I Talked to OK Go

This past Wednesday, I moderated a Q&A for an event celebrating the power-pop band OK Go. Titled "From Treadmills to Industrial Robots — A Retrospective + Premiere," the evening consisted of a screening at the Fine Arts in Beverly Hills of a bunch of their iconic videos, following by a conversation with some of the band and one of their co-directors, Aaron Duffy. It was a fun night, and The Hollywood Reporter was there to cover what went down. You can read all about it here. 

(Photo by Danielle Directo-Meston.)

SXSW 2025: The Documentary Jury Winners

I attended SXSW for the first time for a good reason: I was invited to be part of the festival's Documentary Competition jury, alongside Aisha Harris and Jen Yamato. We saw eight films, all of them good (or better), and had a happily painless deliberation as we selected our top prize, as well as two special jury awards. 

Our winner was Shuffle, which opens the door to another reason why you should hate the way this country treats addiction. We also gave shout-outs to The Python Hunt and Remaining Native, two portraits of under-seen sections of America that are illuminating in different ways. 

You can read our write-ups here, as well as check out the winners in other section. Thanks for having me, Austin.

'The Next Picture Show': Let's Talk About 'Eephus'

Last week, I was on The Next Picture Show to talk about a baseball movie from the past, Bull Durham. This week, I return to talk about a new baseball film, Eephus. It was a very fun conversation. Hope you enjoy.

'The Next Picture Show': Let's Talk About 'Bull Durham'

So, this was fun: The gang over at The Next Picture Show asked me on as a guest. For those unfamiliar with that podcast, the hosts pair a current movie with an older, thematically-linked film. (The first episode is about the older film. The second episode focuses on the new film.) My episodes' theme was baseball movies, which makes sense since we're in the midst of spring training. This week: We talked about 1988's Bull Durham. Next week: To be continued. (But if you're paying attention to the indie release calendar, you can probably guess.)

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.

The Film Comment Podcast: Talking 'Twinless,' 'By Design' and 'Rabbit Trap' at Sundance

It was a treat to be on The Film Comment Podcast alongside my buddy Robert Daniels and host Devika Girish here in Park City. We discussed some of the early highlights (and lowlights) of the festival. (For those interested, Robert and Devika also reviewed Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, which I haven't seen yet.) 

Enjoy the conversation, which included observations about Dev Patel, Miranda July and David Lynch, down below.

2024 Gotham Awards Nominees

It has been an annual tradition I am very proud to be a part of. The folks at the Gotham Film & Media Institute invited me to once again join the committee that selects the nominees for the Gothams' acting categories. Alongside Monica Castillo, Robert Daniels, Tomris Laffly and Brian Tallerico, I helped pick this year's best Lead, Supporting and Breakthrough performances. You can see our choices here, along with the nominees in other categories.

'The Colin McEnroe Show': Talking About 'The Sixth Sense'

As you probably know, Halloween is just around the corner. The fine folks at The Colin McEnroe Show invited me to be on this week for an episode devoted to horror. I talked about the 25th anniversary of The Sixth Sense and my piece in the Los Angeles Times. You can hear the whole episode down below. (I come on at about the 35:10 mark.)

'All Of It With Alison Stewart': What's the Bext Pixar Film?

Will and I were back on WNYC to talk about Pixar movies and our Vulture rankings. It was a fun chat, and you can hear it down below.

2023 Gotham Awards Nominees

It is always incredibly flattering to be asked to be part of the Gotham Awards nominating jury. I took part in the acting committee, which was responsible for selecting 10 finalists in both the Lead and Supporting categories. (The Gothams went to non-gendered categories years ago.) I want to thank my fellow jurors Monica Castillo, Robert Daniels, Shawn Edwards and Tomris Laffly for such a fun deliberation; I couldn't be happier with our picks. You can see them here, as well as the other committees' nominations.

'All Of It With Alison Stewart': Talking Martin Scorsese

Will and I were on WNYC to discuss Martin Scorsese's career and our Vulture ranking of the man's films. (We also took listener questions.) You can check out the segment down below.

'Ten Thousand Posts': Talking About Rotten Tomatoes and Film Criticism

This was fun: Hussein Kesvani and Phoebe Roy had me on for a special episode of Ten Thousand Posts to discuss how Rotten Tomatoes does or doesn't affect my job. You can hear a taste of our episode down below. If you'd like to hear the whole thing, consider subscribing to their Patreon.

2022 Gotham Awards Nominees

I never stop being thrilled to be asked to serve on the Gotham Awards nominating juries. This year, I was once again part of the Acting committee, selecting the finalists for Outstanding Lead Performance, Outstanding Supporting Performance, and Breakthrough Performer. I was joined by Robert Daniels, Jon Frosch, Tomris Laffly and Brian Tallerico, and we had a fine time meeting and debating. You can see our picks here, as well as those in the other film and television categories. 

Talking About Film Festivals and Scouting (and 'The Godfather') With Keith Law

Recently, I was thinking about how Keith Law's job isn't that different than mine when I go to a film festival. Weirdly enough, completely independently he was thinking the same thing. So we had a talk about it. (Plus, he and his wife just watched all three Godfather movies for the first time, and he wanted to discuss that trilogy and Al Pacino's role in it.) Very happy to be back on The Keith Law Show. You can hear my episode below.

2021 Gotham Awards Nominees

Kept forgetting to mention that I was part of this year's Gotham Awards acting jury, in which we were tasked with a new responsibility. For the first time, we voted for nominees for Outstanding Lead Performance, Outstanding Supporting Performance and Breakthrough Performer, and all three categories were gender-neutral. What resulted was a four-hour deliberation with fellow jurors Monica Castillo, Robert Daniels, Mark Harris and Tomris Laffly. It was a great conversation, and I was very pleased with our choices, which you can see here, along with the nominees in other categories.

'A Film and a Movie': Talking About 'Safe' and 'She Dies Tomorrow'

I really enjoyed being on A Film and a Movie, a podcast (co-hosted by my old pal Alonso Duralde) in which the guest is invited to suggest two films (one older, one more recent) that have thematic similarities. I started with one of my all-time favorites, Safe, and then thought about what would be a good companion piece. And then it hit me: Amy Seimetz's terrific psychological horror film from last year. Lots of great analysis of both movies here. (And Alonso's story about the Safe premiere blew my mind.) Hope you enjoy.

'Breakfast All Day': Talking About 'Operation Varsity Blues' and 'This Is How You Make a Movie'

I always enjoyed joining the What the Flick?! crew to talk movies. Now, they're doing a new podcast, Breakfast All Day, and they were nice enough to invite me on this week. We discussed the Snyder Cut, movie news and Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal. Plus, I chatted about my book This Is How You Make a Movie. You can hear the whole thing down below.

Keith Law Interviews Me About 'This Is How You Make a Movie'

I'll get into it more later, but my latest book, This Is How You Make a Movie, is out now. (You can order it at Amazon or Bookshop.) In the meantime, I'm very happy to say that my friend Keith Law invited me to be on his podcast to talk about the book, the Oscar nominations and, yes, the St. Louis Cardinals. You can hear my episode of The Keith Law Show down below.

2020 Gotham Awards Nominees

I was very happy to be invited once again this year to serve on one of the Gotham Awards juries. I was part of the committee that picked the nominees for Best Actor and Best Actress, and I was joined by Mark Harris, Christy Lemire, Jessica Kiang and Robert Daniels. I was thrilled with our choices, and you can see them all here.

2019 Gotham Award Nominees

I had the pleasure of being on the committee that helped select the Best Actor and Best Actress nominees for this year's Gotham Awards. (The winners, who are voted on by IFP members, will be announced on December 2.) I was joined by Alissa Wilkinson, Jessica Kiang, David Fear and David Ehrlich. I was quite pleased with our choices. (The nominees are all at that link.)