Joseph Patrick Michael Leydon (born August 22, 1952) is an American film critic and historian.

A critic and correspondent for Variety since 1990, he is the author of Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See[1] (Michael Wiese Productions), and was a contributing critic for Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide[ISBN missing].

In 2007, he earned a Master of Arts degree at the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication at University of Houston.

His work as a journalist, interviewer, and feature writer has appeared in the New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The Tennessean, The Boston Globe, Toronto Star, and the Austin American-Statesman; Film Comment, MovieMaker, Houstonia, and New Orleans magazines.

[3] In a December 17, 2011 post on his blog, Leydon revealed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, and that he had survived treatment and was in remission.