Wunderhorse - "The Rope"

Every generation gets its "Everybody Hurts."

White Zombie - "More Human Than Human"

I got to the premiere of Street Fighter early on Monday, which meant I sat inside the Chinese listening to the pre-show music on a loop. "More Human Than Human" came on at some point. "Man," I thought, "that song still slays." 

Los Dug Dug's - "I Don't Care (Yo No Se)"

It doesn't always matter how I find cool songs. It just matters that I do.

Kevin Morby - "Badlands"

I think I may be close to officially slotting Little Wide Open as "exceedingly melodic but not especially affecting," but I will continue to enjoy its title track. 

Boards of Canada - "The Word Becomes Flesh"

I've been digging Inferno all year, but it took a rewatch of Backrooms for me to realize that one of its highlight tracks is used quite well during the end credits.

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.

Venice/Telluride/Toronto 2026: The Wrap-Up and the Rankings

I've been going to film festivals long enough that I have a group of friends who I only see at them. Colleagues and pals who live in New York, London, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Toronto and elsewhere all converge at different festivals, our lives intersecting for a week or two before we return to our normal world. And when we see each other, it's a chance to catch up on what's going on beyond movies: Kids grow up, parents die, people get new romantic partners, people become grandparents. I have joked to my peers that going to film festivals is my equivalent of Boyhood in which I always see someone a year older, quickly discovering what has changed since last time we met. You go to festivals for the films, but you discover that what you also come to treasure are the other folks who are there.

Like this year's Cannes, Venice and Toronto had their share of strong movies, but the truth is that the festivals weren't as consistently stellar as in the past. And when that's the case, what helps compensate is hanging out with people you enjoy. In that regard, my two-and-a-half-week trip to Italy and Canada was far from a disappointment. I feel very lucky to encounter so many friendly faces wherever I go, all of us bonded by the shared madness of navigating the stress and exhaustion of a film festival. And when you do see something amazing, these are the people you share that experience with. It's an incredible feeling and a wonderful memory.

There is also another rewarding element about attending festivals. Every once in a while, you bump into someone who lets you know that your work is meaningful to them. I cannot thank enough the many people who came up to me at TIFF to introduce themselves — or reintroduce themselves, since it had been a while since we'd seen each other — and then launch into conversations about movies they'd really loved at the festival, or just to thank me for my writing or the podcast. Every single time it happened, it made my day. I get energized traveling to festivals, but the kind words and unbridled enthusiasm from others also adds fuel to my tank. Those warm, random conversations between films can be such a high.

When you start going to festivals, it can be tempting to see how many movies you can consume, as if the person who logs the most films "wins." People grow out of that tendency pretty quickly, though, realizing that it's often a case of diminishing returns, and one reason is you'd rather have dinner with a friend than check out one last movie that night. You can always watch that movie down the line — time with buddies is far more precious. 

I've been aware of all this for a few years now. But after having a delightful Venice and Toronto, watching a ton of noteworthy films, I realize as I'm sitting here at home that I'm thinking a lot about the people, as opposed to the films. We do this work because we love it. But we also do it because we love so many of our fellow travelers we run into while doing that work. 

* * * * *   

Below is a ranking of every film I've seen that played at Venice, Telluride and/or Toronto. To be clear, I didn't see all of these during this fall festival window: Many of these movies were watched at Sundance or Cannes. But I find it helpful to make myself list them all out, figuring out which ones rise to the top. And what I've determined is that, even though this year's festivals weren't as terrific as earlier editions, I sure have seen some stunners. There are plenty of films still to catch, but my Top 10 of 2026 is already looking pretty stacked. Links lead to individual reviews. 

58. Up Against It
57. Hombre Al Agua
56. A Talent for Murder
55. Being Heumann
54. The Idiot(s)
53. The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd
52. The Girl With the Leica
51. Father Joe
50. Gentle Monster
49. Primetime
48. Tenzing
47. Alpha Gang
46. La Bola Negra
45. Look Back
44. Bitter Christmas
43. The Face of Horror
42. I Play Rocky
41. Love of Your Life
40. The Basics of Philosophy
39. Bucking Fastard
38. Babies
37. Misty Green
36. Elsinore
35. The Beloved
34. The Unknown

33. In Waves
32. Coward
31. Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger
30. Ashes
29. The Assassin(s)
28. Club Kid

27. Hope
26. Furies
25. Queer Edward II
24. Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney
23. Musk
22. The Dreamed Adventure
21. The Diary of a Chambermaid
20. Ink
19. The Debut
18. The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
17. Too Much Sugar
16. Rehearsals for a Revolution
15. Clarissa
14. Wild Horse Nine
13. La Gradiva
12. Minotaur
11. A Long Winter
10. Fjord

9. Josephine
8. The Man I Love
7. Everytime

6. Tender Loving Care
5. Woman Unknown
4. My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile
3. Possible Love
2. Once Upon a Time in Harlem
1. All of a Sudden 

* * * * *   

What else is there to say? Well, I'm looking forward to seeing Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother and NAZA, among other films. Also, I am still recovering from that one film that has a supporting character named Grierson, which is said several times during the movie. (I cannot tell you how rare it is to hear my name in a movie.) And if you'd like to hear me talk about my festival experiences, you're in luck. I was on The Screen Podcast both in Venice and in Toronto. I joined Nicolas Rapold for The Last Thing I Saw in Venice, as well as hung out with Devika Girish over at The Film Comment Podcast. 

Thanks for tagging along with my festival adventures. There are so many good movies heading to theaters soon. And hopefully several others none of us have seen yet. 

(The above picture was taken one morning at Venice. It was such a beautiful day. In the midst of a festival, sometimes it's good to look up and admire the clouds.) 

The New Pornographers - "Wish You Could See Me I'm Killing It"

Carl Newman has the ability to sketch the briefest of stories in his lyrics, suggesting so much while saying so little. Ever since The Former Site Of came out in March, I have focused on this song, which gives us a glimpse of a man struggling to buy flowers. Why? The answers are there in the words, but not entirely. And that chorus kills me every time.

The Film Comment Podcast: Tackling Oasis and 'Woman Unknown' in Venice

Near the end of this year's Venice, I was on Film Comment's podcast with host Devika Girish and fellow Screen International critic Jonathan Romney. Jonathan and I debated Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger, and we all got into Woman Unknown. Before I showed up, the two of them reviewed The Pervert's Guide to Utopias. So, a little bit of everything in this episode. You can listen below.

Bob Dylan - "Sugar Baby"

Happy 25th anniversary to Love & Theft and this incredible closing track.

RJD2 & Supastition - "Back Talk"

Old-school hip-hop, complete with a glorious amount of scratching and hard beats. Hell yeah. Happy Labor Day.

Tool - "Sober"

Between this video and The Nightmare Before Christmas, the mid-1990s were a great time for stop-motion animation.

World News - "Everything Is Coming up Roses"

"Everything Is Coming up Roses" sounds a little Band of Horses. It sounds a little Quivers. Those chiming guitars and the deceptively openhearted vocals -- which are singing some fairly downbeat lyrics, if you pay attention -- get me every time.

Grace Ives - "Neither You Nor I"

Grace Ives has released several singles off her recent album Girlfriend. But this is the song I find myself returning to. (Maybe it's because of the track's low-key Bjork vibes.)

Donna Lewis - "I Love You Always Forever"

After this weekend, expect a lot of new YouTube comments for this video to say things like "Who else is here after seeing Teenage Sex and Death in Camp Miasma?"

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - "Falling Slowly"

In the 20 years since "Falling Slowly" first debuted, how many people have used it as their first song at their wedding? I haven't seen Once in forever, and so I haven't thought about "Falling Slowly" in quite some time. Yes, it's still deeply affecting. Rest in peace, Glen Hansard. 

Lola Young - "Messy"

Men are truly the worst.

Genesis Owusu - "Pirate Radio"

Kofi Owusu-Ansah has had it with Elon Musk, incels, Kanye fans, you name it. And he's got something to say about it.

Sugar - "Believe What You’re Saying"

Sugar are going back on tour after decades of inactivity. So let's celebrate with a song from File Under: Easy Listening that always got to me.

Vince Staples - "Only in America"

America the beautiful, I'd like to take a look at you.