'Zootopia 2' Review

Based on the family audience I saw Zootopia 2 with, I think the film will do very well over the holidays. My review is up at Screen International. 

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Suncoast' and 'Up in the Air'

Super Bowl Weekend tends to be a little barren at the multiplex. On this week's episode, Will and I both reviewed Suncoast and then I asked him about Lisa Frankenstein. Plus, we made one Reboot requester happy by taking a look back at Up in the Air. Did the movie hold up? Check out our thoughts below.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Thunder Force,' YA Sci-Fi Adventures and 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'

Melissa McCarthy, what are you doing? On this week's episode, we review her bad new film, and then I solo on Voyagers. For our finale, we go back to 1999 ... and I discover that a movie I used to love doesn't entirely hold up. (It happens sometimes.) Hear the podcast down below.

A Salute to Bad Labor Day Movies

Normally, summer movie season ends with a whimper. Labor Day weekend is when studios dump their bad films. For MEL, I paid tribute to some memorable stinkers.

'Ozark' Season 3 Review

And so we return to Lake of the Ozarks, where Marty and Wendy's marriage is crumbling and the cartel is becoming more ruthless. For MEL, I reviewed the latest season of Ozark.

Some Thoughts on the Second Season of 'Ozark'

Over at MEL, I wrote about....

1) Denial
2) Snobbery
3) The St. Louis Cardinals
4) Kansas City's mob history
5) The Family Fang
6) All of the above

If you guessed (6), you are correct. My thoughts on the latest season of Ozark can be found right here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Oscar Predictions, 'Annihilation,' 'Mute' and 'Game Night'

The time has come: Will and I make our Oscar predictions. I've never felt less confident about my Best Picture pick than I do this year. We also review three new movies: Annihilation (yay), Mute (boo) and Game Night (hey, pretty good). You can hear the whole thing down below.

Some Thoughts on 'Game Night'

Game Night is a pleasant surprise: funny, well-acted, actually about something. For MEL, I shared some random thoughts about the film, including my praise for its terrific score and research I did about real-life Fight Club parties. You can read the whole thing here.

On Jason Bateman's Dark Turn in 'Ozark'

Jason Bateman has been doing some of his best work of late. I quite liked him in The Gift, and I thought his second directorial effort, The Family Fang, was a huge improvement over the massively lame Bad Words. (And this, of course, isn't even mentioning Arrested Development, which rejuvenated his career nearly 15 years ago.)

He's now the star and one of the executive producers of the Netflix series Ozark, which is about a financial advisor from Chicago who has to move his family to the Ozarks after the drug kingpin he's been working for accuses him of skimming off the top. There's a strong Breaking Bad quality to Ozark, but Bateman doesn't go full Walter White. He brings his own take to the dark-antihero trope, which I talk about over at MEL.

Toronto 2015: 'The Family Fang' Review

No fan of Bad Words, Jason Bateman's first film as a director, I was a little worried going into The Family Fang. There was no reason: This is a much better movie, a smart drama about adult children (Bateman and Nicole Kidman) who cope with the (possible) death of their missing parents. I reviewed the film for Screen International.

'This Is Where I Leave You' Review

At the Toronto Film Festival, I skipped seeing This Is Where I Leave You: It just didn't seem special enough to go out of my way to check out. Now that I've seen the movie back in Los Angeles, I can say that my instincts were correct. (Which is too bad: Jason Bateman does some of his best big-screen work in this movie.) I reviewed This Is Where for Deadspin.

'Bad Words' Review

Jason Bateman swears a lot in Bad Words, which is the next generation of those Bad Santa/Bad Teacher movies. But this comedy isn't nearly as dark and subversive at it thinks it is. My review is up at Deadspin.