Venice 2019: 'Joker' Review

Joaquin Phoenix has been on a hot streak of late. It continues, marvelously, with Joker, which I really liked. I dug into this dark origin story for Screen International.

Venice 2019: 'The Kingmaker' Review

Wanna watch a documentary that will make you absolutely hate Imelda Marcos, her family and the cretin currently running the Philippines? Oh boy, then you need to see The Kingmaker.

Venice 2019: 'An Officer and a Spy' Review

A colleague joked that I've probably been cancelled since I gave the new Roman Polanski movie a good review. Oh well, I had a good run. (And, besides, I wasn't that glowing.) Many will come to An Officer and a Spy assuming that Polanski connects to the story of a man wrongly accused. But this true-life drama turns out to be more interesting than that reading. My review is up at Screen International.

Summer Movie Season 2019: The Recap

It was the best of summer movie seasons ... actually, it was just the worst of summer movie seasons. For Rolling Stone, I pinpointed 10 takeaways from a movie summer in which Disney dominated and Fox floundered.

Lemolo - "High Tide"

May you have a dreamy weekend.

Venice 2019: 'Ad Astra' Review

A lot to chew on with the flawed, fascinating, very moving Ad Astra. My review is up at Screen International.

'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' Review

I really wrestled with Netflix's new Dark Crystal prequel series. I'm grateful to have had the chance at MEL to dig deep into this flawed, fascinating show. Hope you enjoy.

Venice 2019: 'Pelican Blood' Review

I liked Katrin Gebbe's first film, Nothing Bad Can Happen, but I'm less wild about her follow-up, Pelican Blood, a family drama that flirts with horror undertones. To be sure, though, Nina Hoss is her usual terrific self. My review is up at Screen International.

Cinema's Scariest Teachers

Happy Back to School, everybody. We wrote about bad/frightening teachers for SyFy.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Your Fall Festival Preview, Plus 'Ready or Not' and 'The Fifth Element'

Greetings from Venice, Italy. On this week's podcast, Will and I discuss the Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals, with me listing a bunch of intriguing titles. Then, we differ on Ready or Not. And, for our closing number, we try to decipher Luc Besson's zany sci-fi epic The Fifth Element. The whole thing is down below.

Happy 25th Anniversary, 'Natural Born Killers'

Back in 1994, I thought the movie was ambitious but flawed. Now? Well, I get into that over at MEL.

Chance the Rapper (featuring Death Cab for Cutie) - "Do You Remember"

The more I listen to The Big Day, the more I wish Chance had just gone all in and named the album There's Nothing Wrong With Love. Also, collaborating with the kings of sappy, sincere indie-rock was a pretty sly indication that, as always, Chancelor Jonathan Bennett is one big, happy cornball. And more power to him.

Cinema's Greatest Sharks

Summer's almost over, folks. But before you go to the beach one last time, remember: There are sharks out there. For SyFy, we paid tribute to some pretty terrific great whites.

'Angel Has Fallen' Review

Remember Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen? Well, Gerard Butler has made another one, called Angel Has Fallen. It is the best of the three. But, seriously, who cares? My review is up at Screen International.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Bernadette,' Bruce Springsteen and 'The Lost Boys'

On this week's episode, we mourn Where'd You Go, Bernadette and say some nice things about Blinded by the Light. And then I mostly make fun of The Lost Boys in our Reboot segment. Hear the whole thing down below.

My Interview With Liza Mandelup, Director of 'Jawline'

One of the standouts at this year's Sundance was Jawline, a documentary about Austyn Tester, a 16-year-old seeking stardom on the internet by becoming a boy broadcaster. Funny, surreal, moving and fascinating, the film has stayed with me. For MEL, I talked to its maker, Liza Mandelup, who had a lot to say about the transactional relationship between live-broadcasters and their fans. You can read my interview here.

'Where’d You Go, Bernadette' Review

With so much going on, I realized I completely forgot to post my review of the disappointing recent collaboration between Richard Linklater and Cate Blanchett. For Screen International, I wrestled with the fascinating misfire Where'd You Go, Bernadette.

'The Righteous Gemstones' Review

Six episodes in, I'm only partly invested in where The Righteous Gemstones is going. For MEL, I wrote about a series that takes on televangelists without much bite.

Some Thoughts on 'Good Boys'

Much to my surprise, I enjoyed Good Boys. In fact, I found it downright touching. I wrote about that -- and "Spin the Bottle" and the MPAA ratings system -- for MEL.

Turnover - "Super Natural"

"If you like Real Estate, you should give Turnover a try," a friend advised me a couple years ago. He was right then, and he's right now.

Why I'm Mad Universal Pulled the Plug on 'The Hunt'

Grateful to the folks at Rolling Stone for asking me to sound off on the Hunt controversy. I had a lot to say.

'Ready or Not' Review

Look, I get that Ready or Not is meant to be a dark, outrageous, tongue-in-cheek horror-comedy-thriller with a ludicrous premise. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. My review is up at Screen International.

My Interview With Mads Brugger, Director and Star of 'Cold Case Hammarskjold'

In 1961, a plane carrying U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld crashed, killing him and 15 others. "Pilot error" was the official cause, but some speculated that he'd been murdered. Decades later, filmmaker Mads Brügger (The Ambassador) decided he'd try to get to the bottom of the conspiracy theories. What he discovered was crazy. For MEL, I interviewed Brügger to talk about Cold Case Hammarskjöld. Hope you enjoy.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Female Mob Movies, Teen Horror Films and 'Beyond the Black Rainbow'

We lament The Kitchen and praise Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark on this week's episode. Then, I spend some time singing the praises of Beyond the Black Rainbow in our Reboot segment. (It's a trip.) The whole thing can be heard down below.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': 'Scary Stories' and 'After the Wedding'

Barbara Bogaev, Amy Nicholson and I reunited for the first time since we were on KCRW the Friday before the Oscars. (That's where I predicted that Green Book was going to win, which it did.) We discuss After the Wedding, The Kitchen, Dora and the Lost City of Gold and the one good movie out this weekend, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Cinema's Scariest Dolls

Annabelle ... Chucky ... Billy ...

For SyFy, we looked at the creepiest movie dolls.

Some Thoughts on 'The Kitchen'

How is The Kitchen like Thelma & Louise?

Who wants to be part of my Bill Camp fan club?

And why does everyone love "The Chain" these days?

I answer those questions, and more, over at MEL.

Lil Nas X (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) - "Old Town Road"

Have a great weekend, everyone. Not over this song yet.

'The Kitchen' Review

Man, Widows was really good. Just mentioning it ... no reason. (Here's my review of The Kitchen.)

'The Art of Racing in the Rain’ Review

A random observation: I went to the premiere of The Art of Racing in the Rain, and it was a bit poignant to hear people who worked on the film clap uproariously for the 20th Century Fox logo and that Alfred Newman fanfare. Nothing lasts, folks. Anyway, here's my review of this so-so tearjerker.

Happy 20th Anniversary, 'The Sixth Sense'

For MEL, I wrote about the element of The Sixth Sense that has haunted me for two decades: Bruce Willis' performance. The whole film is a cautionary tale about being obsessed with your work at the expense of everything else. I wrote about this heartbreaking film right here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Fast & Furious Presents: 'About Time' and 'Perfect Blue'

We didn't like Hobbs & Shaw, but you should tune into this week's episode for our discussion of two very different Reboot requests. First up is Richard Curtis' About Time. Then we go back to the future for Satoshi Kon's influential anime Perfect Blue. Hear the whole thing down below.

Some Thoughts on 'Hobbs & Shaw'

When will the Fast & Furious franchise go into space?

Why do people keep asking Idris Elba about playing 007?

And why is Hobbs & Shaw such a letdown?

I answer all those questions, and more, over at MEL.

D.A. Pennebaker, 1925-2019

The man who brought us The War Room and Don't Look Back is gone. For Rolling Stone, I eulogized D.A. Pennebaker.

Movies and Time Travel

Put aside Back the the Future for a second: What's the best film about time travel? That's the topic of this week's Debate Club.

Eels - "Sad Foot Sign"

"Los Angeles was delivered a body blow recently: Our most important sign is moving south. No, not the Hollywood sign; that’s faithfully waiting to be blown up in the next movie apocalypse. I’m talking about the hallowed Happy Foot Sad Foot Sign that has rotated at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Benton Way for nearly 40 years. The sign unofficially marks the border between Silver Lake and Echo Park and also serves as a podiatry-themed prognosticator for anxious TV writers, CBD oil masseuses, indie band bassists, nannies with strollers and whomever else passes its perch." -- Margaret Wappler, Los Angeles Times, July 12, 2019.

'The Red Sea Diving Resort' Review

Chris Evans' first post-Captain America movie is ... not good. I wrote about The Red Sea Diving Resort for MEL.