The State of Scary TV
‘The Returned’ and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ join ‘The Walking Dead’ in offering high-quality horror.
December 19, 2013
My Top 10 Best (Favorite) Movies of 2013
10. Let the Fire Burn, directed by Jason Osder Part civic-social drama, part horror story, this found-footage documentary reconstructs a history of the black-radical MOVE organization and the 1985 inferno the city of Philadelphia sparked to drive its members out. The movie lets every side speak, and the result is a chilling symphony of racial […]
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Weird Internet Gift Guide: Murderabilia for Your Last-Minute Holiday Shopping
If you celebrate Christmas, you’re probably deep in the throes of online shopping right now. Perhaps you’re looking for gift ideas for your loved ones. That’s dandy. Here’s some inspiration, and here’s some more. (Shameless plug!) Now you know. But what don’t you know? You don’t know what you absolutely, positively shouldn’t buy someone for […]
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The End of Faith and Tim … and Other Stories of Sadness From This Week’s Tabloids
Star Faith Hill and Tim McGraw Separate: Behind the scenes of their Soul2Soul tour lurks a whole different story. “Faith and Tim can portray themselves as the happiest couple around, but that’s really far from the truth. It’s been years since they’ve truly been happy in their relationship. And at this point in their lives, […]
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Paul Rudd to Star in Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man
With Joseph Gordon-Levitt over in The Sandman’s turf, it looks like Paul Rudd has landed the lead in Ant-Man. Rudd has been rumored as the front-runner for several weeks now, and Variety reports he’s begun negotiating for the part. If imagining the dude who pioneered “slappa da bass” playing a superhero didn’t already arch your eyebrows, surely the […]
Read moreDecember 18, 2013
Afternoon Links: Batman vs. Superman vs. Phoenix?
Variety has sources saying Joaquin Phoenix is being courted as the villain (who is probably Lex Luthor! Who is bald!) for The Film That May One Day Only Formerly Be Known As Batman vs. Superman. “However, it’s very early in the process and even if Warners [sic] offers Phoenix a role, it’s not clear he […]
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Black Mirror Episode 6, ‘The Waldo Moment’: Vote for Stupid
For the past six weeks, I have been responding to the British sci-fi series Black Mirror, which premiered on Channel 4 in 2011 and has wrapped up its debut on North American television via DirecTV. These are not meant to be strict recaps, but there will be plenty of spoilers, which, trust me, if you plan […]
Read moreDo You Like Prince Movies? Podcast: Beyonce, American Hustle, and R. Kelly
This week, Alex and Wesley bow down before Beyoncé, admire the screwball style of American Hustle, and discuss what on earth to do about R. Kelly. Listen to the podcast here: ESPN.com Podcenter Subscribe to the Grantland Network on iTunes, and check out our podcasts page.
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The Last Best Show: Talking to Tom Scharpling the Morning After His ‘Best Show on WFMU’ Finale
“The Best Show on WFMU,” the beloved cult comedy radio show, ended its 13-year run last night. The show has been eulogized, summarized, and canonized over the past few weeks, and host Tom Scharpling’s faithful legion of fans have shown an outpouring of love over social media. Newcomers to Tom’s weird and wonderful radio universe […]
Read moreDawn of the Planet of the Apes Trailer: We Need to Speak to Caesar
Check out the first teaser.
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My Couple I Wish Were a Real Item Because They’re So Beautiful Together and Make Me Believe in Love: Miguel and Janelle Monae on ‘PrimeTime’
Now more than ever, pop culture is about the small stuff — an obscure TV show, a few notes in a pop song, a tweet. To celebrate a year of micro moments, every day a new Grantland writer will highlight one specific thing — a Big Little Thing — that we won’t soon forget. It’s […]
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Beyoncé Lands a Record-Breaking Fifth No. 1 Album
If it comes as a surprise that Beyoncé finds herself at no. 1 again, you’re an easy-to-surprise person who’s going to have a great Christmas where every gift seems miraculous. But yes, Beyoncé is Beyoncé’s fifth time debuting atop the Billboard 200, making her the first female artist to hit no. 1 with her first […]
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The Year-End TV Power Rankings
These are the Year-End Power Rankings for 2013. Some simple guidelines before we begin. 1. The Year-End Power Rankings operate under the same rules as the Mad Men Power Rankings, but are expanded to the entire universe of 2013 television. 2. The “entire universe of 2013 television” actually means “the parts of the entire universe […]
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My Eyeball Performance of the Year: Orange Is the New Black’s Crazy Eyes
Now more than ever, pop culture is about the small stuff — an obscure TV show, a few notes in a pop song, a tweet. To celebrate a year of micro moments, every day a new Grantland writer will highlight one specific thing — a Big Little Thing — that we won’t soon forget. Crazy […]
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The Andy Greenwald Podcast: Parts Unknown’s Anthony Bourdain
There aren’t many men who would sit down for an interview with me after I’ve referred to them as “defanged like an aging circus lion” in print, but Anthony Bourdain isn’t most men. Since the publication of his best-selling memoir, Kitchen Confidential, in 2000, the one-time line cook has reinvented himself as a knight-errant of good […]
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The Overlooked and Underappreciated TV of 2013
The best-of lists for TV in 2013 will be populated with your Breaking Bads, your Game of Throneses, your Orange Is the New Blacks. So our staff put together a list of shows that were overlooked and/or underappreciated to offer you a look at what we were watching when we weren’t watching the things everyone […]
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My Top 10 Best (Favorite) TV Shows of 2013
10. Girls (HBO) Putting aside the rom-com Ephronica of the finale, Girls’s wildly improved second season impressed for the breadth and ballsiness of its storytelling. Hannah’s all-night coke bender was plenty funny, but her two-night love affair with a dashing adult was intimate, fearless filmmaking. No other show bubbles with pop and possibility like this. […]
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Funny? No, Die: The Many Problems of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
You can tell when an actor adores a character, because breaking it becomes tough. Will Ferrell loves being the idiot anchorman Ron Burgundy, whether he’s in a movie or not. Since the fall, he has donned Burgundy’s burgundy three-piece suit and mustache to sell Dodge Durangos in TV ads. Ferrell has been doing Burgundy on […]
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They’re Making a Gilligan’s Island Movie Starring Josh Gad
Josh Gad got his big break with The Book of Mormon, then went on to cocreate and star in 1600 Penn, which could have charitably been called excrement. Now, feet planted firmly back in the What’s This Guy Got? zone, Gad will help Warner Bros. take Gilligan’s Island to the big screen. Gad will take […]
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