The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 368: Sundance 2026 – Tim Grierson on The Invite, The Weight, The Friend’s House Is Here, plus All About the Money Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2026 Sundance Film Festival is in progress, and I sat down in Park City with festival veteran Tim Grierson who is filing reviews for Screen Daily and is also a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times. We spoke about a few highlights of the lineup so far, including The Invite (directed by Olivia Wilde, starring Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, Ed Norton, and Wilde), The Weight (directed by Padraic McKinley, starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe), The Friend’s House Is Here (directed by Maryam Ataei and Hossein Keshavarz), and a curious documentary I caught called All About the Money (Sinead O’Shead) about the communism-curious scion of a billionaire family fortune. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 367: Sundance 2026 – Sam Adams on Josephine, Wicker, The Moment, Kogonada’s Zi Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2026 Sundance Film Festival is in progress, and I sat down in Park City with festival veteran Sam Adams, Slate writer and senior editor, to talk about a few highlights of the lineup so far. Among the films discussed are The Moment (directed by Aidan Zamiri, starring Charli xcx), Josephine (Beth de Araujo, starring Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan), Wicker (Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård), and, briefly, Kogonada’s briefly titled new film, zi. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 366: Sundance 2026 - Amy Taubin on the festival, plus a preview of John Wilson's The History of Concrete Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Sundance Film Festival begins its 2026 edition, and to kick off its final, I took a look back with Amy Taubin, a Sundance veteran who has written about the festival’s films and evolution over decades. She shares her thoughts on Sundance, past and present, and we trade notes on titles in this edition whose premieres we have been anticipating, including the historic Once Upon a Time in Harlem. Finally, I talk about one festival highlight premiering on opening night, The History of Concrete, directed by John Wilson (of HBO’s “How to With John Wilson” fame), and Taubin reflects on the history of Sundance’s vaunted Main Street. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 365: Chicago Film Society’s Rebecca Lyon and Cameron Worden on The Unholy Three, Heather McAdams, Bob Balaban’s Parents, Proto-Beavis and Butthead, By the Bluest Sea Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Chicago Film Society screens wonderful seasons of features and shorts at Chicago theaters, carefully curated with printed program notes, all of which I’ve enjoyed from afar. I was delighted to kick off another new year of the podcast with two CFS members (and projectionists): Rebecca Lyon and Cameron Worden. Since the Chicago Film Society is between its Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 seasons, we talked about some past programming, including: The Unholy Three (the 1930 sound version), Parents (directed by Bob Balaban), ephemera collected by filmmaker Heather McAdams, home movies from the Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago, and Wes Archer’s extraordinary animated short that prefigured Beavis and Butt-head. Bonus: a sneak peek at a couple of events coming up at Chicago Film Society in the spring. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 364: Live at Metrograph! Mark Asch on Eight Hours of Terror, Marty Supreme, Ella McCay, The Housemaid, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. On a recent wintry night, I was delighted to record a very special episode of the podcast at Metrograph in front of a living, breathing audience. Joining me for this adventure was critic Mark Asch, a friend of the pod and my editor many years ago. We first talked about the movie that the audience had just watched, Seijun Suzuki’s Eight Hours of Terror, a 1957 treat plucked from a previous conversation on The Last Thing I Saw. Our discussion first followed our Lower East Side setting by starting with Marty Supreme (directed by Josh Safdie) and then onto other December films, including The Housemaid (Paul Feig) and Ella McCay (James L. Brooks). Thank you to Metrograph and their devoted team for all their assistance and hospitality in hosting this special recording of The Last Thing I Saw. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 363: Beatrice Loayza and Adam Nayman on 2025 in movies: The Testament of Ann Lee, Sinners, Dracula, Bugonia, Eddington, Hamnet, and much more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For a look at the films of 2025, I’m happy to welcome back two critics who have joined the podcast together before: Adam Nayman (The Ringer) and Beatrice Loayza (The New York Times, The Nation, Criterion Collection). Among the films discussed are The Testament of Ann Lee, Eddington, Afternoons of Solitude, Hamnet, Sinners, Dracula, The Housemaid, Sirat, the latest Avatar installment, One Battle After Another, Train Dreams, and... The Electric State. Plus: Adam and Beatrice’s picks for overlooked movies deserving of a second (or first) look. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 362: Bruce Bennett on Charley Varrick, The American Revolution, Technicolor Weekend at Chicago Film Society, The Shootist Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I’m happy to welcome back series regular Bruce Bennett for our latest debrief. Among the films he brings to the show are longtime favorite Charley Varrick (directed by Don Siegel, subject of a retrospective most recently at Metrograph); The American Revolution (directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt); and The Shootist (Siegel again, starring John Wayne in swan song mode). Bennett also talks about the wondrous annual Technicolor Weekend at Chicago Film Society. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 361: Amy Taubin on Richard Linklater’s Fall Doubleheader, It Was Just an Accident, The Secret Agent, Mr. Scorsese, Cover-Up, BLKNWS, Kontinental ’25 Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the week of Thanksgiving begins, I give thanks for... Amy Taubin! She returns to The Last Thing I Saw to discuss some new releases, including key titles that have been making their way into theaters after screening in The New York Film Festival and elsewhere. Titles addressed by Taubin include: Richard Linklater’s double triumph of Nouvelle Vague and Blue Moon; It Was Just an Accident, from Jafar Panahi; The Secret Agent, from Kleber Mendonça Filho; Rebecca Miller’s streaming series Mr. Scorsese; Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNEWS: Terms & Conditions; Kontinental ’25 from Radu Jude; the Seymour Hersh documentary Cover-Up, from Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus; and memories from the NYFF secret screening of Marty Supreme. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 360: Abby Sun on IDFA 2025: A Fox Under the Pink Moon, December, Silent Flood, The Kartli Kingdom, Air Horse One Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. In November I make my annual visit to the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and for the 2025 edition, I sat down again with Abby Sun, editor of Documentary Magazine. Among the movies we talked about were A Fox Under a Pink Moon (directed by Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya), December (Lucas Gallo), Silent Flood (Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk), The Kartli Kingdom (Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel), and the short Air Horse One (Lasse Linder). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 359: Ira Sachs on Peter Hujar’s Day Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I spoke with filmmaker Ira Sachs about his latest movie, Peter Hujar’s Day. It’s a fascinating chronicle of a 1974 conversation between New York photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz, whose asks Hujar to recount a day in his life in great detail, including visits by friends, an encounter with Allen Ginsberg (whom The New York Times assigned him to photograph for a portrait), Chinese food orders, and much else. Based on actual transcripts, it’s a beautiful demonstration of craft—the actors’, and the photographer and writer they play. Sachs talked about making the film with Whishaw and Hall, the apartment they shot in, the directors whose work inspired him, and the new movie he has been shooting. Peter Hujar’s Day is in theaters now. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass