Jazmine Sullivan - "Mascara"

Some albums stay lodged in my Spotify favorites for months. I don't focus on them, but when a random track pops up on shuffle, I'm reminded all over again, "Yeah, that's a good record."

Such is the case with Reality Show, which is now four years old. "Mascara" wasn't a single, but it's now on heavy rotation around my household. The part that always gets me: When she goes from baritone to falsetto to sing, "So I never leave the house without makeup on." When will Jazmine Sullivan put out a new album so I can give it the attention it deserves from the start?

'Pavarotti' Review

I know nothing about opera, but I liked Pavarotti well enough. (Some of the best parts involve actually breaking down what makes a great singer.) My review is up at Screen International.

The Best Godzilla Movies

With Godzilla: King of the Monsters coming out, we decided to take a look back at the high-water marks of this big-screen beast. Check it out over at SyFy.

Cannes 2019: 'The Bare Necessity' Review

One last Cannes review: For Screen International, I wrote about the Directors' Fortnight offering The Bare Necessity, which is a frothy but enjoyable comedy. Not too quirky, surprisingly emotional, read all about it.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Will Smith, Teen Friends and 'Mad Max'

On this week's episode, I recap my Cannes experience. Then, we review Aladdin and Booksmart. Finally, we look back at 1979's Mad Max. It's nice to be home. You can hear the whole thing down below.

Some Thoughts on 'Aladdin'

When did Will Smith become America's dad?

Who gives the best performance in Aladdin?

And why isn't Gilbert Gottfried in the new movie?

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

Some Thoughts on 'Booksmart'

For MEL, I wrote about Booksmart and the importance of the sidekick in buddy comedies. Hope you enjoy.

'Rim of the World' Review

Netflix released a kids' action-adventure movie this weekend. It's called Rim of the World. It is terrible. I wrote about it for MEL.

Cannes 2019: The Wrap-Up and the Rankings

My sixth Cannes was unique in that, as opposed to previous editions, I wasn't in much agreement with my colleagues about what were the festival's best and worst films. I quite liked Little Joe and Frankie, two Competition selections that didn't receive much love elsewhere, while being duly impressed (but not blown away) by Parasite, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Pain and Glory, which were probably the consensus favorites. And yet, the fact that all four ended up ranking relatively high on my list suggests something I'd suspected over the last two weeks: Every Cannes you get to go to is amazing, but the overall quality of this year's films was below-average. It happens.

Another thing that made this an outlier Cannes: My favorite film wasn't part of the official selections. Over at Directors' Fortnight, Robert Eggers' follow-up to The Witch, The Lighthouse, was the big story, and I finally caught up with it last night. There will be more to say later, but it's a knockout -- and further proof that Robert Pattinson is one of our most exciting and surprising young actors. (While I was at Cannes, news broke that he probably, maybe will play Batman, and if comic-book nerds think he's just the "the Twilight guy," then they don't deserve him.)

I look forward to catching up with a few films that fell through the cracks, including Beanpole, I Lost My Body and The Unknown Saint. I confess there is still a part of me that wants to experience Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo. I enjoyed seeing colleagues and spending time at my favorite annual festival. And I thank you for reading. My ranking of everything I saw, including films screened in advance, is below, with links leading to individual reviews.

33. Wounds
32. Matthias & Maxime
31. Rocketman
30. The Traitor
29. Les Misérables
28. The Climb
27. Atlantics
26. Tommaso
25. The Dead Don’t Die
24. Zombi Child
23. The Bare Necessity
22. Vivarium
21. Bull
20. Adam
19. The Swallows of Kabul
18. Deerskin
17. Share
16. Bacurau
15. Give Me Liberty
14. Sorry We Missed You
13. Young Ahmed
12. A Hidden Life
11. Pain and Glory
10. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
9. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
8. Oh Mercy!
7. Ghost Tropic
6. Parasite
5. Little Joe
4. Frankie
3. The Wild Goose Lake
2. The Whistlers
1. The Lighthouse

Kids See Ghosts (featuring Yasiin Bey) - "Kids See Ghosts"

I had a chat with someone the other day here at Cannes about Kanye, and we were both talking about how much we liked Kids See Ghosts. So now this song is stuck in my head again.

Cannes 2019: 'The Traitor' Review

In The Traitor, director Marco Bellocchio tells the story of Tommaso Buscetta, a mafia made man who turned government informant. This is fascinating terrain that's also a bit familiar, as I explain in my Screen International review.

Cannes 2019: 'Ghost Tropic' Review

One of the fun things about going to a festival as part of a trade publication is that you'll get assigned to review movies that wouldn't cross your radar otherwise -- and, sometimes, you can be very pleasantly surprised by what you find. Here's my review of Ghost Tropic for Screen International.

What's Keanu Reeves' Best Performance?

That's the task we gave ourselves over at Vulture. I'll say this: It wasn't that hard to pick No. 1, although from there was a little bit trickier. Hope you enjoy.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: John Wick, Anton Chigurh and 'The Souvenir'

This week, we look at two very different assassins while reviewing John Wick: Chapter 3 and looking back at No Country for Old Men. In between, I solo on one of the best films of the year so far, The Souvenir. You can hear the whole thing down below.

Cannes 2019: 'Matthias & Maxime' Review

Xavier Dolan is back at Cannes for the first time since his disastrous It’s Only the End of the World. (I was at that screening. It was terrible.) His new film is better, but still not that good. I reviewed Matthias & Maxime for Screen International.

Cannes 2019: 'Tommaso' Review

Willem Dafoe plays Abel Ferrara -- or, at least, an Abel Ferrara stand-in -- in Tommaso, a bleak character study about a tormented filmmaker that I found grimly fascinating. My review is up at Screen International.

Some Thoughts on 'John Wick: Chapter 3'

For MEL, I wrote about the life-affirming violence of Parabellum. (I also had some thoughts about Jason Mantzoukas and Anjelica Huston.) Hope you enjoy.

'Aladdin' Review

I saw Aladdin before Cannes and wrote my review before the festival as well. I now remember nothing about either, so let's see what I thought over at Screen International.

'Catch-22' Review

I tried and tried, but I just couldn't get into Hulu's miniseries remake of Catch-22. I explain why over at MEL.

Cannes 2019: 'A Hidden Life' Review

A Hidden Life might be Terrence Malick's most urgent, tormented and vital film since ... The Tree of Life? I reviewed his latest for Screen International.