Ep. 152: Amy Taubin on Godard, Greatest Films, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m Nicolas Rapold. Critic Amy Taubin joins the podcast for another delightful year-end discussion. She shares her thoughts on Godard by way of See You Friday, Robinson, a remarkable film that connected the late French master in a correspondence with Iranian writer-director Ebrahim Golestan. Then it’s on to the ever-vexing issues and omissions involved in selecting the greatest films of all time, viewed from...
Dec 17, 2022•49 min
Ep. 151: Adam Nayman and Beatrice Loayza on Eternal Daughter, Genre, Recent Listing Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m Nicolas Rapold. It’s been about a year since I was last joined by critics Adam Nayman and Beatrice Loayza, so it felt like high time to get the band (i.e., the two of them) back together. We discussed some recent viewing which inevitably meant talking about the Greatest poll we had all participated in, as they share some of the criteria behind their ballots. Please support the...
Dec 11, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Ep. 150: Laura Poitras on All the Beauty and the Bloodshed Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m Nicolas Rapold. One of the year’s best films is All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, directed by Laura Poitras. It’s about the life and work of photographer Nan Goldin, and her successful activism against the Sackler Family, whose company PurduePharma produced Oxycontin. Poitras and Goldin were collaborators on the film, which is a deeply moving work of art itself, featuring Goldin’s candid photography a...
Dec 05, 2022•22 min
Ep. 149: Bruce Bennett on Skolimowski’s Deep End, Baby Love, Chabrol Freakout, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This episode I had a wonderful time talking with the inimitable Bruce Bennett, who’s back on the show with a new garden of cinematic delights. We start with Deep End, a past hit from director Jerzy Skolimowski, who’s enjoying a renaissance with EO. From there, we delve into unsung British rarities from the turn of the 1970s and the wildest Claude...
Nov 28, 2022•54 min
Ep. 148: IDFA #2 with Julian Ross: Manifesto, Documentary on Stage, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. To discuss another sampling of the slate at IDFA (the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), I sat down with Julian Ross, a curator and critic based in Amsterdam. Among the works we discuss are a provocative prize-winner, Manifesto; a live multimedia work, Between Nothingness and Infinity, I Began to Weep; Rea Tajiri’s Wisdom Gone Wild; and a s...
Nov 24, 2022•29 min
Ep. 147: Eric Hynes on IDFA 2022: Apolonia, Apolonia and beyond! Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. Every year I take in a new crop of nonfiction films from around the world at IDFA (the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam). Many of them will wend their way to festivals, theaters, and streaming, and I’m happy to select a few highlights with Eric Hynes, curator of film at the Museum of the Moving Image, who is also a regular IDFA attendee. Among the film...
Nov 20, 2022•33 min
Ep. 146: Fun City with Margaret Barton-Fumo and Jonathan Hertzberg, from Morvern Callar to Heartbreakers Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. Critic and ol’ pal Margaret Barton-Fumo clued me in on the Fun City Editions label, founded and run by Jonathan Hertzberg. It’s a Blu-ray and music imprint with a particular penchant for 1980s movies that have fallen through the cracks over the years—such as Heartbreakers, starring Peter Coyote, or Cutter’s Way, with Jeff Bridges...
Nov 06, 2022•59 min
Ep. 145: Elvis Mitchell on Is That Black Enough for You?!? Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. Elvis Mitchell is a critic I read early on in my career, and with this episode, I was delighted to talk with him about his new movie, Is That Black Enough for You?!? Mitchell’s essay film is a rich and multilayered history of Black cinema, full of insights on micro and macro levels. We talked about the movie and follow the threads of his inspirations and ideas, which trace i...
Oct 30, 2022•34 min
Ep. 144: She Said, Women Talking, Aftersun, Catherine Called Birdy with Alissa WIlkinson Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week for the first time on the podcast I talk with Alissa Wilkinson, who is senior culture reporter and critic at Vox as well as an associate professor of English and humanities at The King's College. We talked about some films coming out now, or soon, including She Said, starring Cary Mulligan and Zoe Kazan; Sarah Polley’s Women Talking; A...
Oct 25, 2022•44 min
Ep. 143: Park Chan-wook on Decision to Leave Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave is one of the best films of 2022, hands-down, showing the Korean master at the height of his powers with this dazzling, seductive thriller. I was fortunate enough to sit down with director Park during the New York Film Festival, where Decision to Leave screened, following its world premiere at Cannes in May. We discussed the origin of the story, his film...
Oct 20, 2022•28 min
Amy Taubin on Eo, Master Gardener, Alcarras, Tar, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Kira Muratova Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the New York Film Festival continues, I spoke with the one and only Amy Taubin about some of its selection of movies assembled from the year’s highlights. She shares her thoughts on a wide range, including Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo, Paul Schrader’s Master Gardener, Carla Simon’s Alcarras, Todd Field’s Tar, and Laura Poitras’s All the Be...
Oct 12, 2022•49 min
White Noise with Christian Lorentzen Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The opening movie of the New York Film Festival was White Noise, which also opened the Venice film festival just a few weeks ago. To grapple with Noah Baumbach’s adaptation of the 1985 Don DeLillo classic, I spoke with the critic Christian Lorentzen about everything from the novel’s place in the literary tradition to the minute details that distinguish the adaptation to what the 1980s look like. ...
Oct 03, 2022•35 min
Toronto 2022 #3: No Bears, Knives Out 2, The People’s Joker, The Menu, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, with Sam Adams Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Toronto International Film Festival showed several more movies worthy of discussion that we hadn’t yet discussed on the podcast, and so I brought on a special guest to wrap things up with his insights: Sam Adams, senior editor of Slate. He shares his thoughts on an array of films including Jafar Panahi’s No Bea...
Sep 24, 2022•39 min
Toronto 2022 #2: How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Wendell & Wild, Eventide, Life, Victim, Cine-Guerrillas, The Fabelmans, with Eric Hynes Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The new movies keep on coming with the latest from the Toronto International Film Festival! This time I chat with Eric Hynes, curator of the Museum of the Moving Image, who shares his thoughts on Daniel Goldhaber’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Sharon Lockhart’s Eventide, Henry Selick’s Wendell & W...
Sep 18, 2022•55 min
Toronto 2022 #1: Women Talking, The Fabelmans, The Inspection, Concrete Valley, with Mark Asch Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The new movies keep on coming with the latest from the Toronto International Film Festival! I kick off my reports with this streetside chat with critic Mark Asch. We discuss Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection, and Antoine Bourges’ Concrete Valley (which is in fact set in Toront...
Sep 12, 2022•27 min
Venice #5: Blonde, Athena, Beyond the Wall, The Happiest Man in the World, Casa Susanna, with Jonathan Romney Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. As this year’s action-packed Venice Film Festival draws nearer to the end, I return to the airwaves with veteran critic Jonathan Romney. We discuss the much-anticipated Marilyn Monroe picture Blonde, from director Andrew Dominik, starring Ana de Armas; Romain Gavras’s Athena; Beyond the Wall, from Iran’s Vahid Jalilvand; Teo...
Sep 09, 2022•28 min
Ep. 136: Venice: Master Gardener, Dead for a Dollar, A Couple, Sergio Leone doc, with Glenn Kenny Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This time at the Venice Film Festival, I talk with critic Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.Com and The New York Times about Paul Schrader’s Master Gardener, Walter Hill’s Dead for a Dollar, Frederick Wiseman’s A Couple, and documentaries about Sergio Leone and Richard Harris. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapo...
Sep 08, 2022•32 min
Venice 2022: The Whale, The Eternal Daughter, Lav Diaz, Other People’s Children with Guy Lodge Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Venice Film Festival continues to roll out films that are sure to be the subject of discussion this fall, and this time, I talk with critic Guy Lodge of Variety about Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, starring Brendan Fraser; the new Joanna Hogg film, The Eternal Daughter, very much starring Tilda Swinton; Lav Diaz’s When the Waves Are Gon...
Sep 07, 2022•35 min
Venice 2022: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Saint Omer, The Banshees of Inisherin, Don’t Worry Darling with Jessica Kiang Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Venice Film Festival continues to roll out films that are sure to be the subject of discussion this fall, and this time, I talk with critic Jessica Kiang about notable titles from the past few days: Laura Poitras’s film about Nan Goldin, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed; Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of I...
Sep 06, 2022•51 min
Venice 2022: Tar, White Noise, Bardo with Jonathan Romney Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week, the Venice Film Festival opened, and I hereby begin my annual coverage of the festival’s highlights, live from the Lido. I talk with the veteran critic Jonathan Romney about the first volley of films at this annual showcase that inaugurates the fall season: Noah Baumbach’s White Noise, an adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel, with Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig; Todd ...
Sep 02, 2022•30 min
Mark Asch on The Rehearsal, Chelsea Girls, I Like It Like That, Funny Pages Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week on the program I talk with critic and bon vivant Mark Asch about some recent, brain-tickling viewing. We talk about Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal, Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Girls, Darnell Martin’s I Like It Like That, and Owen Kline’s Funny Pages, along with observations on best-of-all-time lists, cinephilia, and who knows what else. Please support th...
Aug 27, 2022•1 hr 12 min
James Vaughan on Il Cinema Ritrovato: Muratova, Mambéty, and More! Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. Il Cinema Ritrovato is an incredible film festival of restorations, revivals, and retrospectives that takes place every year in Bologna, Italy. It’s a source of discovery (and/or envy) for many film lovers, and so when I heard the filmmaker James Vaughan—director of Friends and Strangers, one of my favorite movies in recent years—was attending, I knew we had to talk....
Aug 05, 2022•53 min
Rico Gagliano and Eric Hynes on Memorable Moviehouses and More Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. Recently, the MUBI Podcast launched a new season of episodes, "Only in Theaters," about the way certain films and moviehouses have intertwined histories, such as the Elgin in New York and the midnight movie phenomenon. So I invited Rico Gagliano, the host of the acclaimed MUBI Podcast, and Eric Hynes, curator of film at Museum of the Moving Image, to talk about some stan...
Jul 21, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Amy Taubin on Tribeca 2022 + Leos Carax’s Pola X (extended TV version) + Artists Space Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I was delighted to catch up with Amy Taubin to discuss the latest edition of the Tribeca festival and other recent viewing. We share some of our highlights from the festival, and we also mull the recently surfaced, extended TV version of Pola X from director Leos Carax. Plus: the Attention Line exhibition at Artists Space. Please support...
Jul 03, 2022•1 hr 24 min
Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Memoria with Kong Rithdee Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The movie Memoria from director Apichatpong Weerasethakul is still in U.S. theaters. That's thanks to a gradual rollout by its distributor NEON -- which means that many listeners might be watching the film for the first time now. I’m a fan, as listeners already know, and as it turns out, I still had a previously recorded discussion about Memoria that I hadn’t posted yet. It’s a c...
Jun 24, 2022•27 min
Ep. 127: Shonni Enelow on Acting and Absorption in Joanna Hogg’s Films, plus Wanda Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. My guest this week is scholar Shonni Enelow, talking about her book in progress about acting in the films of Joanna Hogg. I have always enjoyed reading Enelow’s writing on the subject (including an especially memorable piece on recessive acting), and our conversation (or more rightly speaking, her insights) opens up new facets to Hogg’s rich work, fro...
Jun 15, 2022•52 min
Cannes #12 with Manohla Dargis: Broker, Hollywood at Cannes, Leila’s Brothers, Mother and Son, Triangle of Sadness Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. My Cannes Film Festival series in conversation with critics has its grand finale with the return of the one and only Manohla Dargis of The New York Times. We discuss Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Broker, Saeed Roustayi’s Leila’s Brothers, Leonor Serraille’s Mother and Son, the tradition of Hollywood at Cannes, Kelly Reichardt’s S...
Jun 01, 2022•35 min
Cannes #11 with Justin Chang: Showing Up, Tori and Lokita, Close, 3000 Years of Longing Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The highlights from the 2022 Cannes Film Festival continue with critic Justin Chang of The Los Angeles Times. We discuss Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up with some behind-the-scenes tidbits, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Tori and Lokita, Lukas Dhont’s Close, and George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing. Please support the production of this p...
May 30, 2022•38 min
Cannes #10 with Jessica Kiang: Holy Spider, Corsage, Metronom, Showing Up Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The highlights from the 2022 Cannes Film Festival continue with critic Jessica Kiang, who has been filing reviews for Variety throughout the festival. We discuss Ali Abbasi’s controversial serial killer thriller Holy Spider, Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, Alexandru Belc’s Metronom, and a film that showed on the last day of premieres, Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up. P...
May 29, 2022•41 min
Cannes #9 with Mark Asch: Triangle of Sadness, Enys Men, Aftersun, Hunt Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The highlights from the Cannes Film Festival continue with critic Mark Asch joining the show again. We discuss Ruben Östlund’s second Palme d’Or winner, Triangle of Sadness; Mark Jenkin’s Enys Men; Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun; and Hunt, from Squid Game star-turned-director Lee Jung-jae. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substa...
May 29, 2022•29 min
