The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 429: Alissa Wilkinson on Artificial, Digger, You Can See Everything, One in a Million, 14th, The Social Reckoning Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the fall air turns crisp and cool, Big Movies now stalk the land, and to talk about some of them, I chatted with Alissa Wilkinson of The New York Times. Which is to say, we recorded an episode, and among the films we discussed are: Artificial (directed by Luca Guadagnino, starring Andrew Garfield, Yura Borisov, Monica Barbaro), Digger (directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, starring Tom Cruise, Sandra Hüller), the new documentary One in a Million (directed by Itab Azzam and Jack Macinnes), 14th (directed by Ava DuVernay), and The Social Reckoning (directed by Aaron Sorkin, starring Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong). We also share a few initial thoughts on the newly released You Can See Everything, from Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 427: Amy Taubin on Arthur Jafa, NYFF: La Gradiva, Rose, Naza, Everything Else Is Noise, I Deserve a Lover, The Unknown, The Dreamed Adventure, plus Godard Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the fall film season begins in New York, I sat down once again with Amy Taubin to make sense of it all. We talked about The New York Film Festival 2026, but first Taubin singles out two other notable events: the career-spanning Arthur Jafa exhibition at the New Museum (“I Am Tony”), and the uniquely assembled series “Jean-Luc Godard: Unmade and Abandoned” at L'Alliance New York. Then it’s on to a slew of selections in NYFF: Naza (directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor), La Gradiva (Marine Atlan), Rose (Markus Schleinzer, starring Sandra Hüller), Everything Else Is Noise (Nicolas Pereda), The Dreamed Adventure (Valeska Grisebach), The Unknown (Arthur Harari, starring Léa Seydoux), All of a Sudden (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto), My Undesirable Friends: Part II—Exile (Julia Loktev), Paper Tiger (James Gray, starring Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Miles Teller), and I Deserve a Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms Raging Across the Skies (Mani Haghighi). Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony is on display at the New Museum through January 3. Jean-Luc Godard: Unmade and Abandoned screens through October 15 at L’Alliance New York. The 64th New York Film Festival runs through October 12 at Lincoln Center. Several NYFF selections discussed also open in theaters in October, November, and December. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 425: Robert Daniels on Toronto 2026: Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, Union Town, Alpha Gang, The Liberation, I Play Rocky Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2026 Toronto Film Festival kicked off its 51st edition this year, and I saw as many films as I could fit into my visit to the city. Here to talk about some more is Robert Daniels, regular New York Times contributor and associate editor of RogerEbert.Com. Among the titles discussed are Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (directed and written by Bassam Tariq, starring Mahershala Ali), I Play Rocky (Peter Farrelly), Union Town (Barbara Kopple), Alpha Gang (Zellner Bros.), and The Liberation (Guy Nattiv, starring Carrie Coon). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 423: Jessica Kiang on Venice 2026: Bunker, Possible Love, Queer Edward II, Mr. Nelson Did You Kill People, Oasis Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the 2026 edition of the Venice Film Festival winds down, I was delighted to sit down with Jessica Kiang of Variety to talk about a few more selections. Among the films discussed are Bunker (directed by Florian Zeller, starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem), Possible Love (Lee Chang-dong), Mr. Nelson Did You Kill People? (Shinya Tsukamoto), the German-Austrian drama Oasis (Jannis Lenz), and the Derek Jarman documentary Queer Edward II (Theo Rollason). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 421: Guy Lodge on The Spiral, A Place to Heal, Boatbuilders, Agata the Writer Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The podcast returns with more from the 2026 Venice Film Festival! This time I’m joined on the Lido by Guy Lodge of Variety. Among the films discussed are The Spiral (directed by Paolo Strippoli, featuring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), A Place to Heal (Cedric Kahn), Boatbuilders (Luke Lorentzen), and from the Venice Days showcase, Agata the Writer (Kuba Dorabialski, starring Mia Wasikowska). Plus a couple of short picks from each of us! Stay tuned for more from the Venice Film Festival. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 419: Beatrice Loayza on Venice 2026: Ink, Wild Horse Nine, Imperium, More Basics of Philosophy Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The podcast returns with more from the 2026 Venice Film Festival! This time I’m joined by Beatrice Loayza, a regular contributor to The New York Times and other publications. Among the Venice world premieres discussed are the opening film Ink (directed by Danny Boyle, starring Guy Pearce and Jack O’Connell), Wild Horse Nine (Martin McDonagh), Imperium (Sergei Loznitsa), and a highlight for Loayza at the time of recording, Basics of Philosophy (Paul Schrader). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 417: Mark Asch on No Picnic, Late Fame, Half-Cocked, Welcome II the Terrordome, Wet Hot American Summer, One Night Only Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This August I welcomed back Mark Asch for another summertime episode extravaganza. This time we talk about some of his recent viewing from the past—No Picnic (directed by Philip Hartman), Half-Cocked (Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky), and Wet Hot American Summer (David Wain)—as well as a two recent releases, Late Fame (Kent Jones) and One Night Only (Will Gluck). We also discuss the newly restored 1994 film Welcome II the Terrordome, the Afrofuturist debut feature of Ngozi Onwurah. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 415: R. Emmet Sweeney on Wings of Dread, MoMA Silent Movie Week, Oh Darling Yeh Hai India, Blades of the Guardians, Driver’s Ed Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. I always look forward to my regular check-in with R. Emmet Sweeney, who oversees physical media production at Kino Lorber and writes on film and jazz at his substack Old New. This time we trade notes on this year’s Silent Movie Week at the Museum of Modern Art, from Raoul Walsh (What Price Glory) to John Ford (3 Bad Men) to Chaplin (Shoulder Arms), and he shares his viewing in current Chinese action cinema, including Wings of Dread (Qin Pengfei & Ashton Chen) and Blades of the Guardians (Yuen Woo-ping); an outstanding 1995 Bollywood pick, the comedically and politically vibrant Oh Darling Yeh Hai India (Ketan Mehta); and a Farrelly Brother joint, Driver’s Ed. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 413: Jourdain Searles and Maxwell Paparella on Backrooms, Maddie’s Secret, I Love Boosters, Rose of Nevada, Disclosure Day Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the summer settles in, I thought it was high time to catch up with a few theatrical releases of note. I had a wonderful time with my two guests who’ve each previously been on the show but not together: Jourdain Searles, critic and programmer, and Maxwell Paparella, deputy editor of Filmmaker magazine. We wove a thread or two through several titles that hopefully by now listeners have had a chance to see: Backrooms (directed by Kane Parsons), Maddie’s Secret (John Early), I Love Boosters (Boots Riley), Rose of Nevada (Mark Jenkin), and Disclosure Day (Steven Spielberg). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 411: Amy Taubin on Tribeca 2026 (Labrador: Autopsy of Silence, Jail Time Records, The Lorraine, Jean-Michel, Crocodile, They Fight, The Last Day), plus Romeria and I Love Boosters Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As has become our wont, I had the total pleasure of talking over films from the 2026 Tribeca Festival and other recent viewing with the one and only Amy Taubin. She shares a few Tribeca highlights (a couple of which won prizes at Tribeca) and also spotlights a couple of theatrical releases. Titles discussed include Labrador: Autopsy of Silence (directed by Rodrigue Jean), Jail Time Records (Dione Roach and Steve Happi), The Lorraine (Sam Pollard), Basquiat doc Jean-Michel (Quinn Whitney Wilson and Viridiana Lieberman), Crocodile (Pietra Bretkelly and The Critics), They Fight (Sheldon Candis), The Last Day (Rachel Rose), plus Romería (Carla Simón) and I Love Boosters (Boots Riley). But it all starts with the Knicks. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 409: Chris LeMaire on Bleak Week + John Wilson on Beak Week 2026 Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2026 edition of Bleak Week marks the fifth year of the acclaimed series at the American Cinematheque, which now also takes place in other theaters across the nation and the globe. Happily I was able to talk to Chris Lemaire, director of programming at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles and co-founder of Bleak Week, about a few fantastic selections in the ongoing series, including tribute programs for guests Isabelle Huppert and Warwick Thornton, rarities like Letters from a Dead Man and Eureka, and restorations such as Buster and Billie. On the second half of the episode, I was lucky to catch filmmaker John Wilson, co-founder of the Low Cinema in Ridgewood, in the midst of the theater’s delightful Beak Week program. Wilson talks about a personal favorite from the bird-centric lineup, a special recent surprise guest, a program of pigeon shorts, and some infrequently screened titles in the lineup. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 407: K.J. Relth-Miller on Cannes Classics 2026: La Dérive, The Devils, Report to Mother, Moonlighting, Tilai, The Pelechian Project Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Every year at the Cannes Film Festival I always make sure to scrutinize the Cannes Classics line-up of restorations, and for the 2026 edition, I was happy once again to catch up with K.J. Relth-Miller of the Academy Museum in Los Angeles and chat about a few titles. Among the films discussed were an absolute discovery, La Dérive (1964, directed by Paula Delsol), Ken Russell’s one and only The Devils (1971), another discovery Report to Mother (1986, John Abraham), Moonlighting (1982, Jerzy Skolimowski), and Tilai (1990, Idrissa Ouédraogo), with shout-outs to The Pelechian Project (1966-1975, a collection of shorts by Armenia’s Artavazd Peleshian) and Taiwanese classic The Dull Ice Flower (1989, Li Kao Yang). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 405: Justin Chang on Cannes 2026: All of a Sudden, The Samurai and the Prisoner, Coward, Fjord Redux Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. At the 2026 Cannes Film Festival I sat down with Justin Chang of The New Yorker for a chat about a few films we had missed to talk about. Among the titles discussed are All of a Sudden (directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi), The Samurai and the Prisoner (Kiyoshi Kurosawa), Coward (Lukas Dhont), and Fjord (Cristian Mungiu), which at the time of recording had not yet won the Palme d’Or. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass