Spoilerpiece Theatre

This week we talk about THE TASTE OF THINGS (2:05), which features many of Dave's loves: Juliette Binoche, French food, romance, and tobacco (Megan liked it, too). This deliberate romantic drama, about a gourmand (Benoît Magimel) and his gifted cook (Binoche), is directed by Trân Anh Hùng. It's beautifully photographed, meticulously staged, and it also is not for everyone. Then all three of us watched SCRAMBLED (18:13), a comedic drama written and directed by Leah McKendrick, who stars as Nelly, a 34-year-old woman who freezes her eggs while also taking stock of her life. This one had a range of reactions from the gang. And over on Patreon, we cover the 1968 Norman Jewison-directed THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. If you're not a member, you may become on for $5 a month. There's a bonus episode each week (about 400-ish now), and we post monthly polls about which movies to watch. Please check it out!

This week, we cover two movies dealing with loneliness and connection. Megan reviews SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING (1:56), Rachel Lambert's poignant and sweet comedy-drama starring Daisy Ridley as a shy and isolated person who meets someone new (Dave Merheje). Then we (Evan and Megan) discuss SELF-RELIANCE (14:23), Jake Johnson's uneven comedy — which he directed, wrote, and stars in — about a lonely person participating in a dark web reality game show where people try to kill him. And on this week's Patreon bonus episode, we cover the winner of our Best Picture Oscar winners poll: THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971), William Friedkin's tense crime thriller starring Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider!

Thanks for patience with the delay in posting the show this morning. This week Megan and Dave talk about ORIGIN (2:51), director and screenwriter Ava DuVernay's adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson's book Caste, starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Wilkerson, Jon Bernthal as Wilkerson's husband Brett, and Niecy Nash-Betts as Wilkerson's cousin and best friend Marion. All three of us watched I.S.S. (21:32), starring Ariana DeBose and Chris Messina, in a tale as old as time: The United States and Russia are at war, so the astronauts and cosmonauts on the international space station in Earth's orbit are instructed to take the structure in the name of their respective nations by any means necessary. Ah, science! And over on Patreon, we talk THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, the 1971 film based on Michael Crichton's novel. If you're not a Patreon member, you can become one and get access to nearly 400 bonus episodes for $5 a month, and access to monthly polls.

There's no way to scrub quickly through the previous 495-ish episodes to find out, but it's possible we've never had two movies featured in the main episode that are so tonally at odds. First, Megan talks about MEAN GIRLS (2:01), the new enjoyable musical comedy about teen cliques based on the Broadway musical, which is adapted from the 2004 film. Directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. and written by Tina Fey, it stars Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, and Auliʻi Cravalho. Then, Dave and Megan discuss Felipe Gálvez Haberle's Western THE SETTLERS (10:29), a movie so gruesome in its depictions of genocidal violence in 1901 Chile that Dave can't stop nervous-laughing throughout (even though it's an exceptionally well-made movie). Finally, we all review GOOD GRIEF (29:12), which, as Evan points out, is not a Charlie Brown biopic, but Dan Levy's new comedy-drama, co-starring Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel. We had mixed reactions. Over on Patreon, we talk about STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, so check that out!

We start of 2024 with two not-depressing movies: A love story bathed in trauma (MEMORY at 3:25) and a maybe-end-of-the-world drama where one of the characters is so selfish you hope they walk into the ocean and never return (LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND at 21:31). Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1993 animated film BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM. Take a listen!

For the last Spoilerpiece of 2023, we keep with the tradition of sharing our top 10 films of the year. Evan starts (2:51), followed by Megan (20:15) and Dave (43:22). there are tangents aplenty, and not much overlap between lists. We had a lot of fun with this one. And if you're so inclined, please take a listen to our Patreon bonus episode, in which we dicuss the December poll winner, the 1947 holiday classic THE BISHOP'S WIFE.

This week we talk about Canne's 2023 Palme d'Or winner ANATOMY OF A FALL (3:02). Was it a fall? Or a push? Then it's ALL OF US STRANGERS (27:56), a movie so sad Dave has to shut off his mic. Twice. And please check ot our Patreon. This week we talk about our non-movie recommendations for 2023.

Megan is on vacation, so Evan and Dave are joined by friend of the show Kristen Halbert! Together the three of them discuss whether SALTBURN (4:10) is the kind of film you'd recommend to your friends or enemies. Then it's AMERICAN FICTION (28:37), starring Jeffrey Wright and familial angst (among roughly a dozen other plots). And don't forget to listen to our bonus episode on Patreon, in which we discuss the 1974 heist film THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE.

Megan is off this week so that leaves Evan and Dave to contend with Alexander Payne's latest, THE HOLDOVERS (2:30). Question to the audience that we pose to ourselves: Aside from ELECTION, do you remember Alexander Payne movies after you've seen them? And then there's EILEEN (23:46) - which Megan loved, btw - with its hour of being one movie and its half-hour of being a very different movie. And this week on Patreon we talk about the 2009 Duncan Jones movie MOON.

We're only talking about one film this week, but boy, is it a doozy! We review John Woo's SILENT NIGHT, a dialogue-free action movie that stars Joel Kinnaman as a grieving father who exacts bloody revenge on the gangs that killed his son on Christmas Eve. Does the conceit work? We'll let you know! And, in this week's Patreon exclusive audio, we discuss Gregory Hoblit's 1998 supernatural thriller FALLEN starring Denzel Washington!