which offers fascinating facts, but distractingly bad production values. Next, we cover a movie that has us split, Joan Carr-Wiggin’s rom-com A GRAND ROMANTIC GESTURE (20:18), which is about a recently retired woman who falls for the man playing the Romeo to her Juliet in her drama class. Then we review another film that has us split, Analaine Cal y Mayor’s rom-com BOOK OF LOVE (36:40), which is about two writers (Sam Claflin and Veronica Echegui) who connect with each other during a book tour in Mexico. And on this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we talk about the winner of our January poll: the 2018 Claire Denis film HIGH LIFE, starring Robert Pattinson and Juliet Binoche!

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.
01.28.22
by

Sundance Film Festival 2022 on Episode #394

The design for the 2022 Sundance Film FestivalHi, everyone! Buckle up because we have a lot of movies this week. Megan and Dave run through Sundance and just about every movie they saw. (Evan is off this week and will return next week.) There’s so much to get to, we’ll dispense with the descriptions here, give you the lead actor info, and get right to the timecodes. Both Megan and Dave saw LIVING (2:19) starring Bill Nighy; DUAL (8:31) starring Karen Gillan and Aaron Paul; YOU WON’T BE ALONE (13:00) starring Noomi Rapace; and MASTER (19:10) starring Regina Hall and Zoe Renee. The following three movies both Megan and Dave like a lot: A LOVE SONG (27:10), starring Dale Dickey; AM I OK? (36:23), starring Dakota Johnson; and AFTER YANG (48:38), starring Colin Farrell and Haley Lu Richardson. Finally, Dave gives short reviews of CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH (59:30), starring Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson; ALICE (1:01:24), starring Keke Palmer; SUMMERING (1:03:48), starring Lake Bell, Sarah Cooper and Megan Mullally; and WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD (1:05:15), starring Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard. Megan gives short reviews of NANNY (1:06:37), starring Anna Diop; GOD’S COUNTRY (1:07:45), starring Thandiwe Newton; and GIRL PICTURE (1:08:46), starring Oona Airola. There are more Sundance movies on the Patreon this week and we’ll cover the January poll winner in the next episode.

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

01.21.22
by

ETERNALS, A HERO, and BELLE on Episode #393

The cast of heroes in Marvel's Eternals standing together on a beachEvan and Megan start this week by reviewing Mamoru Hosada’s moving anime drama BELLE (2:06) about a shy young woman who escapes to a virtual reality world where she becomes a pop star. Next, everyone discusses Asghar Farhadi’s heartbreaking drama A HERO (17:19), about a man on leave from debtor’s prison trying everything he can to keep himself from going back. We wrap up with ETERNALS (33:33), Chloe Zhao’s Marvel superhero epic about a group of ancient heroes, which feels both too long and too short at the same time. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we talk about Michael Curtiz and William Keighley’s 1938 swashbuckler THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland.

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

01.14.22
by

PARALLEL MOTHERS, DON’T LOOK UP, and SEE FOR ME on Episode #392

Penelope Cruz and Milena Smit embrace each other tightly in the movie Parallel MothersWe start this week by reviewing Adam McKay’s hotly-debated Netflix climate change satire, DON’T LOOK UP (2:17), digging into the many ways it’s ineffective, and the couple of ways it is. Then we cover Randall Okita’s tense thriller SEE FOR ME (21:20), about a blind woman stuck inside a house full of crooks with nothing but an app and an army vet on the other side of it to guide her. We wrap up with Pedro Almodóvar’s moving, complex drama PARALLEL MOTHERS (33:11), which is about two mothers who give birth on the same day, and oh so much more. We won’t spoil it here, but we sure will in the episode. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we finally review the 1985 John Hughes classic, THE BREAKFAST CLUB! 

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

01.08.22
by

Our Top 10 Films of 2021 on Episode #391

A graphic which says: Top 10 Films of 2021We didn’t get a chance to share our top 10 films from 2021 last week, so we’re doing it this week! We each dig into our individual top 10 films from our 2021 Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards ballots, discussing the overlap between our lists, and the unique films that made our respective ballots. First up, is Dave (2:47), whose ballot includes a documentary, comedies, and dramas. He’s followed by Evan (33:20), whose list includes dramas, comedies, and horror. After that is Megan (47:09), whose list includes horror, dramas, and one comedy. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we decided to review a film with the number 10 in the title, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger! 

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

12.31.21
by

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS on Episode #390

Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity and Keanu Reeves as Neo in Lana Wachowski's film THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS

We’re taking the red pill for our last show of 2021 so we can discuss THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS! We had so much to say we felt that the movie deserved a whole episode worth of conversation. Lana Wachowski’s fourth entry in the franchise stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. We delve deep into the sci-fi film’s themes, particularly its humorous meta commentary on its own existence; its continuation of the Matrix story as a trans allegory; its exploration of trauma, romance, control, and free will; and the many exciting ways it both builds on the Matrix mythology and takes a hammer to it. We also talk about how the movie fits into the context of the franchise as a whole and briefly talk about our experience revisiting the previous films as a primer for this one.

And on this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we go a completely different direction by talking about the winner of our Christmas heist movie poll, Daryl Duke’s 1978 film THE SILENT PARTNER starring Elliott Gould and Christopher Plummer!

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

12.24.21
by

THE TENDER BAR, C’MON C’MON, and RED ROCKET on Episode #389

Ben Affleck and Tye Sheridan in George Clooney's film THE TENDER BAR

It’s movies-that-studios-are-pushing-for-awards week on Spoilerpiece! First up, Evan and Dave talk about Mike Mills’ C’MON C’MON (1:48), a funny drama starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny, who steps in to take care of his nephew Jesse (Woody Norman) while Jesse’s mother Viv (Gaby Hoffman) tends to her husband, Jesse’s father, who has bipolar disorder. That’s a clunky description, but don’t hold that against us because it’s a great conversation about a movie that’s firmly plugged into its emotional arc. Next, everyone saw THE TENDER BAR (22:03), director George Clooney’s coming-of-age drama, about JR (Daniel Ranieri as a kid and Tye Sheridan as a young adult), who moves with his mother (Lily Rabe) to her childhood home. Good news: Her brother, JR’s Uncle Charlie, is Ben Affleck. The bad news? Not enough Ben Affleck. Lastly, we talk about RED ROCKET (39:15), Sean Baker’s alternatingly funny yet uncomfortable comedy-drama. A washed-up porn star (a terrific Simon Rex) returns to his working class Texas hometown, crashing into his estranged wife’s life, and striking up a creepy romance with a 17-year-old (Suzanna Son), whom he’s trying to groom into a porn career that he hopes will restart his own.

Over on our Patreon, we talk about FARGO, the Coen brothers’ comedic thriller starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, and Steve Buscemi. If you join our $5 tier, you’ll get immediate access to that conversation and more than 200 bonus episodes!

Listen:

Download Here – and don’t forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.