Welcome to 2026! We start out the year by doing what we do best: Not enjoying a movie that is otherwise being heaped with critical praise! That's right, folks, Evan and Megan didn't really get the critical brouhaha behind THE PLAGUE (2:42). This story about extreme bullying at a water polo camp left them a little cold, and not because the water temperature is a chilly 65 degrees. Dave joins them for WE BURY THE DEAD (21:45), and unconventional the-dead-are-coming-back-to-life tale. This one left Dave cold, but not just because he has a frigid critics' heart. Evan and Megan liked it, and its take on zombieism is different: Not all the dead come back, they don't seem to want to eat you (though a few look like they'll kick the crap out of you), and have things on their minds. Daisy Ridley is excellent in the lead as an American woman in Tasmania looking for her husband, and Brenton Thwaites is solid as a ne'er-do-well trying to do well. Over on Patreon, we watched the 1982 courtroom drama THE VERDICT, starring Paul Newman.

Welcome to the final Spoilerpiece of 2025! We take turns talking about our favorite films of the year. Dave (3:02), Megan (19:35), and Evan (39:30) each have a couple surprising choices sprinkled in. We hope you had a great year, and we'll see you in 2026. Don't forget to check out our Patreon! This week we talk about the 1979 Robert Altman sci-fi flick QUINTET, starring Paul Newman.

This week everyone saw everything, so we start off with Park Chan-Wook's latest, the darkly comic thriller NO OTHER CHOICE (2:51), in which a 25-year veteran of a paper company is laid off and after a series of poor interviews, can't find another job. So he does the next logical thing: He decides to murder everyone in his field who may be more qualified than he is. Yikes! We all had our problems with this (it ain't THE HANDMAIDEN), but we did find things to like. But it seems we're outliers; NO OTHER CHOICE is getting critical raves but we all found it lukewarm for one reason or another. We follw up with Bradley Cooper's latest directorial effort, IS THIS THING ON? (28:44) Alex (Will Arnett, who's dynamite and also co-wrote the script) starts doing stand-up while sorting through the ditritus of his marriage. Tess (Laura Dern, who's dynamite) returns to her first (professional) love, and...things happen! (Sorry. It's 3 a.m.) Two of us really enjoyed this, and one of us did not. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1985 Martin Scorsese comedy AFTER HOURS.

This week Megan, Evan, and Dave all saw all the movies on the list. Hot shit! We start with INFLUENCERS (1:37) (the aptly-titled sequel to INFLUENCER), and everyone is on board with the killin', though Evan and Dave don't love its pacing. We all agree that Cassandra Naud is dynamite in the lead, and Megan and Dave even feel sympathy for her murderous character (weird!). Then there's DUST BUNNY (24:28), a fantasy-horror about a young girl who thinks there's a monster under her bed that has eaten her family, so she hires her intriguing neighbor Mads Mikkelsen (playing a hitman) to off the monster. One of us hated this, two of us loved it. And we all like Sigourney Weaver and her gun shoes. Finally, there's WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (44:14), the latest in Rian Johnson's whodunit series. We're divided on this one again (two pro, one suuuuper con), but we all love Josh O'Connor's and Glenn Close's performances. Over on Patreon, we watch and yap about the 1946 noir BLACK ANGEL.

Evan is back! We're happy to have him. First up is Megan's solo turn on HAMNET (2:19), director Chloé Zhao's adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's novel (with a screenplay by Zhao and O'Farrell), a historical drama about Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare's marriage following the tragic death of their 11-year-old son. Then Evan, Megan, and Dave talk about Paul Thomas Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (15:16), but Dave is called away mid-conversation by a child in need (one of his, not some rando who wandered in from the hinterlands). Evan and Megan pick up the conversation and then discuss writer-director Jafar Panahi's latest, the nakedly anti-authoritarian thriller IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (42:09), which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and is France's submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Academy Awards. Over on Patreon, we talk about our poll winner, the 2013 summer movie THE WAY WAY BACK.

This week, Megan watches REBUILDING (2:30), writer-director Max Walker-Silverman's follow-up to A LOVE SONG (which Megan loves), about a cowboy putting his life back together after a fire destroys his home and land, and the homes of many people in his community. Then Megan and Dave discuss THE SECRET AGENT (22:14), a Brazilian film by Kleber Mendonça Filho about political violence and corruption that's receiving accolade after accolade this year. (Wagner Moura won Best Actor at Cannes, for one.) Over on Patreon, we cover Kelly Reichardt's 2010 film MEEK'S CUTOFF.

Megan fills Dave in on WICKED: FOR GOOD (4:07), the conclusion of the film adapation of the Broadway musical which is an adaptation of the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. Verdict: Megan liked it, but didn't love it the way she loves WICKED (click here for a reminder). Then Dave and Megan talk about TRAIN DREAMS (20:34), director and co-screenwriter Clint Bentley's adaptation of the Denis Johnson novella. With gorgeous cinematography, a quietly deft screenplay, and a beautiful central performance from Joel Edgerton, Megan and Dave both see TRAIN DREAMS ending up on their year-end best-of lists. Over on Patreon, we watch the 2015 psychological horror film THE INVITATION, directed by Karyn Kusama and starring Logan Marshall-Green and Tammy Blanchard.

The Megan-Dave dynamic duo returns with two new movies, Edgar Wright's THE RUNNING MAN (2:15) and Richard Linklater's NOUVELLE VAGUE (25:41). Dave didn't see THE RUNNING MAN but he was able to fill Megan in on the difference between Stephen King's novel and the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film. But how did Megan like Wright's version? Eh...she didn't love it. (But she did love Colman Domingo, so there's that.) As for NOUVELLE VAGUE, Megan and Dave return to the age-old question: Who is this movie for? Aside from a Linklater fan or someone steeped in French New Wave cinema, does anyone really want to see a cutesy black and white take on the making of Jean-Luc Godard's BREATHLESS? Over on Patreon, we discuss the 1991 romantic drama MISSISSIPPI MASALA, which was directed by New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's mother, Mira Nair.

Dave and Megan are a duo again this week, and they get down to it on PREDATOR: BADLANDS (3:29), the latest, and, in their estimation, largely successful attempt to prolong the life of the PREDATOR franchise. P:B is kind of silly and even cute in places, but the dynamic duo are largely here for it. (Megan is super here for it!) Then they get into DIE, MY LOVE (28:34), director and co-writer Lynne Ramsay's latest. Featuring strong performances from Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, Megan and Dave dive deep to dissect just what's going on in this movie. And they also try to figure out just what's going on in this movie, in which Lawrence plays a young mother seemingly falling apart at the seams - but there's a lot of imagery in here that's dreamlike, and...eh, you tell us: What happened? (Dave here: Pretty sure Megan followed this picture better than I did.) Over on Patreon, we talk about Clint Eastwood's 1973 revenge western HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER.

Evan is off this week so Megan and Dave dig into BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER (2:17) and HEDDA (22:31). Dave only got through 40 minutes of BOFSP because he hated it, and Megan takes the reins. Then they both discuss HEDDA, Nia DaCosta's latest as writer-director, which Megan loooooooooooved and Dave...didn't. Over on Patreon, the October poll winner is Wes Craven's 1981 film DEADLY BLESSING, and it is a HOOT.