Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all! I celebrated the day before in the traditional manner: producing a podcast about a film festival in the Netherlands. But seriously folks, Rotterdam hosted a very fine edition that shouldn’t be overshadowed by Sundance, and veteran critic Jordan Cronk is on hand to report the highlights. These include an Australian film about a bumbling slacker and a French one about a historic Olympics-winning Japanese volleyball team (who worked at a factory by day). I also talk up a movie about moving giant trees—physically moving them—across Georgia (the country).
You may have noticed I’m settling back into a groove with the podcast. It’s quite nice and I must say I have a wonderful glow about me. I do it all for cinema, may it flourish for eons to come.
A reminder: you can now support The Last Thing I Saw through a paid subscription (available by clicking below). Look out soon for an exclusive bonus for paid subscribers only—so get in while the getting’s good. Thank you to all the early adopters so far who are supporting this regular space for (I hope) entertaining discussion of movies and transporting trees by boat.
NEW PODCAST NOTES
Rotterdam (and a smidgen of Sundance) with Jordan Cronk
Films and things: Pebbles, Friends and Strangers, Feast, Witches of the Orient, earthearthearth (Daichi Saito), Taming the Garden. Also mentioned: Framing Britney Spears, Punch-Drunk Love, Engram of Returning, Jason Sharp, Fire Will Come, Tokyo Olympiad, Shohei Imamura, Un Film Dramatique. Jordan Cronk is a veteran critic; programmer/founder of Acropolis Cinema, which will soon offer Un Film Dramatique; and host of the interview series The New Normal (available at his Patreon).
The Rotterdam podcast is also available on iTunes.
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
They Live by Night (Criterion Channel)
9 to 5 (Hulu)
Rebels of the Neon God (OVID)
Le Samourai (Criterion Channel)
Within Our Gates (Kino Now)
The Killing Floor (Criterion Channel)
THE END
Here I might end with a song.
ABOUT ME
Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw newsletter and podcast (one of Sight & Sound’s Top Ten Film Podcasts). This is my way of staying in touch and sharing what I’ve been up to. By way of introduction, I’m a writer and an editor. I’ve worked as the editor-in-chief of Film Comment, where I assigned and edited both web and print, hosted its podcast and talks and screenings, learned from brilliant writers, curated Film Comment Selects, and wrote a lot myself. Besides Film Comment, my features, interviews, and reviews have been published in The New York Times, Artforum, Sight & Sound, and dearly departed publications such as The Village Voice, Stop Smiling, The New York Sun, and The L Magazine.
I miss going out to the movies, especially repertory cinemas, and milling about and chatting, and so the natural response is to inflict a podcast on friends and strangers alike.
As always, feel free to contact me re: writing, editing, moderating, podcasting, etc.
nicolas.rapold@gmail.com