My Interview With Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, the Stars of 'May December'

This was a treat: For the Los Angeles Times, I sat down with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore to discuss Stevie Wonder, Todd Haynes and May December. (And because I love Safe so much, I found a very organic way to bring that film into the conversation, too.) My piece is here. 

(Photo by Benjo Arwas.)

My Interview With Charles Melton, Star of 'May December'

Charles Melton is the breakout star of May December, playing the younger man to Julianne Moore's older wife. I sat down with him recently to talk about his father, his desire to redefine himself, and gaining weight for the movie. Our conversation is live over at the Los Angeles Times. 

(Photo by Yuri Hasegawa.)

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Reviewing 'May December,' 'Rustin' and 'Next Goal Wins'

On the latest podcast, we review three new movies, one great, one OK, one bad. Please enjoy!

What Upcoming Comedies Have a Shot at the Oscars?

Dramas usually get the bulk of the Oscar nominations, but could some funny movies sneak in as well? For Cracked, I looked at possible contenders.

Cannes 2023: The Wrap-Up and the Rankings

Much like this year's Sundance, there was one film that stood head and shoulders above the pack at Cannes. There will be more to say about The Zone of Interest, but for now, I'd like to point out that this is the first time I've been in Cannes where journalists and critics wanted to rewatch a movie a day after seeing it. Such was the power of Jonathan Glazer's fourth feature that people felt a desperate need to get a second helping immediately. (If I hadn't had a conflicting assignment in the same screening slot, I might have been tempted myself.)

The question of how good any one Cannes is depends on two factors: the movies you saw and the overall experience you had at the festival. On the latter front, I can't complain. I was lucky to stay with great roommates, the weather basically cooperated, and the unexpected hassles that can bedevil your trip thankfully steered clear of me in 2023. I had friends twist ankles, lose their apartment key, and battle shitty wifi. I dodged all those bullets.

As for the movies themselves, looking at my ranked list below, I'm forced to conclude that this was merely an okay Cannes. Some of the films on my list scream out for a second viewing so that I can wrap my head around what works and what doesn't about them. (In particular, I'm curious what Killers of the Flower Moon will feel like with fresh eyes.) But the consensus on the ground was that there were lots of strong films without as many gems as in past years. And, as always, I lament the movies I simply couldn't get to, including About Dry Grasses, Anselm, Eureka, Occupied City, Pictures of Ghosts and Youth. I look forward to catching them all down the road.

Without further ado, here is my list of everything I saw either during or before the festival. Links lead to individual reviews:

33. Riddle of Fire
32. Project Silence
31. Black Flies
30. Firebrand
29. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
28. Conann
27. Hypnotic
26. The Sweet East
25. Elemental
24. Perfect Days
23. Jeanne du Barry
22. Room 999
21. Acid
20. The King of Algiers
19. Club Zero
18. Last Summer
17. Rosalie
16. La Chimera
15. Monster
14. Cobweb
13. Omen
12. Fallen Leaves
11. Asteroid City
10. How to Have Sex
9. Robot Dreams
8. May December
7. Anatomy of a Fall
6. The Delinquents
5. The Animal Kingdom
4. Killers of the Flower Moon
3. The Pot-au-Feu
2. Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
1. The Zone of Interest

Now I'd like to take a moment to talk about my No. 2 film. I couldn't have been more exhausted than when I went to see director Pham Thien An's three-hour-long debut, which is about a young man on a spiritual quest of sorts in Vietnam. It's rare when a movie wakes me up to the degree that Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell did. It's an extraordinary experience, although it did inspire plenty of walkouts at my screening. Well, it's their loss: The film is transporting, moving, a total stunner. It deserves to win the Camera d'Or for best first feature. I hope an adventurous distributor picks it up soon: In a completely different way than The Zone of Interest, it needs to be seen on the big screen.

Finally, let's engage in a futile annual tradition wherein I try to predict what will win the Palme d'Or. I have been going to Cannes since 2013, missing one year because of a book project and another (in 2020) because Covid shut the festival down. And in all that time, I have never been right with my guess. Do I have any more confidence this year? Not really.

Nonetheless, I'm going to go with my heart and say that Ruben Östlund's jury will go for The Zone of Interest. It's easily the boldest film in the Competition, but it's also divisive among critics, which may prove true for his jury as well. Anatomy of a Fall may be a safer consensus pick, although part of me wonders if Sandra Hüller will take home Best Actress, which means that film couldn't win the Palme as well. (It's possible she gets Best Actress for Anatomy of a Fall, and then her other movie, The Zone of Interest, collects the big prize.) 

My sleeper pick is The Pot-au-Feu, which surprised a lot of folks here at the festival. On paper, it looked like a middlebrow food-porn period piece. But Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel are simply terrific in this deeply felt love story. Plus, the film can be read as a metaphor for the importance of art, and a Cannes jury could certainly get behind that message. Also worth noting: Documentaries are almost never part of the Competition, so perhaps Wang Bing's three-and-a-half-hour Youth will emerge victorious. I could just as easily see Glazer win Best Director, but fool that I am, I'm picking The Zone of Interest. I look forward to finding out just how wrong I was again.

The Best Films About America

Rolling Stone put together a list of movies that have encapsulated America over the last 50 years. I didn't have a say in the rankings, but I was asked to write the capsules for Selma, Moonlight, O.J.: Made in America, Safe, Taxi Driver and Wendy and Lucy. A pleasure to write about such mighty films. The whole list is here.

My Interview With Todd Haynes, Director of 'The Velvet Underground'

The Velvet Underground is in theaters and on Apple TV+, looking back at the influential New York band. For MEL, I spoke with Todd Haynes about rock 'n' roll, sexual fluidity and why the Velvets hated the West Coast hippies. Hope you enjoy.

'A Film and a Movie': Talking About 'Safe' and 'She Dies Tomorrow'

I really enjoyed being on A Film and a Movie, a podcast (co-hosted by my old pal Alonso Duralde) in which the guest is invited to suggest two films (one older, one more recent) that have thematic similarities. I started with one of my all-time favorites, Safe, and then thought about what would be a good companion piece. And then it hit me: Amy Seimetz's terrific psychological horror film from last year. Lots of great analysis of both movies here. (And Alonso's story about the Safe premiere blew my mind.) Hope you enjoy.

The Criterion Channel Gems You Can't Find Anywhere Else

The Criterion Channel has so many great movies. But which ones are only available on the streaming site? I did a deep dive into the catalog for MEL.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Blue,' 'I'm Not There' and Looking Back at 1994

On this week's podcast, we introduce a new feature, in which we look back at a specific movie year. This week: 1994. Hoop Dreams! Pulp Fiction! Forrest Gump! The Shawshank Redemption!

We also have two Reboots. First is Krzysztof Kieślowski's Blue, the first installment in his Three Colors trilogy. Then, we dig into Todd Haynes' sorta-biopic I'm Not There. Hope you enjoy.

What's Cate Blanchett's Best Movie?

With the two-time Oscar-winner in Thor: Ragnarok, Will and I decided to rank all of Cate Blanchett's roles. Where did I'm Not There end up on the list? That answer is over at Vulture.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Sacred Deer,' 'Wonderstruck' and 'The Fugitive'

This week's episode is jam-packed with films. First, Will and I dig into The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Then, I go solo on Wonderstruck and Only the Brave, two movies I liked for very different reasons. After that, I ask Will some questions about The Snowman, a film that seems too ridiculous to be believed. Finally, we revisit The Fugitive in our Reboot segment. I'll admit it: I've never loved that movie. You can hear the whole thing here.

What's the Best Movie of the 1990s?

That's the question Rolling Stone decided to answer, and the magazine asked a lot of writers to provide capsules for the list. As always, I need to say: I had no control over the rankings. Still, I'm very pleased that my top two choices ended up at Nos. 2 and 3. The whole list is here; I wrote about Barton Fink, The Matrix, When We Were Kings, Breaking the Waves, JFK and Lone Star.

Cannes 2017: 'Wonderstruck' Review

Todd Haynes follows up Carol with Wonderstruck, based on the young-adult novel from Brian Selznick. It concerns two adolescents -- one from 1927, the other from 1977 -- who both journey to New York in search of phantom people in their lives. Haynes often plays with genre; here, he tackles the family film. My review is up at Paste.

My LAFCA Awards Presentation for Carter Burwell

I realized I had neglected to post this. At last month's Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards banquet, I had the pleasure of presenting the prize for Best Music Score to Carter Burwell for two films, Carol and Anomalisa. Sadly, Mr. Burwell couldn't be there to accept in person -- he was in New York that night at the opening of his wife's solo exhibition -- but I was very happy to give his award to the producers of Carol, who are (from left to right) Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen and Christine Vachon. What I'm most proud about in this picture is that I refrained from gushing to Ms. Vachon about how much Safe means to me.

Anyway, here are the remarks I gave from the podium before presenting the award....

Carter Burwell has been a composer for more than 30 years, but in all that time, he really hasn’t scored many love stories. Working chiefly with the Coen brothers, he’s instead specialized in a kind of existential soundscape. You wouldn’t say that his scores are overtly emotional, but they do feel attuned to the mysteries and the richness of life. His music doesn’t tell you how to feel about the movie you’re watching — actually, his intimate, swirling compositions seem as curious about what’s going to happen next in the story as we are.  

Now, this might explain why his scores for Carol and Anomalisa are so piercing. These movies are love stories, but they’re cautious ones. And so Burwell provides suitably restrained but longing scores — like the movies’ characters, his music seems to be slowly waking up to the dream of a love that can last. And they’re remarkably different scores: Carol’s incorporates muted, exquisite pianos and strings. In Anomalisa, it’s practically a chamber piece that’s as handmade and fragile as the movie’s stop-motion puppets.  

In life, it can be hard to express ourselves authentically to people we’re just meeting, especially if we’re falling in love with that person and don’t know how he or she feels about us. Likewise, the characters in Carol and Anomalisa — for myriad reasons — have to be careful what they say. But that’s no problem: Carter Burwell speaks for them, and he speaks beautifully.  

All our winners (and runners-up) are here. The above photo was taken by the stellar Matt Harbicht.

Oscars 2016: Predicting the Nominees

Tomorrow morning, the Oscar nominations are unveiled. Over at The New Republic, Will and I make our guesses about the eight major categories. I feel relatively good about them at the moment. We'll see how I feel in less than 24 hours.

Giving a Second Look to 'Carol'

I reviewed Carol at the Cannes Film Festival, but it's been months since then. Has my opinion changed at all? I decided to give the year's most acclaimed movie a second look ... and I have to say I feel about the same. It's a gorgeous, swoon-worthy movie. And yet...... well, I talk about that over at Deadspin.

Cannes 2015: 'Carol' Review

The most anticipated film at this year's Cannes was probably Carol, the new movie from director Todd Haynes (Safe, Far From Heaven). Does it live up to expectations? Almost, which is not to say it isn't a real beauty. Cate Blanchett is especially terrific as the titular housewife engaged in a secret love affair with a much younger woman (Rooney Mara). My review is up at Screen International.