The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,' 'Rebel Ridge' and My Fall Film Festival Report

We're back! It's been several weeks, but on this week's episode, we reunite to discuss Tim Burton's smash sequel and Jeremy Saulnier's quietly great Netflix thriller. Also, I talk a bit about Venice and Toronto. Check it all out below.
 

Venice/Telluride/Toronto 2024: The Wrap-Up and the Rankings

"How long were you out of the country?"

When I went through customs in Toronto on the way back to Los Angeles, I actually had to think about that question for a minute. For the first time since 2019, I did the fall festival double-shot of Venice and Toronto, which I very much enjoyed. Nonetheless, when it was all over, I could feel that I'd been away from home for quite some time. While I'd been gone, I'd ridden water buses and suffered through some pretty bad humidity. Then I got to Toronto and battled rain and chilly evenings. At some point along the way, I may have pulled a leg muscle. You never know what festivals are going to throw at you, but that's the fun -- you're just grateful to be part of the experience.

All told, I was gone about 17 days, seeing a ton of movies at both Venice and Toronto. Not that you can catch everything, of course: Conflicting screenings and other logistics kept me from April, Diciannove, Hard Truths, The Life of Chuck, Vermiglio and others. (Plus: Nickel Boys only screened in Telluride.) But I'll get to them all in due time. What matters is the amount I did catch, and the memories I now have of seeing so many of these films at their first screenings. That communal spirit -- that shared moment of discovery -- is incredibly special. I missed Susan, and I'm glad to be home, but those memories keep replaying in my head.

The below rankings are a list of everything I've seen that played at the three festivals, either over the last few weeks or at some point earlier this year. (You'll recognize several Cannes titles, not to mention a few Sundance films.) Links lead to individual reviews...

53. Megalopolis
52. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
51. William Tell
50. Nutcrackers
49. Joker: Folie à Deux
48. King Ivory
47. The Assessment
46. Eden
45. Oh, Canada
44. Emilia Perez
43. Heretic
42. Rumours 
41. Babygirl
40. We Live in Time
39. The Shrouds
38. The Outrun
37. Will & Harper
36. Bring Them Down
35. Nightbitch
34. Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass
33. Misericordia
32. I, the Executioner
31. Conclave
30. The Substance
29. Sudan, Remember Us
28. Chain Reactions
27. The Girl With the Needle
26. Paul & Paulette Take A Bath
25. The Order
24. Better Man
23. Sharp Corner
22. Separated
21. Wolfs
20. Bird
19. September 5
18. Presence
17. I’m Still Here
16. Queer
15. Maria
14. The Wild Robot
13. Flow
12. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
11. Homegrown
10. Pavements
9. All We Imagine as Light
8. The Room Next Door
7. The End
6. Anora
5. Grand Tour
4. Caught by the Tides
3. The Brutalist
2. The Seed of the Sacred Fig
1. A Real Pain

I imagine some folks will look at my rankings and exclaim, "Really? Megalopolis is really the worst movie you saw?" I'm looking forward to revisiting the Francis Ford Coppola film, and I've told anyone in earshot that they really do owe it to themselves to see it, just so they can make up their own mind about this ambitious swing. But, yes, I do find it a crushing disappointment. Likewise, I am working on gut instinct when I say that Jesse Eisenberg's beautifully intimate character study A Real Pain is slightly greater than the far more imposing works by Mohammad Rasoulof (The Seed of the Sacred Fig) and Brady Corbet (The Brutalist). They all demand a rewatch, so we'll see how the end-of-the-year list-making shakes out.

But for now, I'll say that Venice and Toronto provided me with some excellent movies and a few cases where I'm very much out of the consensus. I know many who loathe The End, whereas plenty think I'm wrong for being lukewarm on Babygirl. But these are my rankings. Consider this post a preview of coming attractions of the movies worth putting on your radar, even if you end up liking some of them more or less than I do.

Toronto 2024: 'The Assessment' Review

The Assessment is set in a near future where society has gone to hell. How bad is it? Couples have to be "assessed" to determine if they are allowed to have children. Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel play one such couple, with Alicia Vikander as their assessor. Things get weird from there, as I describe in my Screen International review.

James Earl Jones' Essential Performances

In memory of the legendary stage and screen actor, we highlighted nine of his most memorable films. Hope you enjoy.

Robbie Williams - "Rock DJ"

My most euphoric moment at this year's Toronto Film Festival? This scene in Better Man.

Toronto 2024: 'Bring Them Down' Review

The familiar anguish of emotionally stunted young men inflicting their misery on one another is the focus of Bring Them Down, which takes place in a small Irish community that's consumed with old feuds and buried secrets. So what makes this pitiless drama work? Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott. I reviewed the film for Screen International.

Toronto 2024: 'Sharp Corner' Review

In Sharp Corner, Ben Foster plays a husband and father who has moved his family into what they think is a great new house. It's the darnedest thing, though: Because of a dangerous turn on the road in front of their place, car accidents happen with alarming frequency. The Foster character responds to this in the most intriguing of ways. My review of this psychological drama is here.

Toronto 2024: 'Nutcrackers' Review

David Gordon Green has spent the last several years making Halloween films (and an Exorcist movie that tanked). But with Nutcrackers, he switches gears, casting Ben Stiller as a workaholic who has to take care of his dead sister's kids. Will tears be jerked? My review is here.

Toronto 2024: 'William Tell' Review

Is this moment included in William Tell? You know it! I reviewed the mediocre drama about the legendary folk hero for Screen International.

Toronto 2024: 'Better Man' Review

At the Toronto premiere of his biopic Better Man, Robbie Williams came out before the movie and cheekily reminded the audience that, in the U.K., he was a pretty big deal. It is amusing that the film is playing here (and, previously, in Telluride) since he was never the sensation in North America that he was in his homeland. Nonetheless, I found plenty to enjoy in this candid, snarky, surprisingly audacious and moving film. My review is up over at Screen International.

Toronto 2024: 'The Wild Robot' Review

 

Beautifully animated and touchingly told, The Wild Robot will open later this month. But I saw it early at the Toronto Film Festival. You can read my review here.

Toronto 2024: 'Eden' Review

In Eden, Ron Howard explores humanity's dark side in a way he really never has in his career. Based on a true story, this psychological thriller looks at a group of disparate individuals who all move to an isolated island in the Galapagos, unhappy about the presence of the others. I reviewed this uneven but fascinating film for Screen International.

Toronto 2024: 'Conclave' Review

The Pope has died, which means the Catholic Church must vote for a new pontiff. For Screen International, I reviewed a thriller some think could be a major awards contender, Conclave.

Toronto 2024: 'We Live in Time' Review

We Live in Time stars Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield as a couple dealing with a cancer diagnosis. That's not a novel idea for a romantic drama, but the film's narrative structure is ... kind of. I explain more in my Screen International review.

Toronto 2024: 'Heretic' Review

In recent years, Hugh Grant has gravitated toward playing heels. But in the horror-thriller Heretic, he really embraces his inner creep in the story of a seemingly kindly homeowner who may talk two female missionaries to death. I reviewed this salute to cinema's evilest mansplainer over at Screen International.

Toronto 2024: 'Nightbitch' Review

In Marielle Heller's latest, Amy Adams plays a beleaguered stay-at-home mom who thinks she might be turning into a dog. And maybe that's a good thing? My review of Nightbitch is here.

Venice 2024: 'Paul & Paulette Take a Bath' Review

In Paul & Paulette Take a Bath, Jeremie Galiana and Marie Benati star as the titular lovers who have a whirlwind affair. But is their relationship built to last? My final Venice review of this year is up at Screen International.

Toronto 2024: 'The End' Review

Decorated documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer has made his first feature. It's a musical about the end of the world. I think it's pretty terrific. Here's my review of The End.

La Bionda - "One for You, One for Me"

My favorite musical discovery at this year's Venice Film Festival? This 1978 disco track. Appropriately, it's from an Italian duo.

Venice 2024: 'Joker: Folie a Deux' Review

I loved Joker. Sadly, I did not love the sequel. For Screen International, I reviewed Joker: Folie a Deux.

Venice 2024: 'King Ivory' Review

Filmmaker John Swab was addicted to opiates for about 10 years. So his latest action-thriller, King Ivory, which is about the War on Drugs, would seem to be something he understood passionately. And yet, the film is oddly generic. My review is live over at Screen International.