Quincy Jones - "Soul Bossa Nova"

Right, the Austin Powers song. Sorry, I'm gonna stick to thinking of it as the Quincy Jones song.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': 'Last Breath,' 'My Dead Friend Zoe' and 'The Accidental Getaway Driver'

Katie Walsh and I were on KCRW today to discuss this weekend's new movies with guest host Brian Hardzinski. We tacked the deep-sea diving drama Last Breath, the melancholy comedy My Dead Friend Zoe, the woeful thriller Cold Wallet and the atmospheric true-life tale The Accidental Getaway Driver. Check it all out down below.

Gene Hackman's Finest Films

I was flattered to be asked to help contribute to this Rolling Stone piece that provides a primer on Gene Hackman's best performances. These 20 films constitute a hall-of-fame career.

Gene Hackman, 1930-2025

For Rolling Stone, I eulogized Danville, Illinois' favorite son, Gene Hackman.

'Last Breath' Review

Oscar weekend tends to be a pretty slow one in terms of new releases. But I can recommend Last Breath, a true-life survival thriller about three deep-sea divers in the North Sea who face a life-or-death crisis. Read all about it over at Screen International.

The Films That Got Overlooked This Oscar Season

This year's Oscar nominees are fairly decent, but I'd like to take a moment to recognize 10 superb films we won't hear mentioned at all during Sunday's telecast. The voters forgot about these movies, but I have not.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'The Monkey,' Sly Stone and Our Oscar Predictions

On this week's episode, we shake our heads at The Monkey and groove to Sly Lives! But then, we take our time offering our predictions in the eight major Oscar categories. Worth noting: We recorded just as the SAG Awards were getting underway Sunday night, so a few of the surprise winners hadn't happened yet. Still, I think I was fairly hesitant in my picks, knowing that several of the categories remain fairly wide open. Check out our conversation down below.

Lauryn Hill - "Lost Ones"

I'll always prefer The Score to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. But this track slays.

'The Annihilation of Fish' Review

In 1999, Charles Burnett's film The Annihilation of Fish premiered in Toronto. A very mixed reaction from critics doomed the movie. Now, at long last, the film is finally coming out into the world. For the Los Angeles Times, I reviewed this delicate, long-lost love story.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Captain America, Paddington and Bridget Jones Return

On this week's episode, we review new movies from franchises trying to sustain their cultural cachet: Captain America: Brave New World, Paddington in Peru and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. I only liked one of the three. You can hear our discussion down below.

My LAFCA Awards Presentation for Jomo Fray, Cinematographer of 'Nickel Boys'

The devastating Los Angeles fires in January forced the postponement of this year's Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards dinner. But on February 6th, the show went on, resulting in an evening that was a little more subdued but, nonetheless, still rather joyous. It was my honor to present our award for Best Cinematography, which deservedly went to the year's best film. Here were my remarks from the stage:

Few cinematographers today are more exciting than Jomo Fray. He has shot some of the most distinctive feature debuts in recent memory, including Selah and the Spades and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt. His images are tactile, lived-in — they stun without feeling showy. His camerawork, which is often centered on Black narratives, has the grace of a poem.

Tonight, we celebrate his crucial contribution to Nickel Boys, deservedly praised for its audacious use of first-person POV. Working alongside first-time feature director RaMell Ross, Fray had to determine precisely how the film’s teenage characters would take in their world, shooting on locations that often had to be 360-degree environments, with a nimble camera meant to replicate Elwood and Turner’s sentient perspective. From a craft standpoint, Nickel Boys was an enormous undertaking.

But anyone moved beyond words by this film doesn’t talk about aspect ratios or SnorriCam rigs. Instead, we marvel at myriad indelible shots that feel like childhood memories. Nickel Boys is full of pain and sorrow, but there’s also an incredible innocence to it — we don’t just see the film from Elwood and Turner’s perspective, we reconnect with the spirit of being young, back when our impressionable eyes were hungrily absorbing everything around us. Fray’s camera is attuned to these terrors and joys. We practically smell the stench of the so-called White House, where the Black students of Nickel are beaten. But we also delight at the sight of an adorable girl smiling under our seat on a bus.

The film invites us to experience it all in this most extraordinary of coming-of-age dramas, to bear witness to a country’s history of racism and cruelty — a history that remains so very present. Nickel Boys is an act of love and an act of defiance. And Jomo Fray makes sure we never look away.

Please join me in congratulating our winner for Best Cinematography, Jomo Fray.

I was so glad to have Jomo Fray there. I hadn't met him, and he was, unsurprisingly, terrific. (Also, everybody loved his outfit.) All of our winners can be found here. This photo was taken by Shiloh Strong.

Screen International: My Screen Life

Screen International runs a regular feature in its print edition called "My Screen Life," in which the publication's editors, critics and reporters discuss the films and moments that shaped them. My turn was up recently, so I talked about 2001, George Clooney and Cannes. Check it out here.

My Interview With George Wallace

He's been doing stand-up for nearly 50 years. His best friend is Jerry Seinfeld. (Back in the day, they used to be roommates.) And now he has a Prime Video show with Laverne Cox called Clean Slate. For Cracked, I had a long conversation with the legend about everything: comedy, Donald Trump, Johnny Carson, Twitter, Sanford and Son, growing up in the church, my bookcases, you name it. Hope you enjoy.

Berlin 2025: 'Magic Farm' Review

I quite liked Amalia Ulman's first film, El Planeta. Her new movie, Magic Farm, got a chilly reception at Sundance, but I think it works. For Screen International, I made the case for this rambunctious, politically pointed comedy, which is now playing Berlin.

'Cleaner' Review

 

Eventually, every movie star gets his or her Die Hard. For Daisy Ridley, that movie is Cleaner, which I reviewed for Screen International.

Berlin 2025: 'Mickey 17' Review

I'm not in Berlin, but for Screen International I reviewed one of the festival's high-profile premieres. Here are my thoughts on Bong Joon Ho's latest.

P.M. Dawn - "I'll Be Waiting for You"

Gone but not forgotten, P.M. Dawn was one of the 1990s' best hip-hop groups. My favorite album of theirs was their 1995 record, Jesus Wept, which wasn't as big as their first two discs. No matter: All these years later, I still find its mixture of the spiritual and the romantic to be fairly overwhelming.

How Does Neon Put Together Its Cool DVD Box Set Every Year?

This was a treat. For the Los Angeles Times, I talked to the people at Neon who design the company's annual for-your-consideration DVD box set of its films. This collection has quickly become the one item each year critics love to brag about receiving. You can read what I learned here.

'The Monkey' Review

I really liked Longlegs. But Osgood Perkins' follow-up left me cold, in large part because it's more of a dark comedy. I explain my reservations with The Monkey here.

RaMell Ross Breaks Down the Secrets of the 'Nickel Boys' Screenplay

I feel very fortunate this awards season to have gotten to spend some time with RaMell Ross. I've already profiled him for the Los Angeles Times, and I've also moderated a few Q&As with him. Today, I'm happy to unveil this new L.A. Times piece, in which he and I focus on Nickel Boys' screenplay, breaking down three crucial scenes and discussing how they evolved from the script to the screen. I was especially pleased that Ross shared a few secrets about these scenes which, I don't think, have been talked about anywhere else. Check out the piece here.

'Captain America: Brave New World' Review

Anthony Mackie is the new Captain America. Can he fill Chris Evans' shoes? For Screen International, I reviewed Brave New World.

My Interview With Edward Berger and Ralph Fiennes, the Team Behind 'Conclave'

For much of awards season, I've been trying to nail down a time to speak with the director and star of Conclave. This past week, it finally happened. For the Los Angeles Times, I jumped on the phone with Edward Berger and Ralph Fiennes to talk about faith, both in a higher power and in the potential of art. I was also especially interested to ask Fiennes about playing spirituality, which yielded an interesting answer. Our Conclave conversation is here.

My Interview With Tom Green

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tom Green was on pop culture's cutting edge thanks to The Tom Green Show and Freddy Got Fingered. Since then, he's been doing stand-up, and after the pandemic he decided to leave Los Angeles to move back to Canada. He now operates a farm on 150 acres in Ontario when he isn't touring the world. In light of his new stand-up special, documentary and reality series, all devoted to his new life as a farmer, I had a long talk with the veteran comic. We talked about everything, including David Letterman, Canada, being a trailblazer, and Freddy's legacy. Hope you enjoy.

'No Other Land' Review

No Other Land has won multiple critics' awards as the best documentary of 2024. It's the front-runner for the Oscar. And it still doesn't have a U.S. distributor. But it's opening in select theaters across the country. What's going on here? For the Los Angeles Times, I reviewed this harrowing film.

Funkadelic - "Maggot Brain"

As the story goes, Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel was told to play "like his mom had died" by band leader George Clinton. This is what came out. Definitely feels like a eulogy for something or someone. And right now, it seems as good a song as any to lament the fall of America.

'Love Hurts' Review

Back from Sundance. And right back into the blah February releases. Here's my review of Love Hurts.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Companion,' 'Presence,' 'Perfect Days' and My Sundance Recap

I'm back from Sundance, and so is the podcast. This week, I give some quick thoughts about the festival. Then, we dive into two new movies: Companion and Presence. Finally, we look back at a 2023 film we never talked about, Wim Wenders' Perfect Days. Check out the episode down below.

Sundance 2025: Ranking the Best and Worst of the Festival

There's a temptation among film critics when they don't attend a particular festival to look askance at those who do, especially if those attendees rave about a lot of the movies there. The cynical assumption is that, amidst the prestige and excitement (and privilege) of being at a festival, these critics lose their ability to be discerning. Those feelings are only amplified when glowing reviews come out of Sundance, the theory being that, because of Utah's higher elevation, critics are susceptible to become more forgiving of mediocre movies than they would at sea level.

But a funny thing happened this year in Park City: Just about everyone I saw at the festival was similarly glum about the films they were watching on the ground, grousing that there were no big breakthroughs, no major discoveries, no instant classics. Actually, much of the talk at Sundance wasn't about the movies but, rather, where the festival was headed. And I don't mean philosophically; this was a more literal question, with Sundance moving to Salt Lake City, Boulder or Cincinnati in 2027. The festival's team made it clear that they didn't have any answers about that yet, so don't ask, but nonetheless that uncertainty also contributed to creating a feeling that something was ending, that the glory days were over. Add to that Trump's return to the White House and the fires in Los Angeles, and it was easy to see why many downbeat Park City attendees wrote off this year's edition as a disappointment.

For once, it was actually the people not at the festival who were more positive. Those who stayed home, using the festival's online platform to see certain films, were generally a lot happier with Sundance's 2025 installment. Partly, that was because they only watched movies we on the ground had already determined were good. But I also think not being at Sundance, which didn't feel as packed or lively as in previous years, helped keep one's focus on the films as opposed to the lack of electricity in Park City. 

As I put together my rankings of everything I saw at the festival, it became clear that this actually was a pretty great Sundance, especially in terms of documentaries. My top two films at this year's festival, The Perfect Neighbor and Predators, both of which screened in the U.S. Documentary Competition, feel like films we'll be talking about all year, their thematic connections so self-evident and fascinating that Film Comment ran a panel with their filmmakers (as well as the director of Zodiac Killer Project) to discuss them. Right behind were two features, Sorry, Baby and If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, which took very different approaches to examine an imperiled woman trying to keep her head above water. I count 12 films I would classify as, at least, very good, and that's keeping in mind that there were several more movies I would have liked to have caught but just didn't have the time.

During Sundance, I met a veteran filmmaker who was screening a movie there. "So, what's the vibe of the festival this year?" she asked me. Gloomy, for lots of obvious reasons. But the films compensated if we just let ourselves be open to them.

Below are my rankings, with links leading to individual reviews:

28. Opus
27. By Design
26. Ricky
25. The Ugly Stepsister
24. Rabbit Trap
23. Kiss of the Spider Woman
22. The Legend of Ochi
21. Together
20. The Thing With Feathers
19. The Wedding Banquet
18. Move Ya Body: The Birth of House
17. Folktales
16. Magic Farm
15. Jimpa
14. Omaha
13. Rebuilding
12. Zodiac Killer Project
11. The Alabama Solution
10. Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
9. 2000 Meters to Andriivka
8. Train Dreams
7. Peter Hujar's Day
6. BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
5. Twinless
4. Sorry, Baby
3. If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
2. Predators
1. The Perfect Neighbor 

See you all at the next festival. And thanks again to Devika Girish for having me on The Film Comment Podcast to discuss Twinless, By Design and Rabbit Trap.

Sundance 2025: 'Move Ya Body: The Birth of House' Review

Chicago is the birthplace for many things, including house music. For Screen International, I reviewed Move Ya Body, a documentary about the genre's pioneers, who were left behind once the music hit the mainstream. My piece is here.