leitch

[leitch]

I absolutely cannot stop watching this. GO KNICKS.

Here are this week's stories:

SUNDAY Zack Snyder Movies, Ranked (Vulture)

MONDAY This Week's Power Rankings (MLB.com)

WEDNESDAY Sports Are Booming Because We're Hiding From the Election (New York) Seven Surprising Early Stars (MLB.com FRIDAY This Week's Five Fascinations (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We discussed “Abigail," "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" and "Some Like It Hot."

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) Bernie Miklasz and I recapped a very bad weekend.

My god you have no idea how close I am to finally finishing this book. Have a great weekend, all, and remember: I have not spoken to anyone since Monday. The radio is playing 'Downtown' by Petula Clerk. I've been reading some Shaw -- Man and Superman. I'm wearing jeans, my cable knit sweater and my Keds. I've made coffee and am waiting for it to cool. Let it be recorded that at this moment I am happy.

#week in review

[leitch]

I'm not going to post every 5K picture I get, but I am posting this one.

Here are this week's stories:

MONDAY This Week's Power Rankings (MLB.com)

WEDNESDAY This Is the Most Exciting NBA Playoffs in Years (New York) How Excited Should You Be About These Fast Starters? (MLB.com)

THURSDAY Zack Snyder Movies, Ranked and Updated (Vulture)

FRIDAY The MLB Five Fascinations (MLB.com) Guy Ritchie Movies, Ranked and Updated (Vulture)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We discussed “Civil War," "Sasquatch Sunset" and "The People's Joker.”

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) Bernie Miklasz and I would love to see this team score some runs at some point.

OK, so I have to stop having books being due right when the weather is at its most perfect. Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember: It seems to me that there are two basic approaches to any kind of comedy, and in a burst of oversimplification I'll call them the Funny Hat and the Funny Logic approaches. The difference is elementary: In the first, we're supposed to laugh because the comic is wearing the funny hat, and in the second it's funny because of his reasons for wearing the funny hat.

#weekinreview

[leitch]

Cardinals dog ready for the season.

Here are this week's stories:

MONDAY My First Power Rankings of the Regular Season (MLB.com)

TUESDAY It Is Impossible Not to Cheer For This Knicks Team (New York)

WEDNESDAY Which Slow-Starting Team Should We Worry About? (MLB.com)

FRIDAY The Five Fascinations (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We discussed "Monkey Man," "The Beast" and "Girls State."

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) Bernie Miklasz and I are more optimistic than some other Cardinals fan.

Waitin’ Since Last Saturday (subscribe in iTunes) We did a G-Day Preview.

We only got 80 percent eclipse here. Not too bad! Have a great weekend, all, and remember: Perhaps people who think they perceive the supernatural must simply incorporate that into their ordinary lives. 

#weekinreview

[leitch]

My first baseball game of the year featured two Mike Trout homers, not a bad way to start the year.

Here are this week's stories: MONDAY Opening Weekend Takeaways For All Thirty Teams (MLB.com)

FRIDAY Your Final Four Rootability Rankings (New York) My New Weekly Baseball Column Which I Think Is Going to Be Fun (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week.

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) Bernie Miklasz and I wrapped up the first weekend's series.

I'm in Florida for the week. It is ... Florida. Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember: Whether they're obsessed with dogs, turkeys, turtles or radios, they're basically trying to find a pattern for living.

#weekinreview

[leitch]

It's pretty incredible that this kid can do this.

Here are this week's stories:

MONDAY The Ten Oldest Players in Baseball (MLB.com)

TUESDAY One Fun Prediction for Each Division (MLB.com) The Unknowable Shohei Ohtani (New York)

WEDNESDAY Ranking Opening Day Starters (MLB.com)

THURSDAY 24 Things to Look Forward to in 2024 (MLB.com) We Finally Made It to Opening Day (MLB.com)

FRIDAY Steve Martin Movies, Ranked (Vulture)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We discussed "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," "Road House" and "Immaculate."

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) Bernie Miklasz and I did our big season preview.

Waitin’ Since Last Saturday (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week.

All that matters is the Illini. GOOOOO. Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember: The movie, which was shot over five years by three Chicagoans who eventually amassed more than 250 hours of film, isn't really about sports; it's about the elusive American Dream.

#weekinreview

[leitch]

We had a good time with our Illini at the Big Ten Tournament. Now, Sweet Sixteen or bust. (And hopefully more.)

Here are this week's stories:

MONDAY I'm Back on the Power Rankings Beat This Year (MLB.com)

WEDNESDAY The Guy Who Is Trying to Kill the NCAA Tournament (New York)

THURSDAY The Ten Oldest Players in Baseball (MLB.com)

FRIDAY Steve Martin Movies, Ranked (Vulture)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week.

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) Bernie Miklasz and I had a fun argument about the Oliver Marmol extension.

Waitin’ Since Last Saturday (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week.

GOOOOOO ILLINI. Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember: The screenplay carries blandness to a point beyond tedium.

[leitch]

Fun with illusions.

Here are this week's stories:

MONDAY Every Best Picture Oscar Winner, Ranked and Updated (Vulture)

WEDNESDAY MLB Division Preview Series: Award Winners From Every Division (MLB.com)

FRIDAY My Annual World Series Winner Draft With Mike Petriello (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We recapped the Oscars and also discussed "Love Lies Bleeding" and "Ricky Stanicky."

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) Bernie Miklasz and I tried to figure out the outfield situation.

Waitin' Since Last Saturday (subscribe in iTunes) We did a check-in show before the NCAA Tournament.

I'm heading to Minnesota for the Big Ten Tournament with Young William. So much Midwestern basketball, I can't take it. Have a great weekend, all, and remember: I can remember back when action scenes got boring and were interrupted by steamy love scenes, but then that was back in the days when audiences liked sex more than guns.

#week in review

[leitch]

This Hangover sequel is amazing.

Here are this week's stories:

WEDNESDAY LeBron James Is Ending His Career With Dignity (New York) MLB Season Preview: Most Excited Fanbases (MLB.com)

THURSDAY Most Indispensible Player on Every Team (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We discussed “Dune: Part Two" and "Spaceman, and we previewed the Oscars.

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) Bernie Miklasz and I are weekly until the end of the season.

We are so close to Selection Sunday. Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember: I did a funny thing when I came home after seeing "An Inconvenient Truth." I went around the house turning off the lights.

#week in review

[leitch]

This kid is getting increasingly difficult to chase down.

Here are this week's stories:

TUESDAY Questions in the Wake of the Cody Bellinger Deal (MLB.com)

WEDNESDAY Sports Twitter Is Dead (New York)

THURSDAY MLB Season Preview: Teams Who Should Win More Games in 2024 (MLB.com)

FRIDAY The Best Promotions of 2024 (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We discussed “Drive-Away Dolls," "Tenet" and "His Girl Friday."

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week, back to weekly next week.

It has been a long, hard, sad week in Athens, but the weather is lovely, and it gives you hope. Have a great week, everyone, and remember: It proves that if a man cutting off his face and feeding it to his dogs doesn't get the NC-17 rating for violence, nothing ever will.

#weekinreview

[leitch]

I voted, it's already the time of year when you start voting.

Here are this week's stories:

WEDNESDAY The Women's Sports Moment Has Arrived (New York)

THURSDAY MLB Season Preview: Must-See Players on Each Team (MLB.com)

FRIDAY The Best MLB Promotions (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We discussed “Madame Web," "Bob Marley: One Love" and "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid."

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) Bernie and I talk rotation and Nolan Arenado.

Book is due in ... three months. [tugs collar] Have a great weekend, all, and remember: One of the problems with this film for me was that U2 is a politically oriented group whose lyrics mean something, and in this movie, I couldn't hear what they were saying most of the time.

#weekinreview

[leitch]

Busy week in Vegas, but the Super Bowl always is. I can't believe this was my 12th one.

Here are this week's stories:

SUNDAY The Power of Patrick Mahomes (NBC News)

MONDAY A Super Bowl That Went From Dull to Dynamite (New York)

TUESDAY MLB Season Preview: Managers With the Toughest Jobs (MLB.com)

WEDNESDAY Untitled MLB Piece (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We discussed “Suncoast," "Lisa Frankenstein" and "Up in the Air."

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week.

Glad to be back home. Have a great week, everyone, and remember: "North" is one of the most unpleasant, contrived, artificial, cloying experiences I've had at the movies. To call it manipulative would be inaccurate; it has an ambition to manipulate, but fails.

#week in review

[leitch]

Came to Las Vegas to watch hockey, as one does.

Here are this week's stories:

MONDAY The Best Player to Debut Every Year Over the Last 20 Years (MLB.com)

WEDNESDAY My MLB Season Preview Series Begins With: Pivotal Seasons (MLB.com)

THURSDAY What It's Like Having the Super Bowl in Las Vegas (New York) The Patrick Mahomes Experience (NBC News)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We discussed "Argylle," "How to Have Sex" and "Ghost World."

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week.

It's difficult to run in Las Vegas! Have a great weekend, and remember: Few films are more despairing and yet, curiously, so hopeful as this one, which argues that even at the very end of the road, at the final extremity, we can find some solace in the offer and acceptance of love.

#weekinreview

[leitch]

I do not know if I have the best running form, but I am trying to get faster.

Here are this week's stories:

MONDAY Dan Campbell and the Lions Were Right to Trust Math (New York)

TUESDAY Ranking Potential World Series Rematches (MLB.com)

WEDNESDAY The Best Player From Every Year to Debut (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) Grierson's back from Sundance, and we discussed the big hit from the festival, "A Real Pain," as well as "California Split" and "The Man in the Moon."

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week.

I'll be in Vegas for the crazy Super Bowl next week. I may just hide in my hotel room. Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember: If you encountered characters like this on an elevator, you'd push a button and get off at the next floor. Here the elevator is trapped between floors for 128 minutes.

#week in review

[leitch]

In exactly two weeks, I will be seeing U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. If you're going to do Vegas, you might as well do Vegas. (This is as "do Vegas" as I get.)

Here are this week's stories:

TUESDAY Which Division Champs Will Repeat? (MLB.com)

WEDNESDAY The NFL Season of Swift (New York)

THURSDAY Untitled MLB Piece (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week.

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) First show of 2024. We discussed Matt Carpenter, Bally Sports Midwest and the Cardinals' budget "limitations."

I'm running another half-marathon this weekend. Please do not throw things if you see me on the street. Have a great weekend, all, and remember: It's astonishing how many people believe New Age notions, which have the attraction of allowing believers to confer supernormal abilities on themselves and others without the bother of plausibility.

#weekinreview

[leitch]

Run races with your mom!

Here are this week's stories:

TUESDAY Your NFL Final Eight Rootability Rankings (New York)

WEDNESDAY Your Six MLB Bandwagon Teams (MLB.com)

THURSDAY Untitled MLB Piece (MLB.com)

FRIDAY Untitled MLB Piece (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) We're back! We discussed "Mean Girls," previewed the Sundance Film Festival and made Oscar nomination predictions.

Seeing Red (subscribe in iTunes) No show this week.

We're already more than 1/24th of the way through the year. Have a great week everyone, and remember: What he sees, finally, is a man who loves life and does not want to leave it. 

#weekinreview

[leitch]

Really, really enjoying the Knicks right now.

Here are this week's stories:

TUESDAY My Writeup from the National Championship Game (New York)

WEDNESDAY Your Blake Snell Power Rankings (MLB.com)

THURSDAY Your Next 10 World Series Winners (MLB.com)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) Off this week, back next week, you can still listen to Dorkfest, our 10 best films of 2023.

Waitin’ Since Last Saturday (subscribe in iTunes) We did our end-of-year feelings episode.

We're right back in the swing of it all, it's like that time off after Christmas never happened. Have a great week, all, and remember: A downstate Illinois boy loves the Steak 'n Shake as a Puerto Rican loves rice and beans, an Egyptian loves falafel, a Brit loves banger and mash, an Indian loves tikki ki chaat, a Swede loves herring, a Finn loves reindeer jerky, and a Canadian loves bran muffins. These matters do not involve taste. They involve a deep-seated conviction that a food is absolutely right, and always has been, and always will be. These convictions are fixed at an early age. I do not expect to convert you.

#week in review

[leitch]

Our New Years Day tradition continued this year. Happy New Year, all.

Here are this week's stories:

SUNDAY Remembering baseball people we lost in 2023 (MLB.com)

MONDAY Eight Things We're Looking Forward To in 2024 (MLB.com) The First Power Rankings of 2024 (MLB.com)

TUESDAY How Michigan Became College Football's Unlikely Villains (New York) Matt Chapman Free Agent Power Rankings (MLB.com)

FRIDAY What This College Football Season Meant (CNN)

PODCASTS

Grierson & Leitch (subscribe in iTunes) You can still listen to Dorkfest, our 10 best films of 2023.

Waitin’ Since Last Saturday (subscribe in iTunes) We wrapped up that Orange Bowl massacre.

Gonna be quite a year. Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember: I persist in believing that cinematic taste is as important as taste in literature, music, art, or other things requiring taste (including food and politics)

#weekinreview