Amy Taubin on NYFF! 1990s Horror with Clyde Folley! Film Criticism Galore!
And articles starring a cast of thousands including Errol Morris, Justine Triet, Timothy Carey, Ninón Sevilla, Alexandra Pelosi, and Depeche Mode!
Dear Last Thing I Sawfolk,
It’s been a head-spinning couple of weeks thanks to a cavalcade of assignments and podcasts. Don’t miss the inimitable Amy Taubin on the highs and lows of this year’s New York Film Festival, which doubles as a preview of fall must-sees (or we-disagree-over-whether-to-sees). And Clyde Folley joins the podcast to talk about his exquisite 90s Horror series on the Criterion Channel, including the truly unnerving The Rapture.
The articles run the gamut, including Justine Triet on writing marital drama Anatomy of a Fall with her partner, Errol Morris on interviewing spymaster novelist John le Carré, and an unforeseen double bill of sin with queen of the rumberas Ninón Sevilla and the unclassifiable Timothy Carey.
Thank you to all the supporters of The Last Thing I Saw!
Yours,
Nic
THE PODCAST
Amy Taubin on the New York Film Festival 2023
Clyde Folley on 90s Horror on Criterion: Body Parts, The Rapture, The Exorcist III, and more
Episodes of The Last Thing I Saw are also available at other podcast places such as Spotify.
RECENT WORK
For the Los Angeles Times, I wrote a feature about the very fine Anatomy of a Fall, part domestic drama, part mystery, directed by Justine Triet and starring Sandra Hüller (Toni Erdmann herself). It’s about a married couple and was written by a married couple, Triet and her partner, Arthur Harari. So I spoke to them both about the process. The Palme d’Or winner is now out in theaters.
For The New York Times, I wrote about two cool, very different older films getting a release: The World’s Greatest Sinner, directed by and starring bizarro character actor Timothy Carey as an aspiring dictator; and the Mexican “musical noir” Victims of Sin, starring Cuban-born Ninón Sevilla as a nightclub dancer.
Also for the Times, I reviewed The Insurrectionist Next Door, a wild documentary directed by Alexandra Pelosi, who simply sits down and talks with people arrested for their roles in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. She even asks someone about targeting her mother, Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
At the mighty Screen Slate, I interviewed Errol Morris about The Pigeon Tunnel, his documentary about the great spy novelist John le Carré. Delightful.
Lastly, I was invited to contribute to a concert movie round-up at the Times. So I picked Depeche Mode 101.
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
Fallen Angel (Criterion)
The Rapture (Criterion)
Boxcar Bertha (Amazon Prime) Scorsese directs, handpicked by Roger Corman
Paprika (MUBI)
When a Stranger Calls Back (Criterion)
The Naked Gun (HBO MAX) Co-starring Priscilla Presley
THE END
Here I may end with a song.
ABOUT ME
Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw! I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. Feel free to get in touch re: writing, editing, moderating, programming, podcasting, etc. by writing me at nicolas.rapold[at]gmail.com
Besides hosting the podcast, I’m a writer and an editor. My features, interviews, festival reports, and reviews are published in The New York Times, Screen Slate, Sight & Sound, Filmmaker, Air Mail, The Los Angeles Times, and W Magazine. (Plus dearly departed publications such as The Village Voice, Stop Smiling, The New York Sun, and The L Magazine.) For notes on my superfun programming experience, drop me a line.
On the editorial side, I worked as editor-in-chief of Film Comment magazine, where I was for 15 years in all. I assigned and edited both web and print, hosted The Film Comment Podcast and Talks, curated and hosted Film Comment Selects screenings, learned from brilliant writers, and wrote a lot, including interviews with Spike Lee, Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Pedro Costa, and Frederick Wiseman. Film Comment received the Film Heritage Award from the National Society of Film Critics.