The Last Thing I Saw

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I was happy to chat again with the critic Beatrice Loayza, whom you might know from her reviews in The New York Times and essays in Reverse Shot and other publications. We caught up with In the Heights and another sort of musical movie, Bo Burnham’s Inside. And since we hadn’t seen Fast 9 yet, I picked a replacement and talked about that instead: Walter Hill’s The Driver, with Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. Beatrice also talks about the rediscovered George Romero movie, Amusement Park, and I share a few highlights from my viewing at the Tribeca Film Festival. And finally, just because, a few words on Kubrick’s Paths of Glory. 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

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Directed by Janicza Bravo, Zola follows a Detroit waitress and dancer played by Taylour Paige as she goes along with her brand-new friend Stefani on a trip to Tampa, Florida. Stefani (Riley Keough) says the plan is to make some money stripping, but things get increasingly messy and shady and dangerous. It’s a comedy with a crazy energy that crashes into bleaker moments as Zola keeps a cool head in Stefani’s world of pimps, gangsters, and nincompoops. Janicza Bravo brings a sense of vibrant visual invention and careful tonal modulation to the movie, adapting the unpredictable story and its complicated and thorny gender and racial dynamics from its Twitter thread source. I was delighted to talk with Bravo about how it feels to see the movie out in the world, her directorial decisions, early days in New York, and her next project, about a book editor and writer who’s a compulsive scammer. Zola opens June 30. 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

You’re listening to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. First I interview the directors and co-stars of The Beta Test, a crackling new comedy of panic set in the double-talking world of Hollywood agents. Then it's the thrilling conclusion of my conversation with writer/critic Bruce Bennett, about the 1961 Japanese mystery/melodrama Zero Focus and bizarro 1975 thriller The 'Human' Factor, starring George Kennedy. The Beta Test screens in this year’s Tribeca Film Festival and comes out in November from IFC Films. 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

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. First I chat with Christian Petzold, the delightful director of Transit, Phoenix, Barbara, and now Undine, which comes out June 4. Undine is about a Berlin historian(Paula Beer) who may be a figure from ancient myth. She gives regular lectures in tours of the municipal museum, and eventually she connects with an industrial diver (Franz Rogowski). This being a Petzold movie, there are layers of history and myth that haunt the main plot. I reached Petzold at his office in Berlin over Zoom, with the occasional help of a translator. Then I chat with writer and critic Bruce Bennett about the director Budd Boetticher and his tightly wound westerns. Bruce also shares insights about story mechanics from his current job: writing for a true crime TV show. Our conversation went long and was so much fun that I’m publishing it in two parts. 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

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For a period in the 1980s and 90s, Oliver Stone directed movies as if somebody might stop him at any time. His movies tended to land like bombshells in American culture: Platoon, JFK, The Doors, Natural Born Killers, to name a few. I spoke with Stone recently on the occasion of the paperback publication of his latest book, Chasing the Light: Writing, Directing, and Surviving Platoon, Midnight Express, Scarface, Salvador, and the Movie Game. Stone’s global interests guaranteed that our interview would be a bit like lassoing a freight train. Stone kicks things off with some good-natured joking after I tried to explain away some background noise. 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

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Every year the True/False Film Fest puts together a terrific showcase of nonfiction film, and for several years I’ve headed out to Columbia, Missouri, to attend. This year I attended virtually and compared notes with someone who went in person, Screen Slate managing editor Cosmo Bjorkenheim. After our conversation, I talk with Theo Anthony, the director of the fascinating essay film All Light, Everywhere, which screened in True/False after premiering at Sundance and showing in New Directors New Films. All Light, Everywhere opens June 4. You can support The Last Thing I Saw and read show notes/links at: rapold.substack.com Opening music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For his new book, Films of Endearment, critic Michael Koresky (Reverse Shot) watched 10 movies from the 1980s with his mother, a fellow movie lover. This simple premise becomes a way to talk about the decade’s bounty of great acting by women and reflect on the many facets of his mother’s life and their relationship together. Michael makes it look easy as he mingles film criticism, family biography, and social history, with his characteristic insight, sensitivity, and knowledge of film history. For this episode, Michael is joined by critic Molly Haskell, whose influential body of work has spanned The Village Voice, New York magazine, and Vogue, and includes the landmark critical work From Reverence to Rape. It’s a wonderful pairing of sensibilities and enthusiasms for the work of these actresses, spanning films from 9 to 5 to Mommie Dearest to Crossing Delancey. 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

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host Nicolas Rapold. This week I talk with the one and only Manohla Dargis, a chief film critic at The New York Times. We chose a couple of movies to watch in advance -- one by a pioneering French female filmmaker who should be better known, another a Hollywood small-town picture with an intriguing pair of stars -- and discuss. We also talk about television aesthetics, life under the pandemic, and, taking a fresh audiovisual angle, AOC’s historic use of Instagram Live. 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

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week the conversation starts with R.W. Fassbinder's serial drama Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day. My guest is a regular on the show, critic Beatrice Loayza (The New York Times, Reverse Shot, A.V. Club). Beatrice’s viewing leads us to two dramas with British star Dirk Bogarde and two comedies by the great Albert Brooks. We also take the measure of studio blockbuster filmmaking from recent months, including Godzilla vs. Kong and Nobody. 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

Streaming is a subject that’s often left weirdly opaque, but this week’s guests bring industry insights that are illuminating and informative. The starting point is a new series on the Criterion Channel called Close to Home in which filmmakers drew inspiration from their own homes and everyday lives, from Martin Scorsese to Maya Deren to Blake Edwards to Chantal Akerman. It was co-programmed by Nellie Killian, programmer at Screen Slate, and Chris Wells, who works at MUBI in distribution. They discuss what’s different about programming for streaming, and the specific challenges and opportunities posed by the past year’s upheaval and the reopening of movie theaters. Both are also voracious movie-watchers, so they also talk about their endless pursuit of titles on streaming 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