2017 Movie ReviewsBOFCAMoviesSpoilerpiece Theatre

Spoilerpiece Theatre Episode 134: Lion

“Spoilerpiece Theatre” is a weekly movie podcast where I talk about new releases with fellow BOFCA critics Dave Riedel and Kris Jenson. We don’t give a shit about spoilers. We just want to talk about the movies.

In Episode 134 below, we review The Red Turtle, Lion, and Paterson. While discussing highlights of Billy Joel’s musical career on this week’s episode, Kris and Dave enlighten me about Joel’s brief metal period in the band Atilla. Without wasting much time after that, we 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. I’m up next 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 I feel like its scenes of Patel searching on Google Earth in the middle really drag the story down. Finally, we 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 Driver. We talk about how the movie is about poetry on micro and macro levels, while revealing why it makes you want to sink your teeth into every moment. With a little time left, Dave caps the segment by sharing a brief hilarious encounter he had with Mr. Jarmusch in New York City.

Listen to Our Review of Lion:

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 .