'Greta' Review

Look, I get it's supposed to be campy and over-the-top. But I still couldn't get on Greta's wavelength. I reviewed the film for Paste.

The Best Horror Sequels

Sorry, no Scream films. And did we pick the wrong Halloween follow-up? Check out our latest installment of Debate Club.

My Interview With Gaspar Noe

Gaspar Noe makes movies you either hate or love. His latest, Climax, was a huge hit at Cannes last year. For MEL, I had a lengthy chat with the filmmaker about sex, death, drugs and Love. Hope you enjoy.

KQED: The Highs and Lows of the 91st Academy Awards

This was a treat: I was asked to be on KQED's Forum with host Michael Krasny yesterday morning to discuss the Oscars. I was joined by Claudia Puig and Tre'vell Anderson, and we all had a lot to say about Green Book, Olivia Colman's surprise win and how the industry is doing in terms of diversity. Plus, we took some calls from listeners. Very, very fun: You can hear the whole thing here.

Some Thoughts on 'Paddleton'

For MEL, I wrote about Paddleton, the modest, touching comedy-drama about two straight male friends (Mark Duplass, Ray Romano) who go on a most unusual road trip. For these guys, it's hard to say what's scarier: death or talking about your feelings. Hope you enjoy.

A Brief History of Good (and Bad) Movie Makeup

I didn't have a chance to post this over the weekend -- it was a busy time, folks -- but for MEL, I selected some examples of memorable old-age makeup in movies. What distinguishes the good from the bad? Read on.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Talking About the Oscars, 'Fighting With My Family,' 'Paddleton' and 'Badlands'

Lots to cover in this week's episode. At the top, we break down Sunday's Academy Awards. Then, we review Fighting With My Family and Paddleton. Finally, we look back at Badlands, which received a grand total of zero Oscar nominations. Hear the whole show down below.

The Best Black Superheroes

As Black History Month winds down, we salute the finest black superheroes. It's telling that, in Hollywood, it's taken a while for these characters to hit the big screen. But 2018 was a landmark year. Here are the five best.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Animated Dragons, Sad Men, Wrestling Families and the Oscars

Fellow critic Amy Nicholson and I joined guest host Barbara Bogaev to discuss How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Paddleton and Fighting With My Family. And then we previewed the Oscars. (I hope my Best Picture prediction is wrong.) Hear the whole thing here.

Childish Gambino - "Feels Like Summer"

"This Is America" got all the accolades. But I also really, really love "Feels Like Summer." I'm itching for baseball, and so this song has been on my mind lately.

Could 'Green Book' Win Best Picture?

For Rolling Stone, I wrote about an Oscar scenario that many of us fear: Green Book pulls off the upset and wins Best Picture. What would that mean for the Academy? What does it say about the Academy? Read on.

Glenn Close, 'Fatal Attraction' and the Battle Over Alex

For MEL, I did a deep dive into the history of Fatal Attraction. Specifically, I wrote about Alex, the woman who has the affair with Michael Douglas' lawyer character. "Crazy" is how she's often described. That's never how Glenn Close, who played her, felt about Alex. It's a battle she's been waging for 32 years now. On the eve of Close possibly winning the Oscar for The Wife, I wrote about Alex's complicated legacy. Hope you enjoy.

'Lorena' Review

For MEL, I wrote about the new Amazon documentary series Lorena, which is about (among other things) Lorena Bobbitt. You can read my thoughts here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Oscar Predictions, 'Alita: Battle Angel' and 'Interview With the Vampire'

Interview With the Vampire is as bad as I remember. That's the bad news on this week's podcast; much more fun is our lengthy breakdown of the Oscars. (I hope my Best Picture prediction is wrong.) We also reviewed Alita: Battle Angel. Hear the whole thing down below.

Lizzo - "Juice"

"I'm the pudding in the proof" is a great line in a song full of 'em.

What's the Best Best-Picture Winner?

"This seems like a thankless task. And one that will only leave people angry." -- Philip Allcott

Undeterred, for Vulture, Will and I ranked every Best Picture winner. Dig in here.

What's the Best Romantic Comedy of All Time?

Rolling Stone asked me and a bunch of other fine writers to contribute to its list of the 50 best romantic comedies. (As always, I have to point out that I had nothing to do with the rankings.) Read me on Tootsie, Pillow Talk, The Philadelphia Story, Broadcast News and, yep, Annie Hall right here.

The Most Romantic Sci-Fi/Fantasy Moments

Happy Valentine's Day. For Debate Club, we highlight the genre movies that have the most romantic scenes. Gotta love a list that features both Upstream Color and Wall-E. Read it all over at SyFy.

The Guys Who Always Get Dumped in Romantic Comedies

Happy Valentine's Day: For MEL, I wrote about the characters in romantic triangles who never get the happy ending. Some of them deserve to be kicked to the curb. Some of them are just nice guys. Others were wronged by the film they were in. Hope you enjoy.

Some Thoughts on 'Cold Pursuit'

I saw Cold Pursuit before Sundance. It is a very different movie now than it was then. I talk about that over at MEL, and I remind you again what a great film The Grey is.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Legos, Liam Neeson, 'High Flying Bird' and 'What Men Want'

Lots to cover in this week's episode. Will and I differ on High Flying Bird but are equally disappointed about The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. (Chris Pratt, what happened?) I talk a little about the Liam Neeson controversy (and Cold Pursuit). And then we dig into What Men Want. Hear the whole thing below.

Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose - "Too Late to Turn Back Now"

I rewatched BlacKkKlansman, y'all.

Netflix's Best Horror Films

Netflix has produced a lot of original horror films. For this week's Debate Club, we pick the five best.

Best of 2018: The Top 10 Albums of the Year

Now that the Uproxx Music Critics Poll and the Pazz & Jop Music Critics Poll are out, both of which I voted in, I figured I might as well unveil my Top 10 albums of 2018. Some years, I'm far outside the consensus. But in 2018, geez, you'd think I cheated off my neighbor's homework. Without further ado, here's my rankings, along with a few stray observations.

1. Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour
For the first time since 2013, when Frank Ocean's Channel Orange topped Pazz & Jop, my No. 1 matched the electorate's. A colleague noted recently that there aren't a lot of great marriage albums -- there are far more (and far better) breakup albums. Golden Hour is a great marriage album, combining some of the most perfect (and perfectly sappy) love songs with a few frostier numbers about bad relationships and bad friends. In short, it sounds the way life feels even when you're in a happy marriage -- or want to be. Setting aside the casual politics of Same Trailer Different Park, she's made a whole album that builds on the premise of Pageant Material's indelible "Late to the Party" without sacrificing any of her smarts or decency. 

2. Pusha T, Daytona
Two things. First, 2015's King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude is underrated. Second, I'm torn about honoring a record that's just barely over 21 minutes. But I decided to set aside my "They used to call these EPs" prejudice because the beats are so choice and the rhymes, as always, are so good. At any length, he's a killer. 

3. Janelle Monae, Dirty Computer
All three of Monae's full-length albums have made my Top 10. And with Dirty Computer, I've allowed myself to hold onto two contradictory thoughts simultaneously: She remains a vibrant, electric recordmaker and, hoo boy, sometimes her lyrics can be awfully silly when she's straining for significance. But the buoyancy and righteousness of the whole enterprise redeems its missteps, which is the deal fans have made with Monae for a while now.

4. The Internet, Hive Mind
Syd's 2017 solo album Fin was the gateway drug for me, which pays off with this mighty fine collaboration with her regular band. The funk is light and joyful but not superficial, and by the time "It Gets Better (With Time)" comes around again, I feel positively content -- an undervalued state of being during our volatile age.

5. Noname, Room 25
Fatimah Nyeema Warner is your funny, sensitive friend, and if she was the main character in a romantic comedy, she'd be the one decked out in the nerd glasses and the bad haircut who, presto, ends up being the beautiful swan at the end thanks to a makeover. Room 25 has the intimacy of a bedroom recording, but the more you listen, the bigger and bolder it becomes.

6. The 1975, A Brief History of Online Relationships
The reason why you hate this band is why I enjoy them. Being brash and dumb and young and full of yourself is one of rock's highest purposes. Matty Healy's trick is getting us to care. 

7. Low, Double Negative
A band I've long admired more than loved makes an Album For The Way We Live Today, which tend not to have the longest shelf life. (Can anybody stomach American Idiot these days?) But Double Negative's vulnerability, electronic fidgeting and bruised beauty struck an emotional chord that no other record of recent years has. I suspect it would have worked in any era -- people always have reason to be down in the mouth -- but it particularly resonates right now. 

8. Robyn, Honey
Every song delivers its payload with expert precision. I suppose this is dance music, but Honey's despondency removes the idea of getting hot and sweaty in the club around like-minded revelers. There's something too private and personal about these songs. Who'd want to share them with total strangers?  

9. Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy
She's mad you don't respect her, but she believes in herself. And she's got the tunes to back up her brags. And she's not so tough that she's afraid to be soft.

10. Neko Case, Hell-On
Still the champ, Neko Case never fully won me over with her latest until I absorbed its final track, "Pitch or Honey." It's a song about writing songs, and also a statement of purpose for a friend -- or maybe herself. Wild, she remains, still walking that road that nobody else can follow. And she keeps making distinctive albums that don't sound like her last distinctive album. That's why it takes so long sometimes to realize how great they are.

My Chris Pratt Problem

Nobody was happier for Chris Pratt than me when I heard he was making the leap from Parks and Rec supporting player to movie star. So... what happened? I write about Pratt's regular-guy problem for MEL.

Netflix's Best Sci-Fi and Thriller Films

Netflix has been making original films for a few years now. For SyFy, Will and I highlighted the five best sci-fi/thrillers. (We'll focus on the streaming platform's horror offerings next time.) Here's the list.

The Best Twists (in Genre Films)

For Debate Club, Will and I picked the five best twist endings. Keep in mind, though, these had to be sci-fi, horror or cult films. You can read the list here.

Some Thoughts on 'Velvet Buzzsaw'

Why do art-world satires drive me crazy?

What's Jake Gyllenhaal's worst performance?

And what does Velvet Buzzsaw have to do with the Los Angeles punk scene of the early 1980s?

I answer these questions, and more, in my latest MEL column.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Sundance, Soderbergh, 'Velvet Buzzsaw' and 'Inherit the Wind'

I'm back from Sundance, and it's time for this week's podcast. I do a brief recap of the festival, and then we review Velvet Buzzsaw, which I saw there. For a change of pace, we also introduce a new feature, where we go long on a particular filmmaker's oeuvre. Our first victim: Steven Soderbergh. Finally, we look back at the Oscar-nominated Inherit the Wind in our Reboot segment. You can hear the whole thing down below.

Sundance 2019: 'Monos' Review

Monos received a special jury award at Sundance, where it competed in the World Cinema Dramatic competition. I saw the film early in Los Angeles; its Lord of the Flies-esque story is pretty affecting. My review is up at Screen International.

Sundance 2019: 'Native Son' Review

Ashton Sanders, one of the three actors who played the lead character in Moonlight, is great in this modern-day retelling of the Richard Wright novel. My Screen International review of Native Son is here.

Sundance 2019: 'Share' Review

Filmmaker Pippa Bianco made an acclaimed short a few years ago called Share, about a high-school student who has to contend with a viral video about some embarrassing things that happened to her at a party (that she can't even remember). Now it's been developed into a feature. I reviewed the film for Screen International.

Sundance 2019: 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind' Review

Chiwetel Ejiofor makes his directorial debut with this perfectly solid, slightly dull true-life drama. I reviewed The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind for Screen International.

Sundance 2019: 'Blinded by the Light' Review

Bruce Springsteen songs are marshaled to help tell the story of a young British-Pakistani man who feels lost in his nowhere town. Blinded by the Light was one of the big acquisitions at Sundance. It's a crowd-pleaser, even if it's also a little slipshod. My review is up at Screen International.

'Alita: Battle Angel' Review

Apparently, Alita: Battle Angel is going to lose a ton of money. And like other big-swing sci-fi films like Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, there are plenty of ideas here, just not very good execution. I reviewed the film for Screen International.

Sundance 2019: 'Wounds' Review

Me: "I'm reviewing Wounds tonight."

Colleague [who had already seen it]: "Oh, god, good luck."

I didn't go into Wounds with high expectations, but I was still disappointed. How can a movie with Armie Hammer, Dakota Johnson and Zazie Beetz be bad? Read on.

Sundance 2019: Ranking the Best and Worst of the Festival

At this year's Sundance, there wasn't much consensus about which films were "good" or "bad." Sure, most people liked The Last Black Man in San Francisco and The Souvenir, but you could just as easily find someone who hated The Lodge as someone who loved it. Ditto for Wounds or To the Stars.

As always, how you feel about a festival depends on what you saw -- and what you couldn't fit into your schedule. I'll catch up with Apollo 11, American Factory, The Sound of Silence and others soon enough. But for now, here's my ranking of what I saw, including links to individual reviews...

25. Wounds
24. Velvet Buzzsaw
23. After the Wedding
22. Honey Boy 
21. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
20. Blinded by the Light 
19. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
18. Them That Follow
17. Fighting With My Family
16. Birds of Passage
15. Untouchable
14. Native Son
13. Official Secrets
12. Share
11. The Farewell 
10. Give Me Liberty
9. Luce
8. Jawline
7. Monos
6. To the Stars
5. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
4. Clemency
3. The Lodge
2. The Souvenir
1. Leaving Neverland

For the second straight year, the best film I saw at Sundance was a harrowing look at child sexual abuse that will eventually air on HBO. I've been asked a lot if Leaving Neverland is "hard to watch." I suppose it is. But, as with all good films, there are ample rewards that make it more than worthwhile. Also, I was thrilled the U.S. Dramatic Jury Prize went to Clemency, a deceptively straightforward drama that grows and builds in beautiful ways. And kudos to World Cinema winner The Souvenir, which A24 will be putting out this year.

Robert Wyatt - "Shipbuilding"

As I often say, one of the side benefits of going to a festival is being introduced to (or reminded of) some great song that's included on one of the films' soundtracks. So, hello, Robert Wyatt's cover of this Elvis Costello gem. Nice to meet you.