Spoilerpiece Theatre

This week, we start things off at Shiz University, as Megan saw WICKED (2:22), the film adaptation of the stage musical, which is an adaptation of the novel by Gregory Maguire. Does Jon M. Chu's film hold up under scrutiny? And how are Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as, respectively, Elphaba and Glinda? Next, Dave joins Megan to talk about GLADIATOR II (6:18), Ridley Scott's sequel to Ridley Scott's (ha) GLADIATOR, starring Paul Mescal. Megan and Dave's opinions diverge, but they agree on one thing: Denzel Washington's performance is absolutely unreal (in the best way). Then Evan joins in for a lively discussion of Steve McQueen's BLITZ (28:01), starring Saoirse Ronan as a single mother who puts her son on a train to safety during the early days of the German Blitz campaign over England. But her son (Elliott Heffernan) has other ideas that lead to peril, again and again and again. There's a compelling racial element to the story, but otherwise all three of us had different views of the film's success or failure. Over on Patreon, we talk about the zany 1987 Japanese comedy A TAXING WOMAN.

This week, we took a gander at two films in current release: Megan and Evan watched BLINK TWICE (2:32), Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut starring Naomi Ackie as a woman who goes to a private island with a tech-bro (Channing Tatum) and parties with his friends, but things aren't what they seem to be. We were divided on this thriller. Then Dave joined them for MY OLD ASS (24:35), which is NOT about an aged donkey. It’s writer-director Megan Park’s sweet and charming coming-of-age tale of Elliot (Maisy Stella), a woman preparing to leave her small town for college in the big city, taking some mushrooms and meeting her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza). There's more to it than that, but here's the real question: Which Spoilerpiece members cried during this one? Place your bets! Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1946 noir classic GILDA, starring Rita Hayworth.

This week Megan talks about the psychological horror thriller HERETIC (2:18), starring a possibly career-best Hugh Grant. Then Evan, Megan, and Dave discuss the Nick Frost-starring horror flick BLACK CAB (11:34), and the excellent SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE (28:56), with Cillian Murphy as an empathetic man slowly uncovering the ugly secrets of a local convent. Over on Patreon, we talk about JOHN WICK in honor of its tenth anniversary.

This week, Dave gets boomerific yapping about the new Robert Zemeckis film HERE (3:14), starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, and a bunch of other actors who should have known better, as they tackle Zemeckis’ latest blundered technology cry-fest. Gah. Then Megan and Evan talk about HIGH TIDE (13:54), Marco Calvani’s queer love story, set in Provincetown, Mass., between a heartbroken undocumented Brazilian immigrant and a man leaving the country in a week. Finally, Dave and Megan discuss MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS (34:36), which is a documentary about the storming of the Bastille. Weird that a documentary about the Bastille would be called MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS, right? (Just kidding, it’s a documentary about legendary film composer and jazz pianist John Williams. Dave has been sacked. - ed.) Over on Patreon, we loooooved the 1995 Denzel Washington-starring, Carl Franklin-directed DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS.

This week we watched THE LINE (2:41), a drama (sometimes called a thriller, but eh) about a fraternity brother who gets mixed up in his frat’s shady pledge shenanigans. Does it result in someone’s death? Does the Pope shit in the woods? Then we watched MAGPIE (27:12), an atmospheric thriller starring Daisy Ridley (from an idea she had) about a woman dealing with her absolutely reprehensible husband's emotional affair. But is he really having an emotional affair? Are things even what they seem? As Evan says, does it all add up? And over on Patreon, we watched CARRIE, the winner of our October poll.

This week, Megan reviews SMILE 2 (2:06), Parker Finn's grisly sequel to his great horror film SMILE, about a pop star (Naomi Scott) contending with addiction recovery and a new tour amidst sinister occurrences. The sequel is much more nerve-wracking and gory! Then, we all (Dave, Evan, and Megan) talk about MADS (16:09), David Moreau's unique and intense French horror film about a trio of teens dealing with a potentially bad drug trip and gnarly bodily issues. Lastly, we discuss WOMAN OF THE HOUR (40:39), Anna Kendrick's sharp, tense, and compelling directorial debut about the true-crime story of an aspiring actress (Anna Kendrick also stars) in 1970s Los Angeles on the TV show "The Dating Game," where one of the bachelor contestants is a serial killer. And on our Patreon bonus episode, we dive into the 2024 horror film IMMACULATE, directed by Michael Mohan and starring Sydney Sweeney!

This week Evan and Dave kick things off with THE LAST OF THE SEA WOMEN (3:07) (after Dave forgets to do his own intro at the top; whoops), a documentary about the haenyeo, a declining and aging community of women in Jeju, South Korea, who dive for seafood as a job - or, as Evan more accurately describes it, a calling - while dealing with climate change, over-fishing, and crucially, wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Then Megan joins Evan and Dave for THE OUTRUN (17:17), director Nora Fingscheidt’s adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s memoir (with a screenplay by Liptrot, the director, and Daisy Lewis). Saoirse Ronan stars as Nora, an alcoholic whose struggle to stay sober takes her from rehab, to an outpatient facility, to her family farm, to one of the most remote isles in Scotland’s Orkney Islands. We were all fascinated by it, but how much did we all like it? Over on Patreon, we talk about the ROSEMARY’S BABY prequel APARTMENT 7A.

Hey, gang! There were some delivery problems this week, so we only have one new movie on the docket: MONKEY MAN! (Just kidding. That's on Patreon. Patrons can listen to that episode here.) No, this week we cover the new Dust Bowl psychological drama/horror flick HOLD YOUR BREATH (2:22), starring Sarah Paulson as a woman living through the Dust Bowl (natch) and kind of losing her mind because of some maybe-it's-real-maybe-not-tee-hee specter called The Grey Man who lives in the dust. Sound like a concept ripe for horror? No? Ya ain't wrong! We're not going to lie: We didn't like this one and we go off the rails talking about it because why not? Also making an appearance this week: The Bikini Inspector! (We weren't kidding about going off the rails, or as the Monkey Man whould say, going bananas.) Enjoy! We did!

With Megan on vacation this week, Evan and Dave take on WILL & HARPER (2:42), the documentary about the friendship between Will Ferrell and writer Harper Steele post-Harper's transition. This funny and tender (and occasionally sad) documentary about long friendships (Ferrell and Steele met at "Saturday Night Live") and the ways they change is the anti-MEGALOLOPIS (22:56), writer-director Francis Ford Coppola's bizarro take on whatever-the-fuck-it-is, with each actor performing in a different movie, a production design from Hades, and a story - or many stories - that add up to absolutely fuck-all. (It's not entirely fair that Dave is doing the write-up this week, as he thought MEGALOPOLIS works in precisely zero ways, whereas Evan found a few things to like about it). In any event, take a listen before you watch. Spoilers in no way actually spoil something that has to be seen to be believed. Trust us. Over on Patreon, we talk about Hitchcock's THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY.

This week on the show Megan and Dave talk about REZ BALL (2:20), director Sydney Freedland’s drama about a Navajo high school basketball team. After a series of tragedies forces the coach and players to rethink the way they play ball, they adopt a technique they dub “rez ball,” which includes fast play and getting the ball to the hoop as quickly as possible - preferably within seven seconds of possession. Then Evan, Megan and Dave talk about writer-director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s IN THE SUMMERS (22:29), which follows two sisters from adolescence to adulthood as they navigate their loving but volatile father during yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. And over on Patreon, we talk about this month’s poll winner, the 1987 comedy BABY BOOM, starring Diane Keaton.