Fifteen Years Ago, 'Serenity' Failed to Turn 'Firefly' Into a Franchise

Joss Whedon's short-lived, much beloved sci-fi/Western series got turned into a movie. But it wasn't in the cards for it to become another Star Trek. Over at SyFy, I looked back at Serenity.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Scammers, Assassins and 'Enola Holmes'

On this week's episode, we review three new movies, all about women in different kinds of peril. I liked Kajillionaire and Enola Holmes. As for Ava, eh, what can you do?

Listen to the whole thing down below.

'The Boys in the Band' Review

As a rule, I like to think that I can take on any movie, no matter what it's about. But with the new Netflix adaptation of The Boys in the Band, based on the landmark play about gay men in New York in 1968, I wanted to acknowledge obvious blind spots I might have. My piece is up at MEL.

'American Murder: The Family Next Door' Review

In 2018, Shanann Watts and her two young daughters were killed by her husband Chris. How did such a horrible thing occur? The new Netflix documentary American Murder recounts this sad event entirely through her Facebook posts, police bodycam footage, text messages and other media. I understand the intention, but I found the film ghoulish.

'Kajillionaire' Is a Comedy About Parental Neglect

Head over to MEL, where I make my case.

How 'Paranormal Activity' Ended the 'Saw' Age

Over at SyFy, I wrote about the original Paranormal Activity, which came out this week 11 years ago. Before this found-footage horror movie, torture porn was all the rage. Afterward, things changed. Hope you enjoy.

'The Life and Trials of Oscar Pistorius' Review

ESPN+ is airing this five-and-a-half-hour series about the disgraced South African sprinter. It's just the latest "30 for 30" portrait of a talented bad man. My review is up at MEL.

'Ava' Review

Jessica Chastain kicks a lot of butt in the action-thriller Ava. But the movie is very not good.

'The Trial of the Chicago 7' Review

Aaron Sorkin takes on the 1960s with his latest. The Trial of the Chicago 7 is very, very Sorkin-y, but I think it works pretty well.

Freddie Gibbs & the Alchemist (featuring Tyler, the Creator) - "Something to Rap About"

"I think that day, I was listening to The Blueprint or something like that," Freddie Gibbs said of this highlight track from Alfredo. "The beat carried me on that one, man. All I had to do was just talk and make it rhyme. It turned out to be a great song."

He is correct.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Unhappy Families, Gothic Thrillers and 'Antebellum'

On this week's podcast, I rhapsodize about The Nest and lament The Devil All the Time. Then, we figure out what went wrong with Antebellum. Hear the whole thing down below.

Axl Rose, Donald Trump and "November Rain"

Trump believes Guns N' Roses' "November Rain" is the greatest music video of all time pic.twitter.com/g02ylDJKZS

— Nando (@nandorvila) September 14, 2020

OK, let's talk about it.

Paul Newman 101

Where do you start with the career of Paul Newman? I'd like to suggest these 10 films.

'The Devil All the Time' and the Fallacy of the Anti-Violence Thriller

The Devil All the Time is about the fact that violence is bad. It proves this by ... having a fair amount of violence. Can an anti-violent movie ever truly be anti-violent? I pondered the question over at MEL.

'The Nest' and the Fear of Moving Homes

About five years ago, my wife and I moved to a new place. I was very excited, until we actually got to our new home, and then I was convinced we'd made a terrible mistake. Specifically, I was sure we would break up. What was that all about? Well, it's a similar sensation to what seems to have affected the characters in The Nest. I talked about my life (and the life of this remarkable film) over at MEL.

Sault - "Masterpiece"

It's so hard these days for a musical project to be completely clandestine. And yet, that's what we have with Sault. Who are they? No one knows for sure: "[N]o interviews, no photos, no videos, no live appearances, no Wikipedia entry, a perfunctory and entirely non-interactive social media presence," as The Guardian's Alexis Petridis puts it. We know that the artists are Black, but that's about it. 

Sault have a new record out today, called Untitled (Rise), and while I dig into that, let's enjoy this cut from 2019's 5. The mystery only adds to the pleasure.

'Ratched' Review

Another origin story! This time, it's Ratched, which purports to tell us who Nurse Ratched was before we met her in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It didn't work for me.

'The Devil All the Time' Review

I really liked Antonio Campos' Christine. So I was pretty let down by his follow-up. For Screen International, I reviewed The Devil All the Time.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Are Movie Theaters Over?

This week, we have a long chat about the future of movie theaters, which allowed me to go to bat for the theatrical experience. Then, in our Reboot segment, we look at two comedies about kids connecting with the men who may be their fathers: Paper Moon and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Hear the whole thing down below.

'Challenger: The Final Flight' Review

Do people remember the Challenger explosion? If you were alive, probably so, although I think that tragedy has now been obscured a bit in our cultural memory because of the more recent 9/11 attacks. But Netflix has devoted a four-part docuseries to exploring what happened, what went wrong and what NASA learned from the disaster. My big takeaway: After we landed on the moon, the space agency thought it could do no wrong. That arrogance proved deadly. My piece is up at MEL.