Nicole Kidman plays a hardboiled cop in Destroyer.
“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 237 below we review Stan & Ollie and Destroyer. This week’s episode kicks off with, what else those effin Oscar nominations (2:17), recognizing outstanding achievement in male mediocrity. There are some deserving nominations — Black Panther, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, BlacKkKlansman — but c’mon already. From there, Kris recaps Stan & Ollie (11:55), a well-meaning film about Laurel and Hardy in the last year of their joint career. It has some great attributes but never gathers enough momentum to explore the more interesting or entertaining dimensions of its plot. Last up is Destroyer (21:13), a meandering neo-noir that has some good things going for it but it could have done with a bit — or a lot — of streamlining.
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 .