Movies (And Other Things)

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Movies (And Other Things) is an illustrated delight, combining perfect pop culture analysis with the specific joy of watching a movie scene accomplish exactly what it set out to do. Serrano’s essays center on the type of questions that come up with your closest friends — which films were robbed at the Oscars, the best action movie kills, whether Finding Nemo or Face/Off has a more devastating opening — and make extremely compelling, insightful, and fun cases for his answers. Recommended By Michelle C., Powells.com

#1 New York Times bestselling author Shea Serrano is back, and his new book, Movies (And Other Things), combines the fury of a John Wick shootout, the sly brilliance of Regina George holding court at a cafeteria table, and the sheer power of a Denzel monologue, all into one.

Movies (And Other Things) is a book about, quite frankly, movies (and other things).

One of the chapters, for example, answers which race Kevin Costner was able to white savior the best, because did you know that he white saviors Mexicans in McFarland, USA, and white saviors Native Americans in Dances with Wolves, and white saviors Black people in Black or White, and white saviors the Cleveland Browns in Draft Day?

Another of the chapters, for a second example, answers what other high school movie characters would be in Regina George's circle of friends if we opened up the Mean Girls universe to include other movies (Johnny Lawrence is temporarily in, Claire from The Breakfast Club is in, Ferris Bueller is out, Isis from Bring It On is out...). Another of the chapters, for a third example, creates a special version of the Academy Awards specifically for rom-coms, the most underrated movie genre of all. And another of the chapters, for a final example, is actually a triple chapter that serves as an NBA-style draft of the very best and most memorable moments in gangster movies.

Many, many things happen in Movies (And Other Things), some of which funny, others of which are sad, a few of which are insightful, and all of which are handled with the type of care and dedication to the smallest details and pockets of pop culture that only a book by Shea Serrano can provide.

"...hilarious and insightful..." Men's Journal

"Serrano knows how to craft a think piece, and his perspective is illuminating. With essays on Get Out, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Booksmart, this is also a timely read to be enjoyed by film buffs and general audiences alike." Library Journal

"[Shea Serrano is] America's foremost chronicler of pop minutiae." Texas Monthly

"A riot of quirkiness and eccentricity, and the mood of the book, which shifts from droll humor to melancholy to gentle vulnerability, is unclassifiable — and just right." Kirkus

Shea Serrano's most recent book, Basketball (And Other Things), was, among other things, a #1 New York Times bestseller and selected by President Barack Obama as one of his favorite reads of the year. His previous book, The Rap Year Book, was also a New York Times bestseller, and is being turned into a documentary that will air on AMC in 2019. Currently, he is a staff writer for The Ringer.