Petty Larceny: Den of Thieves, reviewed.

He's the Sheriff: Gerard Butler, under fire. (STX)

Here's something I mean with all the generosity of spirit that I hope I possess in my heart: Den of Thieves, a new—well, newly released—crime movie, is not as bad as one might expect the directorial debut from the screenwriter of A Man Apart and London Has Fallen to be. That's because writer-director Christian Gudegast has taken the greatest Los Angeles cops-and-robbers movie ever made and replicated it as closely as one can while filming in Atlanta, with a growling Gerard Butler standing in for an ad-libbing Al Pacino.

My NPR review of Den of Thieves is here. I believe the phrase "coffee-table action flick" is a Klimek Original. 

The January Man: The Commuter, reviewed.

Vera Farmiga and Liam Neeson let the train take the strain. (Lionsgate)

Vera Farmiga makes Liam Neeson an indecent proposal in The Commuter, Neeson's latest January-release throat-puncher. Here's my NPR review.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Black Mirror Season 4, discussed.

U.S.S. Callister is a standout among the new Black Mirror episodes released this week. (Netflix)

I'm on today's episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour, weighing in on the new season of Netflix's cautionary-tale tech anthology Black Mirror. One thing I should've said had there been time is just how much the open format of the show contributes to its ability to build tension. Two of my favorites among the six new episodes are "U.S.S. Callister," which runs a nearly feature-length 76 minutes, and "Metalhead," which clocks in at around 40 minutes—not even long enough to fill a network hour. Anyway, I was happy as always to join Linda and Glen, and especially glad to get to speak with Brittany Luse, whom I had not met previously. You can hear the episode below, or on whatever smart device you've got. Or both. I mean, we're all cuffed to our digital appendages now, despite the warnings of Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker.

In the "What's Making Me Happy" segment, I plug my latest Christmas mixtape, Noel Means Noel, which remains available for your halldecking, merrymaking edificaiton, along with most of its predecessors. Merry Eight More Days of Christmas.

Elf Quest: Bright, reviewed.

Joel Edgerton and Will Smith are, would you believe, mismatched partners. (Netflix)

The alarming lesson of Netflix's new Will Smith-toplined, David Ayer-directed human-&-orc buddy cop thriller Bright is that I am, apparently, not Too Old For This Shit.

Only someone who didn't see xXx: The Return of Xander Cage or Furious 8 could proclaim this this worst movie of 2017. Let's be reasonable, now.

Yule Complete Me: Presenting (the second half of) My 12th Annual Christmas Mixtape, Noel Means Noel

I'm exhausted, but this thing is finally finished.

The Carol From the Black Lagoon: The Shape of Water, reviewed.

Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer play janitors at a secret government facility. (Fox Searchlight)

Good news: Guillermo Del Toro's new movie is the best one he's made in English! Even if it doesn't kick quite as much undead ass as Blade II. Here's my NPR review.

I'm on The Canon Debating His Girl Friday v The Philadelphia Story with my pal Amy Nicholson!

"Your assignment will be Spy magazine's greatest achievement: Tracy Lord. Big game hunting in Africa, fox hunting in Pennsylvania. Married on impulse. Divorced in a rage. And always unapproachable by the press. The unapproachable Miss Lord... The Philadelphia Story!"

I was so certain that recording an episode of The Canon with my friend Amy Nicholson, pitting one Problematic 1940 Divorced Cary Grant movie against another, would require me to perform an impression of Henry Daniell as Spy publisher Sidney Kidd that I might've ripped the audio of the scene into my iPhone and rehearsed it during my drive to Earwolf HQ in Hollywood a few weeks ago. In the end, I forgot to break out the imitation I'd practiced to carefully, because Amy is just as brilliant in conversation as she is in prose. So the fact that she spared you all my, um, acting is not the best reason to be grateful for her insight and eloquence, but it's a reason.

You can listen to our debate right here!