Toronto 2017: 'Papillon' Review

Hey, that's not Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman! Yep, it's Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek in a remake of Papillon. It's grueling but not particularly great, never quite excavating a lot of interesting themes about human resilience and masculinity. I reviewed the film for Screen International. 

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Amy Schumer, Charlie Hunnam and 'Billy Madison'

On the new episode of the podcast, we have some news. (Don't worry: It's all good. And, no, my vocal-cord nodule has not returned.) Then, we dive into two new movies. I try to muster up much enthusiasm for Snatched and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. It's more fun dissecting our Reboot movie, which is (heaven help us) Billy Madison. Enjoy!

'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword' Review

Do we need another King Arthur movie? Probably not, but Warner Bros. has decided to gift us with Legend of the Sword anyway. Guy Ritchie is an interesting filmmaker: I don't necessarily like his movies, but I am also not bored by them. His sensuous collision of images and sounds is hypnotic -- too bad it never adds up to much. I reviewed King Arthur for Screen International.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Car Chases, Lost Cities, 'Zero Effect' and 'Man of the West'

This week's edition of the podcast finds me asking Will about The Fate of the Furious and him asking me about The Lost City of Z. But we team up to debate our two Reboot films: the late-1990s cult film Zero Effect and the Anthony Mann western Man of the West. Hear it all here.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': 'Fate of the Furious,' 'The Lost City of Z' and 'Norman'

Barbara Bogaev filled in as host for Madeleine this week, as Jen Yamato and I talked about the Easter weekend's movie options. Jen is a massive, massive, massive Fast and the Furious fan, so being on with her was a treat -- especially since I haven't seen the new movie. (She interviewed Vin Diesel this week for the Los Angeles Times.) And any opportunity I have to sing the praises of The Lost City of Z and Norman I will. Hear it all here.

'The Lost City of Z' Review

For its first half, The Lost City of Z was a perfectly solid, old-fashioned adventure film. Then, something shifted for me. By the end, I was pretty enraptured. I wrote about the movie for The New Republic.