DETROIT, SHINING THROUGH, and THOR on Episode #160

John Boyega in DETROIT

John Boyega looking about as happy as the guys were watching DETROIT.

This week Dave admits why he’s way too excited about his car getting detailed, before Kris declares that his beard might be magical. Prior to the week’s main event, the guys serve up a heaping helping of recaps. Evan leads off with a segment of “Crewind,” where he offers his take on PHOENIX (6:06), a film that Dave spoilerpieced many moons ago. After he talks about his reaction to the German film’s incredible ending, he tackles SHINING THROUGH (10:35), the Melanie Griffith picture where she’s a sharp half-Jewish woman who spies on the Germans with Michael Douglas during World War II. Then Dave takes over with “Riedel’s Recaps” of I DON’T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE (20:43), a movie he liked more than Evan, who spoilerpieced it earlier this year, and THOR (24:41), which he was not impressed by. Finally, all three gents delve into DETROIT (34:01), Kathryn Bigelow’s chronicle of the brutality and murder at the Algiers Motel during the 1967 Detroit riot. In their commentary, the guys address criticisms leveled by other critics that the film is exploitative, while also sharing their personal reactions to it.

Listen:

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THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE and the Boston Underground Film Festival on Episode #142

Jessica Chastain in THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE

Jessica Chastain in THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE

A sing-along of songs from camp veers into unexpected territory for the guys this week. Before they get into any movies though, they turn their attention to television, as Evan explains his mad quest to watch as many X-FILES episodes as possible for before the show leaves Netflix streaming. After that Kris recaps his time at the Boston Underground Film Festival aka BUFF (at 9:14), where he highlights a number of notable films including PREVENGE, DARK SONG, BUSTER’S MAL HEART, SHE’S ALLERGIC TO CATS, THE VOID, and DAVE MADE A MAZE. Lastly, the guys tackle THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE (at 20:00), a movie about a couple played by Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh who smuggle Jews in Poland to safety during the Holocaust, which does all the things you’ve seen before and wraps them in a story you haven’t. The guys compare the film to others about the Holocaust like SCHINDLER’S LIST, and are disappointed with familiar aspects of those pictures that seep into this movie, but they still laud its moving performances and excellent cast.

Listen:

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FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, and More on Episode #123

fantastic-beasts

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (i.e. inside Eddie Redmayne’s suitcase)

We’ve got movies coming out the wazoo this week! First, Dave and Kris tackle the ambitious Harry Potter prequel FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (at 4:00), which tries to cram five movies into one. Much to their annoyance, only three of those five movies are good. Next, Dave explores NOCTURNAL ANIMALS (at 24:56), writer/director/fashion designer Tom Ford’s sophomore film. It has two stories about toxic masculinity that don’t add up to a whole movie, so during the review Kris develops a new segment called “Dr. Kris, Medicine Man,” where he shares how he’d fix the film. Following that segment, Dave offers his brief thoughts on the music documentaries OASIS: SUPERSONIC and RUSH: TIME STAND STILL, which only seem to be for diehard fans. Evan bats cleanup with three more movies from the Boston Jewish Film Festival (at 51:00): the mediocre crime thriller A GRAIN OF TRUTH, the emotionally compelling documentary FREEDOM TO MARRY, and the thought-provoking comedy doc THE LAST LAUGH.

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ARRIVAL, LOVING, MOONLIGHT, and THE ORIGIN OF VIOLENCE on Episode #122

Alex R. Hibbert and Mahershala Ali in MOONLIGHT.

Alex R. Hibbert and Mahershala Ali in MOONLIGHT.

On this week’s episode, Dave gripes about his record club’s inability to send him records he wants, before discussing his burgeoning November beard and his latest Baby Henry story. After the guys get some good laughs in to compensate for their election sadness, Kris gets things going with ARRIVAL (at 6:10), a sci-fi film starring Amy Adams as a linguist that speaks heptapod. Adams plays the same character she always does, but it does some very interesting things Kris doesn’t expect and really turns out to be the kind of high concept sci-fi he enjoys. Next, Evan and Dave keep the good movie momentum with their description of LOVING (at 21:26), an emotional drama based on a true story with amazing performances by Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton. Kris follows with his take on MOONLIGHT (at 33:32) a three-party story of a gay man’s life that’s not revolutionary, but so well-assembled that it kind of is. Evan closes out the show with THE ORIGIN OF VIOLENCE (at 48:36), a French film playing at the Boston Jewish Film Festival that turned out to be more about the Holocaust than he expected, although not in a bad way, since the film uses it to tell a compelling story.

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SPECTRE, SPOTLIGHT, HORROR, and the New York Film Festival on Episode #69

Daniel Craig in the movie SPECTRE

Daniel Craig looks bored as Bond even in this photo from SPECTRE

This week Charlie Nash makes his second Spoilerpiece appearance to share his experiences at the Coolidge Corner Halloween Horror Movie Marathon and the New York Film Festival with Evan and Kris. At the 12-hour movie marathon, which he dubs “a cinephile’s wet dream,” Charlie saw horror films that stimulated his overactive imagination like HALLOWEEN, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS, THE CHANGELING, and THE HITCHER. Also, at the New York Film Festival he watched CAROL and SON OF SAUL, two important movies that he breaks down. Charlie and Kris then take on SPECTRE, the James Bond picture that Kris dubs “more of a postscript than an epilogue” to Daniel Craig’s entries in the franchise. It’s overly long, self-congratulatory, and worst of all—it has a shitty theme song. Thankfully all three of the guys saw SPOTLIGHT, a tremendous film that chronicles the Boston Globe’s report that exposed sexual scandal in the Catholic Church. Not only is it a better Boston movie than BLACK MASS, but SPOTLIGHT is elegant, subtle, and gripping based on its story and the performances by its leads.

Listen Here:

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