Spoilerpiece Theatre

This week Kris takes the floor for his very first segment of “Keepin’ up with the Jensons,” where he fills Evan and Dave in on the remainder of HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS, a movie he started to talk about last week. Kris thinks the film is based on a lot of contrivances, but he forgives them because Sally Field is great in it and director Michael Showalter seems to know exactly what to focus on. Following brief baby poop tangent, Kris also shares his take on PEE-WEE’S BIG HOLIDAY. He agrees with Dave and Evan about it, although he spends a little more time comparing and contrasting it with PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE, which he also watched. Then the guys dig into HARDCORE HENRY the one movie they all saw this week. Sadly it’s not about Baby Henry, but it is an intense action flick shot entirely in first person. Kris compares it to BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY meets CALL OF DUTY, while Evan says it’s a cross between CRANK and SHOOT EM UP. All three of them admit that it has its entertaining moments and characters (like the

Following a free product plug for one of those mail-in shave clubs, Kris offers a correction from the previous episode. After a few minutes of Dave’s thoughts on BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, Evan and Kris talk about EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! Richard Linklater’s movie is bro-ey and says the word pussy a lot, but after its first 30-45 minutes both Evan and Kris really started to enjoy it. Next, Kris describes MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, a film starring Michael Shannon that’s about a kid who is special. It has people talking obliquely in a car, which annoys Kris, although it does have some really inspired sci-fi elements. The conversation leads to a tangent on Michael Shannon’s weird handsomeness, before Dave and Evan dive into PEE-WEE’S BIG HOLIDAY, which is basically PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE with a smaller budget, better music, and a less insane director. Still, they both dig its humor and find it hilarious. Finally, Kris wraps up with a half review of HELLO MY NAME IS DORIS, a film he wanted to make a prediction on

Dave couldn’t make it at the last minute, so frequent guest Charlie Nash steps in to help out this week. After the guys discuss an idea Kris has for a movie, that he definitely shouldn’t be the one to write, they delve into the zany short film KUNG FURY. Charlie hasn’t seen it, so Kris and Evan convince him to check it out by spoilerpiecing how its hero acquires his kung fu powers. Then it’s up to Evan to describe MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2, or as he calls it, MY BIG FAT SEQUEL. He’s annoyed by how hypocritical it is, which leads to a tangent about another hypocritical movie: I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY. Once he finishes sharing all the reasons why MBFGW2 wasn’t good, all three guys tear into BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. Charlie describes how it looks like shit (dark, murky, and brown) and explains why Batman and Superman are wrong in their worldviews. Evan craps on it too for its poor direction and editing. Kris is no fan either, but he provides interesting context for the movie in relation t

The guys stumble onto their new band name this week before they talk about Evan’s vacation to LA, which involved lots of decadent eating. After a Garfield tangent, Evan and Kris ponder why so many people seem to get shot in the back during THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT – Part 1, a story they didn’t realize would be told in two parts. Kris then describes how Jeff Daniels is like his character in THE MARTIAN only evil, and about why he’s “one of those bad guys who has an adjective.” With all the film’s issues, Evan shares why he still prefers the series to THE HUNGER GAMES. Following a tangent about westerns, specifically YOUNG GUNS, the episode transitions into Dave and Evan discussing another 80s movie: WORKING GIRL. Evan has no idea how much Dave loves the film, and is totally unprepared for how well Dave can quote it. The two of them enjoy spoilerpiecing it for Kris with talk about Harrison Ford’s grimace, its memorable lines, and its portrayal of workplace politics.

Evan is galavanting across California on vacation so friend of the show Sean Burns fills in. That’s right! Sean and Dave appear together! And though Sean threatens to set Dave on fire and throw coffee at him, they get on pretty well. On this week’s show, the guys talk about 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, which is apparently a sequel to CLOVERFIELD. But it’s one of those movies they can’t focus on, so there are a million tangents, most notably into Christopher Lambert and FORTRESS. Then it’s KNIGHT OF CUPS, yet another movie in which Terrence Malick makes women twirl (sigh). Yeah, yeah, it’s hard to be a comedy writer who gets laid a ton. It’s a short distance to James Woods tangents, peeps! Yeezus.

This week the guys talk about bread (yeah, that's right, bread) before Evan shares some BIG news. Then Kris starts things off by talking about ZOOTOPIA, a hard-PG Disney film about racism. His commentary leads to an odd tangent about Tom Selleck and a brief tangent on politics. Afterward, he, Dave, and Evan discuss BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, one of their favorite dumb movies. The guys comment on how fast-paced and lean it is with its perfect dialogue, while sharing visual gags and suspect editing they didn't notice in previous viewings. In the process of reviewing it, they delve into BILL & TED'S BOGUS JOURNEY and the BILL & TED cartoon too. In the final part of the show, they express their gripes with this year's Oscars. They also get into lengthy discussions about the Best Original Screenplay category by way of EX MACHINA and the Best Original Song category by way of Sam Smith. Speaking of songs, stick around after the closing credits for Dave's fresh take on a Beatles classic.

This week the guys give you the lowdown on their recording equipment, before Kris shares why the atrocious GODS OF EGYPT left him feeling rattled. Part of it has to do with its 120 minutes of confusing plot and Gerard Butler's mysterious decision to use his Scottish accent. The whole experience left Kris too depressed to chide a fellow theatergoer for using his phone during the picture, so he decides to pass the mic. Next Dave and Evan review TRIPLE 9, a movie that with lots of good killin' and great action. Kate Winslet does a terrible Russian accent, the film is overstuffed with plot, and goes along too long, but Woody Harrelson is amazing, even if he could play his role in his sleep. Finally, the guys fulfill their promise from last episode of revisiting Tim Burton's BATMAN. Dave and Evan go over the massive plot holes, continuity errors, and other various things that bother them from their most recent viewing, although they do take some time to talk about what they still love about the movie in spite of t

This week's episode starts out with a conversation about Prince, where Kris gets real life events spoilerpieced. Then after a very brief review of BABES IN TOYLAND, a Janet Jackson tangent, and singing, the guys address some listener questions that arrived via voicemail and email. Along the way, they stumble into tangents about FORREST GUMP, Vin Diesel, and The Brattle Theatre's owl before they move on to the main event: their review of THE WITCH. All three love its ratcheting sense of dread and how it becomes terrifying, bordering on horrifying in its final act. Plus early, Dave admits that there's a moment in it that makes him feel very uncomfortable as a new dad. Following some differentiation between rabbits and hares, and talk of famous last words in the movie, they all laud THE WITCH for its good direction, great recreation of its time period, and excellent detail. In fact, they spend so much time talking about it, that they don't get a chance to explore Tim Burton's BATMAN, which was also on the agenda

This week Kris starts out by asking Dave an important question about how he intends to handle swearing around Baby Henry as he gets closer to actually understanding bad words. Then Evan laments how bad comedy sequels are when he discusses ZOOLANDER 2. The movie’s jokes about millennials suck and it has dumb mythology, but as a great Kiefer Sutherland, which leads to a Kiefer tangent before Kris and Evan tackle DEADPOOL. Friend of the podcast Sam Cohen didn’t care for it, so Evan and Kris start their review of this very funny fourth-wall breaking comic book film by addressing Sam’s issues. Following a GAME OF THRONES tangent, Kris spoilerpieces THE CANAL, an excellent Irish horror flick that he says is creepy, scary, and keeps you guessing. Evan wraps up by talking about horror as well with SOUTHBOUND, a horror anthology that’s freaky, well-put together, and very cohesive. And in case you missed it in the last episode, we are now on Stitcher, so be sure to subscribe to us there if you don’t have iTunes!

Illness strikes and claims Dave yet again, although thankfully frequent guest Dede Crimmins is able to fill in. After discussing workout motivation with the guys, she and Kris talk about the new Coen Brothers movie HAIL, CAESAR! Both she and Kris say it’s delight with a lot of plot, but not a lot of story. They talk about how funny it is by summing up its bawdy humor and by comparing Josh Brolin’s character to Liz Lemon. This inevitably leads to comparisons between the film and other pictures by the Coens, and at least one good band name. Following a brief diversion into 2016’s horror slate where Dede recommends THE BOY (seriously—go see it), everyone tackles PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES. Kris thinks it’s a pile of shit where Seth Grahame-Smith did a CTRL+F to replace words with zombies and is annoyed by its pandering, however Dede and Evan don’t think it’s that bad. Everyone can agree though that the zombies aren’t scary, rules about them aren’t established, and it doesn’t effectively blend Jane Austen’s

Dave starts out by sharing good things about his new outlet, which makes his transition into Riedel’s Recaps quite easy. This time he offers his take on THE MARTIAN, which he really liked despite some miscasting and misacting. It also scored bonus points because it didn’t wake Baby Henry. After a tangent on INTERSTELLAR, Evan jumps in with his opinion about MOJAVE (pronounced MO-JAYVE according to Dave), a movie starring Garrett Hedlund (not Charlie Hunnam) and Oscar Isaac, where pretentious people talk about pretentious things. It’s a shitty movie that actually caused Evan to root against its asshole protagonist. Following tangents about THE DEPARTED, EX MACHINA, and STAR TREK IV, the guys discuss their thoughts on #OscarsSoWhite and the new changes the Academy is making to promote diversity (hint: they like them). Finally, Dave and Kris review THE FINEST HOURS, a B-movie with an A-budget, where only three things happen. Even though nothing happened, it was long enough to make Kris regret not peeing beforeha

Dave has a new gig that he’s excited to finally share. After he talks a little about it, Evan and Kris spoil the shit out of GOODNIGHT MOMMY, a creepy film that uses space effectively to keep you on edge. Its intense torture scenes made Evan feel like he had to watch something more uplifting when he was done though. Sticking with unsettling movies, Kris describes ROAR, which he describes as “a thing of pure insanity.” This plot light picture has lots of cuts and lots of big cats. Although sadly, many cast and crew members were seriously injured in the process of making it. Dave changes the episode’s pace by discussing 45 YEARS, a very English, but very good film with Charlotte Rampling about a long marriage that suddenly finds itself on the rocks. Lastly, Evan closes things up by talking about DIRTY GRANDPA, a fucking awful movie that mainly just presents situations for Robert De Niro to be vulgar for no real reason. At least there’s good singing in this episode courtesy of Dave.

After a discussion of their favorite unorthodox movie quotes, the guys kick off this week’s episode with a conversation about ANOMALISA, a film that neither Kris nor Dave enjoys. Kris describes it as a 60 minute idea in a 90 minute movie, while Dave harps on its unlikable main character and the fact that nothing happens. Dave likes like long movies where nothing happens, but apparently not short ones. Following some general talk about Charlie Kaufman movies, Evan and Kris jump into 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI, a movie that Evan is super fired up to talk about. Not even a shirtless John Krasinski can stop him from ripping into its awful sense of time, complete lack of subtlety, and its brazen celebration of masculinity. A brief interlude on conspiracy theories almost threatens to derail the show, although the guys hold it together so Evan can describe MUSTANG, a French film set in Turkey with a great sense of humor, a strong feminist bent, and a fuck you ending that he really digs.

The guys are back in full force this week to discuss the finer points of linguistics before they review THE REVENANT. Dave considers it his holy grail because it has everything he could hope for: it’s long, quiet, not a lot happens, and there’s some good killing. Kris and Evan enjoy it as well for its technical prowess, although they never felt plugged into its story. After a CROCODILE DUNDEE 2 reference, Kris transitions to talking about THE FOREST, a terrible horror film that he describes in such vivid detail that he accidentally sells Dave and Evan on seeing it. Then all three delve into another one of Dave’s favorite movies: DRINKING BUDDIES. They explore its complicated relationship dynamics and talk more about Joe Swanberg as a filmmaker. Expect to hear a little more about DIGGING FOR FIRE. You've been warned.

Happy New Year from Spoilerpiece! Evan is sick, and since the guys normally record at his place, they decide to do something different. Because a lot of listeners have asked to hear tangents that have been cut or shortened, the guys share their favorite ones from 2015 in this mini episode. First up, is a conversation Kris and Evan had in Episode 65 about Donald Trump that poses an interesting theory about the billionaire. Next is a little story about the time Dave got bacterial meningitis and missed six weeks of work. Finally, Kris introduces some tangents that further explore his burrito obsession. We hope you enjoy the show and look forward to seeing you in 2016!

Merry Christmas from Spoilerpiece! Dave is out sick with a stomach bug, so Kris decides to share his own gross stomach bug experience out of solidarity. He and Evan then talk about the lush visuals and excellent craft in CAROL, a Todd Haynes movie that impressed their colleagues, but underwhelmed both of them with its inert plot. After that they review THE BIG SHORT, an unexpectedly sharp film about the financial crisis made by the same guy who did STEP BROTHERS and the ANCHORMAN movies. They wrap with their extensive thoughts on Quentin Tarantino’s latest picture THE HATEFUL EIGHT, a sadistic story that will forever change your perception of the song “Silent Night.”

The guys kick off their STAR WARS episode with a Spoilerpiece prequel: the origin story of Kris Jenson’s love affair with burritos. Thankfully it’s much shorter and funnier than the ones George Lucas did. After that, the guys discuss a very kind email they received from a fan in France. Then they head right into the main event by reviewing STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, a film which miraculously all of them have seen. All three really like it, so they dig in deep to talk about why they think it works so well. Things get pretty spoilerific, so only tune in if you’ve seen the movie or you can handle it. You’ve been warned.

Dave is back from sick leave to share his unique take on a classic lullaby. Then Evan and Kris jump into reviewing Ron Howard’s IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, or IN THE FART OF THE SEA, as Dave calls it. The film stars the Greater Hemsworth (Chris) and Brendan Gleeson, but not Dave’s favorite actor Ray Winstone. It’s a movie about a sperm whale that kills seamen, and yes the guys milk that fact for all the laughs it’s worth. They also don’t shy away from making CABIN BOY references whenever possible. Probably the biggest surprise is how much Evan and Kris disagree about it. Their conversation veers into a tangent about Ron Howard films, before all three guys get into this year’s Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) awards. The three of them share their top 10 lists, and delve into some of the categories where they had completely different items in their ballots like Best Foreign Film and Best Documentary. Highlights include PEACE OFFICER, FINDERS KEEPERS, STRAY DOG, and JAFAR PANAHI’S TAXI. Before they si

Unfortunately Dave can’t make it for a full show, but he is able to squeeze in a segment of Riedel’s Recaps. All is not lost though, since fan favorite Sean Burns fills in. He and Evan start out by talking YOUTH, a film that they don’t agree on. Evan hates how disjointed it is, while Sean digs how bonkers it is. Then they toss it over to Kris, who breaks down Spike Lee’s CHI-RAQ, which has a happy Wesley Snipes, a surprising John Cusack, and characters speaking in verse. It’s got a lot of super-Spike-Lee stuff that makes Sean super excited to see it. After that Evan and Sean tackle ROOM, another movie they can’t agree on. Sean isn’t a fan of its inconsistent style, but Evan thinks Brie Larson is fantastic and finds its escape scene riveting. Finally, Kris and Sean discuss LEGEND, a crime movie with Tom Hardy that has structure problems and brothers who seem like they’re from different planets. It all ends with tangents about Universal awards season screeners and drunk dialing. Stay tuned though until the very

Happy Thanksgiving! We at Spoilerpiece couldn't help but launch into a short riff about the beauty of John Hughes' "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." It's that time of year, and it's also funny to hear Steve Martin say, "I do not play with my balls." Then Kris and Evan get into "The Good Dinosaur," which, to hear them tell it, ain't a good movie. And finally, Kris spoilerpieces the hell out of "Creed," the new "Rocky" movie that is apparently better than it has any right to be. There's also a Henry update and a brief installment of "Riedel's Recaps." Hope everyone didn't eat themselves sick!