Back in Action: Manohla Dargis chat, new Cronenberg review, Indian cinema at Cannes, Kelly Reichardt watches, infra-red cameras
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Dear Last Thing I Sawfolk,
It’s been a busy few weeks for this li’l film critic, thanks to the Cannes film festival and related writing obligations. But I’ve been hard at work, recording podcasts with my brilliant colleagues, and together we present to you the best and brightest films, as well as other ones.
I’ll collect all of these episodes in one of my patented “Collections” but for now, here’s the latest one, with Manohla Dargis, which per tradition we recorded right before the buzzer. I’m also including my last pre-Cannes episode: a very cool conversation with the amazing Kelly Reichardt about her recent viewing.
Plus the usual smorgasbord of writing! All for your delectation. Thank you, supporters of The Last Thing I Saw!
Nic
THE PODCAST
Cannes 2024: Manohla Dargis on The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Anora, The Apprentice, Wild Diamond, Marcello Mio
Kelly Reichardt on Alain Delon, Passionate Friends, Recreating Rear Window, and more
Note: The full roster of Cannes podcasts will be collected in a separate mailing.
Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic for The New York Times.
Kelly Reichardt most recently directed Showing Up (a Cannes competition selection) and was the subject of a retrospective at Metrograph. Her films include First Cow, Certain Women, Night Moves, Meek’s Cutoff, Wendy and Lucy, Old Joy, and River of Grass.
Episodes of The Last Thing I Saw are also available at many other podcast places.
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
Streaming selections
The Straight Story (Criterion)
Simone Barbes or Virtue (MUBI)
Burning (MUBI)
Stray Dogs (Metrograph)
45365 (MUBI)
Assault on Precinct 13 (Criterion)
RECENT WRITING
For the Times, I wrote about the wave of Indian films and filmmakers at this year’s Cannes—one of whom, Payal Kapadia, went on to win the festival’s Grand Prix award, its second-highest honor for her film All We Imagine as Light. We spoke in advance of the festival, and it was a fascinating conversation, along with others for the piece.
At Cannes for Sight & Sound, I reviewed David Cronenberg’s latest, The Shrouds, which I was quite moved by.
I don’t think I posted my delightful interview with Frederick Elmes, the incredible cinematographer on several David Lynch movies and much else besides. We looked at stills together and talk about a few titles—as well as his collaboration with John Cassavetes.
Also sharing here a different sort of interview about filming with an infra-red camera: creative director and VFX mastermind João Rosa on Aggr0 Dr1ft, directed by Harmony Korine. For Sloan Science and Film.
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.