Spoilerpiece Theatre Evan Crean, Megan Kearns, and David Riedel
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- TV & Film
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Boston film critics Evan Crean, Megan Kearns, and David Riedel help you decide what to watch by sharing spoiler-filled reviews of the latest blockbusters and independent films, across genres, including films by women, nonbinary, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC filmmakers.
Opening music: "My Life as a God" by Augean Stables.
Closing music: "Pants Party" by Oilhead.
Show edited by Otto Klammer.
Logo design by Rita Csizmadia.
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Episode 505: "Love Lies Bleeding," "Stopmotion," and "Frida"
Megan kicks things off this week with talk of LOVE LIES BLEEDING (2:16), Rose Glass's intense queer thriller starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brian. Verdict? LISTEN (ha). Next Dave and Megan review STOPMOTION (6:11), Robert Morgan's horror movie starring Aisling Franciosi and featuring lots of compelling stop-motion animation. Megan likes it but wishes it delved deeper, and Dave thinks they should have stopped this motion picture from being a thing. Lastly, Evan, Megan, and Dave all discuss FRIDA (17:37), Carla Gutierrez's dynamic Frida Kahlo documentary that everyone liked. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2024 Oscars. If you’re a member, head on over and take a listen. If you'd like to join, for $5 you can listen to bonus episodes each week, and vote in monthly polls.
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Episode 504: "American Dreamer" and "Damsel"
This week Megan and Dave tackle AMERICAN DREAMER (2:07), and it ain’t pretty. Sure, Peter Dinklage and Shirley MacLaine are fine. And sure, Dave laughed at a few things. But that’s about all the positives we have for it (hoo boy, do we get amped up during this talk!). Then Evan, Megan, and Dave watched DAMSEL (22:40), the new dragon’s-gonna-eat-ya-but-not-if-I-can-help-it flick starring Millie Bobby Brown as a princess who meets said dragon after a bit of marital subterfuge orchestrated by Robin Wright as her nefarious would-be mother-in-law. Following an uneven opening, we thought it pulled together (even if Dave had some choice things to say about his favorite actor ever, Ray Winstone, who plays Brown’s father). And did we like DAMSEL as much as we liked the similar-ish THE PRINCESS from 2022? Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1954 GODZILLA in honor of its 70th anniversary.
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Episode 503: "Dune: Part Two" and "Spaceman"
This week, Megan and Dave discuss DUNE: PART TWO, Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Rebecca Ferguson. Dave found the fatalism inherent in its story rendered it dramatically inert, even if he dug its look (despite the on-the-nose Nuremberg rally-inspired sequence) and some of the performances. Megan loved the spectacular film: Dazzling visuals, immersive sound, excellent performances, riveting narrative, and a perceptive critique of colonialism and power dynamics. Everyone watched SPACEMAN, Johan Renck's existential sci-fi drama starring Adam Sandler (well, Dave listened to two-thirds of it for reasons that become clear pretty quickly) and we agree it has flaws. Lots of flaws. But, in the end, does the movie get past those flaws? Will Dave ever like a new release again? TBD on that second question, gang. TBD. Over on Patreon, the gang checked out Hayao Miyazaki’s delightful 1988 animated fantasy MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, a first-time watch for two of us. Fun!
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Episode 502: "Lovely, Dark and Deep" and "Players"
It’s been two weeks since we talked horror at Spoilerpiece, so Megan and Dave remedied that by watching Teresa Sutherland’s LOVELY, DARK AND DEEP, a bump-in-the-night-type thriller that plays out in a national park. While Megan and Dave came to roughly similar conclusions about the movie’s technical aspects and Georgina Cambell’s lead performance, one of them hated it overall (like, HATED IT) and one of them liked it. First listener to guess who hated it wins a trip down amnesia lane. Then the whole gang watched PLAYERS, a new Netflix romcom starring Gina Rodriguez, Damon Wayans Jr., and a million supporting actors. Listeners, this movie is the definition of meh. It’s too bad, because there’s some serious talent involved. But few things can save crummy writing, except maybe doing a bunch of shrooms so you can space out while watching this below-average collection of silly gags and contrived plot threads. (Spoilerpiece doesn’t advocate you doing shrooms. But we can’t stop you, either.) And over on Patreon, we talk about Bill Duke’s DEEP COVER with Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum, which won our Black History Month poll.
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Episode 501: “Orion and the Dark” and “The Hobby”
Megan is back! And to kick things off, she and Dave talk about the animated film ORION AND THE DARK (2:33). Yes, it’s screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s first foray into children’s films. But is it any good? Not surprisingly, Megan and Dave have divergent views. But who liked it and who did not?!! (Eh, it’s exactly what you think.) Then Evan, Megan, and Dave discuss THE HOBBY (22:17), a documentary about the trading card boom that kicked into overdrive in 2020 after Covid hit. Sports cards, Pokémon cards, memorabilia, you name it, the doc covers it (with a notable absence of Magic: The Gathering). THE HOBBY is compelling for about half its running time, but its repetitive second half left us yawning. Over on Patreon, to honor the recently departed Carl Weathers, we talk about PREDATOR, which Megan had never seen. It’s a fun conversation! For just $5 per month, you get access to many, many, many bonus episodes and monthly polls.
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Episode 500: "Out of Darkness" and "Restore Point"
Spoilerpeeps, this is the 500th episode of the show. Megan couldn’t make it this week, leaving the duo of Riedel & Crean. (That doesn’t roll off the tongue like Hall & Oates. Such is life.) Dave watched OUT OF DARKNESS (2:04), a survivor horror film (so its marketing says) set 45,000 years ago, about six people struggling in a new, vast, inhospitably cold environment. What keeps attacking them at night? Probably exactly what you think! Then Evan and Dave watched RESTORE POINT (14:36), a dystopian-adjacent sci-fi film with a great production design, but a story that both of them found lackluster (even if one of them still recommends it). Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1980 comedy USED CARS with Kurt Russell and Jack Warden.
Customer Reviews
One of the Best
There are a lot of film and tv podcasts out there. Most of them are just a couple of people talking about movies they love. That’s cool. But it is very hard to find a movie podcast that goes beyond just banter.
Enter Spoilerpiece Theatre. Evan, Megan, and Dave are all great professional film critics. This podcast dives much deeper than your typical film show. They all see a ton of new movies and tv shows, and they have great in-depth opinions.
My favorite feature of the show is the breadth of films they cover. This is truly a show for film lovers and people looking to discover new films. I see a lot of movies, and I had not heard half of the movies they covered in their year-end show.
More than anything, Spoilerpiece is an engaging listen for cinephiles. I love hearing people talk about film, but it goes to another level when the hosts are educated and passionate about film and tv. That is Spoilerpiece Theatre.
Grating
I will admit I only listened to one episode because I was looking for discussions about ‘When Evil Lurks’ but what I got was an obnoxious guy explaining the plot dropping f-bombs every other word while the woman laughed loudly. So hey… maybe that’s your thing.
My FAVORITE Podcast!!!
I've been listening for well over a year, and every week I look forward to Friday to hear about new movies and what the guys are up to.
My favorite is when the guys hate a movie and rip into it, or when one hates a movie and the other one likes it and there's a spirited debate.
It's also very refreshing to hear about the movie as a whole, because in some cases it was more enjoyable being prepared for the movie so I knew things to look for (foreshadowing, etc.), and other times if it's a bad movie I know I can wait to watch.
Regardless, it's always a barrel of laughs and wicked good fun, especially when there's singing!!!