Tag Archives: movies

12.02.16
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MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, THE HANDMAIDEN, KRISHA, and more on Episode #125

Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges in MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges in MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

This week Kris shares the unusual tale of his 10 year high school reunion. The guys carry their silliness from that story over into their intro, where they ask, you the listener, which 60 Minutes anchor you think they are. It’s a good thing they get to the movies, because there are several to cover. Kris starts with a segment of “Keepin’ up with the Jensons,” where he talks about why he liked SWISS ARMY MAN (at 6:00) more than he expected. Then he and Dave join forces for a recap of HELL OR HIGH WATER (at 18:04), where they joke about the title, discuss the score, and dissect its Western elements. They get to new movies with their review of THE HANDMAIDEN (at 28:09), a three hour movie that flies by due to a layered story and perfect performances, set design, and camerawork. Next, Evan quickly reviews KRISHA (at 42:23), a tough film about a woman spending Thanksgiving with her estranged family that’s shot and edited in an unsettling way. Lastly, he and Kris review MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (at 48:32), an effective examination of grief that also reveals how frustrating it is to drive in Massachusetts.

https://radiopublic.com/spoilerpiece-theatre-8Xr54V/ep/s1!96953

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11.28.16
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MOANA, BAD SANTA 2, and RULES DON’T APPLY on Episode #124

moana

Find out why Evan thinks MOANA is just delightful.

Happy post-Thanksgiving! First, we’ve got some singing, and then we’ve got a whole mess o’ movies, beginning with Kris’ take on Warren Beatty’s RULES DON’T APPLY. Then Dave goes through BAD SANTA 2, and Evan wraps things up with Disney’s MOANA. And then there’s more singing (briefly!).

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[www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4e9jVRv6qg]

11.18.16
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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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11.11.16
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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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11.04.16
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HACKSAW RIDGE, The Boston Jewish Film Festival, and Coolidge Corner Horror Movie Marathon on Episode #121

Andrew Garfield in HACKSAW RIDGE

Andrew Garfield in HACKSAW RIDGE

On this week’s episode the guys ponder the strange variety of foods available in New York City diners before they dive into movies. Kris kicks everything off with his rundown of HACKSAW RIDGE (at 4:50), Mel Gibson’s World War II film about a conscientious objector who volunteers for military service. The first half has a delicate touch, while the second half is standard Mel Gibson, which Kris emphasizes with enthusiasm. Evan jumps in next to talk about The Boston Jewish Film Festival (at 26:57). He comments on four films playing there; two documentaries (DISTURBING THE PEACE and WOMEN IN SINK) and two narrative shorts (AND THEN, VIOLENCE, and JEWISH BLIND DATE). He discusses the things that each do well, and the reasons why they’re all worth watching. Dave and Kris close out by recapping the 16th Annual Halloween Horror Movie Marathon at the Coolidge Corner Theatre (at 41:40). They share brief reactions to the films they saw there, which include SCREAM, SCREAM 2, THE FOG, THE HOWLING, CREEPSHOW, and GHOST STORY.

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10.21.16
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JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK, OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL, and 12 ANGRY MEN on Episode #119

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Tom Cruise and Cobie Smulders do a lot of running in JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK

This week Kris is caught completely off-guard by Evan’s response to his Russian joke. Once Kris recovers from shock, he and Dave spoilerpiece JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK (at 5:12), which features Tom Cruise doing a lot of running and making a lot of phone calls. Its plot is rushed, and you can see everything coming, so the guys assure Evan that he didn’t miss much. Following tangents on END OF DAYS and as-seen-on-TV products, Evan reviews OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL (at 34:42), the reason he wasn’t at JACK REACHER. Unfortunately he didn’t do much better since this horror flick is only 2/3 of a good movie. There is genuine tension, production value, and artful shots, but everything falls apart in the final act, when it rushes to a hasty and nonsensical conclusion. Lastly, Evan covers 12 ANGRY MEN (at 52:32), a movie he just got around to seeing. He praises Sidney Lumet’s picture for its narrow scope, superb acting, great dialogue, and fantastic blocking. The discussion then opens up to a larger one where the guys talk about other Lumet films they love.

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10.14.16
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THE ACCOUNTANT, THE DYBBUK, and A MAN CALLED OVE on Episode #118

the-accountant

THE ACCOUNTANT: Who knew that taxes and number crunching could be exciting?

This week Dave recalls a random middle school experience that struck a chord with him for very middle school reasons. Following his hilarious anecdote, the guys all review the Ben Affleck thriller THE ACCOUNTANT (at 4:36), which has good solid killing, a scrappy Anna Kendrick, and a story that’s delightfully narrow in scope, however it does fall victim to clunky exposition in its second act. Next, Kris reviews THE DYBBUK (at 45:16), a really good pre-World War II Polish movie in Yiddish about possession and conjuring Satan (which make it so metal). Lastly, Dave covers with the Swedish picture A MAN CALLED OVE (at 55:24), a story you’ve seen a million times about an old guy with a dead wife. Its characterization of this perpetual grump’s interactions with young people and his botched attempts at killing himself are charming in a way that only a non-American filmmaker could pull off.

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09.23.16
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QUEEN OF KATWE and THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK – THE TOURING YEARS on Episode #115

queen-of-katwe-chess

QUEEN OF KATWE hits all the right notes as a fun, inspirational Disney sports movie.

This week the guys get in on the game of using three fictional characters to describe themselves. Then Evan and Kris talk about the 70mm and Widescreen Festival at the Somerville Theatre (at 7:04), where they TRON and SLEEPING BEAUTY. While discussing how beautiful these films look, they each share new elements that they discovered by watching them on the big screen. After that, Dave provides a “Riedel’s Recap” of GREEN ROOM (at 15:56), which offers specific comparisons to Jeremy Saulnier’s previous movie BLUE RUIN. Next, Kris delivers a “Keeping up with the Jensons” about DEMON (at 21:32), where he offers a very different take on the picture than Evan. Dave transitions into THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK – THE TOURING YEARS (at 29:57), a Ron Howard documentary that attempts to whitewash tensions between the band’s members. Finally, Kris and Evan close out with QUEEN OF KATWE (at 39:10), a Disney sports movie about chess, which is carried by good humor and cute kids learning about life.

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09.16.16
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BLAIR WITCH, DEMON, and THE GET DOWN on Episode #114

blair-witch

BLAIR WITCH is not nearly as scary as this photo makes it seem.

This week Kris shares how he learned to separate reality from movies as a child, before he reveals his reaction to Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix show THE GET DOWN (at 4:22). Next Evan talks about the Polish/Israeli horror film DEMON (at 11:11), which has Polish, English, and Yiddish, but no sign language. It’s not particular scary, yet Evan still captures Kris’s interest anyway with his description of it. Following some tangents about a Jewish themed X-FILES episode and Gary Gulman’s stand up, the guys reach their main movie, BLAIR WITCH (at 25:50), which miraculously they have all seen. Evan never saw THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT so he thinks this sequel is okay, but Dave and Kris have, so they share their experiences seeing it for the first time, before they launch into their critique of the new movie, which they find redundant and needlessly confusing.

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09.09.16
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SULLY, MORRIS FROM AMERICA, and SLEEPAWAY CAMP on Episode #113

sully

Tom Hanks as Captain Sullenberger and Aaron Eckhart as his trusty co-pilot Jeff in SULLY.

This week Kris shares the advantages to playing board games with Canadians, before he reviews Clint Eastwood’s latest movie SULLY (at 2:38). The mediocre film has a lot in common narratively with Eastwood’s last effort AMERICAN SNIPER, especially since the same things work well (a focus on the effects of trauma) and the same things don’t (artificially created villains). After Kris explains how the movie ends awkwardly on a joke, Dave delivers a quick “Riedel’s Recap” of DON’T BREATHE (at 19:57). Following the segment, Evan describes the coming-of-age film MORRIS FROM AMERICA (at 20:58), which has great music, and features the fantastic Craig Robinson in a rare dramatic role. Finally, the guys arrive at their main event: the ‘80s horror flick SLEEPAWAY CAMP (at 30:32). They describe its weird flashbacks, its endearing incompetence, and the craziness that runs in its blood as they dig into this time capsule, which 2/3 of them agree is good for what it is. Be sure to stick around post-credits for a completely unrelated bonus story.

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