Medieval Cinema Today
Looking at The Last Duel and other movies set in the Middle Ages, with filmmaker/writer Caroline Golum
Dear subscribers,
Since I had such success with the 1996 podcast, I decided to go further with this whole “past” thing: hello, Middle Ages! On the latest episode, recorded just before the new year, we talk about attempts to portray the era, starting with The Last Duel, Ridley Scott’s overlooked medieval drama from last fall. Our guide is Caroline Golum, who is putting together a movie about a medieval mystic and whose work I’ve read on Screen Slate.
Looking ahead, I will be podcasting about Sundance movies again in a couple of weeks when the festival begins its 2022 edition (virtually, that is). Who knows what wonders await this year? I vow to find and identify these wonders, talk about them with smart people, and record the whole thing for your enjoyment.
Finally, a word in memory of Sidney Poitier and Peter Bogdanovich, who passed away this week. Others have already written more eloquent remembrances of their legacies (though I did my best with an assignment to write up a few of Bogdanovich’s films available on streaming, linked below).
Thanks for listening!
Nic
NEW PODCAST NOTES
Episode 92: Medieval Times with Caroline Golum, featuring The Last Duel, The Green Knight, and more, plus thoughts on Nightmare Alley and Master and Commander
Caroline Golum is a filmmaker and writer with work published in Screen Slate and elsewhere. This episode arose when I learned she was going to make a movie about a medieval mystic.
Here’s the “Budget Middle Ages” playlist of films she created, discussed on the episode.
For more information on the podcast’s opening music by The Minarets (gratefully used with permission):
Follow the band on Instagram
@theminaretsmusic
MY RECENT WRITING
For The New York Times, I wrote up a streaming guide of some films directed by the late Peter Bogdanovich, including The Last Picture Show, wonderful as ever.
An interview I did with Amalia Ulman about her film El Planeta appears in the new Blu-ray, available from Vinegar Syndrome here.
And let’s not forget about my podcast with her, chock full of movies and guest-starring her cats.
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
Delectable selections for home viewing.
No Way Out (Criterion) – the feature debut of Sidney Poitier, R.I.P.
Paper Moon (Amazon) – directed by Peter Bogdanovich, R.I.P.
THE END
Here I may end with a song.
ABOUT ME
Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw!
Besides hosting a podcast, I’m a writer and an editor. My features, interviews, festival dispatches, and reviews have been published in The New York Times, Sight & Sound, Artforum, Filmmaker, and W Magazine (as well as dearly departed publications such as The Village Voice, Stop Smiling, The New York Sun, and The L Magazine).
I worked as editor-in-chief of Film Comment, where I was for 15 years. I assigned and edited both the web and print editorial, hosted its podcast and talks and screenings, learned from brilliant writers, curated Film Comment Selects, and wrote a lot, including interviews with Spike Lee, Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, and Frederick Wiseman. Film Comment was subsequently awarded the Film Heritage Award by the National Society of Film Critics (an honor historically awarded to the Museum of Modern Art and other institutions).
Feel free to get in touch re: writing, editing, moderating, programming, podcasting, etc.
nicolas.rapold@gmail.com