The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 155: Snubbed! with Michael Koresky, Eric Hynes, and Edo Choi Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This month the Museum of the Moving Image starts the series “Snubbed: Great Movies, No Nominations.” The rules are simple: very fine films that were ignored, overlooked, or snubbed (if you will) by the Academy. For this episode I’m joined by the delightful series co-programmers: Eric Hynes, curator of film at MOMI; Michael Koresky, co-editor of Reverse Shot; and Edo Choi, associate curator at MOMI. Each chose a couple of films to represent the varieties of snubbage that occur when the Oscars and the history of great movies fail to intersect. 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. 154: Avatar 2, Michael Mann, Nope, Casa Susanna, Rosa von Praunheim, World Cup Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The thrilling conclusion of 2022 has arrived, starring critic Mark Asch in a discussion about all of the pressing matters of the moment in the film world: Avatar 2: The Way of Water, digital cinema and Michael Mann, Nope, Casa Susanna, Rosa von Praunheim, and the 2022 World Cup. 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. 153: Bruce Bennett on Blue Collar, Canyon Passage, Ragtime, Ken Burns Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This episode I continue my conversation with writer Bruce Bennett, who’s back on the show with a new garden of cinematic delights. In the first half, we talked about Chabrol and Skolimowski and British rarities, and now in the second half, Bruce takes us deep into the heart of America on film through Paul Schrader’s Blue Collar, Jacques Tourneur’s Canyon Passage, Milos Forman’s Ragtime, and Ken Burns’s recent series The U.S. and the Holocaust. 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. 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 Taubin’s career-spanning vantage point. Also: a TV recommendation. 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. 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 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. 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 and her tough and evocative voiceover. Goldin speaks openly of traumas in her past, including the tragic story of her sister, Barbara. I’m a huge admirer of Poitras’s films, and as she generously pointed out, I first interviewed her in 2010 about her film The Oath, which was followed by her features Risk and Citizenfour, winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary. It was an honor to talk with her again about All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, winner of the Golden Lion in Venice and more recently Best Documentary from the New York Film Critics Circle. 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. 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 Chabrol film you ever did (or did not) see. But wait, there’s more! So much more, in fact, that I will publish the second half of our jampacked chat separately. Stay tuned! 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. 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 special medium-length pick. 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. 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 films we discuss is the top prize-winner of the international competition: Apolonia, Apolonia, which was 13 years in the making. 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. 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 and John Heard—as well as other fine films such as Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar (which by coincidence I recently introduced at the Roxy Cinema). We talk about all of these titles, plus others, and at the end, Jonathan and Margaret (who hosts the show No Pussyfooting on kpiss.fm) have some cool recent viewing to share. 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