Kevin Kline's Varied 1997

As part of MEL's yearlong look back at 1997, I wrote about two pretty pivotal performances the Oscar-winner gave in movies that came out a week apart: In & Out and The Ice Storm. Read on here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Tucker: The Man and His Dream,' 'Passion Fish' and Looking Back at 2005

On this week's episode, we have two Reboots: Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream and John Sayles' Passion Fish. Here are two films from distinctive auteurs that would be pretty hard to get made in modern times. (And I don't mean because of the pandemic.) But the show kicks off with our deep dive into movie year 2005. Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Munich ... and my pick for the year's actual best film. Check it out below.

Five Replacements for the Live-Action 'Mulan'

Last weekend, Disney's new version of Mulan was supposed to hit theaters. Over at Vulture, we offer some cinematic alternatives if you had been dying to see that movie.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Gemini Man,' 'Parasite' and 'El Camino'

On this week's episode, we dispense with Gemini Man rather quickly so we can focus on two good (and very different) movies: Bong Joon Ho's Cannes-winner Parasite and Netflix's El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. Dive in below.

Some Thoughts on 'Gemini Man'

Why is Gemini Man an apt metaphor for Will Smith's recent career crossroads?

When will he stop talking about the fact that he turned down The Matrix?

And have you ever seen his video for "A Nightmare on My Street"?

I answer those questions, and more, over at MEL.

'Gemini Man' Review

Ang Lee's new action film is the second in a row he's shot in a higher frame rate than is traditional for studio movies. I find his commitment to this technology ... fascinating. Which is not the same thing as saying that Gemini Man is good. I reviewed the movie for Paste.

Best of 2016: The Year's Greatest Special Effects

Annually for Popular Mechanics' print edition, I have the pleasure of looking back at the year's most impressive movie effects and talking to the people who made them happen. Right around the Oscars, the feature shows up on the website. So here it is, featuring Jason Bourne, The Jungle Book, Sully, Passengers and even Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. And if you go here, you'll see a little bonus cut, if you will, of my conversation with the Arrival team as we geek out about James Turrell.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Talking 'Arrival' and 'Short Term 12'

On this week's episode of the Grierson & Leitch podcast, we review Arrival, Loving and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. Plus, in our Reboot segment, we take a look back at 2013's Short Term 12. But the elephant in the room is the Trump presidential victory, which we didn't want to talk about but is everywhere in our conversation. Nobody other than me will notice, but there's a moment while discussing Short Term 12 where I almost got choked up. Check out the podcast here.

'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' Review

Ang Lee likes to challenge himself, and his newest movie finds him experimenting with a much higher frame rate than a traditional film. (In simple terms, the image looks like what happens when you have motion-smoothing on a television.) So what did I think of the experiment? My review of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is up at The New Republic.

Ang Lee, 'Hulk' and the Perils of Superpowers

The Dissolve's Movie of the Week is Hulk, Ang Lee's misbegotten 2003 excursion into comic-book filmmaking. Today, I provide an essay on why Hulk isn't that far removed from the thematic concerns of Lee's best films: The Ice Storm, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, and Life of Pi. As I explain in the piece, each of these films, like Hulk, is about "seemingly ordinary people [who] learn to live with the aspects of themselves that make them feel different, strange, extraordinary." In other words, Lee's movies often struggle with the notion of superpowers. I deeply enjoyed writing this essay, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Hell Yeah Ang Lee

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee will be releasing Life of Pi on Wednesday. My review will be coming out closer to that time, but meanwhile let's reflect back on the man's career to this point. My appreciation is over at Deadspin.