Episode #635: "It Ends"

Look at your film screen: It's a bird! It's a plane! It's MOUSE. Not "Maus" or Ralph S. Mouse or Stuart Little (a mouse). MOUSE is about Minnie, a shy and awkward high school senior reeling from the death of her best friend Callie, and Callie's mother. The two form a complicated bond after Callie dies in a car accident, and this movie has some pretty sweeping emotional moments. And it's good. Both Evan and Dave liked it. And just imagine how they felt watching a second tearjerker, BRIAN'S SONG, for Patreon. Go check that out after listening to this episode if you enjoy watching two films about the deaths of prominent characters. 

This week Evan took in the new Bill Hader-starring adaptation of THE CAT IN THE HAT (3:39), which he saw with a very special guest (we won't spoil who; listen and let him tell you). Then Dave joins Evan for the sci-fi drama (with doses of comedy) LITTERMATES (15:48). It's a bizarre, funny, low-budget sci-fi-drama that worked for both of them. Over on Patreon, we cover THE IDEA OF YOU, starring Anne Hathaway and directed by Doug.

This week Evan and Dave talk about the eagerly anticipated THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK (5:02). Writer/director Noah Segan's quiet drama starring John Turturro features a great use of New York City locations, a tight running time, and it has the spirit of a true independant movie. But does it work? Over on Patreon, the winner of our haunted house movie poll is THE OTHERS. 

This week we get into a little "Riedel's Recaps" (TM) action, as Dave briefly runs through the pros and cons of sitting through a screening of the absolutely bonkers OTHER MOMMY (6:14), featuring Jessica Chastain. Then Evan and Dave talk about DETENTION (11:56), an homage to THE BREAKFAST CLUB that treads a similar line between comedy and drama that John Hughes' classic treads. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2014 microbudget horror film CREEP, and Dave yaps a lot about his new podcast SCHLOCK IT TO ME. The first two episodes are out now! 

Since Dave is a big Jane Austen fan, he kicks off this week's episode by reviewing Georgia Oakley and Diane Reid's new adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (2:46), starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles, and Caitríona Balfe. He explains why he finds the film delightful, comparing and contrasting it with Ang Lee and Emma Thompson's 1995 adaptation, which he also loves. Then Evan and Dave dig into Judd Apatow's overly long Netflix documentary, NORM: THE TALE OF NORM MACDONALD (11:16). It works better for Dave than it does for Evan, who finds that it raises more questions than it answers about the revered comedian, while also making him less funny in hindsight. And in this week's Patreon-exclusive audio, we talk about Greg McLean's 2005 Australian horror film WOLF CREEK!

This week we have an Aaron Sorkin movie, THE SOCIAL RECKONING (3:07). So you know what that means: Angry Dave is back! Listen to him use the phrase "I f*cking hate it!" more than once as he takes down Sorkin's latest all-characters-speak-with-the-same-voice trash heap. Then Evan joins Dave to talk about the new Ben Affleck-directed thriller ANIMALS (14:18), which kinda works and kinda doesn't. But it's the rare Netflix movie that feels like a real movie and not a Netflix movie, so it has that going for it. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2022 Australian horror film TALK TO ME.

What's that phrase? "Verity, verity, I say unto you," right? Or something like that. This week Evan and Dave hop on the VERITY (2:20) train. Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel gets big-budge big-star treatment, with Anne Hathaway as Verity, a shitty (personality-wise) writer, who's catatonic; Dakota Johnson as a young writer hired to ghostwrite Verity's last three novels in a series; and Josh Hartnett as Verity's husband. Also: Mr. Hartnett, nice to see back in the bigs! VERITY's title and title character are clumsy clues as to what's going on in this movie: Did Verity kill her daughter? Did she confess in an autobiography? Is she really catatonic? Will the Yankees take the pennant? We answer all those questions (except the Yankees one), and have a good time taking apart this movie's many flaws, however watchable the final product may be. (And did we mention Michael Showalter directed this fucker?!!) Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2016 thriller HUSH.

This week Dave strolled into a screening of PRIMETIME (3:00), the new feature in which Robert Pattinson plays Chris Hanson as he rides To Catch a Predator to success while navigating (dumb) personal and (avoidable) professional crises. Then Evan and Dave break down UNABOMBER, a new Netflix film with Shailene Woodley and Russell Crowe about hunting down - wait for it! - Ted Kaczynski. UNABOMBER jumps back and forth in time over two narratives, and Evan and Dave found one infinitely more compelling than the other. Guess which! Over on Patreon, we watched 9 TO 5 in tribute to Dolly Parton.

There's a new RESIDENT EVIL film, and it's made by the guy who made WEAPONS (and BARBARIAN), which Evan and Dave are both fans of, so yay! But, as sometimes happens on Spoilerpiece Theatre, one of them really dug it, and the other thought it was fine. But the movie has some cool set pieces up its sleeve, and it takes a novel approach in adapting a video game for the big screen. (We agreed on that.) Over on Patreon, we talk about Paul W.S. Anderson's 2002 adaption.

This week Evan and Dave take a look at IT ENDS, a movie that has been out a couple weeks, in which four friends are stuck on a road that seemingly goes on forever. Why watch IT ENDS, you ask? In addition to the studios releasing f*ck-all this week, we've also been hearing things about IT ENDS: It's creepy! It's eerie! It's a nailbiter! It's a shitty GROUNDHOG DAY! Say no more. We're in. Over on Patreon, we watched the 1984 classic (question mark?) THE KARATE KID.