The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Ping-Pong, Movie Stars and Stand-Up Comics

This week's episode features three pretty-darn-good movies. You can hear us riff on Marty Supreme, Jay Kelly and Is This Thing On? down below.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Raving About 'Sirat' and 'Left-Handed Girl'

A diverse group of films are discussed on my latest visit to KCRW. Alison Willmore and I review The Running Man, disagree about Jay Kelly, praise Sirat and head to Taipan for Left-Handed Girl. You can hear the whole segment down below.

Venice 2025: 'Jay Kelly' Review

With Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach suggests that movie stars are people, too. That's a potentially banal observation, but when you have George Clooney playing the movie star, things get interesting. My review is live over at Screen International.  

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. 

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.

What's the Best Movie From 1999?

Rolling Stone created a list of the 99 best movies from 1999. Then, the editors asked regular contributors to write capsules for the films. I got to write about Eyes Wide Shut, Three Kings, The Wind Will Carry Us and others. Check out the whole list here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Megalopolis,' 'A Different Man' and Differing on 'Wolfs'

A supersized episode of the podcast this week, featuring reviews of four new movies. Neither of us liked Francis Ford Coppola's film, but there was much to discuss. Elsewhere, I rave about A Different Man, we debate whether The Wild Robot ends at the right time, and we split on the George Clooney/Brad Pitt action-comedy. Check out this two-hour episode down below.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Coppola, Clooney and 'Saturday Night'

What a treat to be on with Christy Lemire to talk about movies. We reviewed Megalopolis, Wolfs, The Wild Robot and Saturday Night. Check out our segment down below.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Suncoast' and 'Up in the Air'

Super Bowl Weekend tends to be a little barren at the multiplex. On this week's episode, Will and I both reviewed Suncoast and then I asked him about Lisa Frankenstein. Plus, we made one Reboot requester happy by taking a look back at Up in the Air. Did the movie hold up? Check out our thoughts below.

'The Boys in the Boat' Review

It seems like a long time since George Clooney has made a great film as a director. The Boys in the Boat is his latest so-so effort. My review is up at Screen International.

George Clooney, Disappointing Director

George Clooney's latest filmmaking project, The Tender Bar, is another underwhelming effort. He's had a few of those recently, which led me to wonder why. For MEL, I went long on the man, and also got a little personal. Hope you enjoy

London 2021: 'The Tender Bar' Review

What was the last really good movie George Clooney directed? It's been a while, right? His latest doesn't break that losing streak. For Screen International, I reviewed The Tender Bar.

Let's Rank George Clooney's Movies

Where does The Midnight Sky place among George Clooney's performances? We break it all down over at Vulture. 

George Clooney and the Modern Actor-Turned-Director

In honor of The Midnight Sky, I ranked 12 movie stars who made the transition to filmmakers. Where does Clooney rank? The answer is over at MEL.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: So Many Movies, So Little Time

We went through eight new movies on this week's episode:

Wonder Woman 1984
Soul
The Father
News of the World
Promising Young Woman
One Night in Miami
Education
The Midnight Sky

We gave ourselves about seven minutes for each film. Let the lightning-round begin!

'The Midnight Sky' Review

Earth is uninhabitable. What is George Clooney going to do? For Screen International, I reviewed The Midnight Sky.

What Should We Watch This Weekend?

Normally, Thanksgiving weekend gives you lots of new movie options. Not this year, so let me offer streaming recommendations for every audience. Hope you enjoy.

What's Matt Damon's Best Performance?

That's the questions we answer over at Vulture, where we rank all of his performances. (No. 1 was never in doubt for me.)

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Spider-Man, Sweden and 'Ocean's 11'

On this week's podcast, we agree that Spider-Man: Far From Home is one of the weakest of the MCU entries. Then, we dig into Midsommar and look back at 2001's Ocean's 11, which remains a delight. Hear the whole thing down below.

'Catch-22' Review

I tried and tried, but I just couldn't get into Hulu's miniseries remake of Catch-22. I explain why over at MEL.