The Next Picture Show

Like I’M NOT THERE, Alex Ross Perry’s new docu-like feature PAVEMENTS takes a “print the legend” approach to its subject, blurring reality and fiction to convey the significance of defining ‘90s indie rock group Pavement from a few different semi-fabricated angles. Is that approach better suited to established fans, including our returning guest and longtime friend Noel Murray, than it is to newcomers less equipped to parse how the film skews the band’s history and creative output? Perhaps, and we get into that this week before placing PAVEMENTS’ slanted snapshot next to I’M NOT THERE’s fractured Bob Dylan portrait to see how each attempts to portray an artist’s essence, if not their biography, and explores how fame can turn a person into a persona. And in Your Next Picture Show we recommend another one of Perry’s experiments in using music-biopic conventions to tell a different kind of rock-n-roll story, 2018’s HER SMELL.  Please share your thoughts about I’M NOT THERE, PAVEMENTS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.  Next Pairing: Celine Song’s MATERIALISTS and Joe Wright’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:34 Friendship discussion: 00:02:34-00:31:28 Friendship/The Master Connections: 00:31:28-00:53:11 Your Next Picture Show: 00:53:11-00:57:40 Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:57:40-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Ross Perry’s new hybrid documentary PAVEMENTS rejects convention in a way that’s both in keeping with the spirit of the ’90s indie-rock band at its center, and reminiscent of Todd Haynes’ deconstructed Bob Dylan biopic I’M NOT THERE. And while you arguably don’t need to be well-versed in either act to appreciate the films about them, it certainly doesn’t hurt, which is why we’ve brought in our old friend Noel Murray to help us parse two films that are more concerned with conveying an artist’s essence than their biography, beginning this week with I’M NOT THERE’s freewheelin’ approach to Bob Dylan. Then, in place of Feedback, our resident Dylan scholars provide several recommendations that offer some other, more straightforward angles from which to approach the man and his music.  Please share your thoughts about I’M NOT THERE, PAVEMENTS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:04:09 I’m Not There Keynote: 00:04:09-0010:12 I’m Not There Discussion: 00:10:12-00:43:23 Feedback/outro: 00:43:23-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We were admittedly a bit dubious going into this pairing, which was spoken into existence by writer-director Andrew DeYoung invoking THE MASTER when describing his new Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd comedy FRIENDSHIP, but it’s not the stretch we thought it would be. In fact, Paul Thomas Anderson’s discomfiting psychological drama proves such an interesting lens through which to view FRIENDSHIP’s discomfiting absurdist comedy that we move into Connections early, to discuss how each of these two films about lonely men at odds with their own reality bucks convention, not only in terms of narrative and character, but in style and structure as well. Then in Your Next Picture Show we give a glimpse of the episode that could have been if we had chosen the PTA film we went into FRIENDSHIP expecting to be reminded of (and still kind of were): PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. Please share your thoughts about THE MASTER, FRIENDSHIP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Alex Ross Perry’s PAVEMENTS and Todd Haynes’ I’M NOT THERE Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:57 Friendship discussion: 00:01:57-00:16:17 Friendship/The Master Connections: 00:16:17-00:48:01 Your Next Picture Show: 00:48:01-00:51:22 Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:51:22-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We can’t say that it would have occurred to us to pair the new Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd comedy FRIENDSHIP with THE MASTER if writer-director Andrew DeYoung hadn’t specifically invoked Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2012 psychological drama, but the two films do wind up being unexpectedly complementary portraits of relationships between emotionally unstable men. Plus, we’re happy to have an excuse to revisit THE MASTER, a slippery film wherein nearly every scene has a claim to being the most important one. So this week we’re taking a closer look at a few of those scenes and the multiple interpretations they invite. And in Feedback we’re still fielding listener interpretations of SINNERS, this time one that addresses one of Tasha’s only complaints about the film.  Please share your thoughts about THE MASTER, FRIENDSHIP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:06:04 "The Master" Keynote: 00:06:04-00:12:17 "The Master" Discussion:00:12:17-00:57:26 Feedback/outro: 00:57:26-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new THUNDERBOLTS* assembles a group of leftovers from various MCU stories to face off against their personal failings in a way that’s broadly reminiscent of, yet tonally distinct from, the wannabe superheroes of 1999’s MYSTERY MEN. It’s also tonally distinct from most recent Marvel projects in a way that we all responded to, even if we differ on whether THUNDERBOLTS* is punching above its power class in the metaphor department. We debate that before bringing MYSTERY MEN back in to explore the various power differentials both between and within these two groups of superheroes with self-esteem issues. And in Your Next Picture Show we entertain another hypothetical “misfit superheroes” pairing that Scott argues has a better claim to the “classic” designation than MYSTERY MEN.  Please share your thoughts about MYSTERY MEN, THUNDERBOLTS*, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Andrew DeYoung’s FRIENDSHIP and Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:39 Thunderbolts discussion: 00:01:39-00:34:23 Thunderbolts/Mystery Men Connections: 00:34:23-01:03:20 Your Next Picture Show: 01:03:20-01:06:51 Next episode preview and goodbyes: 01:06:51-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new THUNDERBOLTS* assembles some leftovers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe who are tough to describe as superheroes but nonetheless step up to save the day when their city needs them, which reminded us of MYSTERY MEN and its negligibly powered not-so-superteam. A flop in 1999, the comedy is as chaotic and sloppy as its titular (with an asterisk) group, but that imperfect charm is arguably central to the cult appreciation it’s attained since. So this week we’re taking a closer look at MYSTERY MEN’s small-time wannabe crime-fighters to determine how they fit into the bigger picture of modern superhero cinema. Then in Feedback, we keep the SINNERS conversation going with the help of some prompts from our listeners. Please share your thoughts about MYSTERY MEN, THUNDERBOLTS*, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:07:56Mystery Men Keynote: 00:07:57-00:15:51Mystery Men Discussion: 00:15:52-00:45:35Feedback/outro: 00:45:36-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:03 Sinners Discussion: 00:02:04-00:28:46 Connections: 00:28:47-1:02:37 Your Next Picture Show, next pairing, and goodbyes: 1:02-38-end Director Ryan Coogler has been generous in sharing his many points of inspiration for SINNERS, including the other film in this pairing, but his exceptional new feature is refreshingly singular in both vision and execution. It makes for an admittedly lopsided comparison with FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, but also an illuminating one: examining Coogler’s vision through the lens of the 1996 Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino teamup sheds light on the added depth SINNERS brings to its own vampire mythology, criminal-brother protagonists, and mid-film genre shift. And in Your Next Picture Show, we briefly imagine the conversation we could have had if we’d instead paired SINNERS with the Coen brothers’ O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?   Please share your thoughts about FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, SINNERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Jake Schreier's THUNDERBOLTS and Kinka Usher’s MYSTERY MEN  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comparing 1996's FROM DUSK TILL DAWN to the new SINNERS can feel a bit like, as Scott puts it, comparing “Chopsticks” to Beethoven’s Fifth. But Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s sleazy vampire flick was clearly on Ryan Coogler’s mind when crafting his own film about a pair of brothers who spend one fateful night defending a nightclub from an invading horde of the undead. Coogler’s film also has much more on its mind beyond that pulpy premise, which we’ll get into next week, but for now we’re digging as deep as we can into the shallow pleasures and frustrating shortcomings of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, from the awkward but arguably endearing performances from George Clooney and Tarantino as fugitive brothers, to the moments that test the limits of Rodriguez’s run-and-gun filmmaking approach — and yes, of course we have to talk about the foot stuff, too. Then in Feedback, we respond to a couple of listeners pushing back on some of our Cronenbergian categorization in the last pairing.  Please share your thoughts about FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, SINNERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00:00-00:06:57 From Dusk Till Dawn Keynote: 00:06:57-00:11:55 From Dusk Till Dawn Discussion: 00:11:56-00:54:04 Feedback/outro: 00:54:04-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the decades, David Cronenberg has carved a distinctive and provocative filmography out of his interest in human decay and death, up to and including his new THE SHROUDS, a late-career entry in the writer-director’s body-horror canon. It’s a film that left some of us confounded in a way that our returning guest, critic Charles Bramesco, might argue is part of its Cronenbergian appeal; but placing it next to THE FLY in Connections clarifies how much it’s simply an evolution of the same pet themes Cronenberg has been circling since 1986 (and earlier), from overlapping obsessions with the mutability of bodies and technology, to the horror and guilt of watching a loved one deteriorate before our very eyes. And in Your Next Picture Show, we’re inspired to talk over another recent, highly personal project from an elder-statesman auteur that received a mixed reception, and which we never got to cover on the show: Francis Ford Coppola’s MEGALOPOLIS.Please share your thoughts about THE FLY, THE SHROUDS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.Next Pairing: Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS and Robert Rodriguez’s FROM DUSK TIL DAWNIntro: 00:00:00-00:02:00The Shrouds discussion: 00:02:04-00:26:23The Shrouds/The Fly Connections: 00:26:24-00:59:16Your Next Picture Show: 00:59:17-01:03:15Next episode preview and goodbyes: 1:03:16-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The way David Cronenberg’s new THE SHROUDS splices together unsettling ideas about technology and bodily transformation made us think of… well, a lot of his filmography, but the film’s visceral interest in how the human body decays feels directly connected to the director’s unlikeliest hit, his remake of THE FLY. We’re joined this week by critic and our nascent “gross and scary” correspondent Charles Bramesco to teleport back to 1986 and examine what lies beneath the rotting flesh of THE FLY, from its tender central relationship to its oozing physical effects to its Howard Shore score, that makes it a distinctly Cronenbergian grossout. Then in Feedback, a listener uses our recent discussion of THE THIN MAN to broach a bigger question about what we value most in our mystery stories. Please share your thoughts about THE FLY, THE SHROUDS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:38The Fly Keynote: 00:03:39-00:08:18The Fly Discussion: 00:08:19-00:44:11Feedback/outro: 00:44:12-end Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices