Grierson & Leitch

It's a quiet movie week in the theaters, which is why we spend the first 10 minutes talking about the great "Better Call Saul." But then we get down to business with "Christopher Robin" and "The Miseducation of Cameron Post." But the real work this week involves pulling up our sleeves and digging into David Fincher's 2007 masterwork "Zodiac." Mentions of Ted Cruz are fleeting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's going to be a slow August, folks, and the main reason: "Mission: Impossible -- Fallout" is going to dominate the rest of the month. We look at the sixth installment of Tom Cruise's signature franchise, and we agree: It's one of the best ones. Then in our Reboot segment, we look at Peter Berg's "Friday Night Lights" and Nicole Holofcener's "Please Give." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Denzel Washington has finally done a sequel -- seriously, it's the first time in his career -- and it's "Equalizer 2." Does it have the oomph of the first one? We discuss! Also, we have two foreign language films for our Reboots. First, Jacques Tati's "Mon Oncle" from 1958, and Nacho Vigalondo's "Timecrimes" from 2007. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you getting tired of The Rock yet? Audiences might be: His "Skyscraper" was one of his weakest openings yet. But are Tim and Will? Discussion time! Then Grierson goes solo on three new releases from Gus Van Sant, Rob Reiner and ... Bo Burnham. Then it's off to the Reboot, and boy, did lots of dudes like "Donnie Darko" back in the day. How does it play in 2018 to two people who haven't seen it? Not well, we're afraid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second half of the movie year (also the actual year) begins with some meaty movies worthy of real discussion. First, it's the first Marvel movie of the post-"Infinity War" universe, "Ant-Man and the Wasp," which we have a solid disagreement about! Then it's Boots Riley's much-feted "Sorry to Bother You," which we both like ... but less than everyone else seems to. Then we go way back to 1952 in our Reboot segment this week, looking at Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Ikiru." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for one of our special shows of the year: Each of our six best films of the first of 2018. (Yes, the year is half over.) Think of it like half our annual Dorkfest. We have four films on both of our lists, a much-higher number than usual. See if you can guess which ones. We also get into sequel "Sicario: Day of the Soldado," which only Grierson had seen at taping time, and Debra Granik's new film "Leave No Trace." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At this point, you could put a couple of drama students in a "Jurassic Park" movie and people would watch them ... but that doesn't mean they're any good. This week, we discuss how "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" is a little better than the last version, but still not very good. There will still be 50 more coming. Then, in our Reboot section, we look at the Coen brothers' masterpiece "A Serious Man." Then, something that is definitively not a masterpiece: 2005's "The Ringer." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You waited 14 years for the sequel and now it's here: It's Brad Bird's "Incredibles 2," the newest Pixar film. The world has a lot more superhero movies than it did when we last saw The Incredibles: How does it hold up? Then we look at the male bros comedy "Tag." Then we finish up our three-part series of looking back at Richard Linklater's staggering trilogy -- with maybe another one coming in 2022? -- with 2013's "Before Midnight." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a down week after some blockbusters, it's a doozy of a weekend at the box office. First there's "Ocean's 8," an attempt to reboot Steven Soderbergh's heist with an all-female cast. Then there's the Sundance smash horror film "Hereditary" with Toni Collette. And then sit down with "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" about Mr. Rogers. Then we do Part Two of our three-week discussion of Richard Linklater's own trilogy, 2004's "Before Sunset." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a slow release schedule this week, we chose this week to do one of our twice-a-year mailbag episodes, in which we tackle your questions about the "Star Wars" franchise, reclining seats in theaters and all-time top 10 lists. It's always one of our favorite shows. Then, in our Reboot section, we look at the first of Richard Linklater's amazing trilogy with "Before Sunrise," as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger's magnus opus from 1990 "Kindergarten Cop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New "Star Wars" movie! The standalone origin story "Solo: A Star Wars Story" was certainly a tumultuous shoot, with Ron Howard filling in for Phil Lord and Chris Miller, but how does the movie play now? One of us likes it considerably more than the other. Then, from that galaxy far far away, we zip back to the land of Nikola Tesla in the early 1900s to discuss Christopher Nolan's much-debated "The Prestige." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grierson is back from the Cannes Film Festival, and just in time for "Deadpool 2," the sequel to Ryan Reynolds' raunchy self-referential comic book movie. Is it better than the first one? We discuss. Then Grierson talks about this year's film festival, and definitely hits on Spike Lee's successes and Lars Von Trier's excesses. Speaking of excesses: Mozart! Our Reboot harkens back to 1984's Best Picture-winning "Amadeus," by the late Milos Forman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grierson is in Cannes, but that's not going to stop us from our appointed rounds. This week, Grierson asks Leitch about "Life of the Party," and Leitch enjoyed the theater he was in more than the movie itself. The fun stuff comes from the Reboots. First, G&L go over their long history with "JFK," and how well it holds up today. Then they discuss the John Cusack contract-killer-class-reunion comedy "Grosse Pointe Blank." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We know you're all still in a post-"Infinity War" movie coma -- that movie makes you need a nap -- but the movie world slows down for no one. So this week, we look at the newest Jason Reitman-Diablo Cody joint, "Tully," great-or-could-be-a-disaster movie of the season. Then we give you our Summer Movie Preview. 'Tis the season. We finish with a Reboot, looking at 1998's "American History X," which somehow garnered Edward Norton an Oscar nomination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the biggest movie of the year -- it at times feels like the biggest movie of all time -- so, as you'd expect, "Avengers: Infinity War" takes up most of our discussion this week. We are careful with spoilers, or as careful as one can be, until we deal with That Big Ending. And one of us likes the movie a lot more than the other one. Then, in our Reboot section, we go back 25 years to discuss 1993's "True Romance." Quentin Tarantino ... way back when. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy Schumer has only starred in two movies since her breakthrough in "Trainwreck," and "I Feel Pretty" almost seems more notorious for the reaction to its trailer than its actual existence. But now that the movie is here, we look at what it really has to say ... and we're on opposite sides. We ask each other about "Super Troopers 2" (which Leitch hasn't seen) and Netflix's "Kodachrome" (which Grierson hasn't seen), and then we look back at 2003's "Lost in Translation." It's Santory Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is The Rock's world, and we're all just living in it, wondering why "Rampage" isn't better. Then we have yet another Netflix conversation and also dig into the new Netflix film "Come Sunday." Grierson goes solo on "The Rider" and "Borg vs. McEnroe," and we've got enough left for a meaty discussion of Steven Spielberg's "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence." The show is longer than usual, but plenty meaty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sorry: No Reboot section again this week. But that's a good thing, because that means there are four relevant new movies to talk about. First, it's the surprise horror hit "A Quiet Place," starring Emily Blunt and director John Krasinski. Then we dig into the teen-parents comedy "Blockers," which does not have a rooster in its title. Grierson goes solo on Joaquin Phoenix's "You Were Never Really Here," and then both Will and Tim praise "Lean On Pete." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Spielberg remains, improbably, one of the most energetic and fascinating directors still working, even at the age of 71. He might be slumming it with "Ready Player One," but what slumming it is. And don't miss the section with "The Shining." We also have two reboots this week, fittingly, both from the '80s. First is 1985's "Real Genius," with Val Kilmer as the head of a group of geniuses. Then a look at Jim Henson's "Labyrinth," from 1986. David Bowie and Muppets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two of the most important American filmmakers working today had movies released this weekend, and even though neither one of them made "Black Panther," they're worth digging into. First, Wes Anderson releases his "Isle of Dogs," which has taken some heat for supposed cultural appropriation but is still a film one of our critics thinks is his best. And then Steven Soderbergh brings his "Unsane" to theaters. Also, we talk about the "Pacific Rim" sequel, though, honestly, not for very long. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices