The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 189: Amy Taubin on the Tribeca Festival 2023 and Beyond Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I talk with the one and only Amy Taubin about the 2023 edition of the Tribeca Festival. We discuss Taubin’s favorite from the festival; a couple of hard-hitting documentaries, Transition and Rule of Two Walls; video game titan Hideo Kojima and auteurs in dialogue David Fincher and Steven Soderbergh; and other notable titles like Mountains and A Strange Path. Plus thoughts on recent viewing and what’s to come. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Tomorrow’s Forecast” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 188: Peter Labuza on Sokurov, Klimov, Shepitko, Hellman’s Iguana, the strike Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week brings some recent highlights from Los Angeles repertory courtesy of my latest guest, Peter Labuza. He talks about two 1990s films by Alexander Sokurov, the formidable war-movie pairing of Larissa Shepitko’s The Ascent and Elem Klimov’s Come and See, and Monte Hellman’s rarely screened Iguana. Labuza, researcher at IATSE Local 600 (the International Cinematographers Guild) and a scholar in media industries law, also offers personal reflections on possible implications of the writers strike for the industry. Finally, I say a bit about Mary Bronstein’s Yeast. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 187: Michael Shannon Directs: Eric LaRue, a premiere at the Tribeca Festival Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I spoke with Michael Shannon who’s become an indelible actor in film, on stage, and on television. Now Shannon has directed his first feature film, Eric LaRue, which is in this year’s Tribeca Festival. It’s based on a play by a longtime collaborator of his, Brett Neveu, who wrote the film’s screenplay. The story is about a woman and her husband who are dealing with the terrible aftermath of their son’s actions. Shannon talks about directing the film; casting Judy Greer and Alex Skarsgard as the parents; what the Theater of the Absurd means to him; and a fascinating movie he has coming up down the road called The End, directed by Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing). (Shannon also appears in The Flash, opening in theaters this week.) Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 186: Cannes #14 with Manohla Dargis of The New York Times Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2023 Cannes Film Festival series joyously concludes with our traditional grand finale: a discussion with Manohla Dargis, chief film critic of The New York Times, live from Cannes. Dargis reveals what might be her favorite film of the festival, and then we discuss too many titles to list here in full, ranging from Catherine Breillat’s Last Summer and Wang Bing’s Youth to Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and Sean Price Williams’s The Sweet East. Thank you to all our listeners! And please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 185: Cannes #13 with Guy Lodge on How to Have Sex, In Our Day, Anselm, Mambar Pierrette, Sleep Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2023 Cannes series continues, with episodes recorded live in Cannes! For the latest discussion, I chat with Guy Lodge of Variety and Film of the Week, about a few more films that haven’t come up yet on the podcast. Titles include Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex (winner of Un Certain Regard), Hong Sangsoo’s In Our Day, Wim Wenders’s documentary Anselm, Rosine Mbakam’s fiction feature debut Mambar Pierrette, Jason Yu’s Sleep, and Anurag Kashyap's Kennedy. Stay tuned for more! Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 184: Cannes #12 with Eric Hynes on In the Rearview, Riddle of Fire, The Breaking Ice, La Chimera, It’s Raining in the House Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2023 Cannes series continues, with episodes recorded live in Cannes! For the latest discussion, I chat with Eric Hynes, curator of film at the Museum of the Moving Image, about some discoveries from across the festival that people may have overlooked or missed. Titles include Maciek Hamela’s In the Rearview (ACID), It’s Raining in the House (Critics’ Week), Riddle of Fire (Directors’ Fortnight), and Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera (Competition). I also talk about Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice (Un Certain Regard). Stay tuned for more episodes with a delightful array of brilliant critics. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 183: Cannes #11 with KJ Relth-Miller on Cannes Classics including L’Amour Fou and Skeleton of Mrs. Morales Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2023 Cannes series continues, with episodes recorded live in Cannes! For the latest discussion, I was delighted to welcome returning guest K.J. Relth-Miller, who heads the film program at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. She surveys Cannes Classics, the festival’s robust program of new restorations and film documentaries, making their world premieres. Titles include L’Amour Fou (1967) from Jacques Rivette (which was an unofficial opening film for many attendees) and Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (1959) from Mexican director Rogelio A. González, and we reflect on the late Godard’s newest, Trailer of the Film That Will Never Exist: Phony Wars. Stay tuned for more episodes with a delightful array of brilliant critics. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 182: Cannes #10 with Justin Chang on The Old Oak, Strange Way of Life, Sandra Huller 2x, Close Your Eyes Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2023 Cannes series continues, with episodes that were recorded live in Cannes! For the latest discussion, I talk with critic Justin Chang of The Los Angeles Times about a batch of new films: Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, Pedro Almodóvar’s Strange Way of Life, and Erice’s Close Your Eyes. Plus, Chang talks about interviewing Sandra Hüller, who stars in both Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest. Stay tuned for more episodes with a delightful array of brilliant critics. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 181: Cannes #9 with Jessica Kiang on 4 Daughters, La Chimera, Banel and Adama, Only the River Flows, Project Silence Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2023 Cannes film festival series continues, recorded live in Cannes! For the latest discussion, I talk with critic Jessica Kiang of Variety about a batch of new films: Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters, Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera, Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s Banel and Adama, Wei Shujun’s Only the River Flows, and Kim Tae-gon’s Project Silence (affectionately known as Dogs in the Fog!). Stay tuned for more episodes with a delightful array of brilliant critics. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 180: Cannes #8 with Jonathan Romney on Victor Erice’s Close Your Eyes, Joanna Arnow, and Pedro Costa + Wang Bing Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2023 Cannes film festival series continues, recorded live in Cannes! This episode I talk with critic Jonathan Romney about Victor Erice’s long-awaited new film Close Your Eyes and the curious controversy surrounding its presentation; Joanna Arnow’s debut fiction feature The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed; and the incredible double bill of Pedro Costa’s short Les Filles du Feu and Wang Bing’s Man in Black. Stay tuned for more episodes with a delightful array of brilliant critics. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass