A photo of Michael Jackson featured in the documentary Leaving Neverland
2019 Movie ReviewsBOFCAMoviesSpoilerpiece Theatre

Spoilerpiece Theatre 244: Leaving Neverland

Evan Crean

In Episode 244 of my podcast Spoilerpiece Theatre, we review the Netflix series After Life, the documentaries Leaving Neverland and Surviving R. Kelly, and the Swedish film Border. We’ve been busy at Spoilerpiece! After doing a not-so-deep dive into the power of cocaine in 1980s rap-rock fusions, we get down to what we saw this week. First is Dave with Ricky Gervais’ Netflix series After Life (2:32). (Note: Dave makes reference to Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ at about the 11:30 mark, but mistakenly calls it The Last Temptation of Christ which is Martin Scorsese’s hot take on whether Jesus was a hippie.) At 15:47, I cover Surviving R. Kelly and Leaving Neverland, two documentaries about accusations of abuse by R. Kelly (the answer’s in the title) and Michael Jackson. We’re not really a podcast for trigger warnings, but it’s heavy, heavy stuff. Lastly, Kris talks about Border (36:30), a Swedish movie about a customs agent who can smell fear, and that’s just the beginning. To end things, the guys have a quick discussion about how to tell non-critics whether to see a particular film (45:40).

Evan Crean

Hello! My name is Evan Crean. By day I work for a marketing agency, but by night, I’m a film critic based in Boston, MA. Since 2009, I have written hundreds of movie reviews and celebrity interviews for Starpulse.com. I have also contributed pieces to NewEnglandFilm.com and to The Independent, as a writer and editor. I maintain an active Letterboxd account too. In addition to publishing short form work, I am a co-author of the book Your ’80s Movie Guide to Better Living, which is available on CreateSpace and Amazon. The book is the first in a series of lighthearted self-help books for film fans, which distills advice from ’80s movies on how to tackle many of life’s challenges. On top of writing, I co-host and edit the weekly film podcast Spoilerpiece Theatre with two other Boston film critics. I’m a founding member and the current treasurer for the Boston Online Film Critics Association as well. This site, Reel Recon.com, is a one-stop-shop where you can find links to all of my past and present work. Have any questions or comments after checking it out? Please feel free to email me (Evan Crean) at: ecrean AT reelrecon DOT COM .