Picking the Best Performance From Each of Wes Anderson's Frequent Actors

Now that Asteroid City is on Peacock, I decided to do a fun rundown of Wes Anderson's stable of regular performers, selecting each actor's best performance from his movies. Let the debate begin.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Haunted Houses, Embalmed Hands and Beanie Babies

Last week's episode covered three big movies. This week's ... is not so major. We reviewed Haunted Mansion, Talk to Me and The Beanie Bubble. Check it out down below.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Reviewing 'Haunted Mansion,' 'Talk to Me,' 'War Pony' and 'Sympathy for the Devil'

Katie Walsh and I were on KCRW Thursday to discuss this weekend's new releases. It's always fun being on with her. You can hear our conversation down below. 

'Haunted Mansion' Review

Barbenheimer created such good vibes that it's a bummer that the big release this weekend won't be able to sustain that momentum. For Screen International, I reviewed Haunted Mansion.

What Went Wrong With 'The Internship'?

Ten years ago, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, the stars of Wedding Crashers, reunited for another comedy. But The Internship failed. I examined why over at Cracked.

'Paint' Isn't About Bob Ross (and Other Movies Very Clearly Based on Real People)

Owen Wilson's new comedy made me think of other films in which we know who the main character is supposed to be, even though the movie itself lightly fictionalizes that person. I did an analysis of these roman a clefs here.

My Interview With Michaela Watkins

I had such a fun time talking to Michaela Watkins, an actress and improv performer whose bio says, “I’m that gal from that thing that you watched.” She's everywhere, and she'll be in several things this spring, including Paint and You Hurt My Feelings. For Cracked, we had a long conversation about Julia Louis-Dreyfus, doing impersonations, her tough time at Saturday Night Live, getting older, missing her friend Lynn Shelton, and how she failed in her mission to be a slut. Hope you enjoy.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Kimi,' 'Death on the Nile' and 'Testament'

This week was an in-person episode. (Will was in Los Angeles for the Super Bowl.) So we enjoyed recording face-to-face, with both of us tackling Kimi. Then, Will asked me about Death on the Nile and Marry Me. Finally, in our Reboot segment, we talked about Testament, a film that impacted us as teenagers. Does it hold up? You can hear the whole thing down below.

'Marry Me' Review

Jennifer Lopez plays a pop singer. Owen Wilson plays a math teacher. In Marry Me, they fall in love, but can it last? My review is up at Screen International.

The Legacy of the Frat Pack

There's a new Apple TV+ series, The Shrink Next Door, that stars Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell, two actors who were part of what was known as the Frat Pack. Remember that? For MEL, I looked back at the early Aughts to determine what the big deal was.

'Loki' Review

Disney made only the first two episodes of Loki available to critics. For Screen International, I gave the MCU spinoff a try.

Wait, There Was a 'Zoolander' Animated Show?

Sure was. For MEL, I spoke to director Aaron Augenblick and writers Michael Colton and John Aboud to get the inside story of what happened to Zoolander: Super Model.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': 'Justice League,' 'Mudbound' and Denzel Washington

I saw Roman J. Israel, Esq. back in Toronto, but the movie has been trimmed and reedited for its release. So I gave it a second look to be on Press Play with my good buddy Christy Lemire. We talked about that, as well as Justice League, Mudbound and Wonder. You can hear the whole thing here.

'Wonder' Review

Wonder is a story about being kind, even when the world doesn't show you it in return. Based on the bestselling novel, this tearjerker has a lot to recommend. And, yet, I couldn't quite get there: The film ends up overdoing its sentimentality. My review is up at Screen International.

'Wedding Crashers': The Oral History

A few weeks ago, my MEL editors were putting together ideas for an ambitious wedding-themed week of pieces. That's when they asked me, "We really, really want you to do an oral history of Wedding Crashers. What do you think?"

I went for it. Today, you see the results of that work. I spoke to several people involved in the 2005 comedy sensation to hear their behind-the-scenes stories. It was very fun. And I hope you enjoy.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Free Fire,' 'Network' and 'The Royal Tenenbaums'

The 65th episode of the podcast finds us debating Free Fire, a movie that crashed and burned at the box office this past weekend. But I particularly liked our conversations in the Reboot section. Much to my surprise, we both have similar reservations about the Oscar-winning, much-beloved Network. And The Royal Tenenbaums gave us a chance to revisit our ongoing discussion about Wes Anderson. Lots of goodness in this episode: Take a listen.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Forget 'Inferno,' Let's Talk 'Jackie Brown' and 'Bottle Rocket'

On this week's episode of the Grierson & Leitch podcast, we dutifully discuss Inferno. But then the fun begins with our Reboot section, where we try to figure out if Jackie Brown actually is Quentin Tarantino's best movie and whether Bottle Rocket holds up as well as Wes Anderson's later films. Very, very enjoyable. You can hear the whole thing here.

'The Internship' Review

As much as I liked Wedding Crashers, I'm not sure if I was necessarily pining for a follow-up film from its leads, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. Eight years later, they're back together in The Internship. Maybe it would have been better if they'd just done a straight-up Wedding Crashers sequel? I reviewed the film for Deadspin.