Venice 2025: 'Frankenstein' Review

Guillermo del Toro was made to adapt Frankenstein, a story all about misunderstood monsters. My review is live at Screen International. 

The Best Movies of the 21st Century (So Far)

Rolling Stone asked a bunch of its contributors to work on a massive list of the best films of the 21st century. Remarkably, we're already 25 years into this new century, which means a lot of good movies. As always, I didn't have any say in the final rankings, but I did some of the write-ups, including Y Tu Mama Tambien, Inside Llewyn Davis, Dogville, Burning, Uncut Gems, I Am Not Your Negro, The Souvenir and others. Dive in. 

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Warfare' and Looking Back at 'Inside Llewyn Davis'

Apologies: I'm behind on posting last week's podcast. Will was in town! So we recorded in my dining room. We reviewed two new movies, Warfare and The Amateur, and then took our time while revisiting Inside Llewyn Davis. Check out the whole thing down below.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: The Best Films of the First Half of 2023

It's that time of year: On the podcast, we look back at the movies we liked from the first half of the year. Check it out. 

'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Review

The sequel's even better than the original. For Screen International, I reviewed Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Why Are the Characters in Legacy Sequels (Almost) Always Less Interesting Than the Original Characters?

Jurassic World Dominion underscored a problem I've noticed for a while, which is that when sequels try to combine the original cast and the new cast, the new cast often looks pretty feeble by comparison. Is that because of nostalgia or something else? Here's my latest for MEL.

Oscar Isaac and His Facial Hair

At a recent MEL pitch meeting, I made an observation: It seems like the internet really goes wild for Oscar Isaac when he has a beard. My editor asked me to see if that was true. And so began a very special, very hairy investigation. Hope you enjoy.

Kristen Stewart Has Made Five Really Good Films. Who Else Has in That Same Time Frame?

 

Inspired by Stewart's recent claim that she thinks she's only made five good films in her career, I started doing some research to determine what other actors have made that many since Twilight came out. Turns out, it's only a handful of folks.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Dune,' Wes Anderson and 'Contact'

We had our first Reboot in forever on this week's episode. Unfortunately, that movie was Contact. We also reviewed Dune and The French Dispatch. Hear the whole thing 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.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Paul Schrader, 'Malignant' and 'Queenpins'

I like when I like all three new movies we discuss on the podcast. Hear the whole episode down below.

Venice 2021: 'Scenes From a Marriage' Review

The original Scenes From a Marriage miniseries is terrific. The HBO remake has two excellent actors in it, but it's not nearly as good. What happened? I get into that over at MEL.

Venice 2021: 'Dune' Review

Holy cow, is it epic. I reviewed Dune for Screen International.

Venice 2021: 'The Card Counter' Review

Alas, I'm not at Venice this year. But that will not stop me from writing about movies playing there, like the latest from Paul Schrader, which I think is really good.

Reconsidering the New 'Star Wars' Trilogy

After reading Kelly Marie Tran's Hollywood Reporter profile, in which she talks about the racism she faced online from being in the new Star Wars movies, I was struck by a thought: I don't think those movies were worth the trouble to make. I explain what I mean over at MEL.

LAFCA's Best Films of the Decade Poll

Ten years ago, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association did a Best of the 2000s poll of its members: David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. emerged triumphant. Another decade has ended, so here we go again. See our results here (including my essay). And check out the individual ballots (including mine) here.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Let's Talk About 'Rise of Skywalker'

We feel you, Richard. Will and I spent an hour dissecting the latest Star Wars. Be warned: There are spoilers.

Looking Back at 'The Last Jedi'

Remember when The Last Jedi came out two years ago and everyone lost their mind? For SyFy, we recap the polarizing film's five greatest moments.

'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' Review

I've got a bad feeling about this. (I reviewed Episode IX for Screen International.)

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: The Best Movies of the 2010s

What a decade. On this week's episode, Will and I each count down the 10 best movies of the last 10 years. Will might revise his list depending on how he ranks his 2019 films, but I'm sticking with this 10. Hope you enjoy.