Spoiler Alert Episode 297 - I'm Thinking of Ending Things

After far too long, friend of the Spoiler Alert Podcast, Ellen, joins Mike to discuss one of their favorite movies from the weeks preceding Covid lockdown. Direcor and co-star Taika Waititi (Eagle vs. Shark), takes a satirical look at WWII Germany in this Oscar-winning comedy-drama, also starring Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles) and Scarlett Johansson (Home Alone 3). To hear more from Ellen, check out lovethatmoviepod.com

Jack Nicolson (Something’s Gotta Give) and Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) headline an Oscar-winning cast that is one of the few Best Pictures to also win the “big five”. This movie is on all kinds of “best of” lists, and is a long-awaited film for both of the co-hosts!

Writer/Director Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York) delivers a purposefully baffling, frustratingly obtuse riff on David Lynchian themes of unease, mistrust, and strange dancing. This direct to Netflix film is sure to divide any audiences daring enough to sit through the entire thing.

Christopher Nolan (Interstellar) returns to cinemas - at least those which are open right now - with Tenet, his new twisty, ultra-secretive thriller. Starring John David Washington (Monsters and Men), Robert Pattinson (Water for Elephants), Elizabeth Debicki (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), and Kenneth Branagh (Wild Wild West), this film really puts the audience through its paces. Bring your calculator, slide rule, copy of A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, graph paper, a much smarter friend, and an EXTREME amount of patience.

Disney (Song of the South) delivers a new live-action remake of a beloved animated film with Mulan. Starring Yifei Liu as the title character and minus the music, mischief, and family-friendly elements of the original, this film skews closer to a war epic with fantasy elements. It won’t be for everybody but there is a lot to like in this movie.

Sidney Poitier (The Jackal) and Rod Steiger (End of Days) star in 1967’s Best Picture winning film In the Heat of the Night. The film features staggering racism, a crazy soundtrack, and the most bonkers gum chewing committed to celluloid.

Writer/Director Spike Lee (Oldboy) delivers a blistering drama mixing middle age regret, wartime hell, and heist thriller with the Netflix-exclusive film Da 5 Bloods. Delroy Lindo (The Core), Chadwick Boseman (The Kill Hole), and Clarke Peters (Notting Hill) lead the impressive cast and help ground the film with terrific acting.

Andy Samberg (Space Chimps) and Cristin Milioti (It had to be You) star in a fairly fresh telling of the Groundhog Day-Inifite Time Loop situation with Palm Springs. The film is worth signing up for Hulu to see. Or at least signing up for a free month and then bailing after you see it. Or stealing your parents’ log in to watch it on Hulu on their dime. Anyway, check it out.

Writer/Star Tom Hanks (A Hologram for the King) combines his love of WWII stories and green screen usage with the Apple TV-exclusive film Greyhound. Also starring Stephen Graham (Hellboy) and with a brief appearance by Elisabeth Shue (Piranha 3D), the film offers engaging sea warfare scenes and a solid performance - as always - by Hanks.

The Great Ziefeld is a movie. It is a movie which, apparently, won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1936. It is a movie with a running time just under THREE HOURS and includes multiple song & dance numbers. If that is your thing, you MAY like this movie. But, then again, maybe not.