Cobrah - "Brand New Bitch"

Everybody loves when Emma Stone dances in trailers.

My Interview With Chris Wilcha, Director of 'Flipside'

Chris Wilcha has started a lot of documentaries that never ended up seeing the light of day. As he turned 50, though, he wondered what to do with those abandoned projects. That became the inspiration for his new film, Flipside. I talked to him about getting older, Gen-X, record stores, throwing away things and figuring out this whole work-life balance. Our interview is here.

'Young Woman and the Sea' Review

It seems like Disney is sorta burying Young Woman and the Sea this weekend. This biopic of long-distance swimmer Trudy Ederle is hardly a disaster, but I nonetheless found it fairly straightforward. My review is here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Furiosa' and Your 2024 Cannes Recap

I'm back in Los Angeles, and we're back to our regular podcasting schedule. We went long on Furiosa, and then I offered some thoughts on Cannes. Hear it all down below.

Ranking Neon's Five Palme d'Or Winners

With Anora, Neon has now been responsible for the last five films to take home the Palme d'Or. Which one is the best? I have the answer.

Cannes 2024: The Wrap-Up and the Rankings

The 2024 Cannes Film Festival is when I finally decided it's not worth debating whether a particular edition was "good" or "bad." Truth is, every Cannes is filled with triumphs, misfires, disappointments, underappreciated gems, surprises, and movies you liked a lot more (or a lot less) than your colleagues did. And because the festival doesn't necessarily front-load its strongest offerings, you really have no idea where the annual ebbs and flows will land. You have to take Cannes in its entirety, judging it not by one day but by the whole two-week experience. There's no festival like it because it's longer and, therefore, harder to process as it's happening. Only distance will tell you for sure -- and even then, you may be shocked to catch up with a few films you missed (or revisit ones you saw) and discover what a great year it had actually been. There's no such thing as a "bad" Cannes, just degrees of good.

That said, do I think I found a film this year that could match 2023's twin stunners in The Zone of Interest and Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell? No, but looking over my rankings, I'm pleased by how many strong films I saw, with the possibility of more bangers to come. (I wish I'd had time for The Balconettes, The Kingdom, Armand, Black Dog, Flow, Santosh, Viet and Nam and others. And I wish my screening of Universal Language had had English subtitles like it claimed it would.) 

Here's a list of everything I saw at Cannes, from worst to best, with links leading to individual reviews. And please note that I'm not including the first half of the restoration of Abel Nance's extraordinary Napoleon, which I saw and was completely blown away by.

34. Megalopolis
33. The Surfer
32. The Second Act
31. The Apprentice
30. Oh, Canada
29. Beating Hearts
28. Emilia Perez
27. Wild Diamond
26. Rumours
25. The Shrouds
24. Visiting Hours
23. Misericordia
22. Being Maria
21. I, the Executioner
20. Motel Destino
19. The Substance
18. It's Not Me
17. Christmas Eve in Miller's Point
16. Elementary
15. The Girl With the Needle
14. Bird
13. Three Kilometers to the End of the World
12. Blue Sun Palace
11. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
10. Eephus
9. Good One
8. The Invasion
7. All We Imagine as Light
6. Anora
5. Grand Tour
4. Caught by the Tides
3. Kinds of Kindness
2. The Seed of the Sacred Fig
1. September Says

A few words about my No. 1 film. I went into Ariane Labed's directorial debut basically blind. (I knew the plot description, plus who had worked on the movie.) And from the first moment, I was enraptured, its spell never breaking. September Says (pictured above) was part of Un Certain Regard, but it crushed me more completely than anything in the Competition, although Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig got awfully close. When I review movies at a festival, I go home straight from the screening and write -- I don't talk to anyone or check online reactions. So I'm basically in a bubble, unaware of how others feel, and what I quickly discovered was that I was higher on September Says than, basically, anyone else. (As one colleague, who hadn't seen it, put it derisively, "It sounds like a Toronto film.") Maybe a second viewing will diminish the film in my estimation -- maybe revisits of The Seed of the Sacred Fig or Caught by the Tides or Anora or All We Imagine as Light will vault them up the rankings. But for now, this tale of two peculiar sisters -- too delicate and strange for this world -- earns the top spot.

Because I am historically awful at predicting the Palme d'Or winner, my guess is worth nothing. Nonetheless, I'm with the consensus that it's going to be either All We Imagine as Light or The Seed of the Sacred Fig. It's impossible to know what a Cannes jury will go for, but my gut tells me that All We Imagine as Light's gentle beauty will win out over The Seed of the Sacred Fig's darker, more challenging tone -- although filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof's emotional appearance at the latter's premiere may be too much for the jury to resist. Could Anora pull off the upset? Emilia Perez? Absolutely. But I'm going with All We Imagine as Light, which premiered late this year and has all the momentum going into the weekend. Not that you should bet your mortgage on my hunch.  

David Bowie - "Modern Love"

The song of this year's Cannes? Here you go.

Cannes 2024: 'Being Maria' Review

Maria Schneider was a teenager trying to establish herself as an actor. Then, she landed her big break as the lead opposite Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris. But what happened afterward ended up traumatizing her. For Screen International, I reviewed the bittersweet biopic Being Maria.

Cannes 2024: 'Beating Hearts' Review

Crime, romance and music collide in Beating Hearts, an epic love story whose characters aren't as vivid as its world. My review is up at Screen International.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': The Highs and Lows of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival

I was so pleased to be on with Madeleine talking about four of the buzziest films at this year's Cannes. You can check out my segment down below.

Cannes 2024: 'I, the Executioner' Review

In 2015, the action-comedy Veteran became one of the biggest hits ever in South Korea. Nearly 10 years later, there's a sequel that's a little more serious. For Screen International, I reviewed I, the Executioner.

Cannes 2024: 'September Says' Review

I wasn't expecting to be as moved by September Says as I was. Honestly, this may be my favorite film I've seen at this year's Cannes. My review of this delicate story of sisterhood is here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Will's Talking New Movies, I'm Talking Cannes

A unique episode this week: With me here in France, we decided to divide and conquer. Will reviewed If and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, while I recorded a segment in my apartment discussing some of the highlights from the first half of the Cannes Film Festival. (I also offered my quick thoughts on Kingdom.) Check it out down below.

Cannes 2024: 'Blue Sun Palace' Review

Here was a fun discovery at this year's Cannes: director Constance Tsang's muted, moving romantic drama Blue Sun Palace about two close friends and the man they separately pursue. Read all about it here.

Cannes 2024: 'The Apprentice' Review

How did Donald Trump end up the way he is? The Apprentice tries to give us the answer, but I don't think it succeeds. Here's my review.

Cannes 2024: 'The Substance' Review

In The Substance, Demi Moore plays an aging star who needs a career boost. Enter a strange service promising to offer clients a better version of themselves. What could go wrong? I reviewed this gory body-horror for Screen International.

Cannes 2024: 'Eephus' Review

I was having a conversation with a colleague the other day, who told me that he doesn't like sports movies. I think he will like Eephus, which is about a baseball game but isn't really a "sports movie." I explain what I mean over at Screen International.

Cannes 2024: 'Visiting Hours' Review

In Visiting Hours, Hafsia Herzi and Isabelle Huppert play women from two different worlds who both have husbands in prison. As a result, they form a bond, but is there more going on under the surface? My review is here.

Cannes 2024: 'The Surfer' Review

In The Surfer, Nicolas Cage plays an Australian who wants to take his son to the beach for some surfing. But a local gang stands in his way, humiliating the man in front of his kid. What happens next? A downward spiral in true Cage fashion. I reviewed the film for Screen International.

Cannes 2024: 'Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point' Review

If you grew up with big family get-togethers during the holidays, the large ensemble piece Christmas Eve in Miller's Point may speak to you. The film balances nostalgia with a clear-eyed memory of the disparate personalities that come together under one roof. My review is here.