The Best of 2021 a.k.a. The Best Things I Saw
I chat with critic Amy Taubin about our favorites from the year in movies
Dear The Last Thing I Saw-ers,
It’s the end of the year, when film critics are asked to take inventory on their year of moviegoing. I’ve done a bit of it myself (being asked, and doing the asking). And now on the latest episode of The Last Thing I Saw, Amy Taubin and I ask ourselves: what were our favorites this year? Instead of reciting a top ten, we pick and choose, and also think aloud a little about the year in general. I had fun and hope you will too.
I won’t make this a “so long, 2021!!” letter because there’s more to come on the podcast before the year is over. So if you aren’t subscriber, I encourage you to support the podcast by clicking below. And if you don’t want to subscribe, well, let me know what you’d like to be seeing (or hearing) here.
Stay safe,
Nic
NEW PODCAST NOTES
Episode 90: Amy Taubin on the Best of 2021
Amy Taubin recently wrote about Arthur Jafa’s latest installation AGHDRA and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog at Artforum.
For more on Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s soon-to-be-released film Memoria, you can check out my special episode on the film and its creation with official set chronicler and critic Giovanni Marchini Camia:
For more information on the podcast’s opening music by The Minarets (gratefully used with permission):
Follow the band on Instagram
@theminaretsmusic
twitter.com/MinaretsMusic
www.facebook.com/TheMinaretsMusic
MY RECENT WRITING
Screen Slate invited me to edit their Best of 2021 poll (as I did last year), featuring ballots from critics and filmmakers. The “Favorite First Viewings” feature is especially fun, with entries from filmmakers including Michael Almereyda, Jessica Beshir, Jim Jarmusch, Radu Jude, Guy Maddin, Alex Ross Perry, Josh Safdie, Sandi Tan, and Amalia Ulman. And if you’re curious about the “top 20” new releases, that’s in here too.
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
Delectable selections for home viewing.
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Criterion)
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