The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 363: Beatrice Loayza and Adam Nayman on 2025 in movies: The Testament of Ann Lee, Sinners, Dracula, Bugonia, Eddington, Hamnet, and much more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For a look at the films of 2025, I’m happy to welcome back two critics who have joined the podcast together before: Adam Nayman (The Ringer) and Beatrice Loayza (The New York Times, The Nation, Criterion Collection). Among the films discussed are The Testament of Ann Lee, Eddington, Afternoons of Solitude, Hamnet, Sinners, Dracula, The Housemaid, Sirat, the latest Avatar installment, One Battle After Another, Train Dreams, and... The Electric State. Plus: Adam and Beatrice’s picks for overlooked movies deserving of a second (or first) look. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 362: Bruce Bennett on Charley Varrick, The American Revolution, Technicolor Weekend at Chicago Film Society, The Shootist Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I’m happy to welcome back series regular Bruce Bennett for our latest debrief. Among the films he brings to the show are longtime favorite Charley Varrick (directed by Don Siegel, subject of a retrospective most recently at Metrograph); The American Revolution (directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt); and The Shootist (Siegel again, starring John Wayne in swan song mode). Bennett also talks about the wondrous annual Technicolor Weekend at Chicago Film Society. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 361: Amy Taubin on Richard Linklater’s Fall Doubleheader, It Was Just an Accident, The Secret Agent, Mr. Scorsese, Cover-Up, BLKNWS, Kontinental ’25 Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the week of Thanksgiving begins, I give thanks for... Amy Taubin! She returns to The Last Thing I Saw to discuss some new releases, including key titles that have been making their way into theaters after screening in The New York Film Festival and elsewhere. Titles addressed by Taubin include: Richard Linklater’s double triumph of Nouvelle Vague and Blue Moon; It Was Just an Accident, from Jafar Panahi; The Secret Agent, from Kleber Mendonça Filho; Rebecca Miller’s streaming series Mr. Scorsese; Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNEWS: Terms & Conditions; Kontinental ’25 from Radu Jude; the Seymour Hersh documentary Cover-Up, from Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus; and memories from the NYFF secret screening of Marty Supreme. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 360: Abby Sun on IDFA 2025: A Fox Under the Pink Moon, December, Silent Flood, The Kartli Kingdom, Air Horse One Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. In November I make my annual visit to the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and for the 2025 edition, I sat down again with Abby Sun, editor of Documentary Magazine. Among the movies we talked about were A Fox Under a Pink Moon (directed by Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya), December (Lucas Gallo), Silent Flood (Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk), The Kartli Kingdom (Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel), and the short Air Horse One (Lasse Linder). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 359: Ira Sachs on Peter Hujar’s Day Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I spoke with filmmaker Ira Sachs about his latest movie, Peter Hujar’s Day. It’s a fascinating chronicle of a 1974 conversation between New York photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz, whose asks Hujar to recount a day in his life in great detail, including visits by friends, an encounter with Allen Ginsberg (whom The New York Times assigned him to photograph for a portrait), Chinese food orders, and much else. Based on actual transcripts, it’s a beautiful demonstration of craft—the actors’, and the photographer and writer they play. Sachs talked about making the film with Whishaw and Hall, the apartment they shot in, the directors whose work inspired him, and the new movie he has been shooting. Peter Hujar’s Day is in theaters now. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass