Spoilerpiece Theatre

A sing-along of songs from camp veers into unexpected territory for the guys this week. Before they get into any movies though, they turn their attention to television, as Evan explains his mad quest to watch as many X-FILES episodes as possible for before the show leaves Netflix streaming. After that Kris recaps his time at the Boston Underground Film Festival aka BUFF (at 9:14), where he highlights a number of notable films including PREVENGE, DARK SONG, BUSTER’S MAL HEART, SHE’S ALLERGIC TO CATS, THE VOID, and DAVE MADE A MAZE. Lastly, the guys tackle THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE (at 20:00), a movie about a couple played by Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh who smuggle Jews in Poland to safety during the Holocaust, which does all the things you’ve seen before and wraps them in a story you haven’t. The guys compare the film to others about the Holocaust like SCHINDLER’S LIST, and are disappointed with familiar aspects of those pictures that seep into this movie, but they still laud its moving performances and

This week the guys attempt to answer the age old question, “Who’s the luckiest person in show business?” with mixed results. Each of them have some catching up to do on movies that they’ve seen, so they do some quick recaps (starting at 4:26) before they dive into this week’s movies. Kris shares short takes on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and PERSONAL SHOPPER, prior to Evan offering brief thoughts on 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, and Dave revealing what he took away from the rest of OJ: MADE IN AMERICA. After that Kris and Evan discuss WILSON (at 19:32), a film based on a Daniel Clowes graphic novel, where Woody Harrelson plays a guy walking through life telling everyone bullshit and acting like an asshole. Then all three guys discuss the sci-fi horror movie LIFE (at 41:11) which has great actors giving mediocre performances. They compare various parts to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, and ALIEN, however they describe why it gets dumber the more you think about it.

Kris is on a tight deadline and can’t make it this week, so Movie Bob Chipman joins Evan and Dave to discuss logistical questions about day to day operations of the Death Star. Bob shares insights into one of his upcoming videos before being their guest, i.e. reviewing BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (at 6:08). After some tangents about PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and other live action Disney adaptations, Bob describes why BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is a tribute to itself; a fine, blow by blow remake of the animated movie. Next, all three of them discuss the Oscar-winning documentary O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA (at 22:24), by revealing how it provides deep context into O.J.’s successful athletic career and his abusive past, which leads the guys to ruminate on other celebrities with abusive histories. Finally, Evan and Dave tackle PERSONAL SHOPPER (at 42:26), an Olivier Assayas/Kristen Stewart film that’s oozing with esoteric weirdness and needlessly confusing plot points. Fear not, the show isn’t entirely without Kris! Stay tuned afte

Are movie theaters a safe place for children to play? The guys weigh in with their thoughts on this week’s episode. Following their discussion, Dave offers his latest segment of “Riedel’s Recaps,” where he recounts the shocking, gruesome violence in LOGAN (at 4:27), and describes why he found the film to be a statement against hate. Following some tangents about their favorite comic book movies, and whether there are plot holes in DIE HARD, the guys arrive at the week’s main event, KONG: SKULL ISLAND (at 17:52). They share some serious laughs as they critique the film’s huge cast, its epic carnage, and its wide range of callbacks to other movies. They lament how confused it is about what type of picture it wants to be, however they celebrate its special effects, its long monster takes, and its perfect casting of John C. Reilly.

Dave had to look after Baby Henry, so BOFCA critic Greg Vellante joins Evan and Kris for this week’s episode. After a brief game of “Get to Know Your Guest Host,” Greg leads off with BEFORE I FALL (at 7:30), the teenybopper version of GROUNDHOG DAY, which he finds forgettable despite its heart. Next Kris discusses TABLE 19 (15:04), a wedding comedy about nothing in particular that he dubs “stay together porn” for its terrible plot involving couples staying together that shouldn’t. After that, Evan and Greg rave about MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI (at 29:42), the touching Oscar-nominated animated film about a group of orphans who form a family. Finally, Greg fully loses his Spoilerpiece virginity by spoiling the heck out of LOGAN (at 42:06), the Wolverine movie that he describes as entertaining, unexpectedly moving, and extremely violent.  

This week Evan learns the meaning of the term “hippie lettuce” and the results are mind blowing, well to him anyway. Kris opens with a segment of “Keepin' up with the Jensons” (at 4:40) where he talks about how great the performances in FENCES are and why he didn’t mind the Google Earth portions in LION as much as other people. Next, Evan shares his psycho stalker weekend. No he didn’t stalk anyone. He just watched THE BOY NEXT DOOR, FATAL ATTRACTION, and SINGLE WHITE FEMALE within two days and dug them all for their unhinged villains and insane plot twists. Lastly, the guys review the horror film GET OUT (at 30:38), Jordan Peele’s tremendous directorial debut, which they all had the privilege of seeing. They have so much fun spoilerpiecing their screening’s engaged audience, the sense of terrifying dread that Peele creates, and all of the subtle foreshadowing Peele lays down for the frightening events that follow, that they end up running a little longer than usual.

At the show’s outset, the guys wonder what a wiki site run by Kris would be like, before they dive into this week’s movies. First, Kris regales Dave and Evan with his thoughts on the cinematic implications of the Chinese/American collaboration THE GREAT WALL (at 3:06), an action film with Matt Damon in a non-white savior role that has great creature design, but ultimately is really dumb. Then Evan spoilerpieces FIST FIGHT (at 26:43), a completely nonsensical, failure of a comedy, that has bloopers funnier than its entire hour and a half runtime. Lastly, he and Dave explore I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO (at 45:42), the Oscar-nominated documentary that describes what it’s like to be black in America through the words of author James Baldwin. The brilliant insights Baldwin reveals really resonate with them intellectually and emotionally, although the documentary’s dense content prompts them to recommend more than one viewing, to take in all of its poignant commentary.

Although Boston meteorologists predicted that Snowmageddon would decimate the area this week, the guys were still able to record their episode before disaster struck. The show starts with a first, Kris spoilerpiecing vinyl album covers, before Evan shares his experience watching the touchstone ‘80s film FLASHDANCE (at 5:20) for the very first time. He agrees that it’s crazy he hadn’t seen it before, as he discusses how impeccably lit it is, how fantastic its music is, and how sultry its epic dance numbers are under the direction of Adrian Lyne. Next, Dave reviews THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (at 18:10), which is exactly what you think it would be. Will Arnett is perfect as Batman and the movie is chock full of one-liners, but it doesn’t quite have the same impact as THE LEGO MOVIE. After that Dave and Kris join forces to review JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 (at 26:50), a movie that they both loved, and not just because it fulfilled one of three big criteria for good films declared by Dave’s uncle. It compellingly continues m

While discussing highlights of Billy Joel’s musical career on this week’s episode, Kris and Dave enlighten Evan about Joel’s brief metal period in the band Atilla. Without wasting much time after that, the guys get into the week’s movies. First up is Kris, to talk about THE RED TURTLE (at 2:56), one of the shortest spoilerpieces ever, because the sort-of-Studio Ghibli animated film has no dialogue. Kris kind of likes it, although he doesn’t know why. However he does know that he feels the emotions of it. Next is Evan, to discuss LION (at 9:08), a drama about an Indian man played by Dev Patel, who decides to search for the family he was separated from as a child. The film’s first half is heartbreaking and its last act reaches an emotional conclusion, yet Evan feels like its scenes of Patel searching on Google Earth in the middle really drag the story down. Finally, the guys conclude by gushing about PATERSON (at 23:50), Jim Jarmusch’s pleasant, slice-of-life picture about a poet and bus driver played by Adam D

Baby Henry is under the weather, prompting Dave to quarantine himself – so guest Dede Crimmins joins Evan and Kris this week to talk about the ‘90s and lots of film-related topics. Dede fills the guys in on her latest adventures, which include recording a DVD commentary, and participating on panels at the Arisia science fiction convention. Following some philosophical discussion about horror, Dede shares three movies to look out for this year (at 13:00): RAW, THE BAD BATCH, and COLOSSAL. After that, she and the guys discuss the 2017 Oscar nominations (at 21:52), revealing surprises and disappointments in the major categories. Finally, all three of them review this week’s new release GOLD (at 33:50), the Matthew McConaughey gold prospecting movie that Kris describes as AMERICAN HUSTLE on NyQuil. Evan and Dede find it charming for McConaughey’s spirited performance as a balding, overweight, drunk, but they admit that they’ll probably forget it in a week.  

This week Kris excitedly announces the Amazon release of BLOOD OF THE TRIBADES, the sexy lesbian vampire homage to Hammer horror that features him in a villainous role. Before the guys dive into the week’s movies, Kris issues a correction to his description of THE BYE BYE MAN at the request of a listener. With corrections and plugs out of the way, Dave steps up to spoilerpiece THE FOUNDER (at 8:41), a chronicle of how Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) transformed McDonalds from a small fast food chain owned by hardworking brothers (John Carroll Lynch and Nick Offerman) into a multi-billion-dollar company. Dave shares its unique take on Kroc as a character, revealing how Kroc starts out sympathetic, but becomes an incredible shyster as the film progresses. Then all three guys tackle SPLIT (at 27:16), M. Night Shyamalan’s twisty thriller about a group of teenage girls abducted by man with multiple personalities (James McAvoy). The guys marvel at McAvoy’s dynamite performance as well as great turns by Betty Buckley and

Strange things are afoot this week at Spoilerpiece Theatre, and we’ll just leave it at that. Kris leads off by reviewing THE BYE BYE MAN (at 3:48), a horror movie where the villain has no goal other than to mess with people until they die, so his dog can eat them. Just like with THE FOREST, Kris almost spoilerpieces Dave into wanting to see it, although thankfully Dave comes to his senses when he realizes how stupid it is. Evan follows with 20TH CENTURY WOMEN (at 26:48), a Mike Mills movie set in 1970s Santa Barbara with good bones, great camerawork, and charming performances, but annoying stream of consciousness storytelling like Mills’s film BEGINNERS. Then Kris and Dave wrap up with LIVE BY NIGHT (at 41:39), the Ben Affleck gangster picture where people do a lot of living by day. Sienna Miller blends in, Brendan Gleeson goes too soon, and Chris Messina is the only one who belongs in this story with lots of clothed sex and heavy involvement from the KKK. The guys reveal that it looks great despite being wei

Dave and Kris are back to start 2017 in style! This week the guys examine their favorite karaoke songs through the lens of 90s front men before they get to the movies. First, Dave shares his experience growing up as a Rush fan (at 6:58), and the sadness he felt watching the documentary RUSH: TIME STAND STILL for the second time. His story reminds Kris of DEATHGASM, an awesome movie about metal kids that he strongly encourages Dave and Evan to see. Next, Kris reviews HIDDEN FIGURES (at 16:50), a charming true story about three African American women working for NASA during the Space Race, which transcends genre tropes. Then the guys arrive at their main event: Martin Scorsese’s SILENCE (at 27:46). All three have seen it, so they have a LOT to say about the film’s commentary on religion, colonialism, and Christian arrogance through its 17th century tale of Portuguese priests conducting missionary work in Japan. They each have complaints and find the whole thing too long, yet ultimately respect what Scorsese is

It’s been a rough year, but 2016 has finally come to a close, and not a moment too soon given all of the beloved celebrities who have left us! Unfortunately neither Dave nor Kris could make it for this week’s episode, so special guest stars Charlie Nash and Sean Burns join Evan to put the year to bed. They join forces to tear PATRIOTS DAY a new one (at 4:39). All three of them delve into the reasons this Peter Berg/Mark Wahlberg vehicle about the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing is insulting to Bostonians — like Walhberg’s made up character, its exploitative shots of grisly carnage, its selective focus on victims, and its hard-on for authoritarianism. Not surprisingly, there is an overlap between that segment and the next one, where the guys discuss the Worst Movies of 2016 (at 33:54). Several films come up that have been mentioned on the show before, although the most spirited debate occurs between Charlie and Sean over ARRIVAL and CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, which make them feel very emotions.

So much Spoilerpiecing to do this week! We lead things off with a call from a friend in France, and then we get down to spoiling the snot out of ASSASSIN'S CREED. Evan follows that up with Almodovar's JULIETA, and then Kris uses all his strength to get through PASSENGERS, which sounds like it was an ordeal and a half. Finally, Evan and Dave talk FENCES, Denzel's latest directorial effort (an adaptation of August Wilson's renowned play).

Pee talk takes an unexpected, yet movie-related turn at the start of this week’s episode. Once the guys dispense with their bathroom discussion, they move on to the Boston Online Film Critics Association’s yearly awards, which were recently announced to the public. The guys quickly walk through their ballots (at 4:37), mentioning their favorite films that didn’t win, exploring the nuances of their votes, and teasing movies like FENCES that they look forward to discussing in future episodes. After the awards excitement, Kris reviews COLLATERAL BEAUTY (at 28:00), a picture that sounds like an emo side project, where the filmmakers couldn’t decide between making an awards movie or a Christmas movie, so they made both and got something awful. With that out of the way, Dave and Evan take on this week’s big release, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (at 44:00), a prequel that doesn’t have much in common with other entries in the STAR WARS franchise. It has a diverse cast of skilled actors, deaths with weight, and a dire

You want movies? We’ve got your movies this week! The episode opens with a segment of “Catching up with Crean,” aka “Crewind,” where Evan shares his issues with THE HANDMAIDEN (at 6:18) before he covers the sharp Netflix documentary 13TH (at 9:24), which has a well-formed argument about the exploitation of minorities by US lawmakers and the prison industrial complex. After that Evan tackles THE DRESSMAKER (at 13:32), a zany movie that’s overstuffed with plot, yet funny and engaging, with one hell of an ending. Starting at 24:00, Kris and Dave provide very brief recaps of several films including THE LITTLE PRINCE, RED TURTLE, THE FITS, DE PALMA, ZOOTOPIA, and MORRIS FROM AMERICA. Once they get tired of recapping, they move on to this week’s two main events. Dave shares the excruciating agony that is WHY HIM? (at 32:42), or as he calls it “Why Me?”. Then finally, he and Kris review LA LA LAND (at 42:24), a musical with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, which they really disagree about.

This week Kris shares the unusual tale of his 10 year high school reunion. The guys carry their silliness from that story over into their intro, where they ask, you the listener, which 60 Minutes anchor you think they are. It’s a good thing they get to the movies, because there are several to cover. Kris starts with a segment of “Keepin’ up with the Jensons,” where he talks about why he liked SWISS ARMY MAN (at 6:00) more than he expected. Then he and Dave join forces for a recap of HELL OR HIGH WATER (at 18:04), where they joke about the title, discuss the score, and dissect its Western elements. They get to new movies with their review of THE HANDMAIDEN (at 28:09), a three hour movie that flies by due to a layered story and perfect performances, set design, and camerawork. Next, Evan quickly reviews KRISHA (at 42:23), a tough film about a woman spending Thanksgiving with her estranged family that’s shot and edited in an unsettling way. Lastly, he and Kris review MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (at 48:32), an effectiv

Happy post-Thanksgiving! First, we've got some singing, and then we've got a whole mess o' movies, beginning with Kris' take on Warren Beatty's RULES DON'T APPLY. Then Dave goes through BAD SANTA 2, and Evan wraps things up with Disney's MOANA. And then there's more singing (briefly!).

We’ve got movies coming out the wazoo this week! First, Dave and Kris tackle the ambitious Harry Potter prequel FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (at 4:00), which tries to cram five movies into one. Much to their annoyance, only three of those five movies are good. Next, Dave explores NOCTURNAL ANIMALS (at 24:56), writer/director/fashion designer Tom Ford’s sophomore film. It has two stories about toxic masculinity that don’t add up to a whole movie, so during the review Kris develops a new segment called “Dr. Kris, Medicine Man,” where he shares how he’d fix the film. Following that segment, Dave offers his brief thoughts on the music documentaries OASIS: SUPERSONIC and RUSH: TIME STAND STILL, which only seem to be for diehard fans. Evan bats cleanup with three more movies from the Boston Jewish Film Festival (at 51:00): the mediocre crime thriller GRAIN OF TRUTH, the emotionally compelling documentary FREEDOM TO MARRY, and the thought-provoking comedy doc THE LAST LAUGH.