What's the Best Fourth of July Release This Century?

I offer a Top 10 here.

My Interview With Rebecca Miller, Writer-Director of 'She Came to Me'

As part of the Los Angeles Times fall film preview, I spoke with Rebecca Miller, whose new movie is a comedy. This may surprise people who know her most from dramas like Personal Velocity and The Ballad of Jack and Rose. But in recent years, she has found herself thinking more about embracing the lighter side of life. We talked about that, and a lot of other things. You can read my profile here.

What's the Funniest Movie to Open Over Fourth of July?

This time of year, the multiplex is ruled by action movies. But every once in a while, we get a great comedy. I looked back at a few for Cracked.

Sundance 2023: Ranking the Best and Worst of the Festival

Sundance 2020 was one of the last in-person film events before the pandemic changed everything, so there was a symbolic importance for me to return to Park City this year. It had been three years, and some things had changed, including the massively built-up Salt Lake City airport, which wasn't there in 2020. But the snow and the mountains and the general atmosphere of newness -- a new year with new movies, often made by new filmmakers -- hadn't.

Writing full reviews during a festival tends to lower your overall intake of movies, but I was grateful to avoid any outright stinkers. (Even the films ranked lowest on my list had their pleasures.) But there were plenty of movies I didn't have a chance to get to, which is always a bummer. But even if I'd seen twice as many, I doubt any would have been as beautiful as Past Lives, writer-director Celine Song's killer debut about soulmates, fate and romantic compromise. Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro are all superb. It will truly be an amazing film year if it doesn't make my end-of-the-year Top 10. (Kudos to my No. 2 of the festival as well: writer-director Raven Jackson's lyrical debut All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, pictured above.)

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

25. Theater Camp
24. Blueback
23. Radical
22. Jamojaya
21. Infinity Pool
20. The Stroll
19. Polite Society
18. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
17. A Thousand and One
16. Magazine Dreams
15. Fair Play
14. Cat Person
13. Judy Blume Forever
12. Shortcomings
11. The Eight Mountains
10. Other People's Children
9. Earth Mama
8. The Starling Girl
7. Shayda
6. You Hurt My Feelings
5. A Still Small Voice
4. Eileen
3. Passages
2. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
1. Past Lives

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Wakanda Forever,' 'Armageddon Time' and 'Spirited'

I liked two out of the three movies we reviewed this past week. Can you guess which one I didn't care for? You can hear the whole thing down below.

Cannes 2022: 'Armageddon Time' Review

James Gray returns to Cannes for the first time since The Immigrant. Here's my review of Armageddon Time.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Reviews of 'The Lockdown,' 'The Dig' and 'American Skin'

Welcome to our first podcast of the new year. We've got reviews of three new movies, as well as some thoughts about the Capitol riot and Twitter dummies. Hope you enjoy.

'Locked Down' Review

Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor are a London couple who were thinking of ending things. Then came the pandemic. Locked Down is a film that examines what happens when a relationship comes to a close but you're stuck living together. (Also, there's a heist.) I reviewed the film for Screen International.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Robert Zemeckis and 'Bad Hair'

On this week's episode, we review films currently available on Amazon, HBO Max and Hulu. (How many people have all three services?) You can hear all our takes down below.

'Roald Dahl's The Witches' Review

The remake of The Witches might be the most generic film that Robert Zemeckis has ever made. So impersonal, so lazy, such a waste. I reviewed the HBO Max movie for Screen International.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Looking Back at '25th Hour' and 'Galaxy Quest'

I'm at Sundance. Will is home. So for this week's episode, I asked him a little about Serenity. Then we did two Reboot films: 25th Hour and Galaxy Quest. Hope you enjoy.

Some Thoughts on 'Ocean's 8'

For MEL, I dove deep on Ocean's 8, focusing on why I think the movie didn't suffer the same fate as the all-female Ghostbusters. I also have some thoughts about Anne Hathaway and George Clooney. You can read the whole thing here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Ocean's 8,' 'Hereditary,' 'Won't You Be My Neighbor?' and 'Before Sunset'

On this week's episode, we talk about three new movies: the ones with the women pulling a heist, the one with the woman whose house may be haunted, and the one about the kindly television host. Then, in our Reboot segment, we look back at Before Sunset. Up next week: Before Midnight. You can hear the whole show below.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Heists, Horror and 'Artemis Hotel'

I always have a lovely time hanging out with Madeleine. Today, April Wolfe and I were on KCRW to review Ocean's 8, Hereditary and Artemis Hotel. You can hear the whole thing here.

'Ocean's 8' Review

I'm praying that Ocean's 8 doesn't face the same online nonsense that befell the 2016 all-female reboot of Ghostbusters. As for the film, it's good, but not great. My review is up at Paste.

In Praise of 'Rachel Getting Married'

For MEL, I wrote about a Jonathan Demme movie that didn't get as much ink today as some of his acknowledged masterpieces. That would be Rachel Getting Married, which helped solidify Anne Hathaway's emergence as a serious actress. It's also another example of a film full of Demme's compassionate view of people. You can read my appreciation here.

(P.S. If you need more Demme recommendations, I contributed to Rolling Stone's overview of his all-time greats.)

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Reviewing 'Graduation' and 'Colossal'

This past weekend's major releases all looked negligible, so Will and I focused the latest installment of the podcast on two foreign/indie movies. First, we dig into Graduation. Then, we turn our attention to Colossal, which we disagree about. Finally, our Reboot segment is dedicated to Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans. Will loved it back in the day -- I was a lot less impressed. Anything changed in 25 years? Take a listen.

'The Intern' Review

Robert De Niro is the best part of The Intern, which is a pretty charming, totally disposable comedy about aging, career ambition and Restoration Hardware production design. In fact, this might be my favorite of writer-director Nancy Meyers' films, which isn't saying much. I reviewed the movie for Deadspin.

'Interstellar' Review

It's one hell of an experience. Interstellar, the latest from filmmaker Christopher Nolan, wants to be the biggest, grandest, most emotional sci-fi extravaganza ever. The storytelling isn't nearly as impressive but, to be honest, I was willing to forgive that -- up to a point, anyway. My review, which wrestles with the film's strengths and weaknesses, is up at Screen International.

Sundance 2014: 'Song One' Review

I forget: Do we all officially hate Anne Hathaway now? It's hard to keep up with backlashes these days.

Her latest film is the small-scale indie drama Song One. And she's good in a nicely modest way. Sorry, haters.

My review is up at Paste.