The Last Thing I Saw

Episode 99: Sundance 2022 #6 with Jon Dieringer (Leonor Will Never Die, Short Films, TikTok, Boom, Cha Cha Real Smooth) Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Sundance Film Festival is here, there, and everywhere this year, screening in a virtual edition. As we enter the final days (of the festival), I was joined by Jon Dieringer, editor and publisher of the estimable Screen Slate. We talk about Martika Escobar’s Leonor Will Never Die, Shalini Kantayya’s documentary TikTok, Boom, and short films by directors such as Hugo Covarrubias, Joe Hsieh, and Mahboobeh Kaleee (some of whom may have won awards while we were recording...). 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

Episode 98: Sundance 2022 #5 with Jourdain Searles (Emily the Criminal, Sharp Stick, Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul, When You Finish Saving the World) Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Sundance Film Festival is here, there, and everywhere this year, screening in a virtual edition. For this episode, I’m very pleased to welcome a terrific critic I’ve been wanting to feature on the podcast for a long time: Jourdain Searles, who writes for publications including The Hollywood Reporter, Little White Lies, and Okayplayer. We talk about John Patton Ford’s Emily the Criminal, Lena Dunham’s Sharp Stick, Adamma Ebo’s Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul., and Andrew Semans’s Resurrection. 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

Episode 97: Sundance 2022 #4 with Beatrice Loayza (Dos Estaciones, Speak No Evil, Brainwashed, jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy) Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Sundance Film Festival is here, there, and everywhere this year, screening in a virtual edition. For this episode, I chat with Beatrice Loayza, a New York Times contributor and an editor at the Criterion Collection, about her recent Sundance selections, her favorites and her not-so-favorites. We talk about Juan Pablo González’s Dos Estaciones, Christian Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil, Nina Menkes’s Brainwashed, and jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, from Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah. If you listen to this, 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

Episode 96: Sundance 2022 #3 with Amy Taubin (Nanny, Master, Call Jane, Resurrection, You Won’t Be Alone) Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Sundance Film Festival is here, there, and everywhere, screening in a virtual edition. For this episode, I’m delighted to talk with the one and only Amy Taubin about yet another year of Sundance selections. We talk about a few highlights of her viewing so far, including Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny, Mariama Diallo’s Master, Phyllis Nagy’s Call Jane, Andrew Semans’s Resurrection, Ricky D'Ambrose's The Cathedral, Goran Stolevski’s You Won’t Be Alone, and Alex Pritz’s The Territory. If you listen to this, 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

Episode 95: Sundance 2022 #2 with Eric Hynes (Dual, We Met in Virtual Reality, A House Made of Splinters, Jihad Rehab) Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Sundance Film Festival is here, there, and everywhere, screening in a virtual edition. We’re nearing the end of a packed weekend of premieres and I joined forces once again with Eric Hynes, curator of film at Museum of the Moving Image, to begin sorting through the movies. We share initial reactions to a few including Riley Stearns’s Dual, Joe Hunting’s We Met in Virtual Reality, Maryna Er Gorbach's Klondike, Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made of Splinters, and Meg Smaker’s Jihad Rehab. You can support this podcast and read show notes with links at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Tomorrow’s Forecast” by The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Sundance Film Festival is here, there, and everywhere, screening in a virtual edition that’s no less important for beginning the 2022 movie calendar. I joined forces with Eric Hynes, curator of film at Museum of the Moving Image, to talk about the independent-minded festival in general and to highlight a couple of movies that jumped out to us in the opening day (or two). You can support this podcast and read show notes with links at: rapold.substack.com Music: “Tomorrow’s Forecast” by The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Episode 93: Days of Horror with Mike Civins Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Every October my good friend Mike Civins does a horror movie marathon. He watches 31 titles over 31 days, like clockwork. I have always been curious about his project, which happily ranges far and wide and includes movies that aren’t often thought of as a horror. This year he watched the Alien movies, including Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien Resurrection, but he also saw Wolf’s Hole, a movie from Daisies director Vera Chytilova. Also on the menu were goodies like Angst, Dolls, and a truly horrifying film, The Cremator. So, Mike finally came on the podcast to talk about his adventures, both the highs and the lows. Mostly I just quiz him at random about titles from his list so I can listen to the outlandish plots. You may be wondering why I’m posting this now, and the answer is, why not? If you like what you hear, why not support the podcast by signing up: rapold.substack.com Opening music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. At some point last year I learned that Caroline Golum -- a critic whom I read on Screen Slate -- was planning to make a movie about a medieval mystic. For this episode, Caroline joins us to talk about movies set in olden times and how they envision the past. Two recent titles came to mind: The Last Duel, which is based on a true story from medieval France, and The Green Knight, which is inspired by a 14th-century chivalric romance. Our conversation led to storytelling set in other time periods, including the nautical fiction of Master and Commander and Guillermo del Toro’s recent remake of Nightmare Alley. Stay tuned to the end when Caroline shares selections from her Budget Middle Ages viewing list. You can support this podcast and read show notes with links at: rapold.substack.com Opening music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Episode 91: 1996 with Nick Davis Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. It’s time to look back at the year in the movies—the year 1996, that is. Scholar and pal Nick Davis joins me to revisit movies from a pivotal year early in our rabid moviegoing. Our trips down memory lane take us through Hollywood productions like The People vs. Larry Flynt and Jerry Maguire, and independent visions like Wayne Wang’s Smoke and Spike Lee’s Get on the Bus. What did we think then? What do we think now? Did we ever recover from seeing Crash when our brains were so soft and vulnerable? Nick Davis is a professor at Northwestern University, researching and teaching in the areas of film, queer theory, feminist and gender studies, and 20th/21st-century American literature. (We also remember seeing Surviving Picasso but aren't ready to talk about that yet.) You can support this podcast and read show notes with links at: rapold.substack.com Opening music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Episode 90: Amy Taubin on the Best of 2021 Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. It’s that time of year again, when we look back at the year in movies. Joining me to share her highlights is the critic Amy Taubin, a regular guest on the podcast. We start with one movie you might not have heard as much about this year, and go on to trade our top picks, with reflections on another strange year for moviegoing and moviemaking. Here’s to the best of 2021, and beyond! You can support this podcast and read show notes with links at: rapold.substack.com Opening music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass