Grierson & Leitch

The Oscars are less than a week away, and if you want to win your office Oscar pool, we have you covered. We go through every category and predict winners, and then argue who SHOULD have won. We don't even require a commission. OK, only a small one. Then we dig into the Chinese production "The Great Wall," in which Matt Damon has insane hair and there are dragons, sort of. Then, in our Reboot segment, we unpack all that 1984's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" has to offer us in the year 2017. Timestamps: 4:32 Oscar Preview 39:55 "The Great Wall" 53:15 "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show after the new year, so send us questions.) As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Opening Music: "City of Stars," Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone Closing Music: "Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones," P

After a meager first month of the movie release calendar, we finally have a full slate of three new releases this week. Sure, all three of them are sequels, but new movies are new movies: At least we don't have to pretend to care about "The Bye Bye Man." So! New movies! First, we discuss "The LEGO Batman Movie," technically a spinoff of the most popular character from "The LEGO Movie" and, oh yeah, one of the most popular characters in all of American popular culture. Then we dig into Keanu Reeves' blast of an action franchise, "John Wick Chapter Two." And then we slap on our handcuffs and blindfolds for "Fifty Shades Darker." There are so many new releases we didn't even have time for our Reboot section. It'll be back next week. Timestamps: 2:35 "The LEGO Batman Movie" 18:05 "John Wick Chapter Two" 32:10 "Fifty Shades Darker" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show after the new year, so send us questions.) As al

There are no major releases this week -- sorry, "The Comedian" and "Rings" -- so we decided on a special show. Inspired by an email from a reader asking why our show had taken on more a political tone of late, we are steering into the curve, talking about movies that particularly inform our understanding of this specific political moment. Tim's picks: "Singin' in the Rain," "JFK" and "Dogville." Will's picks: "The Siege," "Being There" and "Death Proof." Find out why. Then, in our Reboot section, we discuss Tony Gilroy's 2007 dark thriller "Michael Clayton" and last year's Sundance hit "Other People." Timestamps: 8:20 "Singin' in the Rain" 12:00 "The Siege" 16:50 "JFK" 23:00 "Being There" 29:00 "Dogville" 34:25 "Death Proof" 40:55 "Michael Clayton" 57:00 "Other People" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show after the new year, so send us questions.) As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie y

America may be in turmoil and chaos, but there's one thing you can always count on: Beautiful actors trying to make themselves look ugly on screen. Thus, this week, we discuss Matthew McConaughey's "Gold," in which Wooderson is bald and has a gut. Good for him. Then, in our reboot section, we dig into Christopher Nolan's breakthrough "Memento," a movie that is obsessively rewatchable. Also, in our quest to find a 1980s comedy that hasn't aged terribly, we give 1983's "Trading Places" a shot. We'll say this: It's better than "Fletch." We also wrap up Grierson's experiences at Sundance 2017. Timestamps: 12:39 "Gold" 25:30 "Memento" 41:10 "Trading Places" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show after the new year, so send us questions.) As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a

The surprise twist ending of this podcast is that there is no twist ending: It turns out everything happened in Philadelphia and there was some sort of supernatural element and M. Night Shyamalan makes a cameo. Yep, this week, Tim and Will discuss Shayamalan's "Split," which is probably his best movie in 15 years and, undeniably, his first big hit in a while. Then Grierson talks about his time in Sundance so far. It is sort of cold. Then, in our Reboot section, we head all the way back to 1949 to discuss Carol Reed's "The Third Man." Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell us: Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? (Orson Welles rules.) Timestamps: 5:34 Sundance 2017 Update 13:50 "Split" 33:50 "The Third Man" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show after the new year, so send us questions.) As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to rev

Hello, fellow humans! The Oscar nominations come out on Tuesday, January 24, so this week, we decided to make our predictions for the six major categories (sorry, screenwriters) and mention films we wish would be nominated even though they have no chance. Tuesday should be a good day for "La La Land," "Manchester by the Sea," "Moonlight" ... and maybe even Mel Gibson? We also have two Reboots. We begin with Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York," and then dig into Gus Van Sant's "To Die For." Timestamps: 6:15 Oscar picks 49:00 "Gangs of New York" 1:00:20 "To Die For" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show after the new year, so send us questions.) As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Also, Grierson now wants you to call him "Mahershala." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome! It's our first show of 2017, and our very special 50th episode. So once a year, we answer a ton of questions from you, our lovely, wonderful listeners, because there are no interesting new movies being released (sorry, "Monster Trucks") and because it's not time for Oscar nominations yet. Thus! We answer your questions about what's acceptable to snack on in a movie theater, what we'll remember Tom Cruise for, what we think really happened at the end of The Lobster, what bad movie we would remake, how we saw indie movies in Mattoon, and much more. It's a very fun show, and a pleasant way to begin the new year. We also have a Reboot this week, Michael Mann's "Heat," in which we try to come to terms with the new information that Al Pacino claims his character was on cocaine throughout the events of the film. That explains a lot! Timestamps: Mailbag: 3:55 Heat: 1:06:45 We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show

It was quite the year, 2016, and now that it's (almost) over, it's time, at last, for our Top Ten Movies of 2016. This is the podcast version of Dorkfest, an annual discussion (and revealing) of both Will's and Tim's top-10 lists, which they've been doing since 1991. Though for the first time, you can listen. Our lists have a surprising amount of crossover, and far more than last year's. One thing we definitely agree on: It was a fantastic movie year. We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show after the new year, so send us questions.) As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Special Star Wars show alert! Special Star Wars show alert! Usually we look at several movies on each show, but the week that a Star Wars movie comes out, we focus just on that Star Wars movie. Thus: Rogue One discussion! Of all the episodes of this podcast, this might be the most contentious, because Grierson and Leitch are on opposite sides on Rogue One: One of them thinks it's "magnificent," the other thinks a complete mess. Which one is right? Listen and find out. You're seeing Rogue One. We're talking Rogue One. We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show after the new year, so send us questions.) As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's down to the nit and the grit, folks: We have only three shows left in 2016, and we have a LOT of movies to get to. So we kick off our show this week with a deep-dive discussion of early Oscar favorite "La La Land," the new musical from "Whiplash" director Damien Chazelle starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. We both think it's great and, yes, it reminds us of vintage Woody Allen. In our Reboot section -- our final Reboot section of 2016 -- we look at Bryan Singer's "The Usual Suspects" from 1995, and Robert Townsend's "The Five Heartbeats" from 1991. Timestamps: 7:01: "La La Land" 24:45 "The Usual Suspects" 38:25 "The Five Heartbeats" We will back on Friday with a special "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" episode. We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. (We're doing a mailbag show after the new year, so send us questions.) As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a late

We are hitting the home stretch of the 2016 movie year, with the year-end critics awards coming out and Oscar predictions all over the place. We have just three shows left in 2016, which we'll finish off with our Top 10 movies of 2016. But there's plenty to dig through until then. So, we kick off this week with Pablo Larrain's haunting, intense "Jackie," which shows that American tragedy in a whole new light. Then, we look at Isabelle Huppert, who is having an amazing year, in the moving French drama "Things To Come." We keep the good vibes going in our Reboot section with 1944's "Double Indemnity," before sending everything crashing down with 1991's "Hudson Hawk," which might be the worst movie we've discussed on this podcast. This DOES, however, get us talking about an eighth-grade school play we were both in. It's that kind of show. Timestamps: 8:35 "Jackie" 24:50 "Things to Come" 37:04 "Double Indemnity" 50:30 "Hudson Hawk" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or grier

We hope you all had a grand Thanksgiving! May your harvests be bountiful! We are back looking at a rather uninspired couple of new releases. First, it's Robert Zemeckis' World War II drama "Allied," with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. And it's old directors week here, apparently, with Warren Beatty's long-awaited, and nearly entirely ignored, "Rules Don't Apply." At least he finally got to play Howard Hughes. We have a lot more fun with our Reboot section. We tackle one of our favorite movies from the '90s, Peter Weir's visionary "The Truman Show" from 1998. And for a long time, Grierson has loved 2008's "Hancock." Does he feel the same way today? Only one way to find out. Timestamps: 5:30 "Allied" 22:55 "Rules Don't Apply" 34:20 "The Truman Show" 53:15 "Hancock" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Learn more

Hey, early show this week! It's Thanksgiving Week, so we wanted to get the show to you as quickly as possible so you've got plenty of time before you go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house you go. We do this because we love you. So, this week, we discuss two major new releases. First, it's the new Harry Potter spinoff "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which launches yet another franchise you have to keep track of. Also, Tom Ford takes another break from his day job to direct another movie, "Nocturnal Animals" with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon. Then, Grierson breaks down Kenneth Lonergan's "Manchester by the Sea;" Leitch hasn't seen it yet. Then, in our Reboot section, we revisit Alfonso Cuaron's brilliant "Children of Men." Timestamps: 4:50 "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" 22:35 "Nocturnal Animals" 39:45 "Manchester by the Sea" 47:45 "Children of Men" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepub

Like many of you, we're still trying to process everything that has happened since we last did a podcast. Movies work best when they are a distraction from life that can also help illuminate life: When you write about movies, you are really writing about life. That's all sorts of Super Serious Pablum that ultimately just adds up to: We're not going to let the horror that Tuesday night has conjured stop us from babbling like idiots about movies. We hope you don't mind. Thus! This week we dig into the surprise science-fiction hit "Arrival" starring Amy Adams, the Jeff Nichols drama "Loving" and Ang Lee's 120-fps war drama "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk." Then, in our Reboot segment, we look at the foster care drama "Short Term 12," starring Brie Larsen right before she won her Oscar. Timestamps: 6:15 "Arrival" 21:38 "Loving" 38:50 "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" 49:45 "Short Term 12" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. As always, give

There's only one major release this week, and frankly, that's being kind: Ron Howard's and Tom Hanks' "Inferno" is dumb, even aggressively so. It's kind of amazing that Tyler Perry's new movie has outgrossed Tom Cruise's and Tom Hanks' new movies in consecutive weeks. Anyway, we spend more time thinking about "Inferno" than we suspect anyone involved with working on it did. Then, in our Reboot section, we head to the '90s with two major releases from major American filmmakers. First, we look at Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown," and how it's a pivotal movie in his career (and maybe his best). Then we dig into Wes Anderson's debut feature "Bottle Rocket." It's very different from what you think of when you think of Wes Anderson now. Timestamps: 5:05 "Inferno" 20:05 "Jackie Brown" 47:06 "Bottle Rocket" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll disc

Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight" is one of the best movies of the year, and we have a fantastic time discussing it this week. We also try to figure out what Tom Cruise is trying to do with his "Jack Reacher" franchise and break down the sisyphean task Ewan McGregor gave himself by trying to adapt a Philip Roth novel. But mostly we talk about "Moonlight." Then, in our reboot section, we discuss a movie that might be the polar opposite of "Moonlight:" It's 1989's "Weekend at Bernie's." He's dead ... but nobody seems to know it! Also, Leitch makes Grierson guess what the plot of the sequel is. Timestamps: 4:00 "Moonlight" 24:15 "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" 38:05 "American Pastoral" 47:50 "Weekend at Bernie's" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Also, Grierson is dressing up as Bernie for Halloween this year. Learn more

One of the most controversial, and widely discussed (for a wide variety of reasons), movies of 2016 is Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation," so we dig in deep into that one. Then, we try to make heads or tails of Tate Taylor's "The Girl on the Train." Grierson hasn't seen "Newtown," but Leitch has, so he gives us the lowdown on the Sandy Hook documentary. Then, in our Reboot section, we discuss "L.A. Confidential." Director Curtis Hanson passed away away last month, so revisit and reflect upon his masterwork. Timestamps: 7:30 "The Birth of a Nation" 34:17 "The Girl on the Train" 47:02 "Newtown" 57:56 "L.A. Confidential" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Also, Grierson's the one that says just grab 'em in the biscuits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a busy movie week, and we're just getting warmed up: The Fall Movie Season is upon us, and there are big releases one right after another. And we kick off our podcast with "American Honey," which Tim says is one of the best movies of the year. (Will hasn't seen it, embarrassingly.) Then we dig into Peter Berg's "Deepwater Horizon," and, dabbling briefly in TV land, Woody Allen's "Crisis in Six Scenes." Then, in our reboot section, we talk in depth about one of Tim's favorite movies of all time: Stanley Kubrick's underappreciated masterpiece "Barry Lyndon." Suffice it to say, it's a step up from last week's "Shakes the Clown." Timestamps: 6:55 "American Honey" 13:50 "Deepwater Horizon" 29:30 "Crisis in Six Scenes" 50:55 "Barry Lyndon" We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Also, Grierson wears water wings when

Hey, look, Oliver Stone has a movie about nefarious deeds from the American government, and there's a found footage horror film about the Blair Witch. It’s a very ‘90s episode of the Grierson & Leitch podcast as Will and Tim discuss the two big releases of the week: “Snowden,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, and “Blair Witch,” Adam Wingard’s sequel to the 1999 film. They also discuss what Grierson thought of the Toronto Film Festival. Then, in our Reboot section, Will and Tim chase each other down the streets of San Francisco as they delve into 1968’s “Bullitt.” Like every other human being who has seen that movie, they’ve been walking around pretending they’re Steve McQueen all week. Timestamps: 8:15 “Snowden” 27:35 “Blair Witch” 44:45 “Bullitt” We liked this one, and we even got some Drive-By Truckers in this one. We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'

"Sully" is not an "Angry Birds" sequel. It is about Sully Sullenberger: Airport Pilot. This week on the Grierson & Leitch podcast, Will and Tim discuss Clint Eastwood's "Sully," and whether you can make a movie about a flight that lasts 208 seconds. Then, in our Reboot section, we take a look at two hits from the '80s. First, from 1981, Lawrence Kasdan's "Body Heat," starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Mickey Rourke and a fantastic Ted Danson. Then we dig deep into '80s teen comedies by discussing 1989's "Teen Witch." A certain family member of Will's will be made very happy, or angry, by this one. Top that. Timestamps: 5:50 "Sully" 26:33 "Body Heat" 45:00 "Teen Witch" This is super fun show. We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think @griersonleitch on Twitter, or griersonleitch@newrepublic.com. As always, give us a review on iTunes with the name of a movie you'd like us to review, and we'll discuss it on a later podcast. Also, Grierson is a world champion competitive eater. His specialty is the turdu