Ti West’s “X” with special guest Jason from Binge Movies on Episode #402

Owen Campbell, Jenna Ortega, Kid Cudi and Brittany Snow walk through tall grass as a 1970s film crew in the horror movie "X"As promised, we’re going to start featuring more guests on the show, so this week Jason from Binge Movies joins us! After he briefly shares what his podcast is all about, we all review Ti West’s X (7:17), a horror movie about an adult film crew in 1970s rural Texas who are attacked by their elderly hosts. It stars starring Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi. A lot of critics have unabashedly praised this film, but we have both compliments and criticism in our robust, nuanced conversation of the well-crafted yet problematic film. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, Jason also joins us to discuss Robert Zemeckis’ 2000 thriller WHAT LIES BENEATH starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford! 

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

DEEP WATER, TURNING RED, and MEASURE OF REVENGE on Episode #401

Ana de Armas sits on a couch looking imploringly at Ben Affleck in the movie Deep WaterWe’re back to business as usual this week, starting with MEASURE OF REVENGE (3:02), an atrocious, amateurish thriller starring Melissa Leo as an unhinged stage actress seeking revenge for her son’s murder. Then we review Domee Shi’s moving Pixar film TURNING RED (18:49), which uses a Chinese Canadian girl’s magical transformation to deftly explore the struggles of puberty. After that we cover Adrian Lyne’s disappointing “erotic” thriller DEEP WATER (36:38), starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas as a vindictive, dysfunctional couple coming apart at the seams. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we talk about RETURN OF THE JEDI

Listen:

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

THE BATMAN, FRESH, and THE DESPERATE HOUR on Episode #399

Robert Pattinson stars in Matt Reeves's The Batman.

This week, we start with Mimi Cave’s FRESH (2:39), a horror movie starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan that made one of us so queasy they had to turn it off. Next, we review THE DESPERATE HOUR (27:27), Philip Noyce’s frustrating thriller about a mother (Naomi Watts) trying to resolve a hostage crisis at her son’s school from her phone while she’s running through the woods. We close with Matt Reeves’ much anticipated movie THE BATMAN (37:55), a stylish film noir detective story worthy of its almost three-hour runtime, starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we talk about Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 dark fairytale, PAN’S LABYRINTH!

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

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 PodcastsPandoraStitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

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 PodcastsPandoraStitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

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 PodcastsPandoraStitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

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 PodcastsPandoraStitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

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 PodcastsPandoraStitcher, or Spotify! Call us at 862-21–PIECE (862-217-4323) or send us an e-mail: spoilerpiece AT gmail.com.

HOUSE OF GUCCI, THE CARD COUNTER, and WEST SIDE STORY with Guest Charlie Nash on Episode #387

Lady Gaga smirks with a cigarette in her mouth that she's about to light in the movie House of Gucci

We don’t all agree on HOUSE OF GUCCI, but we do all agree that Lady Gaga is great in it

Frequent guest Charlie Nash stops by this week to fill in for Megan. He offers a quick plug for his new podcast, Almost Major, before he reviews Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of WEST SIDE STORY (6:09), which despite his admitted bias against a particular actor in it, offers great spectacle and inspired tweaks to the original story. Next, we all discuss Paul Schrader’s THE CARD COUNTER (16:30), an intense tale about trauma and guilt starring Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, Tiffany Haddish, and Willem Dafoe. After that we delve into Ridley Scott’s HOUSE OF GUCCI (39:28), a movie about wealth and manipulation that we have polarized reactions to. One thing we do agree on: Lady Gaga is great in it. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we talk about a Patron’s request, Ted Demme’s 1994 dark Christmas comedy, THE REF, starring Denis Leary!

Listen:

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

SILENT NIGHT and ENCOUNTER with special guest Kris Jenson on Episode #386

A group of friends and their children sit around a Christmas dinner table, raising their glasses to toast to each other in the movie Silent Night.

Sadly, we will not be raising a glass to SILENT NIGHT

Megan’s on vacation (and we miss her), so we invite a very special guest to join us this week: former Spoilerpiece co-host Kris Jenson! We’re excited to have Kris back for an episode, but feel bad about the movies we made him watch. At least we have some great discussions about them! First up is Michael Pearce’s muddled sci-fi film ENCOUNTER (4:26), starring Riz Ahmed as a father trying to protect his two sons from an alien invasion. Then we cover Camille Griffin’s uneven mix of sci-fi and dark comedy, SILENT NIGHT (31:17), which is about old friends who get together on Christmas as one last hurrah before their imminent demise. And on this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we talk with Kris about Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 sci-fi action film TOTAL RECALL, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Listen:

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