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!

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Opening music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Episode 90: Amy Taubin on the Best of 2021

Cannes #9 with Mark Asch: Triangle of Sadness, Enys Men, Aftersun, Hunt

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The highlights from the Cannes Film Festival continue with critic Mark Asch joining the show again. We discuss Ruben Östlund’s second Palme d’Or winner, Triangle of Sadness; Mark Jenkin’s Enys Men; Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun; and Hunt, from Squid Game star-turned-director Lee Jung-jae.

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Music: “Tomorrow’s Forecast” by The Minarets, courtesy of The Minarets

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 123: Cannes #9 with Mark Asch: Triangle of Sadness, Enys Men, Aftersun, Hunt

Ep. 157: Sundance 2023 Two with Amy Taubin

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. The Sundance Film Festival is back in action, returning to in-person screenings and events after two virtual years. I sat down with Last Thing I Saw regular and veteran of Sundance, critic Amy Taubin, about some of the highlights (and otherwise) at the festival, including Past Lives, Polite Society, and a Nam June Paik documentary.

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. 157: Sundance 2023 Two with Amy Taubin

Ep. 307: Bruce Bennett Returns! Two by Kaneto Shindo, Breezy, Anita Pallenberg, Nightshift, My First Film

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. First, some news: It's a wonderful honor to be presenting a special double screening at the wonderful Light Industry on March 18: An Evening with The Last Thing I Saw! The films that I'll be presenting spring forth from chats on... The Last Thing I Saw. One of these chats is the latest with Bruce Bennett, returns to the podcast to share another treasure chest of movies. We start with two films written by the relentlessly sharp Kaneto Shindo: Devil’s Temple (1969) and The Whale God (1962, aka Killer Whale). What follows ranges from Clint Eastwood’s Breezy (1973) to Zia Anger’s My First Film to a little word on Nightshift (1981) from your host.

Kaneto Shindo's work comprises one half of the March 18 double feature at Light Industry: Elegant Beast, written by Kaneto Shindo and directed by Yūzō Kawashima. The other half is Fate, from the rarely screened directorial oeuvre of Fred Kelemen, DP for Béla Tarr (The Turin Horse, The Man from London) among others.

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Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 307: Bruce Bennett on Two by Kaneto Shindo, Breezy, Anita Pallenberg, Nightshift, My First Film

Ep. 311: Radu Jude on his film Kontinental ’25, reflecting the world today, and going back to basics

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. It’s not every day that I feature the same filmmaker twice in two years on the podcast, but we’ll make a delightful exception for Radu Jude, director of Kontinental ’25. I spoke with Jude about Kontinental '25 at the Berlin Film Festival, where his film won a Silver Bear, and where Jude previously won the Golden Bear for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn. Kontinental ’25 follows a bailiff (an outstanding Eszter Tompa) who faces a personal reckoning after she evicts a man. True to the director of the rambunctious Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, our conversation features his thoughtful reflections on living in the world today, on filmmaking technique, on dinosaur parks, and on what he’s been reading and watching.

Kontinental ’25 will be released theatrically in North America by 1-2 Special.

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:
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Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 311: Radu Jude on his film Kontinental ’25, reflecting the world today, and going back to basics

Ep. 358: Michael Leader of Ghibliotheque on The Animation Atlas

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Michael Leader co-hosts The Ghibliotheque Podcast with Jake Cunningham, and we originally connected when my book The Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki was published. And so I was delighted to learn of The Animation Atlas, the lovely new book he and Cunningham wrote, which was published this fall. The Animation Atlas spans six continents in exploring the animation traditions of different countries through selected films, and of course I was eager to pepper Leader with questions. Leader, who is also curator of archive platforms at the British Film Institute, discusses films including Yellow Fever (directed by Ng'endo Mukii), the stop-motion work of Ladislas Starevich, KPop Demon Hunters (Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans), Bubble Bath (György Kovásznai), Ne Zha 2 (Yu Yang), Boy and the World (Ale Abreu), Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle (Haruo Sotozaki), and Time Masters (René Laloux). He also shares a few general thoughts on the global animation landscape today.


The Animation Atlas: The Ghibliotheque Guide to the World of Animated Film by Jake Cunningham and Michael Leader is available for purchase now.

Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at:
rapold.substack.com

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 358: Michael Leader of Ghibliotheque on The Animation Atlas

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, a podcast where we reach out to friends to talk about what we’ve been watching. It’s as simple as that. Joining Nicolas Rapold this time is Amy Taubin, a mainstay of film criticism and a longtime inspiration. It’s always a rich and varied journey when Amy shares her viewing notes, and this time was no different. Among the movies discussed were John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix, Charles Burnett’s police drama The Glass Shield, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Love and Basketball, the pioneering work of Monika Treut and Elfi Mikesch, Spike Lee’s Da Five Bloods, Werner Herzog’s Family Romance, plus a couple of short films and a Kanye West music video.

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Episode 8: Amy Taubin

Critic Nicolas Rapold talks with guests about the movies they've been watching. From home viewing to the latest from festivals and retrospectives. Named one of the 10 Best Film Podcasts by Sight & Sound magazine. Guests include critics, curators, and filmmakers.

Ep. 358: Michael Leader of Ghibliotheque on The Animation Atlas

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