'The Last Thing I Saw': Paul Thomas Anderson, Chloe Zhao and Rian Johnson

I'm a fan of Nicolas Rapold's podcast, in which each episode is devoted to him talking to someone about movies they've seen. So I was tickled to be invited on to The Last Thing I Saw to discuss our shared experiences of going to Venice and Toronto. Naturally, we also went through a lot of films, including One Battle After Another, Hamnet, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Hedda and The Lost Bus. Check it out down below. 

Toronto 2025: 'Hedda' Review

Little Woods filmmaker Nia DaCosta reunites with star Tessa Thompson for a re-imagining of Henrik Ibsen's classic work. For Screen International, I reviewed Hedda.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Thor, 'Both Sides of the Blade' and 'The Sea Beast'

Lots of disagreement this week: We differ on the latest from both Marvel and Claire Denis. But we're aligned on Netflix's latest animated film. Hear the whole episode down below.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Raving About 'Passing,' Meh on 'Belfast'

Completely forgot to post this week's episode of the podcast. And it's a good one, too, tackling three very different films: Passing, Red Notice and Belfast.

Hear the whole thing down below.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Singing the Praises of 'Passing'

I was very happy to be on KCRW alongside Amy Nicholson to review this weekend's new movies, including Last Night in Soho, Antlers and The Souvenir: Part II. But I was especially pleased to get to rhapsodize about Rebecca Hall's feature directorial debut. You can hear our conversation down below.

2021 Gotham Awards Nominees

Kept forgetting to mention that I was part of this year's Gotham Awards acting jury, in which we were tasked with a new responsibility. For the first time, we voted for nominees for Outstanding Lead Performance, Outstanding Supporting Performance and Breakthrough Performer, and all three categories were gender-neutral. What resulted was a four-hour deliberation with fellow jurors Monica Castillo, Robert Daniels, Mark Harris and Tomris Laffly. It was a great conversation, and I was very pleased with our choices, which you can see here, along with the nominees in other categories.

Sundance 2021: 'Passing' Review

Going into this year's Sundance, Passing was one of the films I was most curious to see. Well, Rebecca Hall's directorial debut lives up to its promise. I reviewed this muted stunner for Screen International.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Here's Your Sundance 2021 Preview

No new movies this week. Instead, I give a preview of this year's surreal Sundance Film Festival. And then we dig into two Reboots: The Insider and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Get it while it's hot.

2019's Worst Genre Films

Lots of movies are good. Some are terrible. For this week's Debate Club, Will and I wrote about the latter, looking back at some of 2019's worst movies.

Beck - "Uneventful Days"

One of these days, I really need to write a long essay on Beck's career. I feel like we still haven't entirely come to terms with what he represents in the culture, if anything. He wins a Grammy for Album of the Year. He remains a major touring draw. He was once considered a major artist. And yet ... he seems utterly disregarded. He is everywhere but nobody notices or cares. I find this incredibly strange.

In the meantime, "Uneventful Days" has been stuck in my head for weeks with no sign of dissipating anytime soon.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Aliens, Zombies, Bob Dylan and 'Shaft'

One really good movie, one really terrible movie, one that I think is slightly underrated, and one that's not good but isn't quite as horrible as others have said. Welcome to the summer doldrums, ladies and gentlemen. You can hear this week's podcast down below.

Some Thoughts on 'Men in Black: International'

What are "zombie franchises"? (And I don't mean Night of the Living Dead.)

Why does MIB name its agents the way that it does?

And what Tessa Thompson movie should you see instead?

I answer those questions, and more, about Men in Black: International over at MEL.

'Men In Black: International' Review

Is Men in Black: International worse than Men in Black II? Reader, I think it may be. I reviewed this disaster for Screen International.

'Creed II' Review

You may recall I wasn't the biggest fan of Creed. Three years later, the sequel is upon us. I remain indifferent. My review is up at Screen International.

'Creed' Review

The results aren't all in yet, but I seem to be one of the few initial critics who didn't go for Creed, the latest in the Rocky Balboa series. There's a twist to this movie, though: This time, it's not Rocky who's the main character. That would be Adonis (Michael B. Jordan), the secret son of Apollo Creed, who now wants a shot in the ring. I found Creed to be an intriguing but mostly formulaic attempt to breathe new life into this franchise. My review is up at Screen International.