Guy Maddin and the Johnsons on Walter Huston and More! Alissa Wilkinson on Docs! Mark Asch on Hellraiser and Blitz!
Plus: New writing about No Other Land
Dear Last Thing I Sawfolk,
What bounty! Three podcasts in one mailing, including a truly fun interview with the great Guy Maddin and his co-conspirators Evan and Galen Johnson, directors of G-7-and-a-brain satire Rumours, starring Cate Blanchett.
Catching up, I had delightful times talking to Alissa Wilkinson and Mark Asch (separately) about highlights of the New York Film Festival, coming soon to a theater near you (Blitz, Nickel Boys), and otherwise (My Undesirable Friends, Hellraiser: The 4k Restoration).
Action Item! Follow The Last Thing I Saw on Instagram @lastthingisaw — The Last Thing I Saw now has its own Instagram page, part of its ongoing conquest of the digital arena, like a pod-gladiator winning rounds through sheer movie love alone.
Thank you to all the supporters of The Last Thing I Saw!
Happily ever after,
Nic
THE PODCAST
Ep. 274: Alissa Wilkinson on Suburban Fury, My Undesirable Friends, Wang Bing, 7 Walks with Mark Brown, Nickel Boys
Alissa Wilkinson is a movie critic at The New York Times. Her next book, We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine, will be out March 11.
Ep. 275: Rumours directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson Talk About Movies
Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson co-directed Rumours, which is in theaters now.
Ep. 276: Mark Asch on Blitz, Hellraiser, Northern Lights, Saturday Night, plus Compensation
Mark Asch has written for Sight & Sound, Reverse Shot, Little White Lies, Inside Hook, and other fine publications. He is formerly film editor of The L Magazine and Brooklyn Magazine, where he edited my reviews and such.
Episodes of The Last Thing I Saw are also available at many other podcast places.
RECENT WORK
For The Financial Times, I wrote a feature about No Other Land, one of the year’s great documentaries, chronicling the Israeli expulsion of Palestinians from Masafer Yatta in the West Bank. It centers on a Palestinian activist, Basel Adra, who becomes friends with an Israeli journalist, Yuval Abraham (who has also written about the Israeli military’s AI targeting systems).
I gave a Critic’s Pick to Nocturnes at The New York Times. It’s an entrancing nature documentary about a scientist studying moths in a forest in India.
I also wrote up My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock, the latest essay film from Mark Cousins, presented as the director’s own commentary on his work.
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
Hello Dankness (Le Cinema Club) Soda Jerk’s brilliant, satirical chronicle of recent American history (which I somehow got to interview them about for W Magazine). Otherwise unavailable to view
The Woman Who Ran (Metrograph) Hong Sangsoo
Lifeforce (Criterion) Having trouble picking a horror/sci-fi movie? Here, watch all of them!
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (MUBI)
The Red Shoes (Criterion)
Venezia 70 Future Reloaded - Paul Schrader
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, programming, moderating, podcasting, etc. by writing me at nicolas.rapold[at]gmail.com
Besides hosting the podcast, I’m a writer, editor, and programmer. 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. (Dearly departed publications include The Village Voice, Stop Smiling, The New York Sun, and The L Magazine.) I’m also proud of the series and one-offs I’ve programmed, both revivals and premieres, so do drop me a line if you’d like to collaborate.
Editorially speaking, 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.