They've ranked countless films with arbitrary criteria. Now, after two years, the first season of I'm Thinking of Spoiling Things has drawn to a close. The only sensible thing to do? Finally do what they've been trying to do since episode one. Spoil Things. This week, on the extended edition season finale of the show, join Stephen and Vaughn as they spoil 1989's microbudget SOV classic Things, a film so wildly incoherent that one host watched it twice and the other has very little idea what happened at all. Following an in depth breakdown of the madness of Things, the guys answer a barrage of inquisitions from the audience in our most expansive listener mail adventure yet.

Most of all, thank you all for listening over the past two years of the show. The endless support and positive feedback that has come through has been truly incredible. What started as a way to share in a collective disappointment in the latest Bond adventure turned into a bi-weekly adventure that has always been a delight to put together. Rest assured this hiatus is not permanent, and the Spoilers will return whenever possible to bring more coverage of the latest releases (and maybe, sometimes, films from 34 years ago), so stay subscribed to catch whenever we get a chance to put something new together. Until then, follow both of your hosts at the links below, and we'll see you around.

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Vaughn on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, Twitter, and Bluesky.

Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, Twitter, and Bluesky.

It's the beginning of the end of the road here on the show. After saving the podcast landscape with seconds to spare, conquering the peak of human cinematic achievement, and gearing down from a notably unromantic journey from gamer to racer, things are winding down on the first season of the show. Before the guys commit to their final sign-off before the break on a very special episode 50, they've come together to rank their second year of coverage on the show. Just like the first ranking, they have collected every film discussed from the Horror Spooktacular following the first anniversary all the way until our journey with Gran Turismo, and now it's time to put them all in the most objective, concrete order possible, all by the firm laws of Spoiling Things lore. So sit back and listen in, it's another wonderful journey through another year of podcasts.

Please send in your comments, questions, opinions, or any thought tumbling through your head - we would love to hear from you on Episode 50 of the show, the finale of the first season of Spoiling Things. Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com, and we'll see you next time for a thrilling show full of surprises, your listener mail, and more!

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Start your engines gamers, the summer's biggest blockbuster podcast has finally arrived. After countless hours of tireless research, months of agonizing but extremely necessary preparation, and dozens of episodes featuring thoroughly refined segments, Gear Up For Gran Turismo has reached its end. Now we arrive at the culmination of all of our hard work, a glorious, high speed adrenaline rush 135 minutes of a gamer becoming a racer. It's time to find out if Gran Turismo is Neill Blomkamp's magnum opus, a bonafide classic soon to be included on the Sight & Sound Top 100, a confused bloated overload of overly stylized grit, or maybe something somewhere in between. Putting all of their efforts into this monumental episode, Stephen and Vaughn hope to be invited to the Podcast Academy, and with enough grit and determination, their sim-conversation skills might just be put to the real test. Until then, listen to this carefully tested simulation that also includes pit stops at the Keswick Pencil Museum, Fun Island, Australia, and the bottom of a trench. Stay tuned for the end of the episode for an announcement, and an update on the future of Spoiling Things.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Talk to Me, Meg 2: The Trench) | 4:05

Gran Turismo | 40:15

Recommendations | 1:06:10

An Announcement | 1:14:30

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

For thousands and thousands of years, human civilization has been building, advancing, slowly creating the foundation of the ultimate culmination of our existence. Now, it is finally upon us. Barbenheimer. The ultimate double bill. Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, releasing simultaneously to become the peak of cinematic experience. Swaths of rabid fans dressed head to toe in pink causing stampedes at local multiplexes; filmbros traveling thousands of miles and standing in line for days to experience 70mm IMAX like Christopher Nolan, father of cinema, intended them to. Theaters are back and the fervor is so intense it's like they never existed until now, but here we have gathered, where heartbreak feels good. And now, like true pioneers breaking ground on ideas nobody has even imagined, visualizing the imperceptible motions of atoms in the atmosphere, Steven and Vaughn have gathered to record a podcast about movies. They will talk about Barbie. They will talk about Oppenheimer. They will break down the respective filmmakers' careers and provide, a range of cold, tepid, and maybe even hot takes about their thoughts on various films. They will respond to questions sent in from around the globe from their many billions of listeners. They will recommend films from their recent watches. They might even have a cold open. And it will change the course of podcasting forever. Prepare yourself, and listen to this week's episode.

Timestamps:

Barbie | 3:35

Oppenheimer | 32:30

Listener Mail | 1:19:40

Recommendations | 1:31:50

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Good morning, dedicated listener. The Spoilers have resurfaced once again to discuss the latest releases, returning to films they have already covered and once again scrambling to scrap together anything that resembles actual content pertaining to the upcoming Gran Turismo film. These violations of podcast standards have become an immediate threat to the podcast landscape, and have put the entire world in danger of shows entirely consisting of repeated thoughts and endless weekly segments about upcoming films nobody is looking forward to. The only chance at correcting this imminent collapse of everything we hold dear is to carefully extract the actual fresh film content from this episode and pretend that the rest of it does not exist. If the hosts are properly fooled by this ruse, a completely unique and original podcast covering the so-called "Barbenheimer" will emerge and the world of podcasts will once again be an amorphous, homogeneous blob of white guys talking about movies. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to listen to this episode in full and then write in your questions and comments to thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com. The fate of podcasts hangs in the balance. Vaughn will self-destruct (go back to bed) in five seconds.

Timestamps:

Updated Impressions (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) | 7:00

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Asteroid City) | 13:45

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 54:30

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One | 58:00

Listener Mail | 1:20:00

Recommendations | 1:41:00

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

We here at The Twin Geeks know this is heartbreaking new for our most dedicated fans, but the Thin Lizzy podcast has been cancelled. Stephen and Vaughn are now back to talking about recent releases, and are contractually obligated to stay on topic at all times. The consequences will be dire if there are any points at which they write and recite lengthy parodies of LL Cool J music, continually restart their recordings, or recommend movies they don’t like very much. On this episode, where the fate of the podcast hangs in the balance, the guys talk Extraction 2, also known as Tyler Rake 2, and discuss the merits of fake oners, ripping off Uncharted 2, and ripping a guy’s hand in half. They also talk Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Stephen’s most anticipated film of the year. How are the Transformers doing? Will Bumblebee ever die? Is that Pete Davidson? Then, they get back in the driver’s seat (both of them) to gear up once again for Gran Turismo, and share all of the latest updates on Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming high octane masterpiece. Finally, it’s Facebook influencer Paul Schrader’s latest, Master Gardener, as well as Schrader’s wider catalogue as both writer and director. Find out what the guys think, get a new batch of recommendations, and send your thoughts, questions, and comments in to be discussed next time.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Extraction 2, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) | 3:00

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 49:00

Paul Schrader & Master Gardener | 54:00

Recommendations | 1:24:00

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Welcome to Dino's Bar and Grill, where Stephen and Vaughn have finally made it to the same recording slot to join forces and talk about cinema, diving into whatever releases they've both managed to get their eyes on. It's been a while, so the guys spend an extended intro kicking back and catching up, covering all kinds of important updates such as the lyrics to Thin Lizzy's "The Boys are Back in Town," issuing a wise warning to prevent a very niche subset of listeners from putting themselves in the position of playing Unicron The Planet Eater, reveal the one hidden trick that actors DON'T want you to know, and so much more. Then, they jump into two new films steeped in the corporate dilution of cinematic energy, from the executive worship of Flamin' Hot to the soulless, unaffected uncanny valley of The Little Mermaid. Is this letting on too much about how they feel about these films? Does anyone read these? Send in an email if you read these. thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com. Anyway, after the films, the guys read more listener mail, from predictions about future remakes to a descent into madness as they create a tier list of every Cheeto product. The boys are back in town.

Timestamps:

Flamin' Hot | 9:20

The Little Mermaid | 27:20

Listener Mail | 59:00

Recommendations | 1:43:00

Check out the incoherent Cheetos Tier List here.

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

This week, Vaughn returns from his pilgrimage to Boston for the Motern Extravaganza, only Stephen got lost looking for him, so until he finds his way back home, Vaughn brings on a couple of guests to talk about some of the newest releases. First, friend of the show BrazyBen makes his first appearance on the podcast to discuss Shin Kamen Rider, an all out tokusatsu throwback from master director Hideaki Anno, and the guys dive into their experiences with the recent Shin films, tokusatsu as a genre, and some of their favorite Kamen Rider content. Later, returning guest Jack joins to talk Fast X and Across the Spider-Verse, both films that serve as a starting point for a multi-film journey that are both wildly different experiences with wildly different responses. We respond to listener mail, discuss a multiverse of multiverses, Vaughn tells the story of how a Jackie Chan film became part of one of the most stressful days of his life, and offer some recommendations from our most recent watches.

Timestamps:

Shin Kamen Rider with Ben | 0:45

Fast X with Jack | 48:45

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with Jack | 1:03:00

Listener Mail | 1:27:00

Recommendations | 1:38:30

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

While Vaughn hits the road to experience the breathtaking majesty of Boston Johnny in person, Stephen invites frequently mentioned, now first time guest Emma on to the show to discuss the latest in both theatrical and home releases. As it goes with the often frustrating staggering of US and UK releases, Stephen finally gets a chance to view and discuss Sisu and Beau is Afraid, with varied and eye-opening results that will shock audiences who have become familiar with the previous episode's views on these films. Stephen and Emma discuss Jenny From The Block's latest cinematic endeavors with Netflix's The Mother before finishing up a veritable odyssey of parenthood cinema with Kelly Fremon Craig's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Before we sign off, of course, there's no time to miss a segment, so Stephen gears up once again for our most anticipated release of the year, questions from the audience are answered, and recent viewings are offered as recommendations for the keen and attentive listener to explore on their own time. Enjoy the show, it's a good one! I might have missed the recording but I still have to write these descriptions.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Sisu, Beau Is Afraid, The Mother) | 2:00

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret | 29:30

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 1:01:50

Listener Mail | 1:06:30

Recommendations | 1:13:00

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Join us... as we return for another episode packed with spoils, surprises, and so much more! It's another horror triple feature this week as we dive into a Dracula spinoff, the latest in the long running genre of exorcism cinema, and the return of everyone's favorite campy demon gorefest. We also take our first look at the brand new Gran Turismo trailer for a live reaction, Stephen offers another option to punch up the film, we discuss the current state of DTV cinema, and we dig through our diaries to find another round of fresh recommendations to offer.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Renfield, The Pope's Exorcist) | 2:30

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 33:50

Evil Dead Rise | 48:40

Listener Mail | 1:08:45

Recommendations | 1:15:20

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Set the charge and light the fuse, this week the guys find themselves on an explosive odyssey through a towering pile of new films to discuss, from Ari Aster's anxiety fever nightmare Beau Is Afraid to bubblegum indie romance Rye Lane, leading into Daniel Goldhaber's razor sharp thriller How To Blow Up A Pipeline. We contemplate dissecting Renfield minute by minute, discuss Vaughn's five day binge of trips to the theater to check out as many new releases as possible (these films may be covered again in the future), pitch a concept for James Cameron's Gran Turismos, dig into the spellbinding tension of How To Blow Up A Pipeline, respond to both fascinating and thought-provoking listener mail, and as always, offer a new round of recommendations plucked from our favorite recent watches.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Beau Is Afraid, Polite Society, Evil Dead Rise, Sisu, Tetris, Rye Lane) | 2:35

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 37:45

How To Blow Up A Pipeline | 44:30

Listener Mail | 1:07:30

Recommendations | 1:21:00

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Supposedly back on something of a schedule, Stephen and Vaughn return to cover a packed two weeks of new releases to tear into. Beloved childhood memories twisted into disturbingly abysmal slashers, the hazy monotony of routine splattered onto expressive celluloid, deception checks and improvised worldbuilding visualized on the big screen, and a couple of plumbers on a mission to tighten up all the loose pipes in Brooklyn. Join us as we have a miserable time listening to terrible content in an effort to glean any usable and loosely tangential information relating to a thinly constructed segment we've committed to doing for several months, dive down the rabbit hole of a potential mystery involving Stephen's blinds, break new ground in podcast firsts, and cover a sweeping range of discussion surrounding how people are responding to the Mario Brothers returning to the silver screen.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey, Enys Men, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) | 2:35

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 39:30

The Super Mario Bros. Movie | 49:00

Recommendations | 1:22:00

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

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Vaughn on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

We might be late but we won't miss the party, the Spoilers are back to dig into everything John Wick, joined by returning guest and friend of the show Jack. As action fans, as martial arts fans, and as Keanu fans, we're all excited to dig into the stunning, globe-trotting triumph that is Chapter 4. Before that, with new releases in full swing for 2023, we've got a grab bag with the latest in drug animal cinema and the greatest in slasher satire reboot sequels, with a mix of opinions all around on just how successful either of them are. For the main event it's all John Wick, all the time, diving through a rich history of uprooting American action cinema and shifting thoughts on the franchise as a whole over the years, we piece through each of the sequels before arriving at Chapter 4, from a referential match cut to a maybe not so definitive ending. Then we gear up once again for the cinematic event of the year, Vaughn continues to play a game he doesn't like, and Stephen once again forgets to find a recommendation ahead of time. Be seeing you, listeners.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Cocaine Bear, Scream VI) | 2:45

John Wick: Chapter 4 | 24:30

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 1:20:15

Recommendations | 1:29:15

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

Follow us:

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Stephen on The Twin Geeks, Letterboxd, and Twitter.

This week, awards season comes to a crescendo, and with the Oscars this weekend, Stephen and Vaughn continue their tradition of special episodes. This year, in lieu of casting prediction ballots, we look back to the past 22 years of Oscar winners and each draft a team of our favorites, and leave it up to you, the viewer, to determine who will emerge the victor. Borrowing a format from our friends over at The Twin Geeks Music Show, we go head to head in ten Oscar categories to come out the other side each with a completely unique list of films. Join us as we battle through the 21st century in awards winners!

Click here to cast your vote!

Have a question, a comment, thoughts on the draft? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com and we'll get back to you on our next episode of the show.

The guys return this week for a full episode of spoils, racing, dancing, recommending, and going to Paris, as releases slowly start to gain momentum in 2023. As the grab bag returns to the show after a vacation to the Mediterranean, we talk the latest from the ever divisive M. Night Shyamalan, Knock at the Cabin, along with Brandon Cronenberg's acid trip tropical nightmare Infinity Pool. Hit the nitrous for another week of gearing up for Gran Turismo, where the saga of Stephen getting his hands on a copy of GT5 persists and we learn more about every aspect of this year's most hotly anticipated film. Hit the dance floor for this episode's central film Magic Mike's Last Dance, the third in the Magic Mike trilogy and seeing director Steven Soderbergh returning to the franchise and to the podcast as we discuss his latest retirement adventure. Then it's time to check in with the listeners as we answer more of your mail and all of your questions before we pull a gem from our recent watches for our recommendation this episode. It might be our last dance but it's not our last episode, join us this week on the show!

Timestamps:

Grab Bag of Recent Releases (Knock at the Cabin, Infinity Pool) | 1:00

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 33:15

Magic Mike's Last Dance | 41:00

Listener Mail | 1:10:35

Recommendations | 1:30:00

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

On this week's episode of the show we return to the world of literary adaptations, with Noah Baumbach's White Noise, adapted from Don DeLillo's novel of the same name - a favorite book of Stephen's. We dive right into our experiences with Baumbach as a director, then discuss at length how his latest film functions on its own and as an adaptation of its source material. Stephen reads passages from the book to highlight his thoughts, we discuss what works and what doesn't, Vaughn tries to figure out what defines Jack as a character, and more. Stick around as we continue to gear up for our most anticipated film of the year, Gran Turismo, answer more listener mail, and offer another set of recommendations from our recent discoveries.

Timestamps:

White Noise | 1:00

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 51:30

Listener Mail | 1:13:00

Recommendations | 1:29:00

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

We've just finished pushing the elephant up the hill and have arrived just in time for a party of a podcast, this week guest starring friend of the show Matt (host of Don't Let The Moterncast Get You). Stephen, hot off his first experience with Damien Chazelle's Babylon is yet to divulge any of his thoughts and we're eager to hear his thoughts. Before the feature film begins, it's a grab bag of a decades spanning Blaxploitation documentary and the latest lo-fi horror sensation. Previews include discussions on the filmography of Damien Chazelle, from his fuzzy jazz debut Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009) to First Man (2018). Chazelle's energetic and dynamic catalog has reached us all and impacted each of our cinematic journeys in different ways - and so it's a lively discussion about his most recent work, a comprehensive dive through the rise and fall of a cinematic empire and its myriad of interconnected stories. After the credits roll we answer listener mail, share our childhood fears, sing a song, recommend some of our favorite recent discoveries, and start a new segment. Join us this week as we exit the silent era and discover the magic of cinema.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag Of Recent Releases (Is That Black Enough For You?!, Skinamarink) | 3:00

Damien Chazelle | 15:30

Babylon | 26:30

Listener Mail | 1:03:35

Recommendations | 1:30:35

Gear Up For Gran Turismo | 1:41:40

In this special supplemental episode, Stephen goes to the movies, bringing all his friends to see Avatar: The Way of Water and grilling them all to find out their detailed thoughts on the franchise, the world of Pandora, and the film they just watched.

This segment is discussed on Episode 33 of the show, but has been uploaded separately for the ease of access and to keep the episode itself at a reasonable length.

As always, leave us a question, a comment, or a hello over to thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

The spoils are back in town, and Stephen and Vaughn are ready after a holiday hiatus to spend another year talking about the latest releases. There's plenty of ground to cover this week as we catch up on our stockpile of high profile films we've been eager to discuss. We chat about Steven Spielberg's latest film, The Fabelmans, alongside his history of populist cinema, how his newest work compares to his other recent output, the film's strongest and weakest moments, and more. We dive briefly into Rian Johnson's Glass Onion and its clever structure and confident presentation. Then it's Aftersun, Charlotte Wells' stunning masterpiece debut and our favorite film of 2022. We dig through every detail and explore all of its atypical construction and thematic fascinations, an expansive discussion on its subtle brilliance and our own personal connections found in the film. We return to the mailbox to find a few inquiries and missives, with a lot to be discussed about the next year of the show, before we wrap up our return with our latest recommendations from our recent viewings.

Timestamps:

Grab Bag Of Recent Releases (The Fabelmans, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) | 3:40

Aftersun | 44:00

Listener Mail | 1:18:25

Recommendations | 2:01:15

Check out both Stephen and Vaughn's top ten lists!

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.

Stephen and Vaughn are back to talk about the latest film releases, this week with a wide range from the world of independent, microbudget horror to this year's Palme d'Or winner. There's a lot to discuss and a lot of strong opinions this week on the show, so join us as we fervently share our adoration for Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's latest twisted Lovecraftian oddity Something in the Dirt, complete with a brief spoiler free discussion to sell the uninitiated on one of our favorite films of the year before we dive into a full conversation about every little brilliant detail. Afterwards, we discuss Ruben Ostlund's Cannes victor Triangle of Sadness, and deconstruct its many faceted failures as it boldly attempts (and perhaps completely fails) to offer poignant commentary on today's failing class structure. Our main feature this week is Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All, a filmmaker both Stephen and Vaughn have very specific thoughts on - how do we feel, how does it translate to his latest film, and will a special guest make an appearance to join the conversation? Find out this week on the show, alongside some listener mail and as always, a recommendation from each of us from our pile of recently watched films throughout cinema history.

Timestamps:

Something in the Dirt Spoiler Free Sales Pitch | 2:15

Something in the Dirt Full Spoiler Discussion | 17:30

Triangle of Sadness | 35:30

Bones and All | 58:00

Listener Mail | 1:23:00

Recommendations | 1:32:00

Have a question, a comment, or just want to say hello? Send us a message at thinkingofspoiling@gmail.com.