The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'The Exorcist: Believer,' 'The Royal Hotel' and 'Fair Play'

Sorry to be a week late on this one -- I've been a bit busy -- but on the podcast we dug into the missteps of David Gordon Green's attempt to revive the Exorcist franchise. Then we looked at the new film from Kitty Green and disagreed about the Sundance sensation Fair Play. Check it all out below.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Cocaine Bear,' 'Skinamarink' and 'Margin Call'

The listeners demanded we review Skinamarink, a buzzy horror movie that came out earlier this year. We obliged, and we also talked about Cocaine Bear. And then in our Reboot segment, we went back to 2011's Margin Call. That film is still a corker.

Hear the whole thing down below.

'Cocaine Bear' Review

I can confirm that the bear in Cocaine Bear does, indeed, ingest a lot of cocaine. That's not a good thing for a bear to do. My review is up at Screen International.

Sundance 2023: 'Fair Play' Review

In ye olden days of Sundance, there would be buzzy movies that would sell for ridiculous amounts of money. This was part of the excitement around the festival: Who's going to buy such-and-such-film?!? And for how much??!? That reality has changed, but Fair Play, starring Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich as a high-powered couple working in the cutthroat world of New York finance, generated plenty of interest, eventually selling to Netflix for $20 million. I reviewed the psychological drama for Screen International.

Why Did 'Solo' Stall at the Box Office?

Let's acknowledge two things:

1) A movie that makes $103 million over Memorial Day weekend is hardly any sort of disaster.
2) For a Star Wars film, that's a relatively low amount.

For Rolling Stone, I tried to read the tea leaves to figure out why Solo failed to connect with audiences as strongly as one might assume. Hope you enjoy.

Some Thoughts on 'Solo'

I am surrounded by people who didn't much like Solo ... or Rogue One, for that matter. I liked them both quite a lot. So, for MEL, I decided to explore why that is. I also wrote about Alden Ehrenreich, Lobot, Solo plastic cups and Clint Howard. You can read the whole thing here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Solo' Review, and a Little 'Prestige'

We posted this week's episode a little early because of Solo, which we had many thoughts about. Also, we look back at The Prestige. Have a good holiday.

Sundance 2017: 'The Yellow Birds' Review

The Yellow Birds is an Iraq War movie, and I can imagine many will say, "Oh, lord, another one of those?" Well, yes, but this is a good one. Plus, the film is a nice reminder of what a superb actor Alden Ehrenreich is. I reviewed The Yellow Birds for Screen International.

AFI Fest 2016: 'Rules Don't Apply' Review

Rules Don't Apply, Warren Beatty's first directorial effort since Bulworth, didn't do a lot for me. Yes, it's a pleasurable bauble, I suppose, but holy moley is it slight. A tale of Howard Hughes and two young people who get sucked into his orbit, the movie is a romantic triangle in which none of the three legs captivated me that much. My review is up at Screen International.

My Interview With Alden Ehrenreich

Folks seeing Hail, Caesar! will recognize most of the A-list stars in the film. But then there's Alden Ehrenreich, a relative unknown who just about steals the movie with his subplot as a cowboy actor who has to appear in a witty romantic drama. (Spoiler: It doesn't go well.) For Rolling Stone, I spoke with Ehrenreich, who in his short life (he's 26) has already worked with the Coen Brothers, Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola and Warren Beatty. You can read it here.

'Beautiful Creatures' Review

With a movie like Beautiful Creatures, it's always a bit of challenge judging its merits since it's clearly aimed at a gender and an age group of which I am not a part. Still, some nice Southern atmosphere and an initially tart tone didn't go far enough toward winning me over. (And Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert do make a nice couple, I suppose.) My review is up at Screen International.