Spoilerpiece Theatre

This week Evan and Dave bring back that ol' chestnut, "Riedel's Recaps," and Dave gives expletive-laden mini-reviews for PROJECT HAIL MARY and UNDERTONE (2:28). Then they move on to the main feature this week, HAMLET (7:50). Yep! Someone made HAMLET again! This adaptation stars Riz Ahmed as the title character, and Dave and Evan are of mixed feelings about this one. Over on Patreon, we talk about FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH from 1982.

This week Dave takes in THE DRAMA (4:17), writer-director Kristoffer Borgli's uneasy drama (with lots of comedy) about an engaged couple, Emma and Charlie (Zendaya and Robert Pattinson). When Emma tells Charlie about the worst thing she's ever done, it sparks a crisis that builds in the week leading up to their wedding. (And it was shot in Massachusetts!) Then Evan and Dave come down on opposite sides of the fence for PRETTY LETHAL (24:39), and action-thriller featuring a group of ballerinas battling their way out of a mob-owned hotel in rural Hungary. Uma Thurman has a lot of fun chewing the scene as the heavy. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1990 action-thriller BLUE STEEL starring Jamie Lee Curtis and directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

This week Evan and Dave take in SHE DANCES, written by star Steve Zahn along with its director, Rick Gomez. Zahn is fine form in this drama (with lots of welcome comedy) about a father chaperoning his daughter (played by Zahn's daughter Audrey) to a dance competition while they both deal with an incalcuable loss. Zahn and Gomez call in favors from friends Ethan Hawke and Michael Cudlitz, both welcome in small but poignant roles. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1986 film PLATOON by Oliver Stone.

This week Evan and Dave take a look at WAR MACHINE (1:50), a sort of mean-spirited PREDATOR clone/rip off without the solid acting, story, direction or humor. But at least we had fun talking about it! On Patreon, we talk about the 1986 buddy-cop film RUNNING SCARED with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal.

SCARED TO DEATH (3:10) is a horror comedy that isn't particularly funny or horrific, but it does feature horror icons Lin Shaye and Bill Moseley, so that's great! (Oh, and Rae Dawn Chong shows up, too. Yay!) The story, however, is one of those nifty ideas - filming a seance in a haunted orphanage that was run by a Satan worshipper (neat!) - that falls flat. The lore doesn't add up, the characters are dopes, and the pacing is off. We don't like to give lower budgeted features a hard time, but we couldn't find much to like here. Over on Patreon, we watch Paul Feig's 2025 thriller THE HOUSEMAID.

This week Dave checked out Maggie Gyllenhaal's latest film as writer-director, THE BRIDE! (1:42), a reimagining of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" novel and its various film iterations. Starring Jessie Buckley as The Bride (exclamation point) and Christian Bale as The Monster, it's a roller coaster ride that doesn't have either the thrills or chills one may expect, and its stale plotting can't prop up its more ambitious social commentary. And because there was no critics' screening for SCREAM 7 (14:07), Evan and Dave hit the local multiplexes to see it. Is it the shitshow everyone seems to think, or is it better than that? Take a listen to find out! Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2007 action film SHOOT 'EM UP.

February is a notoriously slow month for film releases, so we took in a couple movies that were released in the past month, Sam Raimi's SEND HELP (2:53), starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien as an employee and her boss playing mind games as they attempt to survive on an island following a plane crash; and THIS IS NOT A TEST (15:20), about a group of high schoolers hunkered down in their school, trying to survive a fast-zombie apocalypse. Over on Patreon, we had you vote on Robert Duvall movies, and you chose FALLING DOWN.

This week Evan and Dave buckled in for the new Glen Powell thriller-comedy HOW TO MAKE A KILLING (1:50). While Evan largely enjoyed it, he agreed with Dave that it had a boatload of problems. Over on Patreon, we watched the 1986 slasher flick APRIL FOOL'S DAY.

Dave and Evan were looking forward to Gore Verbinski's GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE (3:22). And then they saw the bloody thing. We'll let you listen and hear our thoughts rather than spill them here. But if you'd like a preview, here's Dave's Letterboxd review. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2024 thriller RELAY, by the director of HELL OR HIGH WATER.