The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: The 10 Best Films From Our First 500 Episodes

To celebrate our 500th episode, we each listed our 10 favorite films since the podcast started in early 2016. It is wild to think we've been doing this so long. Thanks for listening: This is a fun episode.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: '28 Years Later' and 'The Life of Chuck'

Because we unexpectedly weren't able to do an episode last week, this episode is super-sized, featuring reviews of four new movies. Going into the show, I wondered how many of the films we'd disagree on, and it turns out we saw two of them very differently. You can check out our thoughts on 28 Years Later, Materialists, Elio and The Life of Chuck down below.

'Materialists' Review

Past Lives was one of the best films of 2023. Celine Song returns with Materialists. How does it stack up? My review is live at Screen International. 

The Comedies I'm Curious to See in 2025

Celine Song making a James L. Brooks-style romantic comedy? Adam Sandler returning as Happy Gilmore? Here's my preview of 2025's most intriguing comedies for Cracked.

My LAFCA Awards Presentation for Jonathan Glazer, Director of 'The Zone of Interest'

January was a whirlwind, so I'm only now posting this. It was my honor at this year's Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards banquet, held January 13th at the Biltmore in downtown, to present our Best Director prize. These were my remarks from the stage.

Much has been made of the fact that writer-director Jonathan Glazer spent 10 years working on The Zone of Interest. But I would argue that it feels like a lifetime has been poured into this astonishing film. A lifetime of artistic growth and soul searching. A lifetime of witnessing the horrors of history repeat. Glazer’s drama is set during the Holocaust but it speaks to the present — it is an achievement that required every part of him.

Over the span of four monumental films, Glazer has forged a career that defies easy categorization. But after The Zone of Interest, what is clear is that what connects these films is a man who wants us to see beyond what we are accustomed — to marvel or be terrified by the world that exists just below the surface. To look, unblinking, at what’s been there the whole time.

In The Zone of Interest, Glazer presents fascism as a family affair, complete with the idyllic home, the wife and kids, the prestigious job. We don’t simply watch Rudolf and Hedwig — we inspect them, their focus on status a nightmare mirror of our own petty cravings for comfort and security at the expense of others. Evil is not extraordinary, Glazer tells us — in fact, it’s frighteningly common, and we are all susceptible to the virus.

That’s why he agonized over his masterpiece. The preciseness of tone, the rejection of cliches, the formulation of an ingenious shooting style that indicts rather than glamorizes: It took sensitivity and anger and sorrow and courage. The Zone of Interest is a work of profound moral seriousness. It is also a work of art. It took him a lifetime — may we not take that long to heed its warnings or fully absorb its terrible power.

Please join me in congratulating our winner for Best Director, Mr. Jonathan Glazer.

You can read Glazer's acceptance speech here. The photo is by Matt Harbicht. The Zone of Interest also won Best Picture, which was richly deserved. All the LAFCA winners can be seen here. 

This was the first banquet for the organization I didn't help oversee since 2010, and the new exec board did a smashing job. I've moderated several Q&As with members of the Zone team, so the evening felt like a happy reunion with some good folks. Being able to introduce Susan to Celine Song, our New Generation recipient as writer-director of Past Lives, was another highlight. Susan loves The Zone of Interest and Past Lives as much as I do. (She got to tell Glazer something she's been telling me for a while, which is that Zone may be one of the greatest films she's ever seen. Susan also adores Under the Skin). So, yes, a special night for us both.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: The Best Films of 2023

It's that time of year: On our final episode of 2023, we each present our picks for the year's best films. Hope you enjoy.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Across the Spider-Verse,' 'Past Lives' and 'Lynch/Oz'

Will was in town, so we did the podcast in person. You can hear us review two pretty terrific movies, and also a very fun documentary. Check it out below.

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

Sundance 2023: 'Past Lives' Review

I can't imagine loving anything at this year's Sundance as much as I loved Past Lives. What a gorgeous film.