How 2025's Best Movies Landed on the Right Ending

This was a fun one. For the Los Angeles Times, I spoke to the writers of five of this year's Oscar-nominated screenplays to learn how they decided on the ending of their movies. If you want to hear the stories behind Blue Moon, Bugonia, It Was Just an Accident, Sentimental Value and Train Dreams, click here. 

Marlene Dietrich - "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"

I wasn't intending to feature Pete Seeger in back-to-back Friday Videos. But then I rewatched Bugonia.

How the Posters for 'No Other Choice,' 'Bugonia' and 'Sinners' Got Made

I am fascinated by movie posters. They are this special mixture of art and marketing that have to sell a film's essence in a single image. So, how do they do it? For the Los Angeles Times, I talked to the creative teams behind Bugonia, No Other Choice and Sinners to learn the behind-the-scenes secrets. It was very fun. 

(My thanks to Stephanie Jones for this great illustration.) 

Your Guide to the Must-See Awards Season Movies

I helped Screen International with its roundup of 50 essentials films of this Oscar season. Individual bylines aren't indicated, but I wrote about Bugonia, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, The Life of Chuck, Marty Surpreme, The Mastermind, The Smashing Machine, Sorry, Baby and Sound of Falling. (I also sung the praises of Dylan O’Brien in Twinless.) Check the whole list out here. 

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Bugonia,' Kelly Reichardt and 'Die My Love'

Four new movies this week, and I really like all four of them. In this episode, we talk about Die My Love, Predator: Badlands, Bugonia and The Mastermind. Give it a listen down below.

'Breakfast All Day': Reviewing 'Bugonia'

Bugonia is the fourth film from Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone. I was tickled to be asked to join Christy on Breakfast All Day to talk about it. You can watch our conversation down below.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Previewing Fall Festival Season and 'Paris, Texas'

Greetings from Venice. Before I left for the festival, Will and I recorded an episode looking at the movies we're most intrigued by that will be premiering here, Telluride or Toronto. Lots of good stuff there. Then, we go back to 1984's Paris, Texas, which I now really need to see on the big screen. Check out our conversation down below. 

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Ari Aster, Eva Victor and 'The Muppet Movie'

Will was in town but we did not record this episode in person. We talked about that, as well as reviewed two A24 films: Eddington and Sorry, Baby. Then, in our Reboot segment, we looked back at 1979's The Muppet Movie. Check it out down below.

Cannes 2025: 'Eddington' Review

Ari Aster was three-for-three before Eddington. But I think this new film is a misfire. I explain why over at Screen International.

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

I offer a Top 10 here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Horror Prequels, Yorgos Lanthimos Triptychs, 'Horizon' and 'Janet Planet'

Yup, this is a rare four-movie episode. But there was a lot to talk about, including the election. Check it out down below.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Being Charmed by 'Thelma'

Katie Walsh and I were on KCRW yesterday reviewing L.A.'s new releases, including The Bikeriders, Kinds of Kindness and Fancy Dance. We also talked about the action-comedy starring June Squibb, who gets her Tom Cruise on in Thelma. Check us out down below.

Cobrah - "Brand New Bitch"

Everybody loves when Emma Stone dances in trailers.

Cannes 2024: The Wrap-Up and the Rankings

The 2024 Cannes Film Festival is when I finally decided it's not worth debating whether a particular edition was "good" or "bad." Truth is, every Cannes is filled with triumphs, misfires, disappointments, underappreciated gems, surprises, and movies you liked a lot more (or a lot less) than your colleagues did. And because the festival doesn't necessarily front-load its strongest offerings, you really have no idea where the annual ebbs and flows will land. You have to take Cannes in its entirety, judging it not by one day but by the whole two-week experience. There's no festival like it because it's longer and, therefore, harder to process as it's happening. Only distance will tell you for sure -- and even then, you may be shocked to catch up with a few films you missed (or revisit ones you saw) and discover what a great year it had actually been. There's no such thing as a "bad" Cannes, just degrees of good.

That said, do I think I found a film this year that could match 2023's twin stunners in The Zone of Interest and Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell? No, but looking over my rankings, I'm pleased by how many strong films I saw, with the possibility of more bangers to come. (I wish I'd had time for The Balconettes, The Kingdom, Armand, Black Dog, Flow, Santosh, Viet and Nam and others. And I wish my screening of Universal Language had had English subtitles like it claimed it would.) 

Here's a list of everything I saw at Cannes, from worst to best, with links leading to individual reviews. And please note that I'm not including the first half of the restoration of Abel Nance's extraordinary Napoleon, which I saw and was completely blown away by.

34. Megalopolis
33. The Surfer
32. The Second Act
31. The Apprentice
30. Oh, Canada
29. Beating Hearts
28. Emilia Perez
27. Wild Diamond
26. Rumours
25. The Shrouds
24. Visiting Hours
23. Misericordia
22. Being Maria
21. I, the Executioner
20. Motel Destino
19. The Substance
18. It's Not Me
17. Christmas Eve in Miller's Point
16. Elementary
15. The Girl With the Needle
14. Bird
13. Three Kilometers to the End of the World
12. Blue Sun Palace
11. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
10. Eephus
9. Good One
8. The Invasion
7. All We Imagine as Light
6. Anora
5. Grand Tour
4. Caught by the Tides
3. Kinds of Kindness
2. The Seed of the Sacred Fig
1. September Says

A few words about my No. 1 film. I went into Ariane Labed's directorial debut basically blind. (I knew the plot description, plus who had worked on the movie.) And from the first moment, I was enraptured, its spell never breaking. September Says (pictured above) was part of Un Certain Regard, but it crushed me more completely than anything in the Competition, although Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig got awfully close. When I review movies at a festival, I go home straight from the screening and write -- I don't talk to anyone or check online reactions. So I'm basically in a bubble, unaware of how others feel, and what I quickly discovered was that I was higher on September Says than, basically, anyone else. (As one colleague, who hadn't seen it, put it derisively, "It sounds like a Toronto film.") Maybe a second viewing will diminish the film in my estimation -- maybe revisits of The Seed of the Sacred Fig or Caught by the Tides or Anora or All We Imagine as Light will vault them up the rankings. But for now, this tale of two peculiar sisters -- too delicate and strange for this world -- earns the top spot.

Because I am historically awful at predicting the Palme d'Or winner, my guess is worth nothing. Nonetheless, I'm with the consensus that it's going to be either All We Imagine as Light or The Seed of the Sacred Fig. It's impossible to know what a Cannes jury will go for, but my gut tells me that All We Imagine as Light's gentle beauty will win out over The Seed of the Sacred Fig's darker, more challenging tone -- although filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof's emotional appearance at the latter's premiere may be too much for the jury to resist. Could Anora pull off the upset? Emilia Perez? Absolutely. But I'm going with All We Imagine as Light, which premiered late this year and has all the momentum going into the weekend. Not that you should bet your mortgage on my hunch.  

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': The Highs and Lows of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival

I was so pleased to be on with Madeleine talking about four of the buzziest films at this year's Cannes. You can check out my segment down below.

My 2024 Cannes Preview

What are the films I'm most intrigued by this year at the world's most prestigious festival? Take a look.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: The New 'Dune,' 'Spaceman' and Our Oscar Predictions

Two outer-space films are reviewed on this week's podcast. But the real excitement comes during our deep dive into the Oscars, where we make our picks in all the major categories. Hope you enjoy.

On Emma Stone's Incredible 2023

I'm here to talk about Poor Things and The Curse, both of which are remarkable in their own way. But those are only two things that have recently demonstrated Emma Stone's creative dexterity. Read on.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Raving About 'Poor Things' and 'The Zone of Interest'

We're back from a week off, and we've got reviews of two major releases, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest. We then have an epic disagreement about Leave the World Behind. Check it out down below.

On Yorgos Lanthimos and 'Poor Things'

Poor Things is the latest bit of weirdness from Yorgos Lanthimos, the director behind Dogtooth, The Lobster and The Favourite. What's his deal? I offer my thoughts over at Cracked.