Spoilerpiece Theatre

This week Megan saw WOLF MAN (2:20), director and co-writer Leigh Whannell's latest trip down the horror highway, starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner. Megan likes this new take on Universal's legendary Wolf Man…until she doesn't. A good start, a meh finish. Then Evan and Dave join in when the conversation turns to NIGHT CALL (16:17), Michiel Blanchart's tense and nimble French-language thriller about a locksmith (Jonathan Feltre) who has the misfortune of opening a door…TO CRIME! (See what we did there?) A seemingly innocent call makes a normal shift turn nightmarish as lead character Mady is conned into opening the door, is chased by criminals, chased by more criminals, chased by cops…you get the idea. We all enjoyed this clever, fast-paced, and frenetic thriller. Then we all weigh in on Cameron Diaz's first screen role since 2014, the Netflix spy thriller BACK IN ACTION (44:21), directed by Seth Gordon. Don't let the lazy title fool you: The screenplay is just as lazy as the title! Ho ho! Not for nothing, this movie throws in just about every action trope known to humankind, but it doesn't do anything particularly well. Good thing Diaz cranks the charm to 100, and she has an easy chemistry with her equally charming co-star Jamie Foxx. But otherwise…bleh. Over on Patreon, we talk about Max Eggers and Sam Eggers's 2024 horror flick THE FRONT ROOM, starring Brandy.

This week Evan, Megan, and Dave take in the new Nick Frost-written-and-starring horror comedy GET AWAY (2:50), about a family that goes to a remote Swedish island for a holiday weekend, only to be trapped as a killer is on the loose. Zoinks! Blood and guts ensue! But do the laughs follow? DO THEY?!! Two-thirds of us felt one way, and one-third of us felt another way. Then we watch RED ROOMS (26:02), the French-Canadian drama about obsession (among other things) about the trial of a man accused of absolutely horrifying, grisley murders - all captured on video as snuff films (thankfully, the visuals of said snuff films make limited appearances, though the audio doesn't leave much mystery). However, the lead character, Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) goes down the rabbit hole during the trial, and writer-director Pascal Plante doesn't lay out easy answers for the questions he poses. We were all fascinated, and this made Megan's Top 10 of 2024 list. Over on Patreon, we're joined by Jimmy Stewart to talk about the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock film THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.

Welcome to 2025! Evan is off this week, but Megan and Dave are here to talk about I SAW THE TV GLOW (2:26), writer-director Jane Schoenbrun's horror-fantasy about Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), two teens obsessed with a TV show called "The Pink Opaque," with airs on Saturday nights past Owen's bedtime. This was Megan's top movie of 2024, so she has lots to say, as does Dave, who found its performances excellent, its look great, and its steeped-in'-90s-culture vibe spot-on. But despite picking up on its trans allegory, Dave was pretty confounded, so he and Megan have a lively talk about it. Then they get to THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (24:47), Mohammad Rasoulof's thriller set in Iran in 2022 amid the anti-theocracy protests and the violence that came with them. Iman (Missagh Zareh), a recently-promoted investigating judge, is given a gun - to protect himself and his family - along with his new position. His wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) and daughters are actually the main characters, and this family drama turns thriller when the gun goes missing. There's more to it than that (it's two hours and 47 minutes, after all), and it's compelling as hell, and we had a great talk about it. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1995 comedy PARTY GIRL starring Parker Posey.

It's the end of the year, and that means it's time for our top 10 lists. As members of the Boston Online Film Critics Association, we vote for what we consider the best films of the year (ya know, like critics do).

Megan (4:28) goes first, followed by Dave (28:45), and finally Evan (51:51). We have some overlap, but not much! And we have a good time breaking down our reasons for liking the films we do. There are some curveballs, too, which is always fun.

Over on Patreon, the results of our Hitchcock for the Holidays poll is a discussion of the 1943 thriller SHADOW OF A DOUBT. It you're a patron, listen to it here.

Ladies and gentleman, pray forgive Dave in his capacity as host this week: His rhythm was off, as he was interrupted during the Patreon segment by a restless 9-year-old. (Speaking of Patreon, we cover the Shane Black-written, Geena Davis-starring THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT. It's a fun conversation!)

This week we all watched THE BRUTALIST (3:44), Brady Corbet's post-WWII epic featuring Adrien Brody as a talented architect trying to thrive in the United States while dealing with rampant antisemitism (he's a Hungarian Jew), the process of getting his wife and niece to the United States (they're stuck in Budapest), and designing and building a giant multiuse project for garbage human Guy Pearce (his character, not Guy Pearce the person, whom we've heard is lovely). We have lots to say about this complex, multilayered, truly epic film, including whether it's the best picture of the year, like many critics contend.

Then we move onto Robert Eggers' latest: His version of NOSFERATU (40:14), inspired by F.W. Murnau's 1922 classic (which was lifted from Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula"). It looks good. Its actors are committed. Lily-Rose Depp is fantastic. But is the horror movie worth watching? Does Dave want to throw Nicholas Hoult into a windowless room and toss away the key? We had three very different opinions.

We start with CHASING CHASING AMY (1:44), trans filmmaker Sav Rodgers' documentary about his relationship with Kevin Smith's CHASING AMY, and an exploration of Rodgers' reverence for Kevin Smith's at-the-time groundbreaking but now much-more-questioned-about-its-narrative-ideas lesbian-falls-for-a-straight-man rom-com. Over the course of six years, Rodgers' feelings change as he transitions, and interviews Smith, queer filmmakers and critics, academics, his own fiancée Riley (whom we all love), and Joey Lauren Adams, CHASING AMY's star, who has *very* different feelings about it than writer-director Smith. It's a fascinating watch. Next, there's CONCLAVE (25:31), director Edward Berger's film about a papal conclave, run by Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), choosing a new pontiff, and the political and religious machinations that go along with it. Dave had resisted seeing this, but finally relented. And…did he like it the way Evan and Megan do? Finally, there's NICKEL BOYS (45:41), director and co-writer RaMell Ross' adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. We have differing opinions about it, in particular the style in which it's filmed, but we all found things we like about it, Megan in particular. Over on Patreon, we talk about Clint Eastwood's final film (we're told) as director, the courtroom drama JUROR NO. 2.

This week Megan and Dave talk about director Luca Guadagnino's QUEER (2:28), an adaptation of William S. Burroughs 1985 novel (with a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes). Starring Daniel Craig as William Lee (a Burroughs stand-in), this movie left both Megan and Dave a little bewildered, as there were things they liked (the shooting-up scene, the color palette), and things they didn't like (Drew Starkey's performance as Lee's love interest). Then Evan joins in for FLOW (22:38) an excellent animated film featuring a very cat-like cat and other animals as they survive a catastrophic flood. Finally there's NIGHTBITCH (39:53). Amy Adams becomes a dog (though there's more to it than that) and Scoot McNairy becomes a dope (he's played this part before). What did we think of writer-director Marielle Heller's adaptation of Rachel Yoder's novel? Over on Patreon, we talk about the Christmas horror flick BETTER WATCH OUT.

Evan is off this week (doubtless watching PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES), so Megan and Dave take on KNOW YOUR PLACE (2:19) and THE BLACK SEA (35:29) as a duo. And as with many weeks, the movies we choose are linked thematically (often accidentally). In this case, both films tackle characters with feelings of being outsiders. In KNOW YOUR PLACE, Robel (Joseph Smith) balances being a typical American teenager with the familial demands of being the child of Eritrean immigrants, and he navigates the emotional and physical fallout that comes with feeling stuck between two competing sets of demands. And in THE BLACK SEA, Khalid (co-director Derrick B. Harden) travels to Bulgaria from Brooklyn and finds himself completely out of place - until he discovers he makes the locals happy by opening a cafe that serves Matcha tea. (It's more dramatic - and comedic - than that, and we cover all the ins and outs in our conversation.) Over on Patreon, we watched ON DANGEROUS GROUND, a classic noir film from 1951, to celebrate Noirvember.

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.