I'm Thinking of Spoiling Things

Listen, I'm going to keep it real with the audience here, I think I might have peaked with the description for the last episode. I promise this isn't an increasingly elaborate, more elevated version of my normal shtick to avoid having to come up with some kind of convoluted Megalopolis related piece because I'm about to go on vacation and can't be bothered. In fact, I'm still not convinced anyone reads these, so it may not be relevant at all that I've completely given up on this one, falling from my high rise tower like I'm Adam Driver at the beginning of Megalopolis if he didn't have the ability to stop time. Is that anything? Probably not. It's fine. Enjoy the episode, we had a lot of fun recording this one. Join us as we discuss Jeremy Saulnier's Rebel Ridge, Sean McNamara's Reagan, Coralie Fargeat's The Substance, and Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, a collection of films which range from worthless garbage to revolutionary filmmaking. Which one is which? Tune in to find out.

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at [email protected].

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Stephen on The STACKs, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

On the internet, two months might as well be decades, which officially makes this podcast an I'm Thinking of Spoiling Things legacy sequel. Therefore, we have ensured that this episode will please every kind of Spoiling Things fan, and the episode is packed full of references to past episodes for listeners with a keen ear. Though certainly a controversial decision in many circles, per the suggestion of podcast creator Stephen, we have decided to resurrect the performance of The Grab Bag of Recent Releases using experimental deepfake technology*, allowing us to imitate what that segment felt like in Season 1 while maintaining key discussion points about movies that have come out since the segment was eliminated. Fans of episode 14 will be overjoyed to hear callbacks to past discussions about Pixar as Stephen and Vaughn chat about Inside Out 2, and Austin Butler stans who have been stuck listening to our Dune: Part Two episode on repeat will find updated Butlerpinions as the guys discuss The Bikeriders. The Beast, previously slated to get its own dedicated episode, has been squeezed awkwardly into the middle of the podcast to appease recent listeners who were disappointed in the lack of conclusion to that cancelled episode. For those looking for an authentic Spoiling Things experience, the bulk of this show has been produced with in-camera practical effects, and the discussion on Fede Álvarez's Alien: Romulus creates a chilling atmosphere reminiscent of the show's finest episodes. Finally, worry not - for the niche subset of listeners who have been vocal supporters of nonsensical diatribes from the hosts about completely unrelated topics, the third act of this podcast hinges entirely on these references, an abominable lurching beast made up of silly antics. If this podcast performs well enough on opening weekend, investors may just greenlight another entry into this legacy reboot series, so be sure to tune in.

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at [email protected].

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Stephen on The STACKs, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

*To be perfectly clear, this podcast has never and will never use any form of artificial intelligence/machine learning to create any part of our show, unless Stephen isn't real and has been lying to me for several years. It's unlikely but I can't rule it out.

Where do we go, we who wander this film podcast wasteland, in search of our better episodes? Spoiling Things has a new home on Step Printed, and Stephen and Vaughn reopen everyone's favorite bar and grill at the peak of the Citadel to talk about every fortress of film on the horizon. The First Fortress, led by warlord Alex Garland, whose expert extrapolation of the American political landscape has granted us the revelation of twee folk music over lo-fi montages of the east coast. The Second Fortress, led by the great Dr. George Miller, who has created a utopia of pristine franchise filmmaking and expanded it with effortless brilliance. The Third Fortress, led by former podcast guest* Luca Guadagnino, who crafted the year's most pulse-pounding thrill ride set to the exhilarating tune of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' driving synths. The Fourth Fortress, led by legendary American filmmaker Richard Linklater, updating and reinventing the romcom and the neo-noir with endless charm. Civil War, Furiosa, Challengers, Hit Man, and two delirious co-hosts this week on the show.

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at [email protected].

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Vaughn on Step Printed, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Stephen on The STACKs, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Release dates have become a distant, irrelevant memory in the land of Spoiling Things, now our hosts simply float around in a sort of primordial haze of vaguely recent films and sit down to chat about whatever passes by. That is to say; despite everything, in the face of all obstacles, dates or regular posting times be damned, to the detriment of every imaginable social media algorithm or rule of internet content creation, it is our solemn duty to get this show recorded. Warning: this may result in less than desirable circumstances, such as films found in the depths of the ooze being less than fresh in the mind, or the necessities of fatherly responsibility resulting in frequent background noise. Audio texture, even. To conclude, if you were hoping for a brutal attack on the incessant stupidity of Civil War or for endless praise for the electrifying energy of Challengers, you'll have to wait. For now, join Stephen and Vaughn as they discuss a swath of the latest mid budget independent sensations, from nunsploitation and devilish talk shows to bruiser action and sapphic love on steroids.

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at [email protected] us:

Vaughn on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

When a masterpiece is long enough in the waiting, it demands greatness, and commands a heavy air of importance surrounding its release. There's an immense pressure upon the final product to deliver, to be top of its class. When the most iconic contemporary auteurs of the medium are attached to the project, it is the only release that matters. Is a month too long in between episodes of a podcast? Are the many weeks of anticipation counter to maintaining listeners in a demanding environment constantly being flooded with content? Or can one great episode every four weeks become an experience that demands being listened to in the background during your commute, shattering all of our wildest expectations? Decide for yourself in the March edition of I'm Thinking of Spoiling Things, where Stephen and Vaughn talk Poor Things, Dune: Part Two, a dash of Drive-Away Dolls, Bionicles, the state of blockbuster cinema, and everything in between.

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at [email protected] us:

Vaughn on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

The boys, once again, are back. The boys (or maybe just one of them, we'll leave it to you to decide which) are also unsure if they can live up to the bar they set with the episode descriptions they slowly escalated and built a small lore around many months ago. Just the descriptions, though. The podcast is better than ever, in that your two favorite film critics (we're deciding this one and we're definitely your favorites) have returned to spend their time discussing the latest movies. We've been renewed for season two on a new monthly schedule to better accommodate our busy lives (maybe just one of them is busy, that one's also on you to decide which), and to kick off a new season full of films, spoilers, tangents, bits, segments, and emails, we're covering everything we didn't get to cover in between seasons. All at once. Almost thirty films to cover and a race against the clock to get our thoughts out on each one. Join us and consider if this show has become too reliant on parentheticals (it hasn't).

E-mails will return as well, and we would love to hear from you on any of these many movies, or whatever else you have thoughts on. Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at [email protected].

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Vaughn on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

They've ranked countless films with arbitrary criteria. Now, after two years, the first season of I'm Thinking of Spoiling Things has drawn to a close. The only sensible thing to do? Finally do what they've been trying to do since episode one. Spoil Things. This week, on the extended edition season finale of the show, join Stephen and Vaughn as they spoil 1989's microbudget SOV classic Things, a film so wildly incoherent that one host watched it twice and the other has very little idea what happened at all. Following an in depth breakdown of the madness of Things, the guys answer a barrage of inquisitions from the audience in our most expansive listener mail adventure yet.

Most of all, thank you all for listening over the past two years of the show. The endless support and positive feedback that has come through has been truly incredible. What started as a way to share in a collective disappointment in the latest Bond adventure turned into a bi-weekly adventure that has always been a delight to put together. Rest assured this hiatus is not permanent, and the Spoilers will return whenever possible to bring more coverage of the latest releases (and maybe, sometimes, films from 34 years ago), so stay subscribed to catch whenever we get a chance to put something new together. Until then, follow both of your hosts at the links below, and we'll see you around.

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Vaughn on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, Twitter, and Bluesky.

Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, Twitter, and Bluesky.

It's the beginning of the end of the road here on the show. After saving the podcast landscape with seconds to spare, conquering the peak of human cinematic achievement, and gearing down from a notably unromantic journey from gamer to racer, things are winding down on the first season of the show. Before the guys commit to their final sign-off before the break on a very special episode 50, they've come together to rank their second year of coverage on the show. Just like the first ranking, they have collected every film discussed from the Horror Spooktacular following the first anniversary all the way until our journey with Gran Turismo, and now it's time to put them all in the most objective, concrete order possible, all by the firm laws of Spoiling Things lore. So sit back and listen in, it's another wonderful journey through another year of podcasts.

Please send in your comments, questions, opinions, or any thought tumbling through your head - we would love to hear from you on Episode 50 of the show, the finale of the first season of Spoiling Things. Send us a message at [email protected], and we'll see you next time for a thrilling show full of surprises, your listener mail, and more!

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Vaughn on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Start your engines gamers, the summer's biggest blockbuster podcast has finally arrived. After countless hours of tireless research, months of agonizing but extremely necessary preparation, and dozens of episodes featuring thoroughly refined segments, Gear Up For Gran Turismo has reached its end. Now we arrive at the culmination of all of our hard work, a glorious, high speed adrenaline rush 135 minutes of a gamer becoming a racer. It's time to find out if Gran Turismo is Neill Blomkamp's magnum opus, a bonafide classic soon to be included on the Sight & Sound Top 100, a confused bloated overload of overly stylized grit, or maybe something somewhere in between. Putting all of their efforts into this monumental episode, Stephen and Vaughn hope to be invited to the Podcast Academy, and with enough grit and determination, their sim-conversation skills might just be put to the real test. Until then, listen to this carefully tested simulation that also includes pit stops at the Keswick Pencil Museum, Fun Island, Australia, and the bottom of a trench. Stay tuned for the end of the episode for an announcement, and an update on the future of Spoiling Things.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Talk to Me, Meg 2: The Trench) | 4:05

Gran Turismo | 40:15

Recommendations | 1:06:10

An Announcement | 1:14:30

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at [email protected].

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

For thousands and thousands of years, human civilization has been building, advancing, slowly creating the foundation of the ultimate culmination of our existence. Now, it is finally upon us. Barbenheimer. The ultimate double bill. Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, releasing simultaneously to become the peak of cinematic experience. Swaths of rabid fans dressed head to toe in pink causing stampedes at local multiplexes; filmbros traveling thousands of miles and standing in line for days to experience 70mm IMAX like Christopher Nolan, father of cinema, intended them to. Theaters are back and the fervor is so intense it's like they never existed until now, but here we have gathered, where heartbreak feels good. And now, like true pioneers breaking ground on ideas nobody has even imagined, visualizing the imperceptible motions of atoms in the atmosphere, Steven and Vaughn have gathered to record a podcast about movies. They will talk about Barbie. They will talk about Oppenheimer. They will break down the respective filmmakers' careers and provide, a range of cold, tepid, and maybe even hot takes about their thoughts on various films. They will respond to questions sent in from around the globe from their many billions of listeners. They will recommend films from their recent watches. They might even have a cold open. And it will change the course of podcasting forever. Prepare yourself, and listen to this week's episode.

Timestamps:

Barbie | 3:35

Oppenheimer | 32:30

Listener Mail | 1:19:40

Recommendations | 1:31:50

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at [email protected].

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Vaughn on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.