The Next Picture Show

#519: Past Imperfect, Pt. 1 — A History of Violence

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 05:00:00 -0000

Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama uses the revelation of one character’s dark secret as a provocative “twist,” but also as the basis for an exploration of whether a romantic relationship can survive such dramatic upheaval, a premise that calls to mind 2005’s A History of Violence. The central couple of David Cronenberg’s thriller, played by Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello, is much further along in their marriage than the altar-bound pair in The Drama, which lends fascinating nuance to their attempts to reckon with the husband’s violent past — particularly for a bunch of podcasters who are decades into their own long-term relationships. So this week we do our own reckoning with the film’s ideas about how violence can shape a person and redefine a marriage, and what makes A History of Violence stand out among both action thrillers and Cronenberg films. Then in Feedback, we welcome some constructive criticism regarding Project Hail Mary as well as our choice of film to pair it with.

Please share your thoughts about A History of Violence, The Drama, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.

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#518: In a Lonely Space, Pt. 2 — Project Hail Mary

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 05:00:00 -0000

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Project Hail Mary is an exceptionally audience-friendly adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel of the same name, offsetting the story’s doomsday scenario with lots of jokes, a charismatic lead, and most especially the buddy dynamic between Ryan Gosling’s human protagonist and an alien engineer named Rocky. The film’s light touch has made it a hit, but it also left some of your Next Picture Show hosts wanting more, as we break down in our discussion of the new film before turning to Connections and a companion film that’s as prickly as Project Hail Mary is cuddly: Douglas Trumbull’s 1972 directorial feature debut, Silent Running. Sure, both films explore the idea of a lonely man finding human connection in a non-human companion, the threat of worldwide ecological collapse, and the question of what we owe the Earth and what causes are worth dying for, but each takes a very different approach, to very different effect... as do the several other films we considered pairing with PHM, which we collectively recommend in Your Next Picture Show.

Please share your thoughts about Silent Running, Project Hail Mary, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama and David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence

This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.

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#517: In a Lonely Space, Pt. 1 — Silent Running

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 05:00:00 -0000

Already the biggest blockbuster of the year so far, Project Hail Mary has proven itself about as audience-friendly as a story about looming worldwide ecological collapse can be. That makes it an interesting point of contrast with 1972’s Silent Running, which approaches many of the same basic narrative beats — a man in space on a solo mission that threatens his sanity, who finds his most human connection in a non-human companion — with a melancholic tone and deeply unpleasant protagonist. So this week we’re looking back at one of just two movies made by pioneering special-effects artist Douglas Trumbull to consider how Silent Running functions today as both an environmental parable and a counterculture story about fighting The Man, how it tests our sympathies for its supposed hero, and whether that supposed hero knows anything about growing plants, in space or otherwise. Then in Feedback, a listener prompt inspires us to revisit some of our most memorable interruptions to the theatrical experience.

This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.

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#516: Couples Getaway, Pt. 2 — The Bride!

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 05:00:00 -0000

The Bride! is already a certified box-office flop, but does Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ambitious but deeply flawed sophomore feature as a writer-director have potential for a second life as a cult film? We consider that possibility as we run through the highs and lows, both intentional and unintentional, of a movie that, if nothing else, offers a lot to talk about. It also offers the opportunity to revisit an unambiguous classic via Gyllenhaal’s stated inspiration point of 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde, which we bring back in for Connections to consider how The Bride! stacks up, in both conception and execution, in its ideas about lovers on the lam, outlaw media sensations, and empowered women empowering women. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we offer a recommendation for another film about coupled-up criminals that predates Bonnie and Clyde, the 1950 noir Gun Crazy.

Please share your thoughts about Bonnie and Clyde, The Bride!, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: Phil Lord & Chris Miller's Project Hail Mary and Douglas Trumbull's Silent Running.

This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.

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#515: Couples Getaway, Pt. 1 — Bonnie and Clyde

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 05:00:00 -0000

The obvious point of comparison for The Bride! is apparent in the title, but Maggie Gyllenhaal’s new revivification of The Bride of Frankenstein finds its animating spirit in a different film, with her protagonist couple spending a good portion of the movie on the run from the law in the 1930s in scenes that openly evoke Bonnie and Clyde. Whether The Bride! manages to rise anywhere close to the level of its inspiration is a question for next week’s episode; this week, we’re revisiting Arthur Penn’s "lovers on the lam" classic to consider why it hit the way it did in 1967 and what remains striking about it to this day. Then in Feedback, we tackle a couple of listener questions concerning our recent discussions of Send Help and Wuthering Heights.

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#514: If We Picked the Oscar Winners

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 05:00:00 -0000

With the 98th Academy Awards around the corner, we are breaking format this week to register the Next Picture Show's recommendations to the Academy of who should take home Oscar gold. Join us as three critics with competing tastes attempt to find consensus for this podcast's official endorsement for a single winner in all the major categories.

Please share your thoughts about this year's Oscar nominees, winners, ceremony, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Maggie Gyllenhaal's THE BRIDE! and Arthur Penn's BONNIE AND CLYDE

This episode is presented by⁠ Regal Unlimited⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.

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#513: Pop Classics, Pt. 2 — Wuthering Heights (2026)

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0000

Emerald Fennell’s new Wuthering Heights is full of stylistic provocations — skin walls, bed eggs, and light BDSM among them — but whether they are in service of, or distractions from, a bigger idea about the source material is up for debate this week. The divided reactions to Fennell’s contemporized take on an oft-adapted classic are reminiscent of the love-it-or-hate it response that greeted Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet back in 1996, which we bring back in for Connections to examine the core romantic notions driving these two tales of doomed (and frequently soaking wet) love and/or lust. And in Your Next Picture Show we continue the Wuthering Heights adaptation discussion with a couple of recommendations that illustrate some of the different tonal directions this material can take.

Please share your thoughts about Romeo + Juliet, Wuthering Heights, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#512: Pop Classics, Pt. 1 — Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0000

With its bold stylization, pop soundtrack, and provocative sensibility, Emerald Fennell’s new Wuthering Heights appeals to a contemporary audience so openly it can’t help but call to mind Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 adaptation of another literary classic about doomed lovers, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Fennell citing it as a reference point for her film prompted us to revisit what made Lurhmann’s approach so enticing and/or annoying at the time, and consider how its maximalist mix of reverence and irreverence toward the source material — not to mention an ascendant Leonardo DiCaprio in peak heartthrob mode — has turned it into a generation’s formative Romeo and Juliet.

Please share your thoughts about William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, Wuthering Heights, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#511: Both Sides of the Isle, Pt. 2 — Send Help

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0000

Sam Raimi's new survival thriller Send Help is more overtly comedic and cartoonishly violent than the other film in this week's pairing of dueling castaway duos, but those qualities are both rooted in complimentary ideas about class, gender, and power. They're also both rooted in a baseline cynicism toward humanity that informs a lot of Raimi's work, as well as our discussion of Send Help, for which we are once again joined by cultural critic and friend of the show Charles Bramesco. Then in Connections we bring 1974's Swept Away back into the discussion to see how its sexual fantasy aligns with Send Help's revenge fantasy, and how both are shaped by these films' desert (or is it deserted?) island setting.

Please share your thoughts about Swept Away, Send Help, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet.

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#510: Both Sides of the Isle, Pt. 1 — Swept Away (1974)

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0000

What happens when two people on opposite sides of a power imbalance end up stranded together on a deserted island? Before that was the premise of Sam Raimi’s new comedic thriller Send Help, it was the setup for Lina Wertmüller’s 1974 romantic farce Swept Away, only with the genders reversed and the sexual and political provocation turned way up. So this week we’re joined by critic, friend of the show, and Wertmüller aficionado Charles Bramesco to sort through Swept Away’s overlapping layers of satire, metaphor, and titillation, in an attempt to pinpoint what the film is actually trying to say about gender and class relations.

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#509: Captive Audiences, Pt. 2 — Dead Man's Wire

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0000

Even without Al Pacino's name in its cast list, the new Dead Man's Wire would invite comparisons to Dog Day Afternoon in its dramatization of a real-life 1970s hostage situation turned public spectacle. Whether it benefits from comparisons to Sidney Lumet's 1975 crime classic is another question, one we take up in our discussion of Gus Van Sant's first new feature in eight years. After that, we bring Dog Day Afternoon back in for Connections, to consider how these two films about volatile, narcissistic men and their ostensibly populist schemes fit into the proud tradition of amateur-hour crime movies, and whether a modern film depicting Indianapolis half a century ago has any hope of evoking its setting the way Lumet captured contemporary 1970s New York.

Please share your thoughts about Dog Day Afternoon, Dead Man's Wire, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: Sam Raimi's Send Help and Lina Wurtmuller's Swept Away.

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#508: Captive Audiences Pt. 1 — Dog Day Afternoon

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0000

In adapting the true story about a '70s hostage crisis that played out on television and in the public eye, Gus Van Sant's new Dead Man's Wire is just asking to be compared to 1975's Dog Day Afternoon — and who are we to resist an invitation to talk about yet another Sidney Lumet classic? So this week we revisit a film we have all previously seen and admired, but still has the ability to surprise with its unconventional approach to a bank robbery gone wrong, from its persistent sense of humor to its shifting perspective on Al Pacino's criminal protagonist. Then in Feedback, we continue the conversation about our podcast's namesake film, and answer a recurring question about our archives.

Please share your thoughts about Dog Day Afternoon, Dead Man's Wire, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#507: Our Top Films of 2025

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0000

We’re kicking off the new year with our old tradition of looking back on the film year that was, as Scott, Keith, and Tasha gather to talk through their top films of 2025. After touching on some of last year’s broader filmgoing trends and blitzing through the bottom half of their top 10 lists, they talk through their respective top fives, which include several Next Picture Show selections from the last year, as well as a few curveball picks that appear on no other lists.

Next Pairing: Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire and Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon

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Avatar: Fire and Ash (The Lobby Bonus Episode)

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0000

Due to the confluence of holiday and flu seasons, our Best of 2025 episode is delayed a week, so in its place we're sharing a recent episode of The Lobby, our Patreon-exclusive series focusing on movies we don't cover on the main feed. If you'd like to become a Patreon supporter and get ad-free versions of the show, as well as more bonus content like this, you can head over to patreon.com/nextpictureshow to sign up.

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#506: Lose to Win, Pt. 2 — Marty Supreme

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Whether he’s playing billiards or table tennis, a successful hustler requires no small amount of charisma, something Timothée Chalamet’s ping-pong pro undeniably has in Marty Supreme, though it’s of a decidedly different flavor than that of Paul Newman in The Hustler. Whether that charisma translates to a character we want to root for as he makes a mess of his own life, as well as those of the people (and one unfortunate dog) around him, is up for debate in our discussion of Josh Safdie’s new anxiety attack in movie form. Then we pit Marty’s game against Fast Eddie’s as we move into Connections to discuss the magic and morality of hustling, charismatic liars and the women who are drawn to them — even when they can see right through them — and whether these men chasing victory on their own terms, and at the cost of everything else, is inspirational or pitiful. Then in Your Next Picture Show, Scott sticks up for The Color of Money, Scorsese's Hustler sequel that can’t quite best its predecessor, but still has plenty of swagger all its own.

Please share your thoughts about The Hustler, Marty Supreme, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#505: Lose to Win, Pt. 1 – The Hustler

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0000

The new Marty Supreme follows a table-tennis phenom with the talent necessary to beat the best players in the world, if only he can keep his self-destructive tendencies from getting in the way. Swap out “table tennis” for “pool” in that description and you more or less have Robert Rossen’s 1961 drama The Hustler, which we revisit this week not only to bask in the incomparable onscreen charisma of Paul Newman, but also to consider the film’s ideas about what makes a winner — and a loser — and its noir-adjacent portrait of the gambling underworld. Then, in place of Feedback this week, we’re reflecting on the late Rob Reiner’s legacy on screens both big and small, and within an industry he helped shape in countless ways.

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#504: The Eternal Question, Pt. 2 — Eternity

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0000

David Freyne’s new Eternity shoves a thematically rich afterlife scenario into a romcom-shaped container, resulting in an above-average example of the genre that nonetheless feels like it’s only scratching the surface of its narrative potential. That leaves us with a lot of logistical questions to mull in our discussion of the film — several of which Tasha addressed in her pair of conversations with Freyne over at Polygon — and also a lot of points of contrast when we bring Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After Life back in for Connections. After Life and Eternity look and feel very different as they navigate the ins and outs of their respective postmortem bureaucracies, but both are ultimately concerned with characters being forced to make a single choice that will define their afterlives, what that choice says about what truly matters, and what the things we most value say about us. Those ideas pop up again in Your Next Picture Show, where Tasha offers an enthusiastic recommendation for the 2020 Edson Oda film Nine Days as an unofficial companion piece to After Life.

Please share your thoughts about After Life, Eternity, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme and Robert Rossen's The Hustler

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#503: The Eternal Question, Pt. 1 — After Life (1998)

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0000

The new fantasy romcom Eternity turns on a scenario familiar from any number of films that imagine life after death as a bureaucratic process, but its focus on characters forced to make big, symbolic choices for big, symbolic reasons is particularly reminiscent of After Life, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 1998 movie in which the recently departed are given one week to select a memory to take with them into the great beyond. While the functional logistics of After Life’s post-life waystation are ultimately secondary to its heady ideas about memory and filmmaking, that doesn’t stop us from talking through the ways this specific setting informs those ideas, and the various questions that arise from it. Then in Feedback, we tackle a listener’s consternation with some of the choices Train Dreams makes in adapting its source material.

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#502: Human/Nature, Pt. 2 — Train Dreams

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams uses gorgeous imagery of the natural world, combined with an omniscient narrator quoting from the Denis Johnson novella the film adapts, to speak for a taciturn protagonist who struggles to understand, much less articulate, his place in the world. That approach has earned it the Terrence Malick comparisons that informed this pairing, but Train Dreams uses its own distinct lens to contemplate the ineffable and ephemeral nature of human existence. So after talking through our responses to the film’s big-picture ideas and small, telling details, we place Train Dreams alongside Days of Heaven to discuss the two films’ contrasting approaches to their overlapping elements, from persistent voiceover and big beautiful vistas, to man’s presumed dominion over nature and the biblical infernos that suggest otherwise. Then for Your Next Picture Show, Keith offers a Days of Heaven-inspired recommendation for very different film featuring a similarly memorable performance from Linda Manz, 1980’s Out of the Blue

Please share your thoughts about Days of Heaven, Train Dreams, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#501: Human/Nature, Pt. 1 — Days of Heaven

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Clint Bentley’s new Train Dreams uses the vast canvas of the natural world to frame a relatively tiny story of a single human life, a juxtaposition of story and visuals that’s reminiscent of the work of Terrence Malick, in particular 1978’s Days of Heaven. Set, like Train Dreams, in the midst of America’s Industrial Revolution, Days of Heaven takes an elliptical approach to a fairly straightforward narrative that is pure Malick, leaving us with much to discuss in terms of whose story this is, and what the film’s sparse dialogue and unusual narration leaves unsaid. Then in Feedback, we share some quick reactions to a handful on new releases we won’t be covering on the show, and address a listener suggestion for an alternate One Battle After Another pairing.

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#500: What's In a Name — The Last Picture Show

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Don’t be alarmed by the title of this week’s movie selection, this is not our final episode — in fact, it’s our 500th, a milestone none of us expected to hit when we started this podcast a decade ago. So in honor of all our past pairings, we’re devoting this one-off episode to a film we’ve never managed to find an excuse to cover on this show, despite naming ourselves after it: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. You may think it counterintuitive, even perverse, to devote our anniversary celebration to a somber film about a dying town whose only movie theater shuts down — even one as great as Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 coming-of-age drama — but as our discussion reveals, there are deeper connections between the film and this podcast than just a name. After that, we lighten the mood considerably with a very special game devoted to this podcast’s history and our collective inability to remember it, especially when points are on the line.

Please share your thoughts about THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, The Next Picture Show, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:07:48

The Last Picture Show Keynote: 00:07:48-00:13:04

The Last Picture Show Discussion: 00:13:04 - 00:44:02

The Next Picture Quiz Show: 00:44:02-01:22:07

Next episode announcement and goodbyes: 01:22:07-end

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#499: Impaired Visions, Pt. 2 — Radu Jude's Dracula

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0000

From its nearly three-hour runtime to its deployment of some of the most deranged CGI you’ve ever seen committed to screen, Radu Jude’s DRACULA often feels like an extended act of trolling, but is it art? The answer to that question is inextricable from the film’s presentation of AI-derived art as grotesque, inhuman, and unsatisfying, and it makes DRACULA arguably more entertaining to discuss than it is to watch. So after attempting to pull some meaning out of what the critic in 8 1/2 might describe as DRACULA’s “series of gratuitous episodes,” we move into Connections for a study in contrasts between Fellini’s portrait of an artist struggling to make a personal work, and Jude’s evisceration of a charlatan trying to outsource artistry to a machine. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we discuss another film we considered as a DRACULA pairing that may not be quite as celebrated as 8 1/2, but we nonetheless recommend as another depiction of a filmmaker in creative crisis: Christopher Guest’s debut feature, THE BIG PICTURE.

Please share your thoughts about 8 1/2, DRACULA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next episode: A celebration of Peter Bogdanovich’s THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, and 500 episodes of a niche film podcast named after it.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:57

Dracula discussion: 00:01:57 - 00:27:20

Dracula/8 1/2 Connections: 00:27:20 - 00: 48:11

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:48:11-end

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#498: Impaired Visions, Pt. 1 — 8 1/2

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Radu Jude’s DRACULA is, technically speaking, yet another movie about one of the most depicted antagonists in all of cinema, but in actuality it’s about a different beast that has fascinated filmmakers for nearly as long: filmmaking. Within the grand tradition of “movies about moviemaking,” DRACULA’s surreal humor, combined with its focus on a struggling filmmaker fantasizing about the film he might make, gave us an excuse to revisit an all-time classic of the form, Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2. So this week we search for meaning within 8 1/2’s reveries of a blocked creative mind, interrogate the “semi” part of Fellini’s semi-autobiographical approach, and touch on some of the other films that exist in the shadow of this one. Then in Feedback, our recent pairing of RUNNING ON EMPTY and ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER inspires a supplementary-listening suggestion for the former, and a head canon explanation for one of our questions about the latter.
Please share your thoughts about 8 1/2, DRACULA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Intro: 00:00:00-00:05:12
8 1/2 Keynote: 00:05:12-00:11:39
8 1/2 Discussion: 00:11:39-48:26
Feedback/outro: 00:48:26-end

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#497: First Strikes, Pt. 2 — A House of Dynamite

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 05:00:00 -0000

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is built on an undeniably hooky premise — a nuclear missile originating from an unknown source is heading right for us — but is that premise enough to support a successful movie? We’re joined once again by critic and author Jason Bailey to unpack that question, particularly as it applies to the film’s triptych structure and nervy ending gambit. That ending comes back into play when we reintroduce 1964’s FAIL SAFE for Connections, to see how Sidney Lumet’s Cold War thriller compares to Kathryn Bigelow’s modern-day nuclear scenario in their respective depictions of human connection — personal, professional, and adversarial —amid humanity-threatening catastrophe. Then we keep it in the nuclear family for Your Next Picture Show, with a recommendation for the 1983 TV movie THE DAY AFTER, as well as some of its pop-cultural fallout.

Please share your thoughts about FAIL SAFE, A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Radu Jude’s DRACULA and Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:33

A House of Dynamite discussion: 00:02:33 - 00:24:41

A House of Dynamite/Fail Safe Connections: 00:24:41-47:56

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:47:56-end

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#496: First Strikes, Pt. 1 — Fail Safe

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Kathryn Bigelow’s new A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE games out a scenario that filmmakers have been grappling with since the mid-20th century, in particular the year 1964, which saw the release of two very different classics of the nuclear-catastrophe genre: DR. STRANGELOVE, followed a few months later by the other half of this week’s pairing, FAIL SAFE. If the bleak realism of Sidney Lumet’s nuclear thriller made it a tougher sell to audiences back then, though, it also makes FAIL SAFE feel like a more fitting companion to Bigelow’s film than its satirical predecessor. We’re joined this week by critic and author Jason Bailey to discuss why FAIL SAFE still feels so immediately chilling decades removed from its Cold War context, and how Lumet makes a story that plays out mainly in a series of small rooms feel both grand in scope and human in focus. Then, in honor of our second Lumet feature in a row on this show, we turn Feedback over to a discussion of some of the prolific filmmaker’s lesser-known works.

Please share your thoughts about FAIL SAFE, A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:56

Fail Safe Keynote: 00:03:56-00:08:47

Fail Safe Discussion: 00:08:47-00:44:03

Feedback/outro: 00:44:03-end

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#495: Revolutionary Roads, Pt. 2 — One Battle After Another

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Paul Thomas Anderson’s ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is a very different film in form and function than the other half of this pairing, RUNNING ON EMPTY, but it’s built on the same foundational questions as Sidney Lumet’s 1988 family drama: what does it mean to lead a revolutionary life, and how does one generation’s fight get handed off to the next? After talking through how ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER engages with those questions, as well as its more action-movie-oriented thrills (and hills), we bring in RUNNING ON EMPTY to compare how the two films depict coming of age while on the run from the feds, and parents attempting to safeguard their children from an unknown future. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we discuss some of the other films Anderson chose, alongside RUNNING ON EMPTY, for a recent TCM guest-programming selection inspired by ONE BATTLE.

Please share your thoughts about RUNNING ON EMPTY, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Kathryn Bigelow’s A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE and Sidney Lumet’s FAIL-SAFE

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:40

One Battle After Another discussion: 00:01:40 - 00:32:37

One Battle After Another/Running on Empty Connections: 00:32:37-00:59:38

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:59:38-end

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#494: Revolutionary Roads, Pt. 1 — Running on Empty (1988)

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Paul Thomas Anderson himself cited 1988’s RUNNING ON EMPTY as a direct influence on the new ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, and it’s not difficult to see the rhymes between these two films about former revolutionaries trying to protect their kids from the consequences of their parents’ past. We’ll get into those rhymes more next week, but first we devote some time to Sidney Lumet’s 1988 film, which is less cat-and-mouse chase than coming-of-age family drama, anchored by a remarkable River Phoenix as the teenage son of former anti-war protesters on the run from the law. Unlike with PTA’s film, there are no real bad guys in RUNNING ON EMPTY, only problems to negotiate within a rich family dynamic that is both delightful in its specificity and heartbreaking in its fragility. After that, we field some Feedback from listeners about our recent episodes on HIGHEST 2 LOWEST and THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?

Intro: 00:00:00-00:04:58

Running on Empty Keynote: 00:04:58-00:09:39

Running on Empty Discussion: 00:09:39-00:44:26

Feedback/outro: 00:44:26-end

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#493: 'Til You Drop, Pt. 2 — The Long Walk

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0000

It took decades in development hell for an adaptation of Stephen King’s THE LONG WALK to trudge its way into theaters, and now that it has, we’re of split opinions on how Francis Lawrence’s film goes about distinguishing itself from its source material, particularly in its graphic depiction of violence. There’s also the matter of the film’s very different ending, which we dig into once we move into Connections to compare how THE LONG WALK’s endurance contest compares to the one in Sydney Pollack’s THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?, in terms of how voluntary they actually are, what spectators get out of watching participants suffer, and what passes for victory in a contest where no one really wins. Then, in Your Next Picture Show, we devote a little time to revisiting a film franchise that came up repeatedly in our discussions of both these films: THE HUNGER GAMES.

Please share your thoughts about THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?, THE LONG WALK, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Paul Thomas Anderson’s ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER and Sidney Lumet’s RUNNING ON EMPTY

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:59

The Long Walk discussion: 00:01:59 - 00:30:14

The Long Walk / They Shoot Horses Connections: 00:30:14-01:01:49

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 01:01:49-end

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#492: 'Til You Drop, Pt. 1 — They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0000

It took decades for THE LONG WALK to make it to the big screen, in part because the Stephen King novel on which it’s based is so unrelentingly grim — but as we discovered this week, it may actually be less so than the other half of this pairing, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY. Set during the Great Depression and featuring a protagonist who is greatly depressed, Sydney Pollack’s 1969 drama about a marathon dance contest has little room for uplift, but it’s nonetheless full of interesting characters and performances, evocative filmmaking choices, and one of cinema’s all-time downer endings. After that discussion, we pick ourselves back up off the floor with the help of some feel-good Feedback from a long-time listener as we approach this podcast’s ten-year anniversary.

Please share your thoughts about THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY, THE LONG WALK, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:04:32

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They Keynote: 00:04:32-00:09:38

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They Discussion: 00:09:38-00:50:10

Feedback/outro: 00:52:06-end

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#491: Kings' Ransoms, Pt. 2 — Highest 2 Lowest

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Spike Lee’s HIGHEST 2 LOWEST is built on the rock-solid narrative foundation of HIGH AND LOW, but the “interpretation” of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime-thriller classic he builds atop it can be shaky at times. We’re all in agreement that HIGHEST 2 LOWEST has flaws, but whether those flaws add up to ruin or simply provide texture to a singular filmmaker’s singular film is up for discussion in the first part of this week’s episode. Then we move into Connections to see where Lee and Kurosawa’s films align and diverge when it comes to high-low metaphor and imagery, the intersection of media and public opinion, and the value of police work. And in Your Next Picture Show, Scott recommends an earlier collaboration between Lee and HIGHEST 2 LOWEST star Denzel Washington that has only grown in his estimation since its 1998 release.

Please share your thoughts about HIGH AND LOW, HIGHEST 2 LOWEST, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Francis Lawrence’s THE LONG WALK and Sydney Pollack’s THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:02

Highest 2 Lowest discussion: 00:02:02 - 00:30:51

Highest 2 Lowest / High and Low Connections: 00:30:51-01:12:02

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 01:12:02-end

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#490: Kings' Ransoms, Pt. 1 — High and Low (1963)

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0000

The new HIGHEST 2 LOWEST includes an onscreen credit for “the master” Akira Kurosawa as inspiration for a film that has the same basic shape and mistaken-identity kidnapping premise of 1963’s HIGH AND LOW, but is still unmistakably a Spike Lee joint. So in order to better evaluate Lee’s modernization of a crime classic, we’re returning to the master’s version to see how Kurosawa himself reshaped HIGH AND LOW from its pulp-novel origins, utilizing a bifurcated structure and leading man Toshirō Mifune to challenge viewers’ assumed sympathies towards a villain and a victim on opposite sides of the class divide. Then in Feedback, a letter from a listener underlines a point about storytelling that HIGH AND LOW handily illustrates: the necessity of a three-act structure has been greatly exaggerated.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:06:18

High and Low Keynote: 00:06:18-00:13:10

High and Low Discussion: 00:13:10-00:52:06

Feedback/outro: 00:52:06-end

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#489: The Kids Aren't Alright, Pt. 2 — Weapons

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS overlaps with Atom Egoyan’s THE SWEET HEREAFTER in both its broad narrative setup — a town grapples with the sudden disappearance of a group of children — and its non-traditional structure, but diverges considerably in its tone. Then again, WEAPONS diverges considerably from its own tone as it goes on, artfully shifting gears as it makes its way through a story that prioritizes entertainment value over horror allegory. We’re joined once again by Vulture movie critic Alison Willmore to talk about why that approach worked so well on us, and less so on the film’s detractors, before bringing THE SWEET HEREAFTER back in to discuss how each film’s broken timeline serves to reveal the intricacies of a community shattered by grief and anger. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we offer two recommendations for follow-up viewing, one for each half of this pairing.

Please share your thoughts about THE SWEET HEREAFTER, WEAPONS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Spike Lee’s HIGHEST 2 LOWEST and Akira Kurosawa’s HIGH AND LOW.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:14

Weapons discussion: 00:02:14 - 00:36:00

Weapons/The Sweet Hereafter Connections: 00:36:00-00:58:58

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:58:58-end

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#488: The Kids Aren't Alright, Pt. 1 — The Sweet Hereafter

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 05:00:00 -0000

As a story about a community shattered by the disappearance of its children, Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS lured us, Pied Piper-like, toward Atom Egoyan’s 1997 film THE SWEET HEREAFTER, which doesn’t have quite as many jump scares as Cregger’s film, but makes up for it in enveloping sadness as it explores the far-reaching effects of a school bus crash on a small Canadian town. So this week we’re revisiting Egoyan’s film with the help of Vulture movie critic Alison Willmore, to discuss how telling this story out of order shapes both the narrative and the characterization, where certain performances help fill in blanks left by the dialogue, and what we’re meant to take from the film’s ending. Then, in lieu of Feedback, we’re acknowledging a tough loss for the Chicago film criticism community by celebrating some of the critics and editors who helped shape it, and us.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:44

The Sweet Hereafter Keynote: 00:02:44-00:08:09

The Sweet Hereafter Discussion: 00:08:09-00:59:15

Feedback/outro: 00:59:15-end

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#487: Double Drebin, Pt. 2 — The Naked Gun (2025)

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Akiva Schaffer’s new take on THE NAKED GUN sends up both the cop-story cliches that inspired the 1988 Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker original and the modern action tropes littering the filmography of star Liam Neeson, but at heart it’s less a genre parody than a spoof of nostalgia reboots like, well, this one. That meta layer is a major distinction between Schaffer’s film and the original, but it’s not the only one, so in between rehashing some of our favorite bits we attempt to determine where the new film’s ZAZ homage ends and its specific comedic sensibility begins. Then in Connections we use the many elements these two films share — bumbling cops and femmes fatale, a blend of timely and timeless humor, guns — to further distinguish between their approaches to satire, spoofery, and slapstick. And in Your Next Picture Show, our resident Quaid offers a recommendation for Schaffer’s podcast with his Lonely Island compatriots and Seth Meyers.

Please share your thoughts about any and all NAKED GUNs, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS and Atom Egoyan’s THE SWEET HEREAFTER

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:10

The Naked Gun 2025 discussion: 00:02:10 - 00:28:04

The Naked Gun 1988/2025 Connections: 00:28:04 - 00:55:54

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:55:54-end

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#486: Double Drebin, Pt. 1 — The Naked Gun (1988)

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 05:00:00 -0000

While technically a sequel, Akiva Schaffer’s new THE NAKED GUN is more accurately a reboot of the 1988 Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker cop-show spoof, which was itself a sequel-slash-reboot of their TV series POLICE SQUAD and would go on to spawn two sequels of its own. As circuitous as this IP has become over the years, though, THE NAKED GUN remains simple in both its approach and its appeal, which are essentially the same: lots and lots and lots of jokes. The original NAKED GUN was not unique in that approach, particularly within the spoof genre, but it is uniquely successful at it, so this week we’re parsing how it balances small comedic one-offs with drawn-out set pieces, contemporary references with timeless silliness, and broad mugging with underplayed straight-facedness. Then, in Feedback, a listener helps fill in some knowledge gaps from our recent F1 episode.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:59

Naked Gun Keynote: 00:03:59-00:10:01

Naked Gun Discussion: 00:10:01-00:45:29

Feedback/outro: 00:45:29-end

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Announcement: Next Pairing

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 22:00:00 -0000

New pairing launching Tuesday, August 12th.

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485: Men of Steel, Pt. 2 — Superman (2025)

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0000

By skipping the origin story and dropping viewers right into the action, James Gunn’s SUPERMAN avoids feeling like the franchise reset it is, and allows the director to get to work creating the sort of busy, quick-paced onscreen universe at which he excels. We’re joined once again by writer, podcaster, and Superman aficionado Chris Klimek to break exactly down why it works so well, as well as a few places where it doesn’t, before returning to the film that helped facilitate this shorthand approach, 1978’s SUPERMAN, to see how these different iterations of the title character — not to mention the familiar ensemble surrounding him — play in close proximity to each other. Can Superman be too corny? Is Lois Lane a good or terrible journalist? Why is Lex Luthor obsessed with land grabs, and what does his associate Eve Teschmacher actually add to these movies? We dig into all of that, then offer some options for Super-lementary viewing and reading in Your Next Picture Show.

Please share your thoughts about either and all versions of SUPERMAN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

00:00:00. Intro

00:03:58. Superman 2025 discussion

00:30:12. Superman 1978/2025 Connections

01:00:12. Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes

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#484: Men of Steel, Pt. 1 — Superman (1978)

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0000

James Gunn’s new SUPERMAN begins from the assumption that audiences already have a working knowledge of the Man of Steel’s origin story, his super-skill set, and his romance with Lois Lane. Gunn’s film benefits greatly from being able to skip past the basics, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Richard Donner’s franchise-launching blockbuster SUPERMAN, which codified those basics for the big screen. So this week we’re spinning the planet backwards to 1978 and revisiting filmgoers’ first introduction to The Last Son Of Krypton — who we don’t properly meet until nearly an hour in because, as it turns out, there are about four different movies tucked inside SUPERMAN. We’re joined by writer, podcaster, and Supes superfan Chris Klimek to discuss how it all holds together from a modern perspective, and whether Christopher Reeve’s definitive performance is enough to overcome all the film’s flaws, or just most of them. Then in Feedback, the SINNERS conversation lives on, with a listener detailing its many connections to another film that we considered for that pairing.

00:00:00 Intro

00:11:41 Superman Keynote

00:18:48 Superman Discussion

01:04:47 Feedback/outro

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#483: Kings of the Road, Pt. 2 — F1

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0000

On the one hand, the IMAX-driven spectacle of F1 is undeniably satisfying to watch on the big screen; on the other hand, we all walked out of Joseph Kosinski’s second teamup with producer Jerry Bruckheimer unsure whether it qualifies as a movie and not just a sophisticated simulation thereof. Despite the star power of Brad Pitt and a plethora of familiar sports-movie tropes, there’s a human element missing from F1 that left us all slightly perplexed, and which is thrown into even sharper relief when placed against the character-driven comedy of the other film in this pairing, TALLADEGA NIGHTS. But despite their drastically different points of view, the two share some uncanny similarities that we get into during Connections, from their shared narrative tension between team loyalty and individual glory, to a crash-and-burn approach to trauma, to a wallpaper-like view of corporate sponsorship. Then we take an extra lap on this racing pairing with a Your Next Picture show recommendation for the long-running Netflix docuseries F1: DRIVE TO SURVIVE.

Please share your thoughts about TALLADEGA NIGHTS, F1, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: James Gunn’s SUPERMAN and Richard Donner’s SUPERMAN

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:11

F1 discussion: 00:02:12-00:29:30

F1/Talladega Nights Connections: 00:29:31-00:50:44

Your Next Picture Show: 00:50:45-00:54:14

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:54:15-end

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#482: Kings of the Road, Pt. 1 — Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0000

The new F1 brings even more attention to a sport/brand that’s becoming as popular in the U.S. as it is internationally, but its application of sports-movie tropes to the world of racing, in particular its focus on an intersquad rivalry, has big, booming echoes in the defiantly American world of NASCAR as depicted in TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY. The 2006 Adam McKay/Will Ferrell comedy isn’t even two decades old, but as discussed in this week’s revisitation, its loose, improv-driven approach already feels like a relic of the past, and to what degree it all holds up today is a matter of some debate — though we can at least all agree that Baby Jesus is the best Jesus. After that, we dip into some listener Feedback inspired by a couple of new releases recently covered on the podcast, MATERIALISTS and PAVEMENTS.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:08:55

Talladega Nights Keynote: 00:08:55-00:15:19

Talladega Nights Discussion: 00:15:19-00:51:14

Feedback/outro: 00:51:14-end

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#481: For Love or Money, Pt. 2 — Materialists

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Celine Song’s new MATERIALISTS feints at being a romcom, but it’s far too interested in the economic realities and calculated compromise of modern dating for the label to be a comfortable fit; its romantic leanings are more in line with the works of Jane Austen and several cinematic adaptations thereof, as laid out in the “movie syllabus” Song made for her film and which inspired this pairing. But MATERIALISTS is more of a riff on Austen than a flat-out homage, and Song’s spin on the material worked better for some than others on this panel. We get into that before bringing Austen back into the picture via Joe Wright’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE to see how past speaks to present when it comes to the intersection of wealth and marriage, the art of matchmaking, nature as the realm of romance vs. the cold scrutiny of society, and the centuries-spanning fear of being “left on the shelf” as a single woman. Then in Your Next Picture Show we touch on some of the other films on Song’s list and how they might have fit into this pairing as a triple feature.

Please share your thoughts about PRIDE & PREJUDICE, MATERIALISTS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Joseph Kosinski’s F1 THE MOVIE and Adam McKay’s TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:43

Materialists discussion: 00:02:43-26:43

Materialists/Pride & Prejudice Connections: 00:26:43-52:41

Your Next Picture Show: 00:52:41-00:57:11

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:57:11-end

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#480: For Love or Money, Pt. 1 — Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Celine Song’s new not-quite-a-rom-com MATERIALISTS openly evokes Jane Austen in its focus on the rituals and codes of courtship, as well as its frankness about how one’s net worth can shape their romantic prospects. That could have led us to any number of Austen adaptations, but few as instantly beguiling as Joe Wright’s 2005 feature debut, PRIDE & PREJUDICE. So this week we’re discussing what makes Wright’s “muddy hem” take on the material stand out in a crowded field of Austen adaptations, whether the film’s lush style complements or drowns out its substance, and why that hand flex made such a meme-able impression. And in Feedback, a listener schools us on poetry and philosophy as it relates to the most opaque segment of I’M NOT THERE.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:41

Pride & Prejudice Keynote: 00:03:41-00:28:59

Pride & Prejudice Discussion: 00:28:59-48:23

Feedback/outro: 00:48:23-end

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#479: Musical Not-obiography, Pt. 2 — Pavements

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Like I’M NOT THERE, Alex Ross Perry’s new docu-like feature PAVEMENTS takes a “print the legend” approach to its subject, blurring reality and fiction to convey the significance of defining ‘90s indie rock group Pavement from a few different semi-fabricated angles. Is that approach better suited to established fans, including our returning guest and longtime friend Noel Murray, than it is to newcomers less equipped to parse how the film skews the band’s history and creative output? Perhaps, and we get into that this week before placing PAVEMENTS’ slanted snapshot next to I’M NOT THERE’s fractured Bob Dylan portrait to see how each attempts to portray an artist’s essence, if not their biography, and explores how fame can turn a person into a persona. And in Your Next Picture Show we recommend another one of Perry’s experiments in using music-biopic conventions to tell a different kind of rock-n-roll story, 2018’s HER SMELL.

Please share your thoughts about I’M NOT THERE, PAVEMENTS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Celine Song’s MATERIALISTS and Joe Wright’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:34

Friendship discussion: 00:02:34-00:31:28

Friendship/The Master Connections: 00:31:28-00:53:11

Your Next Picture Show: 00:53:11-00:57:40

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:57:40-end

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#478: Musical Not-obiography, Pt. 1 — I'm Not There

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Alex Ross Perry’s new hybrid documentary PAVEMENTS rejects convention in a way that’s both in keeping with the spirit of the ’90s indie-rock band at its center, and reminiscent of Todd Haynes’ deconstructed Bob Dylan biopic I’M NOT THERE. And while you arguably don’t need to be well-versed in either act to appreciate the films about them, it certainly doesn’t hurt, which is why we’ve brought in our old friend Noel Murray to help us parse two films that are more concerned with conveying an artist’s essence than their biography, beginning this week with I’M NOT THERE’s freewheelin’ approach to Bob Dylan. Then, in place of Feedback, our resident Dylan scholars provide several recommendations that offer some other, more straightforward angles from which to approach the man and his music.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:04:09

I’m Not There Keynote: 00:04:09-0010:12

I’m Not There Discussion: 00:10:12-00:43:23

Feedback/outro: 00:43:23-end

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#477: Pain Pals, Pt. 2 — Friendship

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0000

We were admittedly a bit dubious going into this pairing, which was spoken into existence by writer-director Andrew DeYoung invoking THE MASTER when describing his new Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd comedy FRIENDSHIP, but it’s not the stretch we thought it would be. In fact, Paul Thomas Anderson’s discomfiting psychological drama proves such an interesting lens through which to view FRIENDSHIP’s discomfiting absurdist comedy that we move into Connections early, to discuss how each of these two films about lonely men at odds with their own reality bucks convention, not only in terms of narrative and character, but in style and structure as well. Then in Your Next Picture Show we give a glimpse of the episode that could have been if we had chosen the PTA film we went into FRIENDSHIP expecting to be reminded of (and still kind of were): PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE.

Please share your thoughts about THE MASTER, FRIENDSHIP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Alex Ross Perry’s PAVEMENTS and Todd Haynes’ I’M NOT THERE

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:57

Friendship discussion: 00:01:57-00:16:17

Friendship/The Master Connections: 00:16:17-00:48:01

Your Next Picture Show: 00:48:01-00:51:22

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:51:22-end

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#476: Pain Pals, Pt. 1 — The Master

Tue, 27 May 2025 05:00:00 -0000

We can’t say that it would have occurred to us to pair the new Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd comedy FRIENDSHIP with THE MASTER if writer-director Andrew DeYoung hadn’t specifically invoked Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2012 psychological drama, but the two films do wind up being unexpectedly complementary portraits of relationships between emotionally unstable men. Plus, we’re happy to have an excuse to revisit THE MASTER, a slippery film wherein nearly every scene has a claim to being the most important one. So this week we’re taking a closer look at a few of those scenes and the multiple interpretations they invite. And in Feedback we’re still fielding listener interpretations of SINNERS, this time one that addresses one of Tasha’s only complaints about the film.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:06:04

"The Master" Keynote: 00:06:04-00:12:17

"The Master" Discussion:00:12:17-00:57:26

Feedback/outro: 00:57:26-end

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#475: Less Than Hero, Pt. 2 — Thunderbolts*

Tue, 20 May 2025 05:00:00 -0000

The new THUNDERBOLTS* assembles a group of leftovers from various MCU stories to face off against their personal failings in a way that’s broadly reminiscent of, yet tonally distinct from, the wannabe superheroes of 1999’s MYSTERY MEN. It’s also tonally distinct from most recent Marvel projects in a way that we all responded to, even if we differ on whether THUNDERBOLTS* is punching above its power class in the metaphor department. We debate that before bringing MYSTERY MEN back in to explore the various power differentials both between and within these two groups of superheroes with self-esteem issues. And in Your Next Picture Show we entertain another hypothetical “misfit superheroes” pairing that Scott argues has a better claim to the “classic” designation than MYSTERY MEN.

Please share your thoughts about MYSTERY MEN, THUNDERBOLTS*, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Andrew DeYoung’s FRIENDSHIP and Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:39

Thunderbolts discussion: 00:01:39-00:34:23

Thunderbolts/Mystery Men Connections: 00:34:23-01:03:20

Your Next Picture Show: 01:03:20-01:06:51

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 01:06:51-end

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#474: Less Than Hero, Pt. 1 — Mystery Men

Tue, 13 May 2025 11:00:00 -0000

The new THUNDERBOLTS* assembles some leftovers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe who are tough to describe as superheroes but nonetheless step up to save the day when their city needs them, which reminded us of MYSTERY MEN and its negligibly powered not-so-superteam. A flop in 1999, the comedy is as chaotic and sloppy as its titular (with an asterisk) group, but that imperfect charm is arguably central to the cult appreciation it’s attained since. So this week we’re taking a closer look at MYSTERY MEN’s small-time wannabe crime-fighters to determine how they fit into the bigger picture of modern superhero cinema. Then in Feedback, we keep the SINNERS conversation going with the help of some prompts from our listeners.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:07:56
Mystery Men Keynote: 00:07:57-00:15:51
Mystery Men Discussion: 00:15:52-00:45:35
Feedback/outro: 00:45:36-end

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#473: The Dead of Night, Pt. 2 — Sinners

Tue, 06 May 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:03

Sinners Discussion: 00:02:04-00:28:46

Connections: 00:28:47-1:02:37

Your Next Picture Show, next pairing, and goodbyes: 1:02-38-end

Director Ryan Coogler has been generous in sharing his many points of inspiration for SINNERS, including the other film in this pairing, but his exceptional new feature is refreshingly singular in both vision and execution. It makes for an admittedly lopsided comparison with FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, but also an illuminating one: examining Coogler’s vision through the lens of the 1996 Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino teamup sheds light on the added depth SINNERS brings to its own vampire mythology, criminal-brother protagonists, and mid-film genre shift. And in Your Next Picture Show, we briefly imagine the conversation we could have had if we’d instead paired SINNERS with the Coen brothers’ O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

Please share your thoughts about FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, SINNERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jake Schreier's THUNDERBOLTS and Kinka Usher’s MYSTERY MEN

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#472: The Dead of Night, Pt. 1 — From Dusk Till Dawn

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Comparing 1996's FROM DUSK TILL DAWN to the new SINNERS can feel a bit like, as Scott puts it, comparing “Chopsticks” to Beethoven’s Fifth. But Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s sleazy vampire flick was clearly on Ryan Coogler’s mind when crafting his own film about a pair of brothers who spend one fateful night defending a nightclub from an invading horde of the undead. Coogler’s film also has much more on its mind beyond that pulpy premise, which we’ll get into next week, but for now we’re digging as deep as we can into the shallow pleasures and frustrating shortcomings of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, from the awkward but arguably endearing performances from George Clooney and Tarantino as fugitive brothers, to the moments that test the limits of Rodriguez’s run-and-gun filmmaking approach — and yes, of course we have to talk about the foot stuff, too. Then in Feedback, we respond to a couple of listeners pushing back on some of our Cronenbergian categorization in the last pairing.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:06:57

From Dusk Till Dawn Keynote: 00:06:57-00:11:55

From Dusk Till Dawn Discussion: 00:11:56-00:54:04

Feedback/outro: 00:54:04-end

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#471: Body By Cronenberg, Pt. 2 — The Shrouds

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Over the decades, David Cronenberg has carved a distinctive and provocative filmography out of his interest in human decay and death, up to and including his new THE SHROUDS, a late-career entry in the writer-director’s body-horror canon. It’s a film that left some of us confounded in a way that our returning guest, critic Charles Bramesco, might argue is part of its Cronenbergian appeal; but placing it next to THE FLY in Connections clarifies how much it’s simply an evolution of the same pet themes Cronenberg has been circling since 1986 (and earlier), from overlapping obsessions with the mutability of bodies and technology, to the horror and guilt of watching a loved one deteriorate before our very eyes. And in Your Next Picture Show, we’re inspired to talk over another recent, highly personal project from an elder-statesman auteur that received a mixed reception, and which we never got to cover on the show: Francis Ford Coppola’s MEGALOPOLIS.

Please share your thoughts about THE FLY, THE SHROUDS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS and Robert Rodriguez’s FROM DUSK TIL DAWN

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:00

The Shrouds discussion: 00:02:04-00:26:23

The Shrouds/The Fly Connections: 00:26:24-00:59:16

Your Next Picture Show: 00:59:17-01:03:15

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 1:03:16-end

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#470: Body By Cronenberg, Pt. 1 — The Fly (1986)

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0000

The way David Cronenberg’s new THE SHROUDS splices together unsettling ideas about technology and bodily transformation made us think of… well, a lot of his filmography, but the film’s visceral interest in how the human body decays feels directly connected to the director’s unlikeliest hit, his remake of THE FLY. We’re joined this week by critic and our nascent “gross and scary” correspondent Charles Bramesco to teleport back to 1986 and examine what lies beneath the rotting flesh of THE FLY, from its tender central relationship to its oozing physical effects to its Howard Shore score, that makes it a distinctly Cronenbergian grossout. Then in Feedback, a listener uses our recent discussion of THE THIN MAN to broach a bigger question about what we value most in our mystery stories.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:38

The Fly Keynote: 00:03:39-00:08:18

The Fly Discussion: 00:08:19-00:44:11

Feedback/outro: 00:44:12-end

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#469: Mr. and Mrs. Mystery, Pt. 2 — Black Bag

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0000

BLACK BAG, Steven Soderbergh’s latest 90-minute collaboration with writer David Koepp, is in theory a sprawling international spy thriller, but in practice it’s a more intimate study of how a marriage can thrive in an environment where trusting your spouse is considered a weakness. This week we talk about how that genre disconnect works for and against BLACK BAG, before bringing in this pairing’s companion film, 1934’s THE THIN MAN, to compare how Nick and Nora Charles’s bantering, crime-solving partnership compares to the cooler, less boozy charms of Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender’s married spies. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we reach back to one of this podcast’s very first episodes to cannibalize a recommendation for a film that we’ve already covered on the show, but was too clear an inspiration on BLACK BAG to ignore. (And really, is there ever a bad time to recommend WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?)

Please share your thoughts about THE THIN MAN, BLACK BAG, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: David Cronenberg’s THE SHROUDS and THE FLY

Chapters:

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:04

Black Bag discussion: 00:02:04-00:29:03

Black Bag/The Thin Man Connections: 00:29:03-00:58:35

Your Next Picture Show: 00:58:35-01:04:50

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 1:104:50-end

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#468: Mr. and Mrs. Mystery, Pt. 1 — The Thin Man

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Steven Soderbergh’s new BLACK BAG is a spy thriller, sure, but it’s also the story of a marriage, and watching its sophisticated central couple banter their way through a sprawling mystery, it’s hard not to be reminded of one of cinema’s most enduring and endearing crime-solving couples, Nick and Nora Charles. So this week we’re going back to their film debut, 1934’s THE THIN MAN, to see how W.S. Van Dyke’s (barely) pre-Code crime caper balances the effervescent charm of its hard-drinking stars against the plot mechanics of a murder mystery, and whether any of the film’s many supporting players ever manage to steal the spotlight from Nick, Nora, and their disobedient dog Asta. Then in Feedback, a listener writes in with a notable omission from our recent discussion of STARSHIP TROOPERS.

Chapters:

Intro/favorite movie dinner scenes: 00:00:00-00:08:44

The Thin Man Keynote: 00:08:45-00:15:43

The Thin Man Discussion: 00:15:44-00:56:44

Feedback/outro: 00:56:45-end

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#467: Kill 'Em All, Pt. 2 — Mickey 17

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Bong Joon Ho’s new MICKEY 17 takes a lot of big swings, from star Robert Pattinson’s vocal affectation to a comedic fixation on “sauce,” all of it in service of big, bold, arguably blunt satire. It all makes for a somewhat messy but highly discussable film, both on its own and in conversation with Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, another big swing of a sci-fi satire that aims to entertain as it undermines propagandistic societies where leaders rule by catchphrase, where citizenship is conditional, and where working-class lives are expendable. We dive into all of that, plus space bugs that may not actually be bugs, then offer a Your Next Picture Show recommendation for another MICKEY 17 pairing contender, Duncan Jones’ MOON.

Please share your thoughts about STARSHIP TROOPERS, MICKEY 17, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: Steven Soderbergh’s BLACK BAG and W.S. Van Dyke’s THE THIN MAN

Chapters:

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:55

Mickey 17 discussion: 00:01:56-00:31:19

Mickey 17/Starship Troopers Connections: 00:31:20-1:07:03

Your Next Picture Show: 1:07:04-1:12:50

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 1:12:51-1:16:11

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#466: Kill 'Em All, Pt. 1 — Starship Troopers

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0000

This week’s pairing is brought to you by: space bugs! Specifically, space bugs as a metaphor for a fascistic society’s disregard for any perceived-to-be-lower life form, human or otherwise. Inspired by the clear satire of Bong Joon Ho’s new MICKEY 17, we’re revisiting Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, whose satirical intent was less clear to some audiences when it hit theaters in 1997. Today, while we’re on the same page as far as what Verhoeven was going for with his propagandistic display of military might, opinions still differ among our panel as to how well he pulled it off. We get into that disagreement, as well as the surprisingly enduring effects and the improbability of a film like this being made in Hollywood today. Then in Feedback, a listener inspired by a recent pairing shares their reaction to a first-time viewing of THE KILLING FIELDS.

Intro/space threats discussion: 00:00:00-00:06:02

Starship Troopers Keynote: 00:06:03-00:11:41

Starship Trooper Discussion: 00: 11:42-00:52:46

Feedback/outro: 00:52:47-end

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#465: Late Innings, Pt. 2 — Eephus

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0000

Carson Lund’s feature debut EEPHUS moves at the same deliberate pace as the trick pitch for which it’s named, leisurely unfolding over the course of a season-ending game between two small-town recreation leagues that’s also probably the last time many on the field will ever play. This week we’re joined again by film critic and baseball lover Tim Grierson to discuss how EEPHUS approaches that sense of finality with low-key humor and a subtle sense of nostalgia, before bringing Ron Shelton’s BULL DURHAM back on the field to compare these two films’ ideas about aging, masculinity, and America’s pastime, emphasis on the “past.” And in Your Next Picture Show we offer a recommendation for another unconventional baseball movie that offers a rarely seen perspective on the game, 2008’s SUGAR.

Please share your thoughts about BULL DURHAM, EEPHUS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: Bong Joon Ho’s MICKEY 17 and Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS

Chapters:

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:51

Eephus discussion: 00:01:52-00:27:37

Connections: 00:27:38-1:00:12

Your Next Picture Show: 1:00:13-1:04:25

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 1:04:26-end

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#464: Late Innings, Pt. 1 — Bull Durham

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Quietly observing as a small-town recreation league plays out their last game of the season, and likely ever, the new EEPHUS is a feature-length subversion of “the big game,” simultaneously embracing and rejecting such baseball-movie cliches in a manner that reminded us of 1988’s BULL DURHAM. We’re joined this week by pinch-hitter Tim Grierson to discuss all the ways Ron Shelton’s classic, often cited as the best baseball movie ever, throws out the sports-movie playbook, from its multiple protagonists and rom-com structure to its acknowledgment that baseball, like life, has an expiration date. And in Feedback, a frequent contributor returns with some bonus observations from our recent pairing of PRESENCE and THE OTHERS.

Intro/favorite movie sports teams: 00:00:00-00:08:51

Bull Durham Keynote: 00:08:51-00:14:55

Bull Durham Discussion: 00:14:56-00:56:14

Feedback/outro: 00:56:14-end

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#463: War Bonds, Pt. 2 — No Other Land

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0000

The story of two journalists reporting on a common cause despite their vastly different backgrounds is what gives NO OTHER LAND its narrative shape — and is what inspired us to pair it with 1984’s THE KILLING FIELDS — but the Oscar-nominated documentary is at heart a story about activism, and the weight of maintaining hope amid a generations-spanning conflict with no resolution in sight. We’re joined again this week by Slate culture writer Sam Adams to discuss how NO OTHER LAND makes the political personal, then bring THE KILLING FIELDS back in to compare these two portrayals of journalism from very different moments in journalism history, and the quandaries of privilege and guilt that accompany partnerships of unequals. Then in Your Next Picture Show we tout SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA and Jonathan Demme’s ability to spin Spalding Gray’s monologue about his bit role in THE KILLING FIELDS into a BTS feature like none other.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:25

No Other Land discussion: 00:02:26-00:24:28

Connections: 00:24:29-00:46:00

Your Next Picture Show/Goodbyes: 00:46:01-00:56:35

Please share your thoughts about THE KILLING FIELDS, NO OTHER LAND, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Carson Lund’s EEPHUS and Ron Shelton’s BULL DURHAM

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#462: War Bonds, Pt. 1 — The Killing Fields

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Intro & Oscars Chitchat: 00:00:00-00:08:52

Keynote: 00:08:53-00:13:50

The Killing Fields Discussion: 00:13:51-44:37

Feedback & Outro: 00:44:38-end

Summary:

The Oscar-nominated documentary NO OTHER LAND, a collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers whose common cause and eventual friendship does not change the stark contrast in their political status, brought to mind another story of two journalists from strikingly different backgrounds who bond in the midst of a geopolitical hotspot: 1984’s THE KILLING FIELDS. We’re joined this week by Slate writer and critic Sam Adams to revisit Roland Joffé’s dramatization of the relationship between New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg and Dith Pran, the Cambodian interpreter who worked alongside him as the country fell to the Khmer Rouge, to consider how THE KILLING FIELDS plays several decades removed from a conflict that would have been recent history for contemporary audiences. And in Feedback we share a listener’s explanation for one of our lingering questions from our recent discussion of THE OTHERS.

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#461: House Haunters, Pt. 2 — Presence

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Steven Soderbergh’s new PRESENCE flips the typical haunted house narrative inside out, but unlike the other film in this pairing, THE OTHERS, it makes its point of view clear from the opening frames. But that POV doesn’t slide fully into focus until PRESENCE’s final-act reveal, which left us with some questions, both critical and metaphysical, to dig into this week. Then we bring THE OTHERS back into the conversation to discuss how these two very different takes on the haunted house — one classical, one revisionist — each makes use of confined space, complex parent-child dynamics, and ambiguity about how time functions in an eternal afterlife. Then we keep the ghost stories coming in Your Next Picture Show, with some recommendations for films with an unusual or memorable perspective on domestic hauntings.

Intro: (00:00:00-00:01:58)

Presence review (spoiler-free): (00:01:590-00:20:10)

Presence review continued (spoilers): (00:20:11-00:27:56)

Connections: (00:27:57-00:56:14)

Your Next Picture Show: (00:56:15-01:06:50)

Next episode preview and credits: (01:06:51-01:11:05)

Please share your thoughts about THE OTHERS, PRESENCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• David Lowery’s A GHOST STORY

• Guillermo del Toro’s CRIMSON PEAK

• Jack Clayton’s THE INNOCENTS

• Sidney J. Furie’s THE ENTITY

Next Pairing: NO OTHER LAND and THE KILLING FIELDS

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#460: House Haunters, Pt. 1 — The Others

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Steven Soderbergh’s new PRESENCE is an unconventional haunted house story with a twist that reminded us of 2001’s THE OTHERS, though to say exactly why risks spoiling how Alejandro Amenábar performs his own twist on a comparatively traditional haunted house story. That twist forms the foundation of our discussion this week, which freely roams spoiler territory as we consider how the ending revelation shapes our understanding of THE OTHERS' perspective on religion and the afterlife, and how the film’s abundant symbolism lines up with its narrative as a ghost story. Then in Feedback, we revisit our recent “Fanged Attraction” pairing with a couple of listeners offering their own interpretations of BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA and NOSFERATU.

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#459: Fanged Attraction Pt. 2 — Nosferatu (2024)

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Given their shared source material, Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU and Francis Ford Coppola’s BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA understandably have a lot overlap in terms of plot and character, but the two films are miles apart in their interpretation of that source material, particularly as applied to its titular vampire. We’re of split opinions on Eggers’ bleak, monster-forward characterization of Orlock, especially how it plays against NOSFERATU’s ideas about female desire and sexuality, but agree it provides a fascinating counterpoint to Coppola’s florid spin on the Count as a tragic romantic antihero. We examine that contrast further in Connections alongside other character parallels — the Renfields, the Van Helsings, the maidens fair — as well as how the two films’ diverging styles each reinforce their filmmaker’s take on the title character. And in place of Your Next Picture Show, we offer some impromptu reflections on the life and work of David Lynch, who died the day this episode was recorded.

Please share your thoughts about BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, NOSFERATU, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Steven Soderbergh’s PRESENCE and Alejandro Amenábar’s THE OTHERS

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#458: Fanged Attraction, Pt. 1 — Bram Stoker's Dracula

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0000

The heightened gothic sensibility of Robert Eggers’ new NOSFERATU recalls — in its intensity if not its precise contours — BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, Francis Ford Coppola’s feverish 1992 horror-romance that follows the same story from a markedly different perspective. This led us to reconsider Coppola’s flawed but fascinating DRACULA as a film that, even if it arguably never achieves greatness, inarguably leaves an impression. Yes, Keanu Reeves’ accent is part of that impression, but so is the film’s grandiose art design, its recasting of Dracula as a tragic romantic antihero, and its overall commitment to cinematic maximalism, for better or worse.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, NOSFERATU, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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A Brief Interruption in Service

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0000

Hey Next Picture Show listeners, sorry there’s no new episode in your feed today. Real life got in the way of podcast life and prevented us from recording our next pairing in time to release it this week. But we will be back next Tuesday with part one of our double feature comparing Robert Eggers’ new Nosferatu with Frances Ford Coppola’s own take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1992. If you’re playing along at home, the former is in theaters now, while Coppola’s Dracula is digitally rentable from the usual outlets, and available in an array of physical-media releases to purchase — or perhaps check out from your local library. We hope you’ll enjoy both movies, and join us next week as we sink our teeth into this pairing.

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#457: Our Top Films of 2024

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0000

With the beginning of a new year comes our customary look back, as Keith, Scott, and Tasha gather once again to compare their personal lists of the best films of 2024. While there is some crossover among their picks — particularly when it comes to films that have been discussed in-depth on this podcast — there is much more variance, reflective of a movie year that was light on prestige-season heavyweights, and full of memorably idiosyncratic, personal projects that will stick with us long past year’s end.

Please share your thoughts about, and your own picks for, the best movies of 2024, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU and Francis Ford Coppola’s BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA

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#456: Long Gone, Pt. 2 — Nickel Boys

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0000

The moments in NICKEL BOYS that nod to 1958’s THE DEFIANT ONES are less direct citations than stylized invocations by director RaMell Ross, who incorporates a number of abstractions and flourishes into the film’s visual language. Chief among those stylistic gambits is the film’s use of first-person perspective, which kicks off our discussion of NICKEL BOYS’ uniquely textured take on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel. From there we consider the deeper meaning and intent behind NICKEL BOYS’ use of visuals and audio from THE DEFIANT ONES, and where the two films overlap in their ideas about racial justice in the Jim Crow South and clashing philosophies of idealism and realism. Then our returning guest co-host Noel Murray offers a Your Next Picture Show recommendation for another social-issue film from the team behind THE DEFIANT ONES.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE DEFIANT ONES, NICKEL BOYS, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#455: Long Gone, Pt. 1 — The Defiant Ones

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0000

Stanley Kramer’s 1958 feature THE DEFIANT ONES, a film very much of its time, makes multiple on-screen appearances in RaMell Ross’ new NICKEL BOYS, a film about the way the past haunts the present. Both movies take place in the Jim Crow-era South and engage with that setting’s lopsided ideas about justice, but THE DEFIANT ONES does so from a much more straightforward approach, operating as both a stylish thriller about two escaped prisoners, one black (Sidney Poitier) and one white (Tony Curtis), and an earnest allegory about interracial acceptance. That latter quality makes it easy to lump in with Kramer’s other “message movies,” which are often dismissed from a modern vantage point as stodgy and sanctimonious, so we’re revisiting THE DEFIANT ONES, with an assist from critic and pal Noel Murray, to see whether it earns or defies that reputation. And in Feedback we revisit our WIZARD OF OZ discussion with a reader suggestion of another child female protagonist who rivals Dorothy when it comes to teary helplessness.

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#454: The Witch Is Back, Pt. 2 — Wicked

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0000

The antagonist becomes the protagonist in Jon M. Chu’s WICKED, which adapts a stage musical — the first act, anyway — which adapts a novel that flipped the script on 1939’s THE WIZARD OF OZ (itself an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s novel). So while there are plenty of narrative and character parallels between the two films, they often run perpendicular to each other in their respective notions of good and wicked. But the two films are certainly aligned in their aim to be big-screen spectacles of the highest order, though opinions differ among our hosts as to what degree WICKED achieves that goal in its heavily CGI-ed and halved form. Following that debate, we pit Dorothy and Elphaba against each other to see what each protagonist has to offer when it comes to fish-out-of-water pluck, character-defining“I Want” songs, and willingness to trust in that scoundrel the Wizard. And for Your Next Picture Show, Scott wheels out a recommendation for one of the weirder, but strangely enduring, cinematic visions of Oz.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE WIZARD OF OZ, WICKED, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: RaMell Ross’s NICKEL BOYS and Stanley Kramer’s THE DEFIANT ONES

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#453: The Witch Is Back, Pt. 1 — The Wizard of Oz

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0000

The new movie musical WICKED, along with the Broadway show and novel that preceded it, is specifically out to subvert the version of the magical land of Oz that was codified in 1939’s THE WIZARD OF OZ, making it the perfect time to consider what made that film a phenomenon to be subverted in the first place. So this week we wade into the vast, varied legacy of THE WIZARD OF OZ to discuss why it overcame its initial box-office failure to become a perennial family classic; which of the film’s enduring elements feel most of their time; and how that “it was all a dream” framework contributes to the film’s appeal. And in Feedback, a listener hits us with some historical context regarding a question raised in our recent episode on THE BEST MAN.

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#452: Cinde-F***ing-Rella, Pt. 2 — Anora

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0000

Sean Baker’s ANORA takes the fairy-tale premise of 1990’s PRETTY WOMAN as its starting point, but ends up on a very different route to a very different sort of happy ending. It’s also a best-of-the year contender for most of us, so we spend some time discussing what makes it so before bringing its romcom predecessor back in to consider how these two films about sex workers falling for their wealthy clients are in conversation when it comes to classicism and social hierarchies, conspicuous consumption, and what happens when a transactional relationship evolves into something more. And in Your Next Picture Show, we offer a pair of recommendations that illustrate the cinematic endurance of this particular premise.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PRETTY WOMAN, ANORA, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jon M. Chu’s WICKED and Victor Fleming’s THE WIZARD OF OZ

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#451: Cinde-F***ing-Rella, Pt. 1 — Pretty Woman

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0000

Sean Baker’s new ANORA takes its initial cues from 1990’s PRETTY WOMAN, but its story of a sex worker who develops romantic feelings for a client in spite of class difference and social stigma soon peels off in a vastly different direction. So this week we’re focusing on that shared starting point to determine what makes PRETTY WOMAN both a deeply weird depiction of sex work and a resoundingly successful romcom — and no, it’s not just Julia Roberts, though it’s hard to imagine us discussing PRETTY WOMAN as a classic film today without that star-making performance. And in Feedback, a listener question about theaters' embrace of faith-based films prompts a broader discussion of how and why multiplexes are diversifying their offerings.

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#450: Ballot Wounds, Pt. 2 — Conclave

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0000

Edward Berger’s new CONCLAVE is a low-key, intimate political thriller full of unexpected reveals, but fundamentally about power, purity, belief, compromise, perception, and committee decisions. This week we share our thoughts on CONCLAVE’s insular focus and messaging around religion and politics before considering how its power brokers and kingmakers compare to those found in the 1964 presidential-candidate drama THE BEST MAN, and the two films’ overlapping ideas about whether politics demands hypocrisy. And for Your Next Picture Show, we offer a recommendation for THE DEATH OF STALIN, a radically different movie about the vacuum left when a powerful man dies, and the jockeying and chicanery that follows.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BEST MAN, CONCLAVE, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Sean Baker’s ANORA and Garry Marshall’s PRETTY WOMAN.

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#449: Ballot Wounds, Pt. 1 — The Best Man

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0000

While the new CONCLAVE concerns the election of a new pope, its intrigue, backstabbing, and backroom deals have many echoes in secular politics, in particular those found in 1964’s THE BEST MAN. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and written by Gore Vidal adapting his own stage play, the film’s depiction of the behind-the-scenes machinations involved to secure an unnamed party’s nomination for the presidency is relevant both to its era and our current political moment, albeit in different ways. But how deep does its cynicism about the system of elections, and those who manage to make that system work for them, go? We talk through that, as well as how THE BEST MAN’s women function within that system, before taking on some listener feedback about streaming availability that doubles as an excuse to endorse a system we can all get behind: public libraries.

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#448: One Night Only, Pt. 2 — Saturday Night

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 05:00:00 -0000

In its attempt to capture the chaotic comedic alchemy leading up to the first-ever SNL broadcast, Jason Reitman’s SATURDAY NIGHT is carrying the weight of the show’s nearly 50-year legacy and its personification in protagonist Lorne Michaels. Whether it manages to get off the ground despite that is up for debate in the first half of this week’s discussion, before we bring in another tense evening in ’70s New York to see how ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY compares in its depiction of a late-night highwire act and the pressure to pull off a performance with many moving parts on a deadline, and what each depiction reveals about the nature of creative collaboration. And in Your Next Picture Show we offer a brief glimpse at an alternate-universe episode in which we paired SATURDAY NIGHT with Robert Altman’s final film, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY, SATURDAY NIGHT, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Edward Berger’s CONCLAVE and Franklin J. Schaffer’s THE BEST MAN

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#447: One Night Only, Pt. 1 — Original Cast Album: Company

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Capturing the tense hours leading to a pivotal moment in live TV history, the new SATURDAY NIGHT is defined by a looming deadline that reminded us of another New York-based all-nighter captured on film: D.A. Pennebaker’s 1970 TV pilot turned documentary film ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY. Despite being less than an hour long, the fly-on-the-wall document of Stephen Sondheim and company recording the definitive version of their Broadway hit in a single night provides no shortage of nuance to dig into like we’re Sondheim parsing an F sharp that’s drifted to A. And in Feedback we bring a comment from a recent bonus episode on BLINK TWICE over to the main show in order to discuss the relative value of movie twists.

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#446: Machine Learning, Pt. 2 — The Wild Robot

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 05:00:00 -0000

The new Dreamworks animated feature THE WILD ROBOT is partially about the struggles of parenthood, partially about the joys of community, and the larger idea bridging those two parts — that of being more than you were “programmed” to be — is also what links it most directly to Brad Bird’s THE IRON GIANT. But there’s a lot more going on in THE WILD ROBOT besides that, arguably too much, which forms the central debate of the first half of this week’s discussion. Then we bring THE IRON GIANT back in to compare these films’ shared big ideas about selfhood, souls, and sacrifice, how they’re filtered through robots as metaphors of strength, and their respective depictions of humanity on the precipice of apocalypse. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we offer a trio of recommendations for films that account for other parts of WILD ROBOT’s source code.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE IRON GIANT, THE WILD ROBOT, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jason Reitman’s SATURDAY NIGHT and D.A. Pennebaker’s ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY

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#445: Machine Learning, Pt. 1 — The Iron Giant

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 05:00:00 -0000

It’s understandable that new Dreamworks feature THE WILD ROBOT pulls some of its source code from THE IRON GIANT, considering the latter’s towering reputation as one of the greatest animated films ever, robot protagonist or otherwise. But the enduring legacy of Brad Bird’s debut feature was far from assured when it blipped through theaters back in 1999, so this week we’re examining what’s behind the film’s upgrade from box-office flop to stone-cold classic, one known for its ability to reduce viewers to tears with a single word of dialogue. And in Feedback, a listener offers a different interpretation of a character moment from our discussion of THE SAVAGES.

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#444: Heir Grievances Pt. 2 — His Three Daughters

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Azazel Jacobs’ HIS THREE DAUGHTERS is, like Tamara Jenkins’ THE SAVAGES, a film about the heartbreaking experience of caring for an aging parent, but even more so it is, also like the other film in the pairing, about adult siblings reuniting and renegotiating their relationships under those fraught conditions. We’re decidedly more mixed on Jacobs’ film, however, which often plays like a stage adaptation — at times that works, at others it doesn’t, and we talk through both in the first half of this discussion. Then we bring THE SAVAGES back in to consider how each film is shaped by its relative proximity to the end of life, their overlapping perspectives on professional caretakers and those who deal with death for a living, and the realism and usefulness of their pop-cultural reference points. And in Your Next Picture Show we take a brief tour of Tamara Jenkins’s short but mighty feature filmography to date.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE SAVAGES, HIS THREE DAUGHTERS, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Chris Sanders’ THE WILD ROBOT and Brad Bird’s THE IRON GIANT

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#443: Heir Grievances Pt. 1 — The Savages

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Caring for an elderly or infirm parent is a common experience that is less commonly depicted on screen, particularly with a comedic bent, which is why Azazal Jacobs’ new HIS THREE DAUGHTERS inspired us to revisit the 2007 dramedy THE SAVAGES, which writer-director Tamara Jenkins drew from her own experiences dealing with a father with dementia. Much of the film’s success lies with the performances of Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as siblings whose estranged father’s deteriorating condition serves as catalyst for their own midlife crises, and a script that trusts in their performances to convey the situation’s unexpected yet accurate mingling of tragedy and comedy. Then in Feedback we get negative, with one listener writing in about why a recent film we covered “broke” them, and another inviting us to share the beloved films that we just can’t help but dislike.

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#442: Fuzz Busters, Pt. 2 — Rebel Ridge

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Jeremy Saulnier’s REBEL RIDGE puts a distinctly 2020s spin on the one-man army formula established in the era-defining ‘80s action hit FIRST BLOOD, resulting in a film with more nuance, less firepower, and equal amounts of ass-kicking. We parse that equation a bit more in-depth in our spoiler-light discussion of REBEL RIDGE, before bringing back FIRST BLOOD to see how the decades between the two films shape their respective ideas about escalation of force, small-town policing, and genre politics. And for Your Next Picture Show, we offer a quick-hit ranking of Saulnier’s filmography to date.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about FIRST BLOOD, REBEL RIDGE, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Azazel Jacobs’ HIS THREE DAUGHTERS and Tamara Jenkins’ THE SAVAGES

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#441: Fuzz Busters, Pt. 1 — First Blood

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Genre specialist Jeremy Saulnier’s latest banger, REBEL RIDGE, owes an obvious debt to the film that kicked off Sylvester Stallone’s second long-running franchise, 1982’s FIRST BLOOD, but the two films are of very different eras with very different core concerns about policing in America. So this week we’re focusing on the shadow of Vietnam that falls over the Pacific Northwest in the form of John Rambo, digging into the deeper themes that lie beneath the proverbial pissing contest between FIRST BLOOD’s ticking time bomb of a protagonist and the antagonistic police chief who foolishly sets him off. And in Feedback we revisit our ALIENS discussion with a deep reference and some head-cannon fodder from our listeners.

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#440: They Mostly Come at Night, Pt. 2 — Alien: Romulus

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Fede Álvarez’s ALIEN: ROMULUS is at its core an act of homage to the larger franchise, but is that a feature, a bug, or both? That’s a question we attempt to reconcile in our discussion of Álvarez’s acid-blood-soaked film, before comparing how this late-stage sequel compares with the franchise’s original sequel, James Cameron’s ALIENS, in iterating on the corporate meddling of Weyland-Yutani, the evolving nature of artificial humans, and comedy as characterization. And for Your Next Picture Show, we pivot hard away from this franchise-driven pairing for a recommendation of Spanish filmmaker Víctor Erice’s first feature in over three decades, CLOSE YOUR EYES.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ALIENS, ALIEN: ROMULUS, and anything else in the world of film and/or xenomorphs, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jeremy Saulnier’s REBEL RIDGE and Ted Kotcheff’s FIRST BLOOD

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#439: They Mostly Come at Night, Pt. 1 — Aliens

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Fede Álverez’s ALIEN: ROMULUS is so reference-packed that an argument could be made for pairing it with just about any ALIEN film, but since we’ve already discussed the 1979 original, and because the Next Picture Show bylaws state that if an opportunity to discuss ALIENS arises we must take it, we’re digging into the first of the many sequels this franchise has spawned. Thanks to writer-director James Cameron’s economy of storytelling, there are so many iconic moments, characters, and lines to discuss that we barely scratch the surface this week, though, rest assured, ROMULUS will provide us with many more avenues into the film’s greater legacy and mythology next week. And then we keep the franchise fever going in Feedback with a listener prompt about the feeling of being “done” with a once-beloved film series.

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#438: Dial 'M' For Manhunt, Pt. 2 — Trap

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Is it a bit unfair to compare M. Night Shyamalan’s new grip-it-and-rip-it thriller TRAP to Fritz Lang’s 1931 cinematic landmark M? Sure, but that’s the name of the game here on The Next Picture Show, and for all of TRAP’s faults — which we try not to take too much glee in enumerating in this discussion — it does work, however awkwardly, as an extrapolation of the ideas and narrative techniques first established in Lang’s film. From its interest in exploring the mind of a serial killer to its depiction of law-enforcement overreach, there’s plenty in TRAP that feels like it’s echoing M, though whether Shyamalan does so with enough purpose to suggest a larger thematic statement like M’s is another question entirely.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about M, TRAP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Fede Álvarez’s ALIEN: ROMULUS and James Cameron’s ALIENS.

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#437: Dial 'M' For Manhunt, Pt. 1 — M (1931)

Tue, 13 Aug 2024 05:00:00 -0000

The new TRAP, like so many M. Night Shyamalan movies, openly courts comparisons to the work of Alfred Hitchcock, but its focus on the large-scale manhunt for a serial killer combined with its psychological interest in said killer has roots even further back in film history. So this week we reach all the way back to Fritz Lang’s first talkie, 1931’s M, to see how it frames the search for a compulsive child murderer decades before the term “serial killer” existed, and sort through the film’s many distinctive and influential elements, from its pessimistic view of law and order to its iconic whistling motif. Then in Feedback, a listener prompt gets us feeling nostalgic for some of our favorite and/or formative theatrical experiences.

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Announcement: Next Pairing

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 05:00:00 -0000

No show this week, but NPS co-host Genevieve Koski announces the next pairing, inspired by M. Night Shyamalan's "Trap."

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#436: Killer Instincts, Pt. 2 — Longlegs

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Osgood Perkins’ new LONGLEGS shares some clear narrative and thematic DNA with THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but it’s much more bizarre and divisive in its approach to horror-adjacent serial killer storytelling than Jonathan Demme’s crowd-pleasing, Oscar-sweeping hit. We’re joined again this week by critic and author Charles Bramesco to talk through the varying degrees to which we vibed with Perkins’ style and Nicolas Cage’s central performance, before bringing LONGLEGS’ predecessor back into the conversation to compare the points of overlap and distinction between these two films about newbie female FBI agents, unconventional serial killers, and the traumatic backstories that drive them both. And in Your Next Picture Show we take stock of Oz Perkins’ small but already idiosyncratic directorial filmography to date.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, LONGLEGS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#435: Killer Instincts, Pt. 1 — The Silence of the Lambs

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 05:00:00 -0000

There’s no doubt that director Osgood Perkins had Jonathan Demme’s THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in mind when he made the new LONGLEGS, but there are as many fascinating contrasts as there are comparisons between these two films about inexperienced female FBI agents and seasoned serial killers. But before getting into those next episode, this week we’re joined by critic and author Charles Bramesco for an in-depth revisitation of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS that digs into how the “Demme Touch” elevated a potentially lurid procedural to an Oscar-sweeping sensation, why its artful exploration of trauma inspired a legion of imitators, and how its sidestepping of trans identity plays in an era that’s much more attuned to that conversation. And in Feedback, a listener deconstructs a couple of our recent pairings and reconstructs them as inversions of the same story.

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#434: Full House, Pt. 2 — Janet Planet

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Pulitzer-winning playwright Annie Baker’s filmmaking debut JANET PLANET is sort of a dual coming-of-age story, centering a young girl’s fascination with her single mother who is still figuring out her own place in the world. But it also resists broad statements and neat conclusions, giving us space to unpack our own interpretations of the emotional depths that lie beneath the film’s quiet exterior. Then we bring Lukas Moodysson’s TOGETHER back into the discussion to compare its non-judgmental eye toward low-impact parenting, especially in the face of adult drama, and greater interest in the human drive for connection to those of JANET PLANET. And in Your Next Picture Show we share our runner-up contender for this week’s pairing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TOGETHER, JANET PLANET, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Oz Perkins’ LONGLEGS and Jonathan Demme’s SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

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#433: Full House, Pt. 1 — Together (2000)

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 05:00:00 -0000

The new JANET PLANET follows a young girl who comes to see the world differently thanks to a succession of people her hippyish single mother brings into their lives, and more specifically into the home they share. Its sense of the fraught sense of intimacy that accompanies cohabitation by family members and lovers brought to mind Lukas Moodysson’s TOGETHER, another film that’s interested in how its characters’ progressive politics overlap and even interfere with their family dynamics. This week we talk through how TOGETHER shows affection for the residents of its titular commune in spite of, or perhaps because of, their foibles, what the film’s unresolved ending leaves up to interpretation, and how a parent’s journey of self-realization can really do a number on their parenting instincts. And in Feedback, a very thoughtful letter about the underappreciated value of Disney Princess culture leads to an unexpected conclusion.

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#432: Pixar's Girl Story, Pt. 2 — Inside Out 2

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 05:00:00 -0000

When thinking of a film to pair with INSIDE OUT 2, we purposefully avoided the new Pixar sequel’s 2015 original because the two are so of a piece, delving into the contrasts between them seemed too much like nitpicking. Still, we attempt to make fruitful discussion out of those nitpicks in this week’s conversation about the new film, and perhaps even change one panelist’s opinion of it in the process. Then we bring in the film we actually chose for this pairing, 2012’s BRAVE, which we all agree isn’t as much of a Pixar all-timer as the original INSIDE OUT, but provides some thought-provoking echoes and contrasts with its sequel in terms of adolescent emotions and the outward embodiments thereof, journeys of self discovery — for a teenage protagonist as well as the nurturing presence who cares for them — and the symbolic potential of pretty glowing things. Then we make a hard pivot for Your Next Picture Show to discuss the appeal of Richard Linklater’s new HIT MAN and how it translates between the big and small screens.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BRAVE, INSIDE OUT 2, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Annie Baker’s JANET PLANET and Lukas Moodysson’s TOGETHER

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#431: Pixar's Girl Story, Pt. 1 — Brave

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 05:00:00 -0000

INSIDE OUT 2 is quite literally built around the emotional experience of being a young girl, but it wasn’t too long ago that this was uncharted territory for Pixar. That’s why rather than comparing the animation studio’s latest sequel to the original, we’re reaching a little further back in the filmography to revisit its first attempt to tell a story about a teenager trying to define her own identity: 2012's BRAVE. Representing some big firsts for Pixar, BRAVE had a fair amount of baggage and expectations when it hit theaters, all of which still linger in our conversation about a film we enjoy, with no shortage of qualities to recommend it, that nonetheless still feels like it’s struggling to reach its full potential.

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#430: Road Warriors, Pt. 2: Furiosa

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 05:00:00 -0000

The new FURIOSA functions as both a prequel and a sequel within the larger mythology of the MAD MAX franchise, and we’re looking at it from both of those angles this week. First, we talk over why George Miller’s latest might have flopped at the box office (prequel fatigue) and why it feels poised to overcome that reputation in due time (it is the rare good prequel). Then we zoom out to bring 1979’s original MAX MAX back into the picture and consider this franchise’s ongoing interest in themes of hope, despair, grief, and revenge, and how those themes shift when presented through a feminine perspective versus a masculine one. And in Your Next Picture Show, we use this opportunity to sing the praises of a lesser-known Miller work with much less vehicular mayhem and a much more overt presentation of hope in the face of despair.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MAD MAX, FURIOSA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Pixar’s INSIDE OUT 2 and BRAVE

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#429: Road Warriors, Pt. 1: Mad Max (1979)

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 05:00:00 -0000

There’s a lot of narrative road between 1979’s MAD MAX and the new FURIOSA, but in pursuing George Miller’s decades-spanning franchise back to its starting line, we uncover a lot about what fuels this saga beyond the big, loud cars. For example, there are also big, loud motorcycles. But more importantly, there’s a healthy skepticism toward revenge as motivation, an interest in messianic leaders and hyper-verbal antagonists, and an efficient approach to world-building that prizes the visceral feel of a crumbling society over the logistical details thereof. All of that, plus the symbolic richness of this bleak motorized world, come up as we look under the hood of a film that’s quite different from what the MAD MAX saga is today, but no less driven by Miller’s singular vision. And in Feedback, we respond to a much-appreciated listener correction about THE FALL GUY and a similarly appreciated response to a prompt from our DONNIE DARKO episode.

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#428: Teenage Dreams, Pt. 2 — I Saw the TV Glow

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Jane Schoenburn’s I SAW THE TV GLOW is a film whose cultural reference points tend to take the form of vibes more than direct nods. But the writer-director's stated inspiration point in DONNIE DARKO can be seen on both the surface — the recent-past suburban setting, the teenage outcasts struggling to relate to the world around them — and on a deeper level in the protagonists’ slippery grips on reality and their own identity. In the case of I SAW THE TV GLOW, that takes the shape of a trans narrative, the apparentness and relatability of which we discuss with the help of our special guest Emily St. James, before putting these two films side by side to consider their respective takes on teenage alienation, TV as a drug, and secondary realities that no one else can see. And in Your Next Picture Show we recommend a book trilogy that offers a different but complementary spin on media obsession.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DONNIE DARKO, I SAW THE TV GLOW, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: George Miller’s FURIOSA and MAD MAX

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#427: Teenage Dreams, Pt. 1 — Donnie Darko

Tue, 28 May 2024 13:00:00 -0000

The horror-inflected suburban setting of the new I SAW THE TV GLOW — not to mention writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s own comments on their inspiration — put us in mind of Richard Kelly’s 2001 cult classic DONNIE DARKO, which also follows a teen protagonist struggling to maintain their grip on reality. We’re joined once again by writer, critic, and friend of the show Emily St. James to discuss how our relationships to both that teen protagonist and the movie named for him have shifted over the years, the film’s prescient religious and political undertones and the intentionality thereof, and why so many of its mysteries remain more compelling without clear answers. And in Feedback, we travel back a few episodes to revisit both a scene from Alex Garland’s CIVIL WAR and the discourse it provoked.

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#426: Playing the Hits, Pt. 2 — The Fall Guy

Tue, 21 May 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Like the first film in this pairing, Richard Rush’s 1980 oddity THE STUNT MAN, David Leitch’s new THE FALL GUY utilizes the chaos of a film set as the cover for a crime, not to mention the inspiration for both romance and comedy. THE FALL GUY is a bit more straightforward in its crowd-pleasing intentions, though, to both its benefit and detriment, which we talk through in sharing our reactions to the new film. Then we bring THE STUNT MAN back in to compare its overlapping but distinct ideas about stunt performers who inspire their directors, get romantically involved with their co-workers, and confront their own deaths as a matter of course. And in Your Next Picture Show we offer another pairing of films that have nothing to do with this week’s movies, but which we are nonetheless excited to recommend.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE STUNT MAN, THE FALL GUY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jane Schoenbrunn’s I SAW THE TV GLOW and Richard Kelly’s DONNIE DARKO

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#425: Playing the Hits, Pt. 1 — The Stunt Man

Tue, 14 May 2024 05:00:00 -0000

While there are countless movies featuring the work of stunt performers, movies that center the experiences of those performers are much more rare, which is part of what motivated former stunt performer David Leitch to make the new THE FALL GUY. One of the standouts on that short list is Richard Rush’s 1980 genre oddity THE STUNT MAN, which uses the experience of its accidental-stuntie protagonist to blur the lines between post-Vietnam reality and moviemaking fantasy in fascinating, sometimes confounding ways. We talk through our interpretations of what it means and whether it works, and come to the conclusion that even when it doesn’t, Peter O’Toole’s performance as a diabolical director manages to hold it all together. Then in Feedback, our recent CHALLENGERS episode inspires a couple of listeners to share their alternate pairing ideas.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE STUNT MAN, THE FALL GUY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#424: Mixed Doubles, Pt. 2 — Challengers

Tue, 07 May 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Justin Kuritzkes, who wrote the screenplay for Luca Guadagnino’s new CHALLENGERS, cites Alfonso Cuarón's coming-of-age classic Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN as a longtime favorite, so it’s unsurprising to see that film’s DNA in this one. CHALLENGERS is far from a remake, though, operating in a very different milieu with very different narrative priorities, both which we discuss along with our generally-positive-to-rapturous reactions to it. Then in Connections we press these two movies’ faces together and make them kiss for our own gratification, and come away from the experience surprised by just how much they share without being much alike at all. And in Your Next Picture Show we consider another, more recent Cuarón film in the context of Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN, CHALLENGERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: David Leitch’s THE FALL GUY and Richard Rush’s THE STUNT MAN

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#423: Mixed Doubles, Pt. 1 — Y Tu Mamá También

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -0000

The new CHALLENGERS is a sports drama the same way Alfonso Cuarón’s Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN is a road movie: secondarily, as both films tend to be associated first with their respective sexy love triangles, each with a woman at its center. That shared character dynamic results in a lot of connections between the two films, which we’ll cover in the next episode, but this week we’re focusing on all the other elements that distinguish Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN, from the way its narration forces us to consider the bigger picture that’s ignored by our young protagonists, to an ending revelation that recontextualizes (or, for one of our panelists, undermines) everything that comes before. And in Feedback, we take up a spoiler-filled question about the ending and viewer reception of CIVIL WAR.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN, CHALLENGERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#422: Alex Garland's Catastrophic Visions, Pt. 2 — Civil War

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -0000

The strain of cynicism that characterizes so much of Alex Garland’s filmography is at its most pronounced in his latest, CIVIL WAR. But paired with Garland’s 2002 debut as a screenwriter, Danny Boyle’s 28 DAYS LATER, an interesting counterpoint emerges in their shared acknowledgement, even hope, that humanity could perhaps find a path forward through catastrophe. So after spending some time wallowing in the muck of CIVIL WAR’s muddy politics and unsettling violence, we examine that mutual glimmer of hope in Connections, as well as the similar back-and-forth rhythms and character parallels of these two road movies. And in Your Next Picture Show we recommend the sequel that provides a different filmmaker’s answer to that question of where humanity goes next, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s 28 WEEKS LATER.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about 28 DAYS LATER, CIVIL WAR, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Luca Guadagnino’s CHALLENGERS and Alfonso Cuarón’s Y TU MAMA TAMBIÉN

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#421: Alex Garland's Catastrophic Visions, Pt. 1 — 28 Days Later

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -0000

The new CIVIL WAR is the latest in a line of speculative scenarios that Alex Garland has pondered over the course of his career as a novelist-turned-filmmaker, but its journey through a country transformed by violent catastrophe is most reminiscent of his first project as a screenwriter, Danny Boyle’s zombie-adjacent horror film 28 DAYS LATER. So before digging into Garland’s vision of an apocalyptic near-future United States, we’re revisiting his vision of the apocalyptic England of 2002 to consider the challenges of carving an ending (happy or otherwise) out of such a grim “what if,” and how our collective understanding of zombies (fast or otherwise) is both reflected in and shaped by 28 DAYS LATER’s infected. And in Feedback, we reckon with another speculative scenario, one in which our recent episode on Radu Jude’s latest was part of a different pairing.

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#420: Final Cuts, Pt. 2 — Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -0000

What does a powerless gofer in 2020s Romania have in common with a powerful studio executive in 1990s Hollywood? Radu Jude’s new DO NOT EXPECT TO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD may concern a very different type of moviemaking than that in Robert Altman’s satire THE PLAYER, but it takes a similarly cynical — and humorous — stance on the compromises involved in commercialized art. That’s the main connection that inspired returning guest Katie Rife to suggest this pairing to us, but there’s much more about Jude’s film to get into first, from its focus on quotidian details to its various nods to Romanian art and culture. After that, we dive into these two films’ complementary takes on capitalism, commodification, and cameos, and in Your Next Picture show offer a trio of otherwise-unrelated films with ties to this pairing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE PLAYER, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Alex Garland’s CIVIL WAR and Danny Boyle’s 28 DAYS LATER

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#419: Final Cuts, Pt. 1 — The Player

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Romanian director Radu Jude’s new DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD is set in Bucharest, not Hollywood, but its cynicism about the act of capturing something on film nonetheless put us in mind of Robert Altman’s 1992 industry satire THE PLAYER. We’re joined by returning guest Katie Rife to discuss these two very different yet complementary movies about moviemaking, beginning with THE PLAYER’s caustically meta take on the Hollywood grind during a transitional moment for studio filmmaking. And we stay on theme moving into Feedback, bringing the film’s cynical outlook on Hollywood to a listener's question about the very existence of movie remakes.

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#418: Crimes of Passion, Pt. 2 — Love Lies Bleeding

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Like the Wachowskis’ BOUND before it, Rose Glass’ new lesbian crime thriller LOVE LIES BLEEDING is playing with the tropes of noir and pulp, but it is also very much a love story between women who are trapped by their pasts and see in each other a way out. This week we’re joined once again by writer and friend of the show Emily St. James to talk through the unique, memorable way in which LOVE LIES BLEEDING balances those elements and tones, before bringing BOUND back into the discussion to consider the parallels between these two narratives’ respective interest in bodies and gender performance, trust and transactional sex, and finding escape in another person. And in Your Next Picture Show we enthusiastically recommend Glass’ debut feature SAINT MAUD as the bellwether of a filmmaker who’s proven herself one to watch.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BOUND, LOVE LIES BLEEDING, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Radu Jude’s DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD and Robert Altman’s THE PLAYER.

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#417: Crimes of Passion, Pt. 1 — Bound

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Rose Glass’ new lesbian crime thriller LOVE LIES BLEEDING takes the neo-noir in a bold and unexpected direction, one that the Wachowskis first pointed the genre toward in 1996 with BOUND. While the sisters’ stylish debut first premiered amid a wave of “sexy thrillers,” it exists today in a significantly different context. We get into that shift this week with the help of returning guest Emily St. James, to discuss how BOUND subverts, even transcends, viewer expectations of noir, gender roles, and hot lesbian sex. And then we take a break from Feedback to continue the conversation about revisiting classics in a contemporary context, in a talk with Emily about her upcoming book, LOST: BACK TO THE ISLAND.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BOUND, LOVE LIES BLEEDING, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#416: Ethan Coen Co-Capers, Pt. 2 — Drive-Away Dolls

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 05:00:00 -0000

Is box-office disappointment DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS destined for the sort of belated appreciation eventually received by the Coen Brothers’ sophomore feature, 1987’s RAISING ARIZONA? That’s up for debate in our discussion of Ethan Coen’s latest comedy collaboration, this time with his wife Tricia Cooke, a crime caper in theory that acts more like a sex romp in practice. Nonetheless, we consider how certain Coen crime signatures — ill-considered schemes executed by duos who are the opposite of pros, one of whom is comedically verbose — play out in both films, as well as how the films’ respective MacGuffins function as comedic objects. And in Your Next Picture Show we offer an alternate-universe version of this pairing built around the recent French release THE TASTE OF THINGS.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about RAISING ARIZONA, DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Rose Glass’ LOVE LIES BLEEDING and The Wachowskis’ BOUND

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#415: Ethan Coen Co-Capers, Pt. 1 — Raising Arizona

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 06:00:00 -0000

While DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS is technically the first narrative feature for which Ethan Coen has taken a solo directing credit, in practice the new comedy is as much a collaboration, here with his wife and co-screenwriter Tricia Cooke, as the films he made with brother Joel before their current hiatus. So in honor of Coen’s commitment to collaborative comedy, we’re revisiting 1987’s RAISING ARIZONA, the film that established the brothers’ comedic voice following their neo-noir debut BLOOD SIMPLE, and whose madcap escapades and MacGuffin-chasing foreshadow Coen’s latest cinematic caper. And in feedback, a returning favorite offers up a connection we missed in our recent pairing of THE LAST DETAIL and THE HOLDOVERS.

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#414: Beach Bummers, Pt. 2 — How to Have Sex

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0000

Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature HOW TO HAVE SEX takes place more than six decades after 1960’s WHERE THE BOYS ARE, but as our discussion of the two films illuminates, frustratingly little has changed in that time when it comes to the blurred lines around consent, particularly in situations involving teenagers, alcohol, and social pressure around sex. We’re joined once again by Marya E. Gates to discuss HOW TO HAVE SEX’s deft navigation of that context before bringing WHERE THE BOYS ARE back in to discuss what has and hasn’t changed about the desires and dangers of being a student on unchaperoned holiday. And in Your Next Picture Show, we offer up a film that could form a triple feature with this week’s pairing, Céline Sciama’s GIRLHOOD.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHERE THE BOYS ARE, HOW TO HAVE SEX, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Ethan Coen’s DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS and the Coen Brothers’ RAISING ARIZONA

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#413: Beach Bummers, Pt. 1 — Where the Boys Are (1960)

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0000

The new British coming-of-age film HOW TO HAVE SEX follows a group of girlfriends on a post-exam holiday into an environment where peer pressure, alcohol, and coercion can erode the boundaries of consent. But these problems aren’t unique to the film’s contemporary setting, as we’ll see in this week’s companion film, the seemingly frivolous 1960 spring break romp WHERE THE BOYS ARE. Special guest Marya Gates brings us some historical context about the film’s place in the continuum of “beach party” movies, and the degree to which audiences still a few years out from the sexual revolution would be receptive to the film’s relative frankness about sex. And in Feedback we continue the debate about the usefulness of film ratings, and respond to the charge that a recent pairing was our worst-ever choice of new film.

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#412: Road Trip Trios, Pt. 1 — The Holdovers

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0000

A road trip through a chilly New England winter represents only one section of Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS, but the film’s overlap with Hal Ashby’s THE LAST DETAIL goes beyond that narrative echo. As in Ashby’s 1973 film, one of the examples of 1970s cinema Payne drew on for the look and feel of THE HOLDOVERS, a central triumvirate of two adults and their younger charge have a funny but imperfect bonding experience that avoids simplistic found-family conclusions. We talk through the ways THE HOLDOVERS finds nuance in its different permutations of that trio before turning back to THE LAST DETAIL to compare these films’ versions of “showing the kid a good time” in spite of bitter cold and absent parents. And in Your Next Picture Show we stick up for LAST FLAG FLYING, Richard Linklater’s little-loved “spiritual sequel” to THE LAST DETAIL.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE LAST DETAIL, THE HOLDOVERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Molly Manning Walker’s HOW TO HAVE SEX and Henry Levin’s WHERE THE BOYS ARE

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#411: Road Trip Trios, Pt. 1 — The Last Detail

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0000

Alexander Payne has cited Hal Ashby’s THE LAST DETAIL as one of several 1970s movies informing the look and feel of THE HOLDOVERS, but there’s narrative resonance there as well, particularly in the films’ central threesomes: two disaffected older adults and their troubled teenage charge, each navigating a chilly East Coast winter, a road trip, and a series of disappointments and discoveries. We begin this week by focusing on THE LAST DETAIL’s trio of military-prison-bound sailors: what defines and distinguishes each of them, how their relationships change over the course of the movie, and whether the lack of resolution the film provides them is a feature or a bug. And in Feedback we respond to some alternate readings of a couple of our other favorite films of last year, BARBIE and MAY DECEMBER.

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#410: Hunting Games, Pt. 2 — Self Reliance

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0000

We return to the arena of comedic deathsport via Jake Johnson’s new debut as a writer-director, SELF RELIANCE. Despite a high-concept premise, it’s a film that seems most comfortable in the realm of hangout-slash-romantic comedy, but is that a satisfying approach when dealing with an ostensible story of life and death? That’s up for debate in our discussion of the film, which extends into Connections when we bring Elio Petri’s 1965 cult oddity THE 10TH VICTIM back into the conversation to compare these two films’ bloodless approach to gamified murder. And in Your Next Picture Show we offer up a recommendation for a real-life televised murder game in which no blood gets spilled and Alan Cumming is having the time of his life.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE 10TH VICTIM, SELF RELIANCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS and Hal Ashby’s THE LAST DETAIL.

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#409: Hunting Games, Pt. 1 — The 10th Victim

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0000

Jake Johnson’s new directorial debut SELF RELIANCE draws from a deep well of “Most Dangerous Game” storytelling, but its interest in murder-for-sport as televised entertainment combined with its rom-com underpinnings put us most in mind of 1965 cult oddity THE 10TH VICTIM. Elio Petri’s film functions as a piece of pop art first, a satire second, and a romance a distant third, and this week we’re attempting to parse it on all three levels, when we’re not getting sidetracked by the many incidental details comprising this inconsistent, perhaps incoherent, but always interesting film. And in Feedback, a listener prompt about whether movie ratings are a net negative for film culture inspires us to do a little self-reflection, and institute a new (temporary) NPS ratings system.

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#408: Succession, Pt. 2 — The Iron Claw

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0000

THE IRON CLAW is about a wrestling dynasty, not an organized-crime one, but Sean Durkin’s new biopic makes the family business seem just as dangerous as the one at the heart of Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER. We’re joined once again by guest and wrestling aficionado Siddhant Adlakha to talk through THE IRON CLAW’s approach to said family business and the trauma it inflicts on both its characters and viewers. Then we bring THE GODFATHER back into the conversation to compare how these two family businesses and their respective succession drama are shaped by the American Dream, toxic masculinity, and the women on the sidelines. And then we keep it in the ring with some Your Next Picture Show suggestions for some complementary IRON CLAW viewing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE GODFATHER, THE IRON CLAW, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Elio Petri’s THE 10TH VICTIM and Jake Johnson’s SELF RELIANCE

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#407: Succession, Pt. 1 — The Godfather

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0000

A dangerous family business, an imposing, aging patriarch, and a group of brothers with varying aptitudes vying to succeed him: Sean Durkin’s wrestling-family biopic THE IRON CLAW and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 mafia epic THE GODFATHER chart a very similar narrative within two very different worlds. Will THE IRON CLAW also shape how we talk and think about other wrestling films for decades to come? That remains to be seen, but this week we’re joined by freelance film critic Siddhant Adlakha to mull THE GODFATHER’s impact on the gangster movie as we know it, consider which set pieces and characters take on new shading in repeat viewings, and unpack the Corleone family dynamics that lie at the heart of this pairing. Plus, we’re keeping the 2023 film conversation going with a listener recommendation for an underseen favorite from last year.

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#406: Our Top 10 Films of 2023

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0000

2023 was an idiosyncratic yet satisfying year for movies and the audiences who watch them, as reflected in the combination of across-the-board crowd-pleasers and one-off favorites comprising our Top 10 lists of the year’s best films. As per tradition, Tasha, Scott, and Keith convened to compare their respective lists and examine the points where they converge and diverge, and celebrate the high points of another year that supports the idea that every year is a good one for movies.

Please share your thoughts about and own picks for the best movies of 2023, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: Sean Durkin’s THE IRON CLAW and Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER

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#405: She's Alive! Pt. 2 — Poor Things

Wed, 27 Dec 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Yorgos Lanthimos’ POOR THINGS is many things, among them a whimsical retelling of the story of Frankenstein’s monster as codified in James Whale’s iconic 1930s classics FRANKENSTEIN and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. But there’s a lot of other stuff animating POOR THINGS’ surface pleasures and just-below-the-surface ideas, which we parse before moving into Connections to compare these three films’ depictions of playing God and twisted parent-child relationships; mad science and the mad scientists who practice it; and stylized, unnatural versions of reality as perceived by stylized, unnatural creatures. And in Your Next Picture Show we give a brief nod to two other POOR THINGS pairing possibilities, Francois Truffaut’s THE WILD CHILD and Werner Herzog’s THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF, POOR THINGS or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#404: She's Alive! Pt. 1 — Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Yorgos Lanthimos’s POOR THINGS is so open in its allusions to Frankenstein — both scientist and monster — that it inspired us to stitch together our first dual pairing, of James Whale’s 1931 classic, which established the on-screen language of Mary Shelley’s monster, and his 1935 follow-up THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, which set up nearly a century of expectations for sequels in Hollywood. But despite many commonalities, chief among them a literally iconic Boris Karloff performance, these films are two distinct creatures, so we’re dissecting them both to talk through their different tones, relationships to their source material, and legacies.

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#403: Miyazaki in Wonderland, Pt. 2 — The Boy and the Heron

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Like Chihiro in SPIRITED AWAY, the protagonist of Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, THE BOY AND THE HERON, is drawn into a fantastical world populated by strange creatures that help usher him through a coming-of-age journey — but Mahito is a very different protagonist, and his journey unfolds in a very different way. We’re joined once again by Vulture editor and animation expert Eric Vilas-Boas to unpack the imagery and ideas populating Miyazaki’s latest wonderland, and debate the animation auteur’s feelings about birds, before bringing SPIRITED AWAY back in to compare these films’ depictions of children and parents, villains and allies, and “weird little guys.” And in Your Next Picture Show, Eric offers a recommendation for another film that joins BOY AND THE HERON on his list of the year’s best animation for Vulture.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SPIRITED AWAY, THE BOY AND THE HERON, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Yorgos Lanthimos’s POOR THINGS and James Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN & BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

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#402: Miyazaki in Wonderland, Pt. 1 — Spirited Away

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Studio Ghibli's latest, THE BOY AND THE HERON, is unmistakably a Hayao Miyazaki creation, drawing multiple specific elements from the animator’s life and past work — most conspicuously 2001’s SPIRITED AWAY, another film in which a sad young person is whisked away to a wondrous-slash-terrifying realm filled with memorable creatures and its own dream logic. Before we venture into Miyazaki’s latest idiosyncratic, shifting world, we’re joined by Vulture editor and animation reporter Eric Vilas-Boas for a look back at what makes Miyazaki’s earlier adventures in the spirit realm simultaneously sticky and slippery, and what primed SPIRITED AWAY for crossover success. And in Feedback, we continue the discussion of how we’re meant to read KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON’s ambiguous ending.

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#401: Coppola's Queens, Pt. 2 — Priscilla

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0000

As biopics go, the new PRISCILLA is decidedly less rambunctious than the 2006 provocation MARIE ANTOINETTE, but each of these intimate, sympathetic portraits of a woman who lived in a man’s shadow and under his control are unmistakable as the work of Sofia Coppola. This week we get into how our reactions to PRISCILLA — both positive and negative — were affected, even shaped, by its place in Coppola’s filmography, and whether the film’s compressed third act is a feature or a bug. Then we head into Connections, which is stacked with comparison points between the two films’ ideas about power and identity as expressed through fashion, sex, physical vulnerability, and inappropriate puppies. And in Your Next Picture Show, we give the spotlight to another film that’s currently in theaters and was in contention for this week’s pairing: Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MARIE ANTOINETTE, PRISCILLA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#400: Coppola's Queens, Pt. 1 — Marie Antoinette

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Might the response that greeted MARIE ANTOINETTE in 2006 have been warmer if audiences at the time had the context of Sofia Coppola’s latest, PRISCILLA, which takes a similarly unconventional narrative and musical approach to a famous marriage? Both films are biopic-shaped containers for Coppola’s now-well-established thematic obsessions, with little interest in the details of history that fall outside that purview, making for one of the more direct one-to-one pairings we’ve done in some time. We kick it off this week with a discussion of the ways time has been kind to MARIE ANTOINETTE’s elision of history and narrowness of focus, how the anachronistic music and performances express the film’s rebellious spirit, and what exactly we’re meant to make of these bumbling teen royals. And in Feedback, a reader broaches another recent film for inclusion on our informal list of the best science-fiction of the 21st century, and in the process reopens our discussion of the many thematic nuances in AFTER YANG.

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#399: True West, Pt. 2 — Killers of the Flower Moon

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Martin Scorsese’s new KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and the 1950 Delmar Daves Western BROKEN ARROW are both films made by non-Native filmmakers seeking to confront stereotypes about Native Americans, but they are reflective of two distinct cultural moments separated by decades of change when it comes to representation in Hollywood storytelling. This week we spend some time wrestling with the characters, contradictions, and compartmentalization in FLOWER MOON before bringing BROKEN ARROW back in to see how attitudes have progressed when it comes to correcting the historical record and shaking viewers out of their assumptions, how the two films intersect and diverge in their depictions of white outsiders and cross-cultural marriages, and to what degree each embodies the limitations of Indigenous stories told from a non-Indigenous perspective. And for Your Next Picture Show we take a brief look at Michael Apted’s 1992 Sundance sensation INCIDENT AT OGLALA, another film we considered for this pairing that takes a documentary approach to a different true-life story of crime and culture clash on a Native American reservation.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BROKEN ARROW, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Sophia Coppola’s PRISCILLA and MARIE ANTOINETTE

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#398: True West, Pt. 1 — Broken Arrow

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Martin Scorsese’s new Killers of the Flower Moon, based on David Grann’s horrifying non-fiction true-crime book, tracks systematic murder in a 1920s Osage tribe by a group of white men looking to secure the tribe’s profitable oil rights. Among the players are a couple, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, who appear to truly love each other while not entirely realizing they’re also in a predator-prey relationship. The interracial romance, racial tension, and struggle for survival pairs well with the 1950 Western Broken Arrow, also based on real historical events and real figures, and centering on a different interracial couple — Jimmy Stewart as a weary fortysomething veteran who begins brokering a peace between Arizona settlers and an Apache tribe, and Debra Paget in redface as a member of that tribe. This week we start our Western wandering with a look at Broken Arrow’s spot in history, as a first step toward Hollywood depicting Native Americans as multifaceted people instead of stock Western villains. We sort through the film’s pros and cons, including the specter of clumsy, careful message movies trying to counteract decades of stereotypes. And we discuss how stiff execution and the 25-year age difference between Stewart and Paget hinders what’s supposed to be a romance for the ages. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about Broken Arrow, Killers of the Flower Moon, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#397: Outback Outsiders, Pt. 2 — Royal Hotel

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Kitty Green’s new ROYAL HOTEL takes the rural Australian bar-culture setting of 1971’s WAKE IN FRIGHT and explores how placing two young women in the role of outsider changes the threat level. We start this week by parsing the film’s micro- and mega-aggressions, and whether those inflicting them are capital-B Bad men, or just regular men wrapped up in bad power dynamics. Then we bring WAKE IN FRIGHT back in to consider how both films are on some level about the intertwined desires for identity and acceptance, as well as alcohol’s deleterious effect on both.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WAKE IN FRIGHT, ROYAL HOTEL, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Martin Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and Delmer Daves’ BROKEN ARROW

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#396: Outback Outsiders, Pt. 1 — Wake In Fright

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Kitty Green’s new THE ROYAL HOTEL follows two women stranded amid the oppressive masculinity of a rough-and-tumble Australian mining town, a purposeful gender subversion of Ted Kotcheff’s 1971 Australian cult classic WAKE IN FRIGHT. We begin our two-week journey through the fringes of civilization with a trip to WAKE IN FRIGHT’s “the Yabba” to discuss how the film’s more harrowing elements, including its infamous kangaroo hunt, play in a context of sheer lawlessness, debate whether it feels like a representative Australian film, and try to decipher the strange allure of “two up.” And in Feedback, we consider a couple of listener-submitted contenders for our informal and always-expanding list of the greatest sci-fi of the 21st century.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WAKE IN FRIGHT, THE ROYAL HOTEL, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#395: Alien Nation Pt. 2 — No One Will Save You

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 05:00:00 -0000

It’s perhaps a bit unfair to compare the new NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU to UNDER THE SKIN, a film widely considered (by us) to be one of the best science-fiction films of the last 20 years, but at least one of our co-hosts was taken by Brian Duffield’s virtually dialogue-free story of a solitary woman fending off extraterrestrials. In the first half of this week’s episode, they get into it with the rest of our panel — joined once again by comedian Joe Kwaczala (“Funny Songs and Sketches”) — over the film and whether its divisive ending is a subversively dark conclusion or an arbitrary attempt to be shocking. Then we bring UNDER THE SKIN back in to compare how these two films fill the space between their minimal dialogue and the degree to which they let us into the headspace of two alienated women with opposing yet complementary motivations.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about UNDER THE SKIN, NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Kitty Green’s ROYAL HOTEL and Ted Kotcheff’s WAKE IN FRIGHT

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#394: Alien Nation, Pt. 1 — Under the Skin

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 05:00:00 -0000

The new NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU follows a lonely, socially isolated woman through an alien invasion, a narrative it shares with UNDER THE SKIN, though in Jonathan Glazer’s 2013 instant classic, said woman also happens to be the invading alien. Both protagonists are enigmatic in their own way, and the films around them follow suit, with heightened tones and minimal dialogue providing two distinct takes on human nature through alien eyes. This week we plunge into the eerie depths of UNDER THE SKIN with the help of comedian and film fan Joe Kwaczala (@joekjoek), to talk through the dynamic of of Scarlett Johansson’s central performance against the array of non-actors embodying her victims, the subtle shifts in power that take place between them, and the enduring horror of that beach sequence. And in lieu of Feedback this week, we consider some of the other films that join UNDER THE SKIN in contention for the title of greatest science-fiction film of the 21st century.

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#393: Larrain's Pinochet Pt. 2 — El Conde

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Pablo Larraín has approached the legacy of Augusto Pinochet from several angles over the course of his filmography, but never quite as directly as in his latest, EL CONDE. And yet even when casting the Chilean dictator as his protagonist, Larraín seems less interested in the real man — who, as far as we know, is not an undying vampire — than what he represents about power, manipulation, and history’s ongoing cycle thereof. We talk through our thoughts about how that plays out in EL CONDE, before bringing back Larraín’s NO, a film that approaches Pinochet with more historical fidelity and less overt cynicism, but a similar interest in political deceit, compromised resistances, and what it takes to strike back at a dictator. And in Your Next Picture Show we recommend a couple of new releases with ties to this week’s pairing: the Chilean documentary THE ETERNAL MEMORY and the Gael Garcia Bernal biopic CASSANDRO.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about NO, EL CONDE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Brian Duffield’s NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU and Jonathan Glazer’s UNDER THE SKIN

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#392: Larraín's Pinochet Pt. 1 — No (2012)

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Augusto Pinochet ruled Chile as a dictator for nearly 20 years and left behind a complicated legacy, one Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín has approached sideways in various ways over the course of his career. His new EL CONDE, which renders Pinochet a literal vampire, is a more fantastical expression of that approach than 2012’s NO, a behind-the-scenes dramatization of the marketing campaign that helped end Pinochet’s rule, but both films are rich with complications of trust, hope, and public opinion. We unpack some of those complications in this week’s dive into NO, as well as how the film’s 1980s-broadcast-news visual aesthetic and thinly characterized protagonist work for and against its primary focus, and where it ultimately falls on the cynicism-to-optimism spectrum. And in Feedback, a listener attempts to make sense of the MCU’s vision of the afterlife, only to leave us even more confused.

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#391: Clique, Clique, Boom Pt. 2 — Bottoms

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 05:00:00 -0000

HEATHERS is just one of many reference points at work in Emma Seligman’s new BOTTOMS, but the two films taken together illustrate just how differently the “dark comedy” designation can be applied to high-school movies. So after searching for meaning in BOTTOMS, and coming to terms with the idea that meaninglessness may actually be its point, we compare how these two expressions of high-school hierarchies under attack function as dark comedy, how they put familiar tropes about cliques and clueless adults to different ends, and how one of them defuses a bomb the other is willing to set off. And in Your Next Picture Show, we add a third explosive high-school rebellion to the mix, with a recommendation for 1979’s ROCK ’N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about HEATHERS, BOTTOMS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing (dropping 9/19/23 and 9/26/23) Pablo Larraín’s EL CONDE and NO

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#390: Clique, Clique, Boom Pt. 1 — Heathers

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Almost immediately after BOTTOMS premiered at this year’s SXSW, the heightened mix of satire and violence in Emma Seligman’s new film drew comparisons to Michael Lehmann’s HEATHERS, which in 1989 set a new high-water mark for upending the high-school movie tropes of the day through a darkly comedic lens. How does a movie that turns teenage suicide (don’t do it) into a punchline fare by today’s standards? That’s up for discussion in this half of our pairing, along with how HEATHERS executes its tricky tonal balance, its characterization of the high school experience and the parents and teachers who just don’t understand, and an ending that’s either a cop-out or the complete opposite, depending on who you ask and when. And in a Feedback letter inspired by our recent episode on ENCHANTED, a listener challenges us to name some recent films that could become “flawed pioneers,” without the benefit of hindsight.

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#389: Throupling, Pt. 2 — Passages

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Ira Sachs’ new PASSAGES centers on a relationship broadly similar to the one at the center of SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, but approaches it with a different level of intimacy and intensity (one that earned it an NC-17 rating before the filmmakers opted to release it unrated). We’re joined once again by freelance critic and friend of the show Noel Murray to talk through the different points of characterization and performance on PASSAGES’ love triangle, before looking at how the two films compare and contrast in their critiques of hetero-monogamous normativity, their ideas about suppressed jealousy and art, and their frank, arguably “graphic” depictions of homosexual desire. And in Your Next Picture Show, we offer a mini-revisitation of another John Schlesinger film that is impossible to avoid when considering this pairing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, PASSAGES, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Emma Seligman’s BOTTOMS and Michael Lehmann’s HEATHERS

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#388: Throupling, Pt. 1 — Sunday Bloody Sunday

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Ira Sachs’ new PASSAGES is treading ground that was broken in part by John Schlesinger’s 1971 British drama SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, which also concerns the tortured intimacies of an MMF love triangle, albeit with a bit more reserve. We’re joined by freelance critic and friend of the show Noel Murray to talk over our responses to that reserved approach in relation to SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY as a product of its era and as a counterpoint to Schlesinger’s previous film, MIDNIGHT COWBOY; how this portrayal of a love triangle balances desperation and dignity; and whether this movie actively hates kids, or if the Hodson children serve a greater thematic purpose. Then we reopen the BARBIE discussion with the help of a couple of listener comments in Feedback.

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#387: Fantasy Women, Pt. 2 — Barbie

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Did ENCHANTED walk so that BARBIE could fly? Or is Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster, which has us wondering if it might actually change the world, operating on a satiric level the 2007 Disney-princess pastiche could only dream of? Our panel, joined once again by Vulture/New York Magazine critic Jen Chaney, is divided on that point, but in agreement that BARBIE gives us much more to discuss in its nuanced, subversive gender critique. After talking through our responses to the world and worldviews of Barbie, Ken, and most importantly Allan, we bring ENCHANTED back into the discussion to see how it stacks up to its successor in its big musical production numbers, fish-out-of-water comedy, and ability to create an “authentically artificial” world. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ENCHANTED, BARBIE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Ira Sachs’ PASSAGES with John Schlesinger’s SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY

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#386: Fantasy Women, Pt. 1 — Enchanted

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Greta Gerwig’s mega-hit BARBIE is both a satirical sendup of and a loving tribute to the titular fashion doll, which is a not-unheard-of storytelling approach, though few stories attempting to strike the balance have done so with such direct involvement of the corporate entity responsible for their existence. That element of Mattel’s BARBIE is what led us to Disney’s ENCHANTED, Kevin Lima’s 2007 live-action fractured fairy tale that prods at Disney Princess tropes without quite upending them. This week we’re joined by Vulture critic Jen Chaney to consider what’s made the comparatively slight ENCHANTED such a touchstone for some viewers, the areas where its gentle subversion works and where it falters, whether there’s anything redeeming in the film’s messy final act, and, naturally, what Abel Ferrara’s ENCHANTED might look like. And we continue the trope talk in Feedback, inspired by a listener’s response to a certain GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 gag.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ENCHANTED, BARBIE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#385: Play Time, Pt. 2 — Theater Camp

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Like its obvious predecessor WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, the new THEATER CAMP is an improv-heavy mockumentary about a cash-strapped theatrical operation — but in this case at least there’s real talent in the mix, thanks to the many gifted child actors populating the AdirondACTS summer program for aspiring young performers. This leaves THEATER CAMP’s adult cast, some of them former child actors themselves, free to lean into self-satirizing buffoonery while maintaining a degree of sincere admiration for theatrical weirdos everywhere. We dig into the ups and downs of that tonal balance in THEATER CAMP before comparing it to GUFFMAN’s own blend of affection and condescension toward amateur theater, the people who make it, and the audiences who respond to it, as well as how the mockumentary style has evolved in the years separating the two films. And in Your Next Picture Show, we use the presence of Molly Gordon and Ayo Edebiri in THEATER CAMP as an excuse for a mini bonus episode on a recent season of TV that also features both: THE BEAR.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, THEATER CAMP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Greta Gerwig’s BARBIE with Kevin Lima’s ENCHANTED

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#384: Play Time, Pt. 1 — Waiting For Guffman

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 05:00:00 -0000

The new Sundance favorite THEATER CAMP, which uses the mockumentary format to lovingly skewer amateurs pursuing their theatrical dreams, is clear in its homage to WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, a comedy whose own skewering of wannabe actor types is somewhat less loving. Our revisitation of Christopher Guest’s 1996 film considers GUFFMAN’s tricky tonal balance of satire and sincerity, along with the benefits and limitations of both its mockumentary format and improvisation-based filming style, and whether we should read condescension or admiration into Guest’s portrayal of Corky St. Clair and the small town that adores him. And in Feedback we tackle a reading of ASTEROID CITY that we hadn’t considered, courtesy of an astute listener.

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#383: Separate Ways, Pt. 2 — Past Lives

Tue, 11 Jul 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Celine Song’s new slow-burn drama PAST LIVES is an unrequited-love story in the same way John Carney’s slow-burn musical drama ONCE is — that is, just on the surface. But each film’s central would-be romance is a delivery device for deeper ideas about the weight of carrying nostalgia for past relationships and always wondering “what if?”. We’re joined once again by David Chen of DecodingEverthing.com to talk through PAST LIVES and how it functions as a different kind of immigration narrative, and the way it connects to ONCE in its depiction of sublimated longing, creative pursuits, and the language barriers that both unite and divide. And in Your Next Picture Show we take a brief look back through the many, many unrequited-love stories we’ve covered on this podcast over the years.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ONCE, PAST LIVES, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s THEATER CAMP and Christopher Guest’s WAITING FOR GUFFMAN.

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#382: Separate Ways, Pt. 1: Once

Tue, 04 Jul 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Celine Song’s feature directorial debut PAST LIVES follows two not-quite lovers through different points in their lives as they figure out how to move past the possibility of romance, a story of low-key longing and bad timing that reminded us of the serendipitous musical relationship at the heart of John Carney’s 2007 arthouse hit ONCE. So before taking up the multiple timelines of PAST LIVES, we’re joined this week by David Chen of Decoding Everything to dig into ONCE’s single, transient moment of musical and romantic connection, characters who express themselves best (and maybe only) through music, and how the film’s DIY, of-the-moment style reflects both its demo-tape narrative and a singular transitional moment in digital filmmaking. Plus, a Feedback letter asking us to go deeper into Wes Anderson’s ASTEROID CITY sends us down a rabbit hole.

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#381: Heavy Meta, Pt. 2 — Asteroid City

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0000

As filmmakers, Wes Anderson and Charlie Kaufman have distinct styles without a lot of obvious overlap, but Anderson’s new ASTEROID CITY and Kaufman’s 2008 directorial debut SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK share a central concern — the struggle to create art — that invites a degree of self-awareness and metatextuality that plays well with both of those distinct styles. So after attempting to pull apart the layers of ASTEROID CITY’s play-within-a-play-within-a-TV-production-within-a-movie, we return to SYNECDOCHE to compare the different ends to which these filmmakers apply their respective meta moves, the ways they deploy their sprawling ideas and even more sprawling casts, and how each navigates the overlapping worlds of theater and film. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we share a few thoughts on another film we considered for this week’s pairing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, ASTEROID CITY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: John Carney’s ONCE and Celine Song’s PAST LIVES

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#380: Heavy Meta, Pt. 1 — Synecdoche, New York

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Wes Anderson’s new ASTEROID CITY is a self-aware film about making art from a director of exacting control, which put us in mind of Charlie Kaufman’s 2008 directorial debut, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, a self-aware film about making art from a director of exacting chaos. Kaufman is one of our most-discussed filmmakers on this podcast, as both a writer and a director, but that doesn’t make parsing the immersive, shapeless, bleak SYNECDOCHE any easier. But we do our best to track Kaufman’s various obsessions through the film’s unconventional structure, and even attempt to unearth some moments of (arguable) levity along the way. Then the meta hijinks continue in Feedback, when a special guest calls in to put our hosts on the spot when it comes to their position on Charlie Kaufman, director.

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#379: Film Criticism, Pt. 2 — You Hurt My Feelings

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Nicole Holofcener’s new YOU HURT MY FEELINGS finds its characters grappling with many of the same issues as those in 2001’s LOVELY & AMAZING, but with a couple more decades of personal growth informing how they let outside criticism inform their own self-worth. It’s a more mature, less prickly film, and whether that’s an asset or a liability is up for debate in our discussion of YOU HURT MY FEELINGS, along with how acceptable it is to share an ice cream cone with your significant other in public. Then we look at the two films side by side to see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same when it comes to Holofcener’s ideas about soliciting and rejecting criticism, professional flailing, and the intersection of validation and vanity. And in Your Next Picture Show, we offer up another recent Holofcener to keep the conversation going.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about LOVELY & AMAZING, YOU HURT MY FEELINGS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Charlie Kaufman’s SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK and Wes Anderson’s ASTEROID CITY

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#378: Film Criticism, Pt. 1 — Lovely & Amazing

Tue, 06 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Indie writer-director Nicole Holofcener’s observational comedies eschew high-concept hooks in favor of burrowing deeply into a theme from many different angles. Her new YOU HURT MY FEELINGS spells out its intersecting thematic interests right there in the title — criticism, insecurity, and the need for validation — and reminded us of the multigenerational study in low self-esteem that is LOVELY & AMAZING. So we’re revisiting Holofcener’s prickly 2001 film to consider the many ways in which the Marks women, played by Brenda Blethyn, Catherine Keener, Emily Mortimer, and Raven Goodwin, reinforce each other’s insecurities, and how Holofcener coaxes such light comedy out of such weighty themes. And in Feedback, a listener brings up a missing piece from our recent discussion of ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET.

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#377: Rocket Manimal, Pt. 2 — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Tue, 30 May 2023 05:00:00 -0000

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 director James Gunn has been open about the various reference points dotting his final entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but none are as extended or explicit as the one informing the film’s primary antagonist and his history with Bradley Cooper’s Rocket, which draws directly from H.G. Wells’ deranged scientist Dr. Moreau and by extension 1932’s ISLAND OF LOST SOULS. Rocket’s backstory forms the spine of GUARDIANS 3, but as this is an ensemble story with plenty of established lore and character relationships, we spend some time unpacking our reactions to the non-Rocket parts of the film, including the Guardians’ current dynamic, that hallway fight, and a closing dance sequence that managed to breach our long-held defenses against closing dance sequences. Then we dig into how it converges with, and diverges from, ISLAND’s ideas about cruelty to animals, charismatic madmen with selfish goals and noble pretensions, and the scientific search for perfection. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we highlight another of GUARDIANS’ obvious reference points, this one inside the pages of a comic that has nothing to do with the MCU and everything to do with cute animals strapped with big ol’ guns.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Nicole Holofcener’s LOVELY & AMAZING and YOU HURT MY FEELINGS

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#376: Rocket Manimal, Pt. 1 — Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Tue, 23 May 2023 05:00:00 -0000

James Gunn’s new closing entry in his GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY trilogy for Marvel revolves around a tragic backstory for Rocket-don’t-say-Racoon that draws from a history of creation-vs.-creator narratives that stretches back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. But Gunn himself has cited the cruel experimentations of H.G. Wells’ Doctor Moreau, and specifically the 1932 film adaptation ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, as the reference point for Rocket’s journey. So we traveled through the fog of time to explore Erle C. Kenton’s depiction of Moreau’s island, where the animal-man makeup effects and Charles Laughton’s unique take on the mad scientist take center stage. Plus, a listener request for commentary track recommendations invites a slew of suggestions from our resident enthusiast.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME 3, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#375: Pre-Teen Sensations, Pt. 2—Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Tue, 16 May 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Kelly Fremon Craig’s winning new adaptation of Judy Blume’s ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET is as gentle and good-natured as the other film in this pairing, Todd Solondz’s WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, is acerbic and off-putting. But both films are frank in their own way about a stage of life that cinema often ignores, so after talking through MARGARET’s warm and welcoming 1970s vision of suburban New Jersey adolescence, we bring DOLLHOUSE’s grim and grungy 1990s depiction into the discussion to compare the films’ respective takes on puberty, peer pressure, crushes, and bullying.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Erle C. Kenton’s ISLAND OF LOST SOULS and James Gunn’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3

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#374: Pre-Teen Sensations, Pt. 1 — Welcome to the Dollhouse

Tue, 09 May 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Inspired by the new adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic coming-of-age novel ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET, we’re beginning this pairing by looking back at another rocky journey through adolescence in the New Jersey suburbs — though Dawn Wiener’s journey in Tom Solondz’s 1995 indie WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE is considerably rockier. Where MARGARET is gentle and warm, DOLLHOUSE is as prickly as its protagonist, and unsparing in the way it mines dark comedy by stacking the decks against her at every turn. Whether that comedy is worth the accompanying discomfort is a topic of discussion this week, along with the film’s left-field ending move and Solondz’s continuing adventures in the cinematic Wienerverse. Plus, a listener letter about BEFORE SUNRISE raises a question for discussion: Has any genre of movie benefitted from the addition of cell phones?

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#373: Our Favorite Films of 2023 (So Far)

Tue, 02 May 2023 05:00:00 -0000

The first few months of the year have a reputation — arguably an unfair one — as a dumping ground for films unlikely to draw blockbuster crowds or notice from awards-giving bodies. Here at The Next Picture Show, we don’t subscribe to the idea that no movies of value come out during these months, but we will acknowledge how rarely one of these films makes it onto our final Best of the Year lists. So before summer movie season commences and wipes our collective cultural consciousness of what preceded it, Scott and Keith got together for a special one-off episode focused on ten such films. Whether they end up being the best of the year, or just the best of the first third of the year, they’re worth a closer look.

Please share your picks on the year’s best so far, along with any other comments, thoughts, or questions, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Todd Solondz’s WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE and Kelly Fremon Craig’s ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET.

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#372: Shoe Me the Money, Pt. 2 — Air

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Like Cameron Crowe’s JERRY MAGUIRE, Ben Affleck’s new AIR takes place in the world of sports but is more concerned with matters off the playing field. In the case of AIR, those matters ultimately come down to a triumph of capitalism and marketing, leaving us all a little confused about the film’s rooting interests, but nonetheless entertained by its confident showmanship. But is that enough for the film to hold its own against JERRY MAGUIRE? We hash it out in Connections by tracing the two films’ character analogues and respective ideas about showing us the money.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about JERRY MAGUIRE, AIR, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#371: Shoe Me the Money, Pt. 1 — Jerry Maguire

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Ben Affleck’s new AIR is a feel-good capitalist tale about a guy-behind-the-guy who bets it all on a single sports star, a.k.a “pulling a Jerry Maguire,” but that premise really only represents one half of Cameron Crowe’s 1996 crowd-pleaser. Much like its protagonist, JERRY MAGUIRE splits its attention between sports and romance, and how successfully the film marries the two is a topic of some debate in this week’s discussion, along with the general efficacy of Tom Cruise, romantic lead.

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#370: Stranger Flings, Pt. 2 — Rye Lane

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 05:00:00 -0000

While the new RYE LANE shares a basic premise with 1995’s BEFORE SUNRISE — two strangers meet by chance and spend the day exploring a city and getting to know each other — Raine Allen-Miller’s film operates as a romcom first and foremost. Whether that’s to the film’s benefit or detriment is at the heart of our discussion of the new film, and RYE LANE’s romcom nature proves a frequent point of contrast when placed alongside BEFORE SUNRISE in Connections. It also inspires this week’s Your Next Picture Show challenge, to provide an on-the-fly recommendation of a great 21st-century romcom.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BEFORE SUNRISE, RYE LANE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Cameron Crowe’s JERRY MAGUIRE and Ben Affleck’s AIR

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#369: Stranger Flings, Pt. 1 — Before Sunrise

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 05:00:00 -0000

The new Sundance hit RYE LANE is broadly speaking a romantic comedy, but it is more specifically a walk-and-talk romance, focused on two attractive young strangers who share a moment that turns into a day spent traveling around a city while getting to know each other. That naturally pointed us in the direction of Richard Linklater’s BEFORE SUNRISE, in which strangers on a train make a momentary connection that they decide to extend through the night — and, eventually, through two more films in the resulting trilogy. It’s hard not to discuss those subsequent films in this week’s revisitation of BEFORE SUNRISE, and we don’t entirely succeed, but we do our best to remain in the moment of Jesse and Céline’s first date as we discuss the film’s interest in transitory moments, cynicism in the face of romance, and all the varied ways in which humans communicate.

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#368: Revenge Tour, Pt. 2 — John Wick Chapter 4

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 05:00:00 -0000

The John Wick series originated as the straightforward story of a skilled killer on a mission of revenge, but since then its mythology has expanded to encompass four films spanning multiple countries, an ever-mounting body count, and increasingly opaque motivations for Keanu Reeves’ titular revenger. We’re joined once again by Vulture critic and friend of the show Alison Willmore to discuss the newest entry in the Wickiverse, whether its extreme closing speed offsets a baggy middle section, and how the film’s illusion of closure is undercut by an array of spinoff-ready characters. Then we return to the origin of this pairing by bringing POINT BLANK back into the discussion to talk codes of honor and disposable underlings as they pertain to men on a mission of revenge.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about POINT BLANK, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Richard Linklater’s BEFORE SUNRISE and Raine Allen-Miller’s RYE LANE

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#367: Revenge Tour, Pt. 1 — Point Blank (1967)

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 05:00:00 -0000

The revenge narrative has proven fertile ground for film in general (indeed, this is not our first pairing inspired by the subject) and the John Wick franchise specifically, which has just spawned its fourth chapter tracing a one-man killing machine’s path of righteous destruction across the globe. It’s also provided us with a fine excuse to revisit 1967’s POINT BLANK, the John Boorman cult classic that follows Lee Marvin on a more localized but no less brutal revenge tour of his own. So in preparation for John Wick’s globe-trotting mayhem, this week we’re joined by Vulture film critic and returning guest Alison Willmore to talk over POINT BLANK’s alternately dreamlike and bleak portrait of a man who’s lost his humanity — symbolically or literally, depending on your read — plunging violently back into the human world.

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#363: Dance With the One That Bought You, Pt. 1 — An American In Paris

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0000

While both of the films in this week’s paring center on American men living and dancing abroad, the main thing linking the new MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE to 1951’s AN AMERICAN IN PARIS is the relationships those men have with wealthy women who wish to be their patrons, and perhaps a bit more. Each relationship and the problems that come with them are distinct to the social customs of the time in which the film was made, a fact that’s difficult to ignore when viewing AN AMERICAN IN PARIS today. But for every clunky regressive beat in this Gershwin trunk musical, there’s another that rings true, so we’re joined this week by Chicago film critic Deirdre Crimmins to consider the limits of Gene Kelly’s charm, and the limits of our tolerance for 17-minute dream ballets. Plus, our recent discussion of the long takes in CHILDREN OF MEN prompts an appropriately extended conversation on the subject in Feedback.

Note: due to a technical failure during recording, some of the audio on this week’s episode is suboptimal. We apologize for the aural inconvenience.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin

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BONUS: Let's Talk About Video Stores and the VHS Era

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In a bonus episode originally recorded for our Patreon, Keith, Scott, and Tasha got together to talk through their recollections, fond and otherwise, of VHS and the video-store era, from misleading box art and unrated oddities to tracking knobs and rewinder machines. The cassettes and stores themselves may be gone (mostly — shout out to Madison’s Four Star Video Rental!), but the memories live on, though they may have gotten a little fuzzy from too many pauses and rewinds.

Enjoy the hit of nostalgia, and come back next week for our next proper pairing: Terrence Malick’s BADLANDS and Luca Guadagnino’s BONES AND ALL.

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#331: Once Upon a Toon In Hollywood, Pt. 2 – Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Despite its box-office success in 1988, Robert Zemeckis’ WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT never received a direct sequel, but the new CHIP ’N’ DALE: RESCUE RANGERS works as a spiritual sequel in more ways than one. Recognizing that this direct-to-streaming feature based on a short-lived Disney cartoon from the ‘90s has some extremely large, squeaky shoes to fill when compared to its groundbreaking predecessor, we unpack the two films’ shared cartoon DNA through their villains, their human allies, and their common Hollywood setting, and try to parse some of the specifics of how toons in this shared universe function in both the entertainment industry and society at large.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, CHIP ’N’ DALE: RESCUE RANGERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Next Pairing: Steven Spielberg’s JURASSIC PARK and Colin Trevorrow’s JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION

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#330: Once Upon a Toon in Hollywood Pt. 1 — Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Tue, 31 May 2022 15:00:00 -0000

From its Hollywood setting to its central missing-toons mystery, the new Disney+ streaming exclusive CHIP ’N’ DALE: RESCUE RANGERS is openly and carefully patterned after 1988’s WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. Robert Zemeckis’ groundbreaking hit set a high bar for cameo-packed, self-aware stories that try to redefine the relationships between animated characters and the physical world, packing in layers of setup and reference and payoff that continue to reveal themselves on rewatch after rewatch. We attempt to unpack some of those layers in our revisit of this group favorite, as well as how it uses our familiarity with noir and cartoons alike to its narrative advantage.

Works Cited:

“Book Vs. Film: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” by Tasha Robinson (avclub.com)

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#329: Into the Raimiverse, Pt. 2: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Tue, 24 May 2022 05:00:00 -0000

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS carries its director’s fingerprints more clearly than most films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but is it ultimately more of a Sam Raimi movie or an MCU installment? We hash out that question this week with the continued assistance of our friend Matt Singer, before bringing back in what is unquestionably a Sam Raimi film, 1993’s ARMY OF DARKNESS, to compare how the two movies operate as vehicles for the director’s filmmaking sensibility, as sequels, and as Bruce Campbell showcases.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ARMY OF DARKNESS, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Next pairing: Robert Zemeckis’ WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT and Akiva Schaffer’s CHIP ’N’ DALE: RESCUE RANGERS

A CHIARA opens exclusively in theaters Friday, May 27. More info at CinemaMadeinItaly.com.

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#328: Into the Raimiverse, Pt. 1: Army of Darkness

Tue, 17 May 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Unlike so much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the newest Doctor Strange entry carries the unmistakable stamp of its director, Sam Raimi, so we’re preparing to enter the Multiverse of Madness next week with a film that’s an undiluted hit of Raimi: the third entry in the Evil Dead trilogy, 1993’s ARMY OF DARKNESS. We’re joined by our longtime friend and colleague Matt Singer to revisit a film he calls the “pure essence” of Raimi, which makes up for its lack of deeper themes and nuanced character work with a commitment to fun, cartoonish excess that could be looked at as a deconstruction of heroism — or perhaps fun, cartoonish excess for its own sake is the point.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Every Sam Raimi Movie, Ranked From Worst To Best” by Matt Singer (screencrush.com)

• “Stop Telling Me to Turn My Brain Off During Movies” by Matt Singer (screencrush.com)

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Bonus: Our Favorite Films of 2022 (So Far)

Tue, 10 May 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Due to some unavoidable scheduling conflicts, your regularly scheduled Next Picture Show pairing is delayed a week, but in its place, Genevieve, Keith, and Tasha are sharing some of their favorite films of the year so far. Some of these got an in-depth discussion on the regular podcast, some showed up as subjects of a bonus episode on our Patreon, and some are completely new to the podcast, but all of them have stuck with us. Will these films make it to our final lists of 2022’s best films? It’s too soon to say for certain, but at the moment, the odds look good.

Please share your own standouts from this year, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Next pairing (revised): Sam Raimi’s ARMY OF DARKNESS and DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

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#327: Cage Match, Pt. 2 — The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Tue, 03 May 2022 05:00:00 -0000

The new THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT contains a lot of the same DNA as ADAPTATION, but instead of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, the film’s meta energy is focused on star Nicolas Cage, once again playing two competing sides of the same tortured talent. This week we get into how the confluence of actor, persona, and screenplay works differently in each film, but first we process UNBEARABLE WEIGHT’s lighthearted excavation of its central talent, and consider whether we may have already moved past the stage of Cage’s career that the film is commenting on.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ADAPTATION, THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, Nicolas Cage, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Outro music: Kesha, “Nicolas Cage”

Next pairing: Sam Raimi’s DARKMAN and DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

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#326: Cage Match, Pt. 1 — Adaptation

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 05:00:00 -0000

We’re offering four Nicolas Cages for the price of two with this week’s pairing, inspired by Cage’s latest, THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, which finds the actor playing two connected versions of himself. But before entering that hall of mirrors, we’re heading back to 2002’s ADAPTATION for a different strain of meta exercise centered on another set of Nicolas Cages, this one playing the film’s screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, as well as his twin brother/personification of his own self-loathing, Donald. The exact nature of Donald’s character and how it shapes the film’s third act is a big point of discussion this week, as is how literally we are meant to take the film’s title when it comes to its literary source material.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ADAPTATION, THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Outro music: The Turtles, “Happy Together”

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#325: Multiple Choice, Pt. 2 — Everything Everywhere All At Once

Tue, 19 Apr 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Despite its clear thematic and philosophical connections to the other film in this pairing, Krzysztof Kieślowski’s BLIND CHANCE, Daniel Schienert and Daniel Kwan’s new EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE is a unique experience, a bold, humanistic film full of big messages and also butt jokes. It’s a film that’s built to surprise and delight on first viewing, but what does it offer in terms of rewatch value? That’s one of the things we debate in our discussion of the Daniels’ film, before bringing Kieślowski’s back into the picture to talk through some of those thematic and philosophical connections.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BLIND CHANCE, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• Everything Everywhere All at Once review by Walter Chaw (filmfreakcentral.net)

• Blind Chance: The Conditional Mood, by Dennis Lim (criterion.com)

Outro music: Son Lux w/ Randy Newman, “Now We’re Cookin’"

Next pairing: Spike Jonze’s ADAPTATION and Tom Gormican’s THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT

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#324: Multiple Choice, Pt. 1 — Blind Chance

Tue, 12 Apr 2022 05:00:00 -0000

In addition to being an examination of how much chance determines the person we become, as well as something of a Rosetta Stone for the work of Krzysztof Kieslowski, BLIND CHANCE also plays like the 1980s version of a multiverse story, making it a clear precursor to Daniels Kwan and Scheinert’s new EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. But Kieslowski’s film has different ideas about fate, determination, and the invisible forces that shape our lives as much as the choices we make, all of which we attempt to unpack in our conversation, along with what connects BLIND CHANCE's three timelines, what about the politically minded film invited resistance upon its release, and the significance of that opening scream.

Outro music: Talking Heads, “Once In a Lifetime”

The Tale of King Crab opens April 15th at New York City's Film at Lincoln Center before expanding to cities across the country. Find theater, tickets, and more at kingcrab.oscilloscope.net

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#323: Tex-Mess, Pt. 2 — X (2022)

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Ti West’s new X is very much inspired by Tobe Hooper’s 1974 shocker THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (and to an extent, Hooper’s lesser-known EATEN ALIVE), following another bunch of ill-fated van passengers, this one a group filming a low-budget porno, who wind up on the wrong side of the owners of a remote Texas farmhouse. The film’s late-’70s setting invites all sorts of analysis and interpretation about sex, death, and their intersection with cultural and religious conservatism at the dawn of the 1980s, which we dig into, once again with the help of film writer and horror aficionado Katie Rife, before turning our focus to some of the specific echoes between X and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, X, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, recommendations, and more.

Outro music: Blue Oyster Cult, “Don’t Fear the Reaper”

Next pairing: The Daniels’ EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE and Krzysztof Kieslowski’s BLIND CHANCE

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#322: Tex-Mess, Pt. 1 — The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Ti West’s new horror film X is very openly inspired by THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, carrying through the spirit of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 shocker more capably than most of the subsequent films in what would become a nine-film franchise (in particular this year’s dreadful remake). Before getting into how it does that next week, this week we’re revisiting Hooper’s film with the help of film critic and series expert Katie Rife, to consider what made this film hit the way it did at the time, why it so often gets lumped in with the slasher genre it preceded, and whether it's a film that gets more brutal — or, perhaps, more comforting — with time.

Works Cited

• “For nearly 50 years, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies have made a meal out of raw panic,” by Katie Rife (avclub.com)

• “Every Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie psychoanalyzes the original,” by Daniel Dockery (polygon.com)

Outro music: Kesha, “Cannibal”

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#321: Bye, Robot Pt. 2 — After Yang

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 14:00:00 -0000

Kogonada’s new AFTER YANG plays in many ways like a mirror to Steven Spielberg’s misunderstood android epic A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE as it explores ideas about human nature through the experiences of an artificial being. It’s also an unusually warm, thematically rich science-fiction film that opens up countless avenues of discussion, a few of which we travel down before bringing AFTER YANG into conversation with Spielberg’s earlier model to consider these stories’ shared features: a disrupted family unit, a journey of discovery, adoption ethics, and rumination on what it means to be human.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AFTER YANG, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, recommendations, and more.

Works Cited:

• ”What the Year’s Best Sci-Fi Movie Has to Say About Asian Identity and Adoption” by Sam Adams (slate.com)

• “After Yang intentionally subverts sci-fi’s fetishistic ‘hollow Asian’ trope” by Leo Kim (polygon.com)

• “After Yang Is a Gorgeous Movie About the Life and Death of a Robot” by Alison Willmore (vulture.com)

Outro music: Mitski, “Glide”

Next pairing: Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and Ti West’s X

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#320: Bye, Robot Pt. 1 — A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Kogonada’s new science-fiction film AFTER YANG wrestles with the humanity of artificial beings, and their relationship to humanity, in a way that feels distinctly reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s 2001 feature A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. Both films are highly sympathetic toward the android companions on which they center, but Spielberg’s film, which began life as a Stanley Kubrick endeavor, has a more sour view of humanity… or does it? That’s one of the main questions up for discussion this week as we delve into the complexities and contradictions of A.I., a film with no shortage of discussion points, many of which coalesce around the film’s still-divisive ending.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about A.I., AFTER YANG, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, recommendations, and more.

Outro music: Cliff Edwards and Dickie Jones, “Give a Little Whistle”

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#319: No Time to Dye, Pt. 2 — Kimi

Tue, 08 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Steven Soderbergh’s new thriller KIMI is as brisk, stylish, and sure-footed in its approach as Tom Tykwer’s 1998 arthouse hit RUN LOLA RUN, but with a much different set of cinematic goals and references in play. Does KIMI’s spare, simple, stylish approach alchemize into what one of our panelists calls “pure entertainment” that’s “easy as breathing,” or does it leave too many unfilled spaces and narrative holes to trip over? We hash it out before bringing LOLA in to compare the two films’ commitment to brevity and adrenalized filmmaking, how that commitment plays out via their respective soundtracks, and the ways in which each tackles conflict and codependency in relationships.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about KIMI, RUN LOLA RUN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, recommendations, and more.

Outro music: Elastica, “Connection”

Thanks Raycon!. For a limited time, go To buyraycon.com/NEXTPICTURE for 15% off your entire Raycon order.

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#318: No Time to Dye, Pt. 1 — Run Lola Run

Tue, 01 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Steven Soderbergh’s new straight-to-streaming movie KIMI wears its many influences on its sleeve, but we saw our inspiration for this week’s pairing in its protagonist’s colorful dyed hair, reminiscent of one of the many eye-popping elements of Tom Tykwer’s 1998 international breakout RUN LOLA RUN. But what really links the two films is the breakneck pace they share as they chase after women trying to achieve an urgent goal on a short deadline. This week we home in on RUN LOLA RUN to parse its interplay of style and substance, and debate how and to what extent this fleet film stumbles over its weighty themes of time, choice, and fate.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about RUN LOLA RUN, KIMI, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, recommendations, and more.

Outro music: Franka Potente, “Believe” (Run Lola Run)

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#317: Star Crossed Pt. 2 — Marry Me

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Kat Coiro’s new MARRY ME is a rarity in 2022: a major-studio romcom released to theaters (okay, and Peacock), that features recognizable stars and tries to honor the genre without apologies or winky self-awareness. It’s a modern yet old-fashioned romcom that relies on audiences’ affection for its genre, and in particular its incandescent star, Jennifer Lopez, to smooth over its rough patches, which we poke at — affectionately — in the second half of our star-crossed romcom pairing. We’re joined once again by special guest Scott Meslow, author of the new book FROM HOLLYWOOD WITH LOVE, to discuss how MARRY ME works through the romcom formula, and where it stumbles, before bringing Roger Michell's NOTTING HILL back in to consider how both films fit their respective ideas about celebrity, infidelity, and humility into the genre’s well-established storytelling structure.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about NOTTING HILL, MARRY ME, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, recommendations, and more.

Next pairing: RUN LOLA RUN and KIMI

Outro Music: “On My Way (Marry Me)” by Jennifer Lopez

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#316: Star Crossed, Pt. 1 — Notting Hill

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Despite a very 2022 premise, the new MARRY ME acts in many ways like a romantic comedy from the genre’s late-20th-century heyday, from its star-driven nature to its central fantasy of a romance between a world-famous celebrity and an everyday schlub. That particular combination pointed us in the direction of one of the era’s romcom highlights, 1999’s NOTTING HILL, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant as characters with deep ties to their actors’ respective personas. This week we look back at the film that cemented Richard Curtis as a romcom auteur, with an assist from someone who literally wrote the book on the genre — Scott Meslow, author of the new “From Hollywood with Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy” — to consider how NOTTING HILL figures into the careers of both its screenwriter and its stars, what director Roger Michell brings to the equation, and the film’s mixed-blessing view of stardom.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about NOTTING HILL, MARRY ME, or anything else in the world of film, romcom or otherwise, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, recommendations, and more.

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#315: Toil and Trouble Pt. 2 — The Tragedy of Macbeth (2022)

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Is Joel Coen’s new THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH the most by-the-letter, scrupulous adaptation of Shakespeare’s play ever put to screen, or a series of subtle but surprising decisions applied to an extremely familiar text? We’re a little divided on that question this week, as we’re joined once again by David Chen, host of the Culturally Relevant podcast (among many other projects), to parse what distinguishes this approach to The Scottish Play, how it plays within the Coen filmography, and whether every other Coen film is also, in fact, Macbeth. Then we bring Akira Kurosawa’s THRONE OF BLOOD back into the conversation to compare the two films’ chicken-or-the-egg prophecies, their minimalist/maximalist styles, and the shared motivation to adapt this story in the first place.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THRONE OF BLOOD, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, recommendations, and more.

Works Cited:

• “In the Coen brothers’ punishing world, morals are everything,” by Tasha Robinson (thedissolve.com)

• “The Tragedy of Macbeth Is Pretty Much Just One Phenomenal Denzel Washington Performance,” by Alison Willmore (vulture.com)

• “Dialogue: Macbeth and the Movies,” by Scott Tobias and Keith Phipps (thereveal.substack.com)

Next pairing: NOTTING HILL and MARRY ME

Outro Music: “Fair Is Foul & Foul Is Fair” by Babes In Toyland

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#314: Toil and Trouble Pt. 1 — Throne of Blood

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0000

There are no shortage of adaptations we could pair with Joel Coen’s new THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, but for our purposes the choice was always clear: Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 classic THRONE OF BLOOD is an ideal Next Picture Show companion piece for the way in which it takes what it needs from the original Shakespeare while changing the language, setting, and performance style, and cherry-picking elements of the plot. We’re joined this week by super-podcaster and super-fan David Chen to talk through some of those elements, including a Lady Macbeth who is both more and less passive than her play counterpart, as well as the film’s unexpected jolts of humor, and a deliberate sense of pacing that toes the line between building tension and repetition.

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#313: Tales as Old as Time, Pt. 2 — Belle (2021)

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Mamoru Hosoda’s new anime feature BELLE moves the classic fable of Beauty and the Beast into a futuristic VR world, but that’s not the film’s only major departure from its original source material. Although it contains some direct visual references and corollary characters to Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, it’s ultimately concerned with different, more unruly emotions, which drives the story in unexpected directions. This week we hash out our responses to BELLE and debate how much worldbuilding is necessary and/or desired in Hosada’s approach, before bringing in its Disney counterpart to consider side-by-side our isolated protagonists, childlike beasts, and backgrounded fathers, as well as how the two films function differently as musicals.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, BELLE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#312: Tales as Old as Time, Pt. 1 — Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Mamoru Hosada’s new anime BELLE is the latest take on a certain tale as old as time, one that was previously enshrined in the animated feature canon with 1991’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, one of the touchstones of Disney’s storied late-20th-century renaissance. This week we crack open the clamshell VHS case on Disney’s version, in particular its labored-even-by-Disney-standards development process, its unforgettable Ashman/Menken music, what made it stand out in the animation landscape back then, and how those same elements look compared to the film’s modern-day successors.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about either version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, BELLE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#311: Our 2021 Top 10s, Part 2

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Our look back at 2021 in film concludes with Tasha, Keith, and Scott’s picks for films number five through one on their respective top 10 lists—or at least their top 10s as they stood at the tail end of December. All three acknowledge that the year offered several quality releases that on any other given day might have made their way onto one of these lists, but for the overlapping factors of time, availability, and the inherently mercurial nature of annual list-making. And so they also dig into the films they weren’t able to see in time for this episode, as well as the honorable mentions that just missed the cut.

If you have thoughts you’d like to share on our picks, your picks, or anything else about the past year in film, you can send an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net or leave a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#310: Our 2021 Top 10s, Part 1

Tue, 04 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0000

We’re kicking off 2022 by setting aside our usual format for a look back at 2021 in film, via that tried and true structure, the Top 10 list. Keith, Scott, and Tasha have each come to this two-part episode bearing their individual top 10 lists, as well as broader thoughts on a year in which established moviegoing models seem to be shifting more rapidly than ever. This week covers the films at the 10 through 6 slots on their lists, as well as an abbreviated discussion of the film that’s number one on the list of films we wish we could have covered on the main show.

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#309: Carnival Games, Pt. 2 — Nightmare Alley (2021)

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Guillermo del Toro’s new NIGHTMARE ALLEY is a first for the director, a film with no supernatural or fantasy elements at all, and yet it is still arguably more recognizable as a del Toro film than as a remake of the 1947 Edmund Goulding noir of the same name. Why this project, for this director, and with these actors? We’re joined once again by our friend and critic Noel Murray to hash out our varied reactions to del Toro’s project, before bringing Goulding’s version of NIGHTMARE ALLEY back into the discussion to examine what makes each version of this story distinct. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent viewing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about either version of NIGHTMARE ALLEY, both versions, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “The Theme That Ties All of Guillermo del Toro’s Movies Together” by Tasha Robinson (gizmodo.com/io9)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Noel: VOIR on Netflix

• Tasha: Jasmila Žbanić’s QUO VADIS, AIDA?

• Scott: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s THE LOST DAUGHTER

Outro Music: “Spookshow Baby” by Rob Zombie

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#308: Carnival Games, Pt. 1 — Nightmare Alley (1947)

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Guillermo del Toro has emphasized that his new NIGHTMARE ALLEY is not a remake of Edmund Goulding’s 1947 noir of the same name, but rather an attempt to more faithfully adapt the 1946 novel by author William Lindsay Gresham, about a carnival con artist who expands his hustle into spiritualism and subsequently opens himself up to disaster. Nonetheless, this week in preparation of our discussion of del Toro’s NIGHTMARE we’re taking a deeper look at Goulding’s, with an assist from our friend and critic Noel Murray, to see how it follows and diverts from the noir tradition, particularly in its trio of distinctive female characters and performances, and how the morality of its tacked-on ending undercuts its deeper themes. Plus, our recent episode on THE POWER OF THE DOG has inspired a lot of feedback, which we begin digging into with some thoughts on its Hitchcockian and literary connections.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about either version of NIGHTMARE ALLEY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Carnival Games” by Nelly Furtado

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#307: Model Males, Pt. 2 — The Power of the Dog

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0000

With less of a narrative focus on survival than DELIVERANCE, Jane Campion’s new POWER OF THE DOG takes a comparatively subtle approach to unpacking the nuances of toxic masculinity and the myriad ways in which it can poison relationships — but there’s nothing subtle about that ending and the way it makes everything leading up to it click into place. We dig into the power of POWER’s storytelling, performances, and late-Western vibe before bringing it into conversation with DELIVERANCE as complementary studies in performative masculinity and its relationship to the natural world, encroaching civilization, and sexual threat. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent viewing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DELIVERANCE, THE POWER OF THE DOG, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: STATION ELEVEN on HBO Max

• Keith: The Hughes Brothers’ MENACE II SOCIETY

• Scott: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY and DRIVE MY CAR

Outro music: “Ugly Duet” from POWER OF THE DOG

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#306: Model Males, Pt. 1 — Deliverance

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Jane Campion’s new POWER OF THE DOG includes a tense passage involving a banjo that plays as a nod to the 1972 John Boorman classic DELIVERANCE, but the two films’ shared thematic concerns go much deeper than banjo duels. Chief among those is the theme of toxic masculinity and its myriad manifestations, which we explore this week via DELIVERANCE’s four male archetypes and their misbegotten river adventure. Plus, we’re still getting feedback about LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, which means we’re still talking about that third-act twist.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DELIVERANCE, POWER OF THE DOG, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Dueling Banjos” performed by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel

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#305: White Lies, Pt. 2 — Passing

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Rebecca Hall’s new PASSING takes a more restrained, internal approach to its story about racial identity and the rejection thereof than Douglas Sirk’s 1959 classic IMITATION OF LIFE, but the two films share an awareness of how style and subject matter can work hand in hand. We’re joined again this week by critic Odie Henderson to discuss how each film balances its messaging, storytelling, and style, after digging into PASSING’s black-and-white cinematography, literary source material, and ambiguous ending. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent viewing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about IMITATION OF LIFE, PASSING, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes:

Works Cited:

• “One Last Bit of Black History” by Odie Henderson (Big Media Vandalism)

• “Angels of Death: A Prairie Home Companion and All That Jazz” by Odie Henderson (Slant Magazine)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Odie: Douglas Sirk’s LURED; Lewis Seiler’s WOMEN’S PRISON; Mamoru Hosada’s BELLE

• Tasha: Hayao Miyazaki’s FUTURE BOY CONAN

• Genevieve: Penny Lane’s LISTENING TO KENNY G

• Keith: Todd Haynes’ FAR FROM HEAVEN; Mike Mills’ C’MON C’MON

Outro music: “Irene and Claire” by Devonté Hynes

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#304: White Lies, Pt. 1 — Imitation of Life

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 12:45:00 -0000

Rebecca Hall’s new film PASSING centers on a complicated female friendship defined in part by semi-porous racial boundaries, a thematic throughline that pointed us directly to Douglas Sirk’s IMITATION OF LIFE — with an assist from RogerEbert.com critic Odie Henderson, who in his recent review of Hall’s film invoked Sirk’s 1959 melodrama, citing it as his #3 film of all time. We’re joined this week by Henderson to discuss how IMITATION OF LIFE's wrenching storyline about a Black woman’s ongoing rejection by her white-passing daughter operates within the whole of a film that has several other plot concerns, primarily those of a white woman played by the film’s lone movie star, and how the film’s performances and overall heightened style mesh with its messaging about race and class. Plus, we respond to some feedback regarding one of our major problems with LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, and how it plays across the pond.

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#303: Dual Duels Pt. 2 — Last Night In Soho

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0000

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO director and co-writer Edgar Wright is never shy about sharing and celebrating his influences for each new project, which in this case includes the other film in this pairing, Ingmar Bergman’s famously inscrutable PERSONA. We get into the connections between those two, including their portrayals of relationships between two women and their allusive tendencies, after digging into what makes Wright’s newest film so intoxicating… for its first half, at least. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent viewing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PERSONA, LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes:

Works Cited:

• “Last Night in Soho’s Edgar Wright doesn’t want to give you homework… but he will” by Tasha Robinson (Polygon.com)

• “Inside Last Night in Soho’s breathtaking trick dance with Matt Smith and Edgar Wright” by Tasha Robinson (Polygn.com)

• Edgar Wright Breaks Down 25 Films from the 1960s That Inspired ‘Last Night in Soho’” by Zack Sharf (indiewire.com)

• Edgar Wright’s Adventures in Moviegoing (criterionchannel.org)

Your Next Picture Show:

Keith: Mario Bava’s BLOOD AND BLACK LACE

Genevieve: SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (2021) on HBO

Scott: Pablo Larrain’s SPENCER

Tasha: Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King’s THE SPINE OF NIGHT

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#302: Dual Duels Pt. 1 — Persona

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 12:45:00 -0000

In familiar Edgar Wright fashion, the director’s new LAST NIGHT IN SOHO is brimming with cinematic allusion, but that self-reflexivity combined with a focus on a pair of similar-looking women whose identities begin to merge in uncanny ways brought us immediately to one of film’s most mysterious and scrutinized movies: Ingmar Bergman’s PERSONA. Broadly concerned with two women’s power struggle and eventual convergence, Bergman’s film is open to countless, sometimes overlapping interpretations, many of them concerning the nature of cinema itself, leading to its reputation as the “Mount Everest of cinematic analysis.” We consider that reputation, and what about the film invites it, in part one of this double double-feature. Plus, we respond to a multi-part question about DUNE that we only mostly disagree with.

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#301: Just Deserts Pt. 2 — Dune (2021)

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Denis Villeneuve’s new DUNE (or, more accurately, DUNE PART ONE) begins the process of adapting Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name, which itself drew from the biography of T.E. Lawrence, the inspiration for another film concerned with “desert power” and messiah mythmaking: 1962’s LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. While the two films each slot into different genres — science-fiction and historical war story, respectively — their narratives are remarkably similar, particularly when it comes to the white-savior overtones of their protagonists and their reverence for the desert as a visual and symbolic force. They also stand as complementary representatives of large-scale filmmaking produced some six decades apart, which we dig into in our comparison of the two films, as well as our reactions to DUNE PART ONE, and how they’re informed by our knowledge that this is only half the story. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent viewing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DUNE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Genevieve: RESERVATION DOGS on FX on Hulu

Tasha: MAYA AND THE THREE on Netflix

Scott: Mia Hansen-Løve’s BERGMAN ISLAND

Keith: Scott Z. Burns’ THE REPORT

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#300: Just Deserts Pt. 1 — Lawrence of Arabia

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The 1965 Frank Herbert novel that gave rise to Denis Villenueve’s new adaptation DUNE drew direct inspiration from the life of T.E. Lawrence, the subject of one of cinema’s towering classics: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. David Lean’s 1965 film is a celebrated, Oscar-winning classic that’s become shorthand for “big screen epic,” but for every major set piece where Peter O’Toole’s Lawrence seems to consider himself immortal, there’s an accompanying intimate moment where he gives in to his self-doubt. It’s a complexity we see again in DUNE, and which we dig into this week in a conversation about LAWRENCE’s rich and complicated legacy. Plus, our recent episode on REMINISCENCE prompts a listener question about other, better uses of water as a symbolic force.

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#299: Family History, Pt. 2 – The Many Saints of Newark

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0000

When it comes to the cultural obsession with origin stories that’s led to the underwhelming Sopranos prequel film THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK, how much credit/blame should be placed at the feet of THE GODFATHER PART II as an originator of this storytelling fixation? That’s among the questions we consider as we parse our mixed-to-negative reactions to the newer film, and bring it into conversation with Francis Ford Coppola’s classic to compare the films’ respective entwining of crime, American history, and father-son dynamics. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE GODFATHER PART II, THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK , or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Jason: “Prime Time Panic” Fun City Edition box set (featuring FREEDOM, DREAMS DON’T DIE, and DEATH RIDE TO OSAKA)

Keith: Barry Shear’s ACROSS 110TH STREET

Scott: Florian Zeller’s THE FATHER

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#298: Family History, Pt. 1 – The Godfather, Part II

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new Sopranos-inspired film THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK is both a prequel and a follow-up to one of the most acclaimed and influential mafia stories ever told, a description that also applies to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 film THE GODFATHER: PART II. Coppola’s follow-up to his 1972 smash has a prequel embedded within its flashback structure, but its dual narrative makes it much more than just an origin story — it’s a very different film than its predecessor, but does that make it, as the conventional wisdom goes, the superior GODFATHER? We’re joined this week by special guest and New York City cinema expert Jason Bailey to parse that argument, as well as what distinguishes PART II within both the larger GODFATHER story and the work of Coppola during that period. Plus, we respond to some feedback inspired by our recent episode on STRANGE DAYS and other unavailable movies.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE GODFATHER: PART II, THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#297: Bet Your Life Pt. 2: The Card Counter

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Like HARD EIGHT, the new Paul Schrader film THE CARD COUNTER puts a professional gambler on the road to redemption via his relationship with a confused and volatile young man, in the latest iteration of Schrader’s “God’s Lonely Man” character. We unpack that character, along with CARD COUNTER’s view of him and his sins, with the help once again of critic and Schrader expert Vikram Murthi, before putting these two films side by side to discuss their respective approach to father-son relationships, casinos and gambling, and lives lived in limbo. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about HARD EIGHT, THE CARD COUNTER, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Every Paul Schrader Movie, Ranked” by Vikram Murthi (vulture.com)

• “Cogs in the Machine: American Despair in Paul Schrader’s ‘Blue Collar’” by Vikram Murthi (musings.oscilloscope.net)

• “’The Card Counter’ Is a Tense Second Act to Paul Schrader’s Doomsday Period” by Charles Bramesco (insidehook.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

Vikram: James Foley’s AFTER DARK, MY SWEET

Scott: Michael Mohan’s THE VOYEURS

Keith: Jean-Pierre Melville’s BOB LE FLAMBEUR

Tasha: James Wan’s MALIGNANT

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#296: Bet Your Life Pt. 1: Hard Eight

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The uneasy pact between a professional gambler and a young man from his past in Paul Schrader’s THE CARD COUNTER recalls the surrogate father and son at the center of Paul Thomas Anderson’s debut feature HARD EIGHT. Both films follow solitary men into dark casino halls, but on very different paths to redemption. For this week’s focus on HARD EIGHT, we’re joined by freelance critic and longtime friend of the pod Vikram Murthi to debate Anderson’s approach to withholding and revealing character motivation, which of the standout performances stands out the most, and PTA’s enduring wish that the film be called by his preferred title, “Sydney.” Plus, we respond to a listener prompt about minor characters we can’t get out of our heads.

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#295: Missing Movies + Strange Days (1995)

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Our recent pairing of Michel Gondry’s ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MINDS with Lisa Joy’s REMINISCENCE was actually a second-choice selection forced by the ongoing unavailability of the film we initially thought of as a slam-dunk companion to Joy’s new film: Kathryn Bigelow’s 1995 thriller STRANGE DAYS, another noir-inflected science-fiction story concerned with the intersection of technology and memory. But that film is nearly impossible to find these days (at least through official channels), which prompted this off-format discussion in which we spend some time digging into why STRANGE DAYS feels like a “missing piece” in our modern-day discussion of both Bigelow’s career and cinema overall, particularly its daring racial and sexual politics and visceral violence. Then we widen the lens a bit to consider the overall phenomenon of impossible-to-find movies in the streaming era, and what it says about our past and present attitudes toward film preservation.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about disappearing movies, STRANGE DAYS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works cited:

• “The convenience trap: What the changes at Netflix reveal about an insidious trend,” by Sam Adams (avclub.com)

• “Film preservation 2.0,” by Matthew Dessem (thedissolve.com)

• “Song of the South: the difficult legacy of Disney’s most shocking movie,” by Scott Tobias (theguardian.com)

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#294: Memory Machines Pt. 2 — Reminiscence

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Where Michel Gondry’s ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND used the conceit of a memory machine in service of a science-fiction romance, Lisa Joy’s new feature debut REMINISCENCE uses a similar device in service of a science-fiction noir, but despite their different genre footholds, both are naturally fixated on the idea of revisiting memories and what they can tell us about ourselves. Despite a high-style approach reminiscent of Joy’s work on WESTWORLD, her REMINISCENCE hasn’t been particularly well-received, and we talk a bit about why in this week’s half of the pairing, before bringing it into conversation with SUNSHINE to discuss where these films align and where they diverge when it comes to memory and subjectivity, asynchronistic storytelling, and the intersection of style and substance. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, REMINISCENCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Tasha: Alain Bidard’s BATTLEDREAM CHRONICLE

Scott: Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger’s RESTREPO

Keith: Hsiao-Hsien Hou’s FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI

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#293: Memory Machines Pt. 1 — Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Lisa Joy’s new REMINISCENCE turns on a techno-magical procedure that blurs the distinction between memories and reality, a conceit that immediately reminded us of ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. Michel Gondry’s 2004 film was one of our collective favorites back when it premiered, but do our memories of it hold up to the reality of a present-day rewatch? This week we re-examine our relationship to ETERNAL SUNSHINE’s unlikable protagonists and the decisions they make, and to writer Charlie Kaufman’s broader filmography. Plus, we respond to some listener feedback about recent episodes on ANNETTE and THE GREEN KNIGHT.

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#292: Musical Variations, Pt. 2 — Annette

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Like Francis Ford Coppola’s 1982 musical folly ONE FROM THE HEART, Leos Carax’s new rock opera ANNETTE is not interested in playing it safe, whether that means, like Coppola's film, enlisting idiosyncratic musicians for songs that challenge movie-musical convention, or enlisting a puppet to play the titular role. We’re joined again this week by our friend Joshua Rothkopf to unpack which of ANNETTE’s provocations work and which don’t, before placing it alongside ONE FROM THE HEART to discuss the two films’ use of high artifice, the troubled relationships and troubling men at their centers, and how their respective engagement with sex and nudity reflects the times in which they were made. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ONE FROM THE HEART, ANNETTE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Josh: Julia Ducournau’s TITANE

Genevieve: Richard Linklater’s SCHOOL OF ROCK

Keith: David Bruckner’s THE NIGHT HOUSE

Tasha: Bill Benz’s THE NOWHERE INN

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#291: Musical Variations, Pt. 1 — One From The Heart

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 05:00:00 -0000

As a self-consciously artificial musical about a troubled couple (among other things), Leos Carax’s new ANNETTE put us in mind of another original movie musical with little use for convention: Francis Ford Coppola’s 1982 folly ONE FROM THE HEART, a famous flop that also represents a singular artistic achievement. We’re joined this week by critic and old friend Joshua Rothkopf to consider how this tarnished labor of love stands the test of time, whether the film’s surplus of style is enough to offset its narrative and character deficiencies, and whether it represents Coppola’s “midlife crisis film.” Plus, we respond to some listener questions about music that takes us out of a movie, and “green” movies that draw us in.

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#290: Knight Visions, Pt. 2 — The Green Knight

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 15:00:00 -0000

We just can’t resist discussing a new David Lowery film here at the Next Picture Show, and his latest, THE GREEN KNIGHT, gives us plenty to chew on, taking an alternately minimalist and maximalist approach to a story about honor, myth, and magic that takes place on the edges of King Arthur’s legend. Its bordering-on-abstract narrative stands in high contrast to the more expository approach seen in John Boorman’s EXCALIBUR last week, but the two films’ shared source legend provides a wealth of connections between them, including their respective examinations of honor and chivalry, of nature as magic, and of the symbolic and literal power wielded by women. We get into all of that, plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about EXCALIBUR, THE GREEN KNIGHT, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “The Green Knight is glorious and a little baffling. Let’s untangle it.” By Alissa Wilkinson (Vox.com)

• “Ralph Ineson spills the secrets of playing the Green Knight” By Tasha Robinson (Polygon.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

Genevieve: Janicza Bravo’s ZOLA

Scott: Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s THE VIEWING BOOTH

Tasha: Edson Oda’s NINE DAYS

Keith: Kon Ichikawa’s TOKYO OLYMPIAD

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#289: Knight Visions, Pt. 1 — Excalibur

Tue, 10 Aug 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new low-key fantasy fable THE GREEN KNIGHT plays with favorite David Lowery themes like time and death and memory, cross-pollinated with familiar Arthurian themes like chivalry and honor, and one era giving way to another. That combination reminded us of a similarly personal vision of Arthurian legend, albeit one working in a decidedly different tonal register: John Boorman’s 1981 fantasy epic EXCALIBUR. In this first half of the pairing, we consider the unwieldy storytelling, unpredictable performances, and unruly style of Boorman’s Arthurian passion project, and how well its big, messy approach reflects an era of big, messy change. Plus, we respond to some listener feedback that critiques some of our recent critiques.

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#288: Interior Angles, Pt. 2 – Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 05:00:00 -0000

**This episode contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, free help is available 24/7 by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or texting the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741).**

Continuing our pairing of documentaries about the interior life of dark-minded artists who became celebrities without expecting it, we take up Morgan Neville’s new Anthony Bourdain exploration ROADRUNNER, which in crafting its narrative about the late chef-turned-author-turned-TV personality makes some filmmaking choices that have prompted criticism and conversation about the distinctions between documentary and journalism. Those conversations feel like echoes of some of the ones that took place around the classic film in this pairing, Terry Zwigoff’s CRUMB, back in 1995, only in a much different cultural context. We unpack what has and hasn’t changed about biographical documentary in the space between these two films, plus their respective approaches to mental illness and celebrity, and the notable voices left out of the telling of each man’s story. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CRUMB, ROADRUNNER, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes:

Works Cited: “The Anthony Bourdain Documentary Faked His Voice. Would Other Filmmakers Do the Same?” By Sam Adams (Slate.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

Genevieve: TASTE THE NATION WITH PADMA LAKSHMI on Hulu

Noel: THE PURSUIT OF LOVE on Prime Video

Scott: E.L. Katz’s CHEAP THRILLS

Keith: Terry Zwigoff’s LOUIE BLUIE

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#287: Interior Angles, Pt. 1 – Crumb

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new ROADRUNNER plumbs some of the darker emotional depths of the late Anthony Bourdain, and has come in for scrutiny about some of its methods for doing so. That combination reminded us of another documentary about a similarly unlikely public figure: CRUMB, Terry Zwigoff’s 1995 examination of his old friend and underground comics legend Robert Crumb, alongside some other more troubled members of his deeply troubled family. We’re joined this week by an old friend of our own, freelance critic Noel Murray, to discuss how CRUMB navigates its subject’s fraught upbringing and the often controversial ways it was manifested into art. Plus, a call from a listener prompts us to share some of our favorite “overlooked masterpieces” that due to timing or context haven’t received their proper due.

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#286: The Summer of '69, Pt. 2: Summer of Soul

Tue, 20 Jul 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Our look at the musical happenings of the summer of 1969 shifts from upstate New York to uptown New York City to experience the Harlem Cultural Festival, rescued from historical obscurity by Amir “Questlove” Thompson in his new documentary SUMMER OF SOUL (...OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED). We’re joined once again by music critic Steven Hyden to consider how SUMMER OF SOUL works as a music documentary both in its own right and as an “answer film” of sorts to Woodstock, the subject of the other half of this pairing. Then we bring the two films together to discuss their respective approaches to the concert film as a social document, and how the filmmakers behind them chose to depict the performers onstage as well as the audiences watching them. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WOODSTOCK, SUMMER OF SOUL, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes:

Works Cited: “By the time we got to Woodstock 99” by Steven Hyden (avclub.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

Tasha: The Maysles’ GIMME SHELTER

Scott: John Badham’s SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (director’s cut)

Keith: Michael Sarnoski’s PIG

Steve: Garret Price’s WOODSTOCK 99: PEACE LOVE AND RAGE

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#285: The Summer of '69, Pt. 1: Woodstock (1970)

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The summer of 1969 saw several large-scale music festivals, but few have crossed into the realm of myth as definitively as Woodstock, thanks in no small part to Michael Wadleigh’s landmark 1970 documentary, released less than a year after its titular event. Questlove’s new film SUMMER OF SOUL seeks to add another, less-discussed concert to the musical narrative of that summer, which we will bring into the discussion next week, but in this WOODSTOCK-focused half of our pairing we’re joined by music critic Steven Hyden to debate whether it’s possible to separate Wadleigh’s film from the broader cultural understanding of, and nostalgia for, the festival, and how the movie’s hyper-verité style meshes with its generally sunny view of an event that had an oft-overlooked dark side. Plus, we’re still getting feedback about the Scott-provoked Shrek-toversy, which means we’re continuing our ongoing discussion about criticism, fandom, and the uncomfortable relationship between them.

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Bonus Episode: The State of Streaming Movies

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 05:00:00 -0000

When it comes to streaming services, we’re leaving the Wild West era and entering a new one where multiple corporations with slightly varying distribution models are jockeying for dominance in an increasingly crowded landscape. Where does this leave the new films landing on these services, the audiences who want to watch them, and the fate of the theatrical model as we emerge from the past pandemic year? In this episode, originally recorded for our Patreon subscribers, Scott, Tasha, Keith, and Genevieve got together to discuss those questions as they apply to some of the major streaming services — specifically, those that are acting as distributors of new films, rather than library-focused services. But, due to the multifaceted nature of these services, both library titles and television make their way into the discussion as well because, as Next Picture Show listeners know, no movie exists in a vacuum.

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#284: Immigrant Songs, Pt. 2 — In the Heights

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Like last week’s film, WEST SIDE STORY, Jon M. Chu’s new big-screen adaptation of IN THE HEIGHTS is about the American Dream, but it acknowledges that the dream isn’t one-size-fits-all—only, you know, in song! In this half of our pairing we debate how that mission squares with IN THE HEIGHTS’ fundamentally optimistic outlook, before bringing the two films together to compare how they work as movie musicals, as stories about immigration, and, in different but related ways, as subjects of controversy. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WEST SIDE STORY, IN THE HEIGHTS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Keith: Francis Ford Coppola’s RUMBLE FISH

Tasha: Norman Jewison’s FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

Scott: Scott Frank’s A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES

Genevieve: Bo Burnham’s INSIDE

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#283: Immigrant Songs, Pt. 1 — West Side Story (1961)

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new IN THE HEIGHTS is a film derived from a Broadway hit that challenged mainstream notions about musical theater, which in addition to being a love story examines the immigrant experience through the framing of a specific Manhattan neighborhood — all of which can also be said about Ray Wise’s 1961 Oscar behemoth WEST SIDE STORY. And so while we recognize that WEST SIDE STORY will be receiving the modern-update treatment later this year, we’re instead taking this earlier opportunity to compare two very different, yet unmistakably related, musical visions of the American Dream. This week we dig into what holds up about WEST SIDE STORY, and debate whether the film’s central love story is a limitation — and if it is, how willing we are to overlook it in favor of the production’s other charms. Plus, we respond to some feedback inspired by our recent REAR WINDOW episode, as well as a query inspired by Scott’s recent SHREK-inspired controversy.

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#282: Survivors Down Under Pt. 2 — The Dry

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new Australian film THE DRY is an adaptation of a hit novel, set in Victoria, that considers a remote community beset by grief over a mysterious loss, all of which reminded us of Peter Weir’s Australian New Wave classic PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK; but despite those similarities in general shape, the specific contours of the two films are vastly different, particularly in their respective approaches to mystery and resolution. But there’s lots of interest to examine in that contrast, which we do in this half of the pairing focused on THE DRY and how it connects to and departs from the storytelling approach in PICNIC. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, THE DRY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Keith: Thomas Bezucha’s LET HIM GO

Genevieve: Eric Roman Waugh’s GREENLAND

Scott: Walter Hill’s STREETS OF FIRE

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#281: Survivors Down Under Pt. 1 — Picnic at Hanging Rock

Tue, 08 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new thriller THE DRY makes a central character of its setting, a rural Australian town plagued by a drought that’s turned it into a (literal) tinderbox, and haunted by a tragedy that threatens to send it into (metaphorical) flames. That heavily symbolic use of the Australian landscape, combined with its focus on a community in the aftermath of tragedy, struck us as an opportunity to revisit 1975’s PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, Peter Weir’s Australian New Wave classic about the disappearance of three schoolgirls and a teacher in rural Victoria, which is loaded with symbols and suggestion, but short on straightforward answers. That last part is a major point of contrast with THE DRY, which we’ll get into next week, but this week we’re basking in PICNIC’s luminous ambiguity. Plus, we respond to a listener's question about the home video format’s modern-day relevance in the culture generally, and our lives specifically.

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#280: Window Watchers Pt. 2 — The Woman in the Window

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW hangs a lantern on its obvious homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW, but how does Joe Wright’s latest fare when placed into conversation with such a vaunted comparison point? We’re joined again this week by freelance critic Roxana Hadadi to determine just that — the answer probably will not surprise you — as well as the two films’ use of voyeurism as compulsion vs. plot device, their respective “secret protagonists” that prove more compelling and complex than the main characters, and how WOMAN IN THE WINDOW ascribes to the Gilligan’s Island Theory of the “second coconut bonk” (trust us, it makes sense when Tasha explains it). Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about REAR WINDOW, THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Scott: Joyce Chopra’s SMOOTH TALK

Tasha: Otto Preminger’s BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING and Marilyn Agrelo’s STREET GANG

Keith: Basil Dearden’s THE MAN WHO HAUNTED HIMSELF

Roxana: Haifaa Al-Mansour’s THE PERFECT CANDIDATE

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#279: Window Watchers, Pt. 1: Rear Window

Tue, 25 May 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Joe Wright’s new adaptation of the bestselling novel THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW is hardly the first film to tip its hat to Alfred Hitchcock in general and 1954’s REAR WINDOW in particular, in no small part because Hitchcock’s film is in many ways a movie about the act of watching movies. But it can also be processed as a film about storytelling in general, or the journalistic impulse in particular, both readings of the film that we get into this week with our special guest, freelance critic Roxana Hadadi, who joins us to discuss REAR WINDOW’s tricky psychological themes and even trickier characterization. Plus, a piece of feedback about our recent episode on BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA prompts a discussion that ranges from how we process movie stereotypes to what’s good in Iranian cinema.

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#278: Fighting Spirits, Pt. 2: Mortal Kombat (2021)

Tue, 18 May 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new MORTAL KOMBAT, directed by Simon McQuoid, drops a new, nobody protagonist, Cole Young, into the videogame world’s established mythology, positioning him as an outsider within a generations-spanning supernatural battle. That conceit is a big part of why we chose to pair the film with John Carpenter’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, but does it make for a compelling movie narrative? No, it doesn’t, and we discuss why in our debriefing on MORTAL KOMBAT, before bringing it into conversation with BIG TROUBLE to compare the two films’ respective approaches to violence and the supernatural, how they each work (or don’t) in the East-meets-West tradition of Hollywood martial arts films, and how each deploys the figure of the motormouthed antihero to very different effect. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, MORTAL KOMBAT, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Genevieve: “Interior Chinatown” by Charles Yu

Scott: Blake Edwards’ A SHOT IN THE DARK

Tasha: Amp Wong and Zhao Ji’s WHITE SNAKE

Keith: Frank Borzage’s HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT

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#277: Fighting Spirits, Pt. 1: Big Trouble In Little China

Tue, 11 May 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The newest film iteration of MORTAL KOMBAT is a fighting fantasy with roots in the tradition of Asian martial arts movies, but with a pronounced supernatural component that pushes it deeper into the realm of the uncanny. That particular combination, along with the film’s outsider protagonist, put us in mind of John Carpenter’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, a 1986 action-comedy that plops a mostly hapless Kurt Russell in the middle of a chaotic conflict that moves from the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown to an underground kingdom presided over by a malevolent spirit and supernatural warriors. This week we get into BIG TROUBLE to discuss its sloppy charm and Western tropes, and how well it handles the cultural stereotypes baked into its premise. Plus, we respond to some “anything else in the world of film” feedback inspired by our recent episodes on RACHEL GETTING MARRIED and SHIVA BABY.

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#276: One Wedding and a Funeral, Pt. 2 — Shiva Baby

Tue, 04 May 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The second half of our pairing looking at young women publicly testing the goodwill of their loved ones drops in on another awkward community function in the form of SHIVA BABY’s titular gathering. We’re joined again by film writer Jordan Hoffman to talk about Emma Seligman’s extraordinary debut feature and how it connects to Jonathan Demme’s RACHEL GETTING MARRIED in its view of familial and social expectations, filmmaking that reflects its protagonist’s anxious state, and character details that hint at even deeper dysfunction. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, SHIVA BABY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Work Cited:

“Celebrate Passover With the Very Jewish Angst of Shiva Baby,” by Jordan Hoffman (vanityfair.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

Keith: Monte Hellman’s THE SHOOTING and Richard Rush’s THE STUNT MAN

Jordan: The Coens’ A SERIOUS MAN, Paul Mazursky’s ENEMIES, A LOVE STORY, and Barry Levinson’s AVALON

Scott: Joan Micklin Silver’s CROSSING DELANCEY

Genevieve: Christopher Landon’s FREAKY

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#275: One Wedding and a Funeral, Pt. 1 — Rachel Getting Married

Tue, 27 Apr 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new indie comedy SHIVA BABY’s focus on a young woman attending an obligatory family event and finding herself the center of attention reminded us of a similar cinematic predicament set at a very different sort of major life event: Jonathan Demme’s 2008 drama RACHEL GETTING MARRIED. Revisiting the film for this week’s pairing, along with our special guest, film writer Jordan Hoffman, was a potent reminder of the late Demme’s talent for capturing humanity and optimism onscreen, not to mention vibrant and celebratory musical performance. So this week we dig into what makes RACHEL GETTING MARRIED what one of our panelists deems “the most Demme movie of all,” where it stands in the pantheon of onscreen weddings, and whether to categorize the cultural mishmash of Rachel's wedding as a “melting pot” or “cultural appropriation.” Plus, in place of feedback this week we talk about some of those other onscreen weddings, and which ones we’d most like to attend (or claim for ourselves).

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#274: Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Twice, Pt. 2 — Nobody

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new Bob Odenkirk-starring revenge thriller NOBODY could be read as commentary on the revenge thriller form, but that may be an overly generous reading — or it may just be because we’ve paired it this week with Steven Soderbergh’s THE LIMEY, which is much more overtly reflective about its fantasies of violence and retribution. After working through what did and didn’t work for us about NOBODY, we put it into conversation with THE LIMEY — and by extension the long cinematic tradition of the revenge movie — to discuss the films’ respective approaches to violence, motivation, and middle age, and how they use music and location work to different effect. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE LIMEY, NOBODY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Scott: Michael Verhoeven’s THE NASTY GIRL

Keith: Richard C. Sarafian’s VANISHING POINT

Tasha: George Romero’s THE CRAZIES

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#273: Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Twice, Pt. 1 — The Limey

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new NOBODY, starring Bob Odenkirk as an unlikely action star, is drawing on a long tradition of revenge movies, which means we had our pick of comparison points this week, but Steven Soderbergh’s 1999 film THE LIMEY struck us as particularly apt not just for the commentary it provides on the revenge narrative, but also for its focus on its protagonist’s relationship to his past. In this first half we dig into THE LIMEY, a film one of our panelists considers top-three Soderbergh and another considers a pale imitation of the filmmaker's better work, to debate how its fluid, almost dreamlike non-linear structure impacts the viewing experience, if its casting choices are considered “metatextual” or “extratextual,” and whether the film’s style overshadows its story. Plus, we respond to a listener question about movies that shifted our worldview, and some thoughts about kids’ capacity for cinematic weirdness inspired by our recent episode on THE LAST UNICORN.

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#272: A Tina Twofer, Pt. 2 — Tina

Tue, 06 Apr 2021 05:00:00 -0000

The new HBO documentary TINA touches briefly but memorably on the release of 1992’s WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, but it’s much more focused on providing a bird’s-eye view of Tina Turner’s entire career, beyond the years she spent in a creatively fruitful but abusive partnership with Ike Turner. Watching the two films together, as we did for this week’s pairing, reveals how the films’ respective documentary and narrative approaches both support and push against each other when it comes to portraying the breadth and depth of one woman’s experience. We’re joined again this week by Vulture critic Jen Chaney to discuss what makes TINA stand out among similarly structured music documentaries, before tackling how these two distinct but inherently linked films each approach the portrayal of abuse and trauma, the scope of Tina’s career, and the extraordinary onstage charisma that made her a star. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, TINA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Tasha: Martin Scorsese’s SHINE A LIGHT

Genevieve: Josh Greenbaum’s BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR

Jen: John Hyams' ALL SQUARE

Scott: HBO’s TIGER

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#271: A Tina Twofer, Pt. 1 — What's Love Got to Do With It

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 05:00:00 -0000

It’s rare that one of the films in a Next Picture Show pairing is directly addressed in the other film, but that’s the case with WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT and the new documentary TINA, two films with distinctly different approaches tackling a common subject: the life of soul music legend Tina Turner. This week we zoom in on Tina through the lens of Brian Gibson’s 1993 biopic, a film that treats the abuse Tina received at the hands of her husband/tormenter Ike Turner as its narrative North Star. We’re joined by critic Jen Chaney to debate how well that choice works, celebrate the transformative performances by Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, and discuss which of the many liberties the film takes with the historical record actually matter in the broader context. Plus, we respond to some feedback about our recent discussions of two films now vying against each other in multiple Oscar categories, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN and NOMADLAND.

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#270: Famous Last Worlds, Pt. 2: Raya and the Last Dragon

Tue, 23 Mar 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Unlike the last unicorn in the eponymous 1982 animated film by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr., this week’s last-of-her-kind fantasy creature knows what happened to the rest of her kind, setting the new Disney Animation feature RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON off on a quest narrative that takes a much different shape than THE LAST UNICORN. We’re joined once again this week by John Maher to discuss RAYA’s shiny, roller-coaster-like thrills, and then compare the two films’ respective journeys, the mythical beasts at their centers, and the paired dynamic of parent villains and children who switch sides. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE LAST UNICORN, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Genevieve: Moribi Murano’s UNICO IN THE ISLAND OF MAGIC

John: Isao Takahata’s THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA

Tasha: “The unsung genius of Studio Ghibli’s risk-taking realist, Isao Takahata (by John Maher, polygon.com), and Gore Verbinski’s THE RING

Keith: Rob Savage’s HOST

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#269: Famous Last Worlds, Pt. 1: The Last Unicorn

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 05:00:00 -0000

While the new RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON shares far more with its Disney Animation brethren than anything made by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, those filmmakers’ 1982 animated adaptation of Peter S. Beagle’s THE LAST UNICORN shares RAYA’s interest in telling a story about humanity via the plight of a fantasy creature believed to be the last of its kind — it just goes about it in a much more idiosyncratic, often flat-out weird way. To dig into all the ways THE LAST UNICORN defies convention and expectation, we’ve brought in cultural writer and animation expert John Maher to help discuss some of the big literary themes crammed into this small and not very literary movie, the film’s penchants for both poetry and anachronism, and what to make of that Rankin/Bass animation style. Plus, we respond to some feedback about our recent discussion of JEAN DE FLORETTE, and where we personally draw the line between film and television.

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#267: Hard Water Pt. 1 — Jean de Florette

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Lee Isaac Chung’s new MINARI centers on a family starting over in the country, a theme that got us thinking about French director Claude Berri’s 1986 film JEAN DE FLORETTE, and how its concerns of agrarian hardship in general and water scarcity in particular echo those in Chung’s film. In this half of the pairing we get into JEAN DE FLORETTE’s unsparing view of an oft-idealized provincial setting, its showy yet subtle performances, and what it reveals about French filmmaking in the 1980s. Plus, we respond to some of our favorite kind of feedback — voicemail feedback!

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about JEAN DE FLORETTE, MINARI, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#266: Uneasy Riders Pt. 2 — Nomadland

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 06:00:00 -0000

In Chloe Zhao’s new NOMADLAND, Frances McDormand’s Fern “drops out of society” not by choice, unlike the yuppie couple at the center of Albert Brooks’ 1985 comedy LOST IN AMERICA, but she proves much more adept than they at surviving (perhaps even thriving?) outside the mainstream. This week we bring NOMADLAND’s view of life on the road into conversation with LOST IN AMERICA’s satirization of the impulse to pursue that lifestyle, to consider their respective approaches to dropping out of society and living without a safety net. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about LOST IN AMERICA, NOMADLAND, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Tasha: David Lynch’s THE STRAIGHT STORY

Keith: Agnès Varda’s DAGUERREOTYPES

Genevieve: The New York Times Presents FRAMING BRITNEY SPEARS

Scott: Sarah Polley’s STORIES WE TELL

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#265: Uneasy Riders Pt. 1 — Lost In America

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Chloe Zhao’s new feature NOMADLAND presents a “houseless” life on the road as a choice born half out of desperation and half out of curiosity about life outside the American mainstream, which called to mind the yuppie adventurers looking to “drop out of society” in Albert Brooks’ 1985 comedy LOST IN AMERICA. This week, Brooks’ film serves as the catalyst for another Scott-Tasha showdown, as we dig into the nuances of both Brooks’ comedic style and the satirical premise he sets up in LOST IN AMERICA. Plus, we respond to some feedback on our recent episodes on AMERICAN PSYCHO and PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN.

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#264: Lady Killers, Pt. 2 — Promising Young Woman

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Though Emerald Fennell has cited Mary Harron’s AMERICAN PSYCHO as one of the inspiration points for her buzzy debut feature PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, there’s not a whole lot obviously linking the films in terms of protagonist, narrative, or even their respective satirical targets. But as we discuss in this week’s comparison, both woman-directed films are deeply concerned with ideas of male privilege and toxic masculinity, make ample use of high-pop needledrops, and engage with violence in a heightened and stylized manner that underlines their thematic concerns. We get into all that, plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about AMERICAN PSYCHO, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Scott: Abel Ferrara’s MS. 45

Keith: Mary Harron/Guinevere Turner’s THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE and CHARLIE SAYS

Tasha: “Emerald Fennel Explains Herself” by Angelica Jade Bastién (Vulture.com)

Genevieve: Eugene Ashe’s SYLVIE’S LOVE

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#263: Lady Killers, Pt. 1 — American Psycho

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 06:00:00 -0000

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN writer-director Emerald Fennell has cited AMERICAN PSYCHO as one of her cinematic reference points when creating her first debut feature, which was enough reason for us to revisit Mary Harron’s 2000 cult classic ‘80s satire to see if there’s more to that comparison than the films’ shared taste for dark, dark humor. First up this week, we dig into AMERICAN PSYCHO’s inscrutable protagonist and even more inscrutable ending, its approach to adapting what many considered an unadaptable Bret Easton Ellis novel, and whether the characters in this film who are not named Patrick Batemen have any lasting resonance. Plus, we respond to some feedback regarding our recent episode on Pixar’s SOUL, and another about the pandemic’s effects on our home-viewing habits.

Works Cited:

• “The Frustrating Tradition Behind Soul’s Great Flaw,” by Robert Daniels (polygon.com)

• “Stop Telling Me To Turn My Brain Off At Movies,” by Matt Singer (screencrush.com)

• “Pixar’s Troubled ‘Soul’” by Namwali Serpell (newyorker.com)

Outro Music: Huey Lewis and the News, “Hip to Be Square”

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#261: Drinking Buddies, Pt. 1 — Sideways

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Among other accomplishments, Thomas Vinterberg’s new ANOTHER ROUND has unseated Alexander Payne’s SIDEWAYS as the ne plus ultra of funny films about sad men drinking their way through midlife crises. In celebration of that feat, this week we’re looking back at what made SIDEWAYS so intoxicating back in 2004, discussing the film’s many small moments that carry a wealth of character, what to make of the connection between Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Maya (Virginia Madsen), and whether we feel comfortable characterizing oenophile Miles as a snob. Plus, we respond to some feedback taking us to task for our comparison of MANK and CITIZEN KANE, and inquiring about our favorite examples of a timely movie trope.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SIDEWAYS, ANOTHER ROUND, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#260: Stairways to Heaven, Pt. 2 — Soul

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Both Pixar’s new feature SOUL and Powell and Pressburger’s 1946 fantasy-romance A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH center on a soul gone missing from heaven’s ledger because he’s anxious to get back to his life on earth, but the journeys each of them takes to get there end up drawing different conclusions about the meaning of life. This week we’re joined again by critic and 812FilmReviews founder Robert Daniels to dig into SOUL and debate whether it manages to strike the delicate tonal balance it’s reaching for, how it carries its status as the first Pixar film with a Black protagonist, and how it fits into director Pete Doctor’s filmography, before bringing MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH into the discussion to compare the two films’ depictions of afterlife bureaucracy.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, SOUL, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Tasha: Hirokazu Koreeda’s AFTER LIFE and Goran Dukic’s WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY

Robert: Regina King’s ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI

Keith: Alexander Hall’s HERE COMES MR. JORDAN

Scott: Benjamin Ree’s THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF

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#259: Stairways to Heaven, Pt. 1 — A Matter of Life and Death

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 06:00:00 -0000

With the image early in SOUL of a conveyor belt ferrying new souls into the afterlife, the new Pixar film makes clear the thematic debt it owes to Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1946 fantasy-romance A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. But there’s much more to the Powell and Pressburger film than that indelible image; in this week’s half of our pairing we dig into what lies beyond the stairway to heaven with an assist from critic and 812FilmReviews founder Robert Daniels, with whom we discuss MATTER’s central romantic relationship, its varied approach to tone, and its relationship to the afterlife, both stylistically and narratively. Plus, we respond to some feedback on our recent WOLFWALKERS episode that wonders if the film is "actually AVATAR for kids," as well as a letter seeking clarification on our collective aversion to the term “dated.”

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#255: The Manking of Kane, Pt. 2 — Mank

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 06:00:00 -0000

Though David Fincher’s new MANK certainly makes the case for giving Herman Mankiwiecz more of the credit for CITIZEN KANE than he’s often received, it’s more interested in peeling back the layers of a complex character and exploring the many personal and cultural themes that found their way into KANE. That makes it all but impossible not to discuss the film in relation to the Orson Welles classic, which is exactly what we do this week, comparing how the two films function as biography, how they each tackle politics and cronyism, and how they use non-chronological storytelling to different effect (and success). Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CITIZEN KANE, MANK, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Tasha: Aaron Sorkin’s THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Keith: Sofia Coppola’s ON THE ROCKS and Steve McQueen’s SMALL AXE

Genevieve: Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson’s SAVE YOURSELVES!

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#254: The Manking of Kane, Pt. 1—Citizen Kane

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 06:00:00 -0000

It’s rare that a new film suggests a historical comparison point as strongly as David Fincher’s new MANK does, so we’re taking the bait and putting it in conversation with the film that is its raison d’etre: Orson Welles’ towering 1941 directorial debut, CITIZEN KANE. Is there anything new to say about a film frequently hailed as the form’s crowning achievement? Perhaps not, so in this half of the conversation we dig into KANE’s legacy as much as the film itself, to consider how the film plays in the context of everything it inspired, whether it’s a useful dividing point in film history, and the ways it still manages to surprise us after all this time. Plus, Scott Tobias presents an abbreviated 2020 edition of his annual “Movies to See” checklist, covering all the films you need to see to be conversant in this past year in film.

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#253: Family Feuds, Pt. 2 — The Nest

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 06:00:00 -0000

Writer-director Sean Durkin’s long-awaited followup to MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, the new THE NEST casts Jude Law and Carrie Coon as an unhappily married couple in the 1980s who relocate their family to an isolated British country estate, a move that hastens the seemingly inevitable collapse of their family unit. Though the film is separated from the setting of Ang Lee’s 1970s-set THE ICE STORM by a decade and an ocean, the two films express a similar merging of period values and family values, and build to nearly identical dark-night-of-the-soul climaxes. We get into that and more as we bring THE NEST into conversation with THE ICE STORM. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE ICE STORM, THE NEST, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Keith: George Romero’s SEASON OF THE WITCH

Tasha: Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl’s PROSPECT

Scott: Michael Cimino’s HEAVEN’S GATE (Director’s Cut)

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#252: Family Feuds, Pt. 1 — The Ice Storm

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 06:00:00 -0000

THE NEST, Sean Durkin’s chilly new drama about a marriage on the brink, weaves together its very 1980s setting and the issues afflicting its central family in a manner we found reminiscent of Ang Lee’s 1997 feature THE ICE STORM, which examines a similar sort of familial dysfunction through the lens of 1970s libertine values. In this half, we debate how well THE ICE STORM holds up another two decades removed from the time period it depicts, what stands out about its approach to that time period, and what it has to say as a film about parenthood. Plus, in place of our usual Feedback, we take some time to survey the career of Ang Lee via a discussion of his films that have most stuck with us.

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#251: Byrne-ing Down the House, Pt. 2 — David Byrne's American Utopia

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 06:00:00 -0000

DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA is a fairly traditional concert film — at least as traditional as a collaboration between David Byrne and Spike Lee can be — which differentiates it from Byrne’s vignette-based 1986 ramble TRUE STORIES, but both projects are indelibly marked by the musician’s mindset, clearly the products of someone who works intuitively and metaphorically. This week we attempt to parse how the “David Byrne” character has evolved over the decades separating the two films, and how TRUE STORIES and AMERICAN UTOPIA echo each other’s interests in American stories, collective celebration through music, and how technology can foster human connection. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TRUE STORIES, AMERICAN UTOPIA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Genevieve: Marielle Heller’s WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME

Keith: Costa Gavras’ Z

Tasha: Michael O’Shea’s THE TRANSFIGURATION

Scott: John Huston’s FAT CITY

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#250: Byrne-ing Down the House, Pt. 1 — True Stories

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 14:00:00 -0000

Spike Lee’s new feature-length document of David Byrne’s stage show AMERICAN UTOPIA seemed like a prime opportunity to look back on the the iconoclastic alt-rocker’s own 1986 directorial effort TRUE STORIES, which also uses the framework of Talking Heads songs to muse about the state of America and how humans seek and find connections in the modern world. In the first half of our Byrne double feature, we consider TRUE STORIES’ vignette-based journey through the fictional Virgil, Texas, through the overlapping lenses of comedy, music, and Byrne himself. Plus, we respond to some feedback regarding our recent episode on DOGTOOTH.

Works Cited:

• “David Byrne’s American Triptych” by Keith Phipps (Slate.com)

Outro Music: Talking Heads ft. Annie McEnroe, “Dream Operator”

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#249: Bonus - The Fall (with Elliott Kalan from "The Flop House")

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Longtime listeners of The Next Picture Show likely have at least passing familiarity with THE FALL via the many, many mentions it’s received over the years from co-host Tasha Robinson, one of the foremost advocates of Tarsem Singh’s hard-to-find, cultishly adored 2008 film. Joining her in that small but mighty fandom is Elliott Kalan, Emmy-winning comedy writer and co-host of THE FLOP HOUSE podcast, where he has shared Tasha’s experience of singing THE FALL’s praises to his bemused co-hosts. So in honor of… well, nothing, really, other than a shared appreciation of an obscure and highly discussable film, Keith Phipps convened Elliott and Tasha to discuss this extremely weird masterpiece, how its highly unusual filming circumstances resulted in a singular film, and why it’s ultimately a movie that’s “more felt than thought.”

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#247: Parent Traps, Pt. 1 — Dogtooth

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 05:00:00 -0000

The cloistered familial bubble at the center of Miranda July’s new KAJILLIONAIRE felt reminiscent of the one in Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2009 breakthrough DOGTOOTH, and that was before the film’s introduction of an outsider who contaminates said bubble, a complication carried out to slightly more disturbing ends in DOGTOOTH. In this half of our pairing we dig into the nature of DOGTOOTH’s sadistic parental experiment, whether the film’s highly symbolic premise overwhelms its story, and our respective interpretations of the film’s ambiguous ending. Plus, we respond to some recent listener feedback about parental viewing suggestions and podcast pairing regrets.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DOGTOOTH, KAJILLIONAIRE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited:

• The Movies’ 50 Greatest Pop Music Moments, thedissolve.com

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#246: True/False, Pt. 2 — Dick Johnson is Dead

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Kirsten Johnson’s new DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD is a rumination on memory, death, and movie illusion, one that brings the veteran “cameraperson” in front of the lens, alongside her titular father. In that, it’s reminiscent of an earlier essay film with a strongly autobiographical bent, and a similar fixation on what remains after we’re gone: Orson Welles’ F FOR FAKE. In this half of our pairing of the two films, we debate how — or whether — Johnson’s film successfully skirts exploitation of its central subject, before diving into how these two films each tackle matters of authenticity, illusion, and making art in the face of death. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about F FOR FAKE, DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

**Show Notes**

Works Cited:

•”’We Think the Audience is Smarter Than Us’: Kirsten Johnson on Making Another Personal and Original Film With ‘Dick Johnson Is Dead,’ by Matt Prigge (filmmakermagazine.com)

• “Documentarian Kirsten Johnson on Fake-Killing Her Own Dad (Over and Over) in Dick Johnson Is Dead,” by Rachel Handler (vulture.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Banksy’s EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

• Scott: Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats, and Jacques Perrin’s WINGED MIGRATION

• Keith: The Tobolowsky Files podcast

• Tasha: Walt Dohrn’s TROLLS WORLD TOUR

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#245: True/False, Pt. 1 — F For Fake

Tue, 29 Sep 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Kirsten Johnson’s new film DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD is an unconventional documentary perhaps more at home under the nebulous subgenre known as the personal essay film, a form that was, if not popularized, then at least institutionalized by Orson Welles with 1973’s F FOR FAKE. In preparation for discussing Johnson’s film next week, we spend this week working through how Welles made a highly personal film using someone else’s cinematic scraps, and whether watching the final product is, as one of us puts it, “like picking up a handful of water,” or, as another calls it, simply “miraculous.” Maybe it’s both. Plus, we respond to some recent listener feedback inspired by our episodes on BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS.

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#244: Bonus - Mulan (2020)

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Dear NPS listeners — we’ve been forced to make some changes to our schedule, which means our previously announced pairing of DOGTOOTH and KAJILLIONAIRE has been postponed a few weeks, and we’ll be back next week with the first part of our pairing of DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD and F IS FOR FAKE. In the meantime, though, we’re offering you a sneak peek behind the Patreon paywall, a bonus episode of our quick-reaction post-viewing series The Lobby, wherein noted Disney live-action skeptics Genevieve Koski and Scott Tobias talk over Disney’s new take on MULAN. Enjoy, and if you like what you hear, consider becoming a $5-a-month Patreon supporter, which will net you regular access to all of our bonus episodes, at patreon.com/NextPictureShow.

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#243: The Mind of Charlie Kaufman Pt. 2 — I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 05:00:00 -0000

I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS plays into some of Charlie Kaufman’s favorite preoccupations — surrealism, questions of identity and self, quietly desperate men, and the breakdown of order — which makes it not only an ideal pairing with Kaufman’s film screenwriting debut BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, but also an illustration of how those preoccupations have deepened in the years since Kaufman's breakout. It works better for some than others on our panel — which this week once again includes Screencrush editor and Filmspotting Family member Matt Singer — and we get into precisely why before bringing in MALKOVICH to discuss Kaufman’s history of sad, delusional men, his fixation on interiority and the life of the mind, and how it all plays into a broader interest in identity and how it shifts. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Charlie Kaufman’s SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK

• Scott: Martin Ritt’s HUD

• Matt: Dean Parisot’s BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC

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#242: The Mind of Charlie Kaufman Pt. 1 — Being John Malkovich

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 05:00:00 -0000

With 1999’s BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman kicked off a two-decade run of dizzying audiences by playing around with identity and surrealism, and channeling and expressing anxiety, a mode he’s continued right on through to his latest, I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, which he also directs. Before we dig into his latest next week, we’re going back to the beginning to examine the mind of Charlie Kaufman via his “big swing debut” BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, with some help from Matt Singer, our former compatriot at The Dissolve, now editor and critic for Screencrush, and late of Filmspotting: SVU. Plus, we respond to some recent listener feedback inspired by our recent episodes on LORD OF THE FLIES and EUROVISION SONG CONTEST.

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#241: Boys Will Be Boys, Pt. 2 — Boys State

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 05:00:00 -0000

The school-age boys at the center of Amanda McMaine and Jesse Moss’s new documentary BOYS STATE may not be facing the sort of life-and-death circumstances that frame Peter Brook’s film of LORD OF THE FLIES, but the two films undoubtedly echo each other in their portrayal of humanity’s tribalist instinct run amok. After discussing BOYS STATE and whether the kids are indeed all right, we look for connections between the two films and find many, not just in the aforementioned portrayal of tribalism, but also the films’ respective depictions of self-governance, maturity vs. immaturity, and the “adults in the room.” Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about LORD OF THE FLIES, BOYS STATE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Masaaki Yuasa’s LU OVER THE WALL and Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber’s FULL BATTLE RATTLE

• Scott: Michael Ritchie’s THE CANDIDATE

• Keith: Agnès Varda’s LE BONHEUR, part of Criterion’s Varda box set

• Genevieve: Kris Rey’s I USED TO GO HERE

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#240: Boys Will Be Boys, Pt. 1 — Lord of the Flies (1963)

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 05:00:00 -0000

The engrossing new documentary BOYS STATE, about a group of young men attempting to build a functional democracy and all of the ways it can go awry, naturally invites comparisons to William Golding’s LORD OF THE FLIES, but as we discover in our revisitation of the latter in the form of Peter Brook’s 1963 adaptation, the allegorical nature of Golding’s story doesn’t shift so easily from page to screen. This week we dig into the unusual production circumstances of Brook’s film and how they both detract from and amplify the film’s visceral power, in addition to some “freshman English” analysis of Golding’s tale. Plus, we respond to some listener feedback on our recent episodes on Kelly Reichardt’s MEEK’S CUTOFF and FIRST COW.

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#239: The Reichardt Way, Pt. 2 — First Cow

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 05:00:00 -0000

After slogging across the Oregon Trail with Kelly Reichardt’s MEEK’S CUTOFF last week, this week we’re going even further back in the 19th century for Reichardt’s new FIRST COW. We’re joined once again by Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson to discuss FIRST COW’s offbeat humor and quiet reverence for the artistry of cooking, on the way to discussing what it shares with MEEK’S CUTOFF in terms of the portrayal of masculinity and vulnerability, the films’ respective approaches to history, and the handmade aesthetic that links them as Reichardt films. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MEEK’S CUTOFF, FIRST COW, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Rebecca Stern’s WELL GROOMED

• Scott: Atom Egoyan’s SPEAKING PARTS

• Keith: Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer’s PLUS ONE and HBO Max’s LOONEY TUNES CARTOONS

• Alissa: Kevin Rafferty and James Ridgeway’s FEED, and Jan de Bont’s SPEED

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#238: The Reichardt Way, Pt. 1 — Meek's Cutoff

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Kelly Reichardt’s latest, FIRST COW, finds the veteran indie filmmaker returning to territory she’s visited before — specifically 19th-century Oregon Territory, a historical terrain Reichardt first explored in her 2010 anti-Western MEEK’S CUTOFF. This week we’re joined by Vox Culture critic Alissa Wilkinson as we hitch our proverbial wagons to MEEK’S CUTOFF to discuss how it fits into Reichardt’s tradition of road movies that don’t go anywhere, and our respective reactions to its deliberately slow pace and frustrating ending. Plus, we respond to some listener feedback on our recent episodes on GROUNDHOG DAY and EUROVISION.

MASTERCLASS.com/pictureshow for 15% off Annual All-Access MasterClassPass

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#237: In the Loop, Pt 2 — Palm Springs

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 05:00:00 -0000

The new Hulu comedy PALM SPRINGS wouldn’t exist without the broad comedy and sentimental romance of GROUNDHOG DAY, but there are some key differences in its depiction of life and love inside a time loop — chief among them the decision to give Andy Samberg’s character a partner in looping, played by Cristin Milioti — that make it a very different sort of circular journey. We’re joined once again by Vox critic at large Emily Vanderwerff to discuss the efficacy of that decision, as well as how the two films function as romances, as parables, and, most importantly, as comedies. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about Groundhog Day, PALM SPRINGS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Cristin Milioti Explains the Time-Loop Science Behind Palm Springs,” by Rachel Handler (vulture.com)

• “Torn apart in production, The Emperor’s New Groove came out at exactly the wrong time,” by Petrana Radulovic (polygon.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Leslye Headland and Natasha Lyonne’s RUSSIAN DOLL

• Emily: Michaela Coel’s I MAY DESTROY YOU

• Scott: Hlynur Palmason’s A WHITE, WHITE DAY

• Tasha: John-Paul Davidson and Trudie Styler’s THE SWEATBOX

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#236: In the Loop, Pt. 1 — Groundhog Day

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 05:00:00 -0000

GROUNDHOG DAY didn’t invent the time-loop genre, but it’s safe to say that without Harold Ramis’ beloved 1993 Bill Murray-starring comedy, we wouldn’t have nearly as many film and television series about people stuck in a period of time that keeps resetting and endlessly repeating — including the new Hulu comedy PALM SPRINGS, the subject of next week’s discussion. We’re joined this week by our friend and former colleague Emily Vanderwerff, Vox’s critic at large, to dissect how our feelings about and memories of GROUNDHOG DAY have evolved over the years, and discuss how the film functions as both a religious and moral parable, as well as an exemplar of that endangered cinematic species, the American small town movie. Plus, we tackle some listener feedback about representation in film and critics’ responsibility in discussing it.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about GROUNDHOG DAY, PALM SPRINGS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#235: Mirth, Wind & Fire, Pt. 2: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Tue, 14 Jul 2020 05:00:00 -0000

The new EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA concerns a different genre and different part of the world than Christopher Guest’s folk-music-focused A MIGHTY WIND, but the comedies share an irreverently reverent approach to parodying their chosen music scene. In this half of our pairing of the two films, we debate whether that approach is helped or hindered in EUROVISION by the presence of Will Ferrell, along with the function of the film’s centerpiece “Song-Along.” Then we bring EUROVISION into conversation with A MIGHTY WIND to compare how the two films each tackle music, comedy, and the intersection thereof. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about A MIGHTY WIND, EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Eurovision Director David Dobkin Never Wanted to Make Fun of Anyone,” by Chris Lee (vulture.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Las Culturistas podcast, “Family Style (w/Will Ferrell)"; “Love Me Like You Should: The Brave and Bold Sylvester”; Sam Feder’s DISCLOSURE

• Tasha: Gina Prince-Bythewood’s THE OLD GUARD

• Keith: Byron Haskin’s THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)

• Scott: Tobe Hooper’s THE FUNHOUSE

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#234: Mirth, Wind & Fire, Pt. 1: A Mighty Wind

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 05:00:00 -0000

The new Netflix comedy EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA sneaks moments of real pathos into its parodic look at a highly specific music scene, a sly approach it shares with another classic of the musical-spoof form: 2003’s A MIGHTY WIND, the third in a series of improv-heavy comedies directed by Christopher Guest and starring a cast of ensemble players. In this unfortunately “Ja Ja Ding Dong”-free half of our pairing, we dive into A MIGHTY WIND to examine the source and efficacy of said pathos, and how it aligns with Guest and co’s approach to both folk music and improv comedy. Plus, feedback on our recent Studio Ghibli bonus episode prompts further discussion of the oft-ignored Isao Takahata and the sub-vs.-dub debate.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about A MIGHTY WIND, EUROVISION SONG CONTEST, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro Music: “A Mighty Wind”

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#233: The Price of Gold, Pt. 2 — Da 5 Bloods

Tue, 30 Jun 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Spike Lee’s ambitious new war epic for Netflix, DA 5 BLOODS, is brimming with cultural and historical reference points — including an extended homage to the other film in this pairing, John Huston’s THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE — but it’s also full of Lee signatures, in both its story and its style. We break down some of them in our consideration of DA 5 BLOODS, before connecting Lee’s doomed treasure hunt to Huston’s by way of their respective depictions of paranoia and madness, their ideas about foreign interlopers and native populations, and their grimly ironic endings. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, DA 5 BLOODS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods Misses the Mark—and Does a Disservice to Its Women,” by Cassie Da Costa (thedailybeast.com)

• “21 essential films about Black lives, in every major genre,” by Adam Davie as told to Tasha Robinson (polygon.com)

• “Black Life on Film” by Adam Davie (letterboxd.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

Genevieve: Spike Lee’s PASS OVER

Tasha: Ousmane Sembene’s BLACK GIRL

Scott: DA Pennebaker’s ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY

Keith: John Patrick Shanley’s JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO

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#232: The Price of Gold, Pt. 1 — The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Tue, 23 Jun 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Spike Lee’s new DA 5 BLOODS has no shortage of cinematic and historical touchpoints, but its focus on the literal and metaphorical weight of gold — not to mention that whole “stinking badges” thing — is a direct nod to the 1948 John Huston classic THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. In this half of our pairing we assess what’s made TREASURE endure, from the knotty moral complexity of its central trio to its utilization of real locations, and go beyond the most quotable moments to explore some of the film’s less-discussed standout scenes. Plus, some feedback on our recent episode on THE HAUNTING prompts some discussion of non-auteurs and the lost art of the commentary track.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “The subversive masculinity of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” by Tasha Robinson (thedissolve.com)

• “Forum: Treasure of the Sierra Madre” by Genevieve Koski and Keith Phipps (thedissolve.com)

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#231: Studio Ghibli Special — Castle In the Sky

Tue, 16 Jun 2020 05:00:00 -0000

2020 is the year that Japan’s beloved Studio Ghibli fully enters the streaming age, rolling out its films for Netflix viewers around the world, and for HBO Max subscribers in the U.S. This marks a major shift from recent decades, when Ghibli’s films were mostly relegated to boutique DVD releases and special theatrical events. So in celebration of Ghibli’s films being readily available to a wide audience for the first time, we’re departing from format a bit for an in-depth look at the studio’s very first film, CASTLE IN THE SKY, which is packed with early signifiers of director Hayao Miyazaki’s authorial stamp, from his fascination with flight and reverence for the natural world, to his distrust of the military and cynicism about humanity. Then, we each offer our respective starting points for the Ghibli catalogue, as part of a larger discussion about how one’s first encounter with Ghibli can shape the experience of all future viewings.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Welcome to Studio Ghibli Week,” by Tasha Robinson (Polygon.com)

• “Studio Ghibli’s first film, Castle in the Sky, is like no Hayao Miyazaki film that followed,” by Tasha Robinson (Polygon.com)

• “The gross fluids and clean fluidity of Spirited Away,” by Tasha Robinson (TheDissolve.com)

Outro Song: Azumi Inoue, “Kimi wo Nosete/Carrying You”

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Introducing: Truth vs Hollywood

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 17:00:00 -0000

Introducing the newest Audioboom original podcast, Truth vs Hollywood. Join Film lovers David Chen and Joanna Robinson as they do a deep dive into well known films and discuss how similar they are to the actual story.

Truth vs Hollywood premieres 6/12. Subscribe to Truth vs Hollywood on Apple Podcasts.

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#230: The House That Shirley Built, Pt. 2 — Shirley

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Josephine Decker’s new SHIRLEY uses the home of a fictionalized Shirley Jackson to tell a different sort of haunted house tale, one that shares some thematic links with one of the best-known Jackson adaptations, 1963’s THE HAUNTING, if not necessarily strong narrative ones. This week we’re joined once again by Alison Willmore of Vulture to discuss SHIRLEY’s expressive style and dissolute ending, then dig into how it connects to THE HAUNTING in its depiction of madness, divided personas, and sexuality. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE HAUNTING, SHIRLEY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Alison: Andrew Patterson’s THE VAST OF NIGHT

Keith: Christopher Guest’s BEST IN SHOW and A MIGHTY WIND

Scott: Dan Sallitt’s FOURTEEN

Outro music: Diana Ross, “It’s My House”

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#229: The House That Shirley Built, Pt. 1 — The Haunting (1963)

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Josephine Decker’s new SHIRLEY attempts to invoke the spirit of Shirley Jackson in suitably discomfiting fashion, which makes Robert Wise’s 1963 Jackson adaptation THE HAUNTING something of a prerequisite for the new film. How does THE HAUNTING stack up against its reputation as one of the scariest films of all time, and what makes it both a paragon and an anomaly of the haunted house genre? Joined by special guest Alison Willmore, we dig into those questions, plus the film’s distinctive visuals, its melange of performance styles, and its place in the broader scheme of Jackson adaptations. Plus, we share some feedback on episodes of the recent and not-so-recent past.

Outro Music: Gerard Way, “Baby You’re a Haunted House”

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#228: I'm With The Band, Pt. 2. - How To Build A Girl

Tue, 26 May 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Coky Giedroyc’s HOW TO BUILD A GIRL, based on British humorist Caitlin Moran’s own life as a teenage music writer in the British Midlands, plays in many ways like Cameron Crowe’s mostly autobiographical ALMOST FAMOUS, translated to a new time and place. But it’s also a different sort of coming-of-age story about a very different sort of protagonist, based on the life of a very different sort of writer, all of which we get into by way of the two films’ respective approaches to writing and journalism, to family and origin stories, and to their respective love interests. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ALMOST FAMOUS, HOW TO BUILD A GIRL, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Genevieve: Tayarisha Poe’s SELAH AND THE SPADES

Scott: Todd Berger’s IT’S A DISASTER

Keith: Todd Haynes’ DARK WATERS and Jane Campion’s IN THE CUT

Tasha: “A Boy’s Life (In Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll)” by Anthony Bozza (rollingstone.com) and Caitlin Moran’s MORANIFESTO and HOW TO BE A WOMAN

Outro music: Lily Allen: “Alfie”

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#227: I'm With The Band, Pt. 1 — Almost Famous

Tue, 19 May 2020 05:00:00 -0000

The new HOW TO BUILD A GIRL is a heavily autobiographical film about a teenage music journalist, which means it inevitably gets mentioned in the same breath as Cameron Crowe’s ALMOST FAMOUS, a heavily autobiographical 2000 film about a teenage music journalist, this one inspired by Crowe’s own past as Rolling Stone magazine’s youngest-ever correspondent. In this first half of our pairing looking at young, uncool kids chasing their own ideals of cool, we dig into ALMOST FAMOUS—in particular the much longer, and superior UNTITLED cut thereof—to see how it weaves its undeniable spell, how it occasionally drops the ball (particularly when it comes to Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane), and how our own experiences as entertainment journalists color the film’s message that “these are not your friends.” Plus, we tackle a couple of the numerous responses we got to our recent, contentious discussion on THE ASSISTANT.

Outro Music: Elton John, “Tiny Dancer”

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#226: Career Women, Pt. 2 — The Assistant

Tue, 12 May 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Kitty Green’s recent day-in-the-life drama THE ASSISTANT, starring Julia Garner as a new assistant to a Weinstein-like executive, is nowhere near the crowd-pleaser Mike Nichols’ 1988 corporate Cinderella story WORKING GIRL was, and its scenario places the film squarely within a very current cultural conversation; but taken together the two films provide an apt illustration of what has and hasn’t changed for women in the workplace in the last three decades. After digging into our surprisingly divided opinions on THE ASSISTANT and its would-be sympathetic protagonist, we look at these two films together to consider what they tell us about the evolution of women’s role in the workplace, the importance of office allies, and what the characters’ working wardrobes say about their respective ambitions. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WORKING GIRL, THE ASSISTANT, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

Keith: Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz’s MESSIAH OF EVIL

Genevieve: FX on Hulu’s MRS. AMERICA

Scott: Chantel Akerman’s JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES

Tasha: Mike Nichols’ CLOSER

Outro music: TLC, “His Story”

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#225: Career Women, Pt. 1 — Working Girl

Tue, 05 May 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Mike Nichols’ 1988 hit workplace comedy WORKING GIRL is set in a very different era than Kitty Green’s new, more somber THE ASSISTANT, but taken in tandem, the two films reveal how certain gendered power dynamics haven’t changed much in the 32 years separating them. This week we look at WORKING GIRL in the context of a string of 1980s workplace-empowerment movies and Nichols’ career alike, and try to parse its broader points about women in the workplace, and how they function within what is in many ways a traditional Cinderella story. Plus, we respond to some recent criticism regarding “protagonist bias” in our episode on BAD EDUCATION.

Outro Music: Carly Simon, “Let the River Run”

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#224: High School Confidential, Pt. 2 — Bad Education

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 05:00:00 -0000

In its adaptation of a true story of malfeasance and misappropriation in a Long Island high school, Cory Finley’s new HBO film BAD EDUCATION sets up a clash between shady educator and meddlesome student that put us in mind of Alexander Payne’s 1999 political satire ELECTION. In this half of our pairing, we debate the level of sympathy we’re able to extend to Hugh Jackman’s corrupt superintendent in BAD EDUCATION, before putting the two films in conversation to see what they have to say about the fraught interplay between student and faculty, precocious young women, and the corruptibility of adulthood. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ELECTION, BAD EDUCATION, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Richard Kwietniowski’s OWNING MAHOWNY and Seven Soderbergh’s THE INFORMANT!

• Keith: Eugene Mirman’s IT STARTED AS A JOKE

• Scott: Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

Outro music: The Who, “Did You Steal My Money?”

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#223: High School Confidential, Pt. 1 — Election

Tue, 21 Apr 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Cory Finley’s new BAD EDUCATION is based on a real-life incident, whereas Alexander Payne’s 1999 high school satire ELECTION is based on a Tom Perrotta novel (itself inspired by the 1992 presidential election), but they both use their high school settings to make their way toward similar conclusions about the corruptibility of adulthood. In this half of our pairing looking at morality, ethics, and the educators who unwittingly illustrate the difference to their students, we dig into ELECTION’s satirical aims and accomplishments, debate the merits of Tracy Flick’s campaign for student body president, and consider what, if any, conclusions the film draws about elections and democracy. Plus, some feedback on recent episodes inspires a brief convening of the Next Picture Show Book Club.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Election: That’s Why It’s Destiny,” by Dana Stevens (criterion.com)

Outro Music: Ennio Morricone, “Navajo Joe”

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#222: Home Sickness, Pt. 2 — Swallow

Tue, 14 Apr 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Where the unsettling illness metaphor at the center of Todd Haynes’ 1995 film SAFE tendrils out in a manner that defies easy resolution, Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ newly released debut SWALLOW tracks a similarly metaphorical affliction toward a more finite ending point. But within those two very different arcs, the two films explore complementary ideas about isolation, gender roles and archetypes, and societal expectations about sickness and recovery, all of which we get into following an in-depth discussion of SWALLOW’s successes and failures as both film and metaphor. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SAFE, SWALLOW, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Op-ed: Ban the backstory!” by Noel Murray (thedissolve.com)

• “Safe: Nowhere to Hide,” by Dennis Lim (criterion.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s FREE SOLO

• Scott: Crystal Moselle’s SKATE KITCHEN

• Keith: John Sayles’ EIGHT MEN OUT

• Tasha: Bernard Rose’s CANDYMAN

Outro music: The Wailin’ Jennys, “Swallow”

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#221: Home Sickness, Pt. 1 — Safe (1995)

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 05:00:00 -0000

We continue our shelter-in-place film series with a pair of films featuring magazine-perfect housewife archetypes struck by mysterious illnesses that are inextricably linked to their oppressive environments: Todd Haynes’ 1995 feature SAFE and Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ debut film SWALLOW. In this half we dig into the many shifting metaphors at play in SAFE, how they reflect both the film’s era and our current moment, and how they’re all held together by Julianne Moore’s remarkable central performance. And what to make of that ending? Is there any sense of optimism or closure to be drawn from Haynes’ film? All that, plus some feedback that uses specific movies as jumping-off points for some big, sprawling questions about film.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Todd Haynes on the unsafe world of Safe,” by Scott Tobias (thedissolve.com)

• “Safe: Nowhere to Hide,” by Dennis Lim (criterion.com)

Outro Music: Tom Lehrer, “Pollution”

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#220: Infection Point Pt. 2 - Contagion

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Steven Soderbergh’s viral thriller CONTAGION may have come out in 2011, but it’s never felt more timely than in the midst of the world’s current coronavirus crisis, which makes it a natural stand-in for the “current film” half of our pairing with Elia Kazan’s 1950 plague noir PANIC IN THE STREETS. Watched today, Soderbergh’s film, a kaleidoscopic treatment of an illness called MEV-1 with a startling 25 percent mortality rate, is both alarming in its prescience and comforting in its diversions from our current reality, a dichotomy we dig into on the way to debating whether it holds together as a film vs. as a scare tactic. Then we bring in PANIC IN THE STREETS to compare the two films’ depictions of the media, their use of time to foster a sense of urgency, and the untold stories playing out in the backgrounds of their high-stakes narratives. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PANIC IN THE STREETS, CONTAGION, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show

• Tasha: Andrea Arnold’s AMERICAN HONEY

• Keith: Takashi Nomura’s A COLT IS MY PASSPORT

• Scott: Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy’s BLOW THE MAN DOWN

• Genevieve: Autumn DeWilde’s EMMA and Amy Heckerling’s CLUELESS

Outro music: The Police, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”

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#219: Infection Point Pt. 1 - Panic In the Streets

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 05:00:00 -0000

The 2020 coronavirus outbreak has affected virtually everything about our modern world, including the movies we watch, how we watch them, and how we podcast about them. It’s a sobering but fascinating lens through which to view past films that have wrestled with outbreaks, from Elia Kazan’s 1950 noir PANIC IN THE STREETS up through Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 pandemic procedural CONTAGION. We tackle the first half of that double-feature this week, unpacking the central metaphor — or lack thereof — in Kazan’s crime drama, along with its attitudes toward government and police, its subtle and canny use of locations, and the standout performances from Richard Widmark and a young Jack Palance. Plus, we use our usual feedback segment to check in with each from afar, and see how your Next Picture Podsters are navigating this strange new reality.

Outro Music: Warren Zevon, “Don’t Let Us Get Sick”

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#218: Believe It Or Not, Pt. 2 - The Invisible Man (2020)

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Leigh Whannell’s new take on H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel THE INVISIBLE MAN is a Blumhouse film, so of course there has to be a twist — and in this case, it’s one that makes this version of INVISIBLE MAN less like the many adaptations that preceded it, and more like George Cukor’s 1944 film GASLIGHT, which is similarly focused on a man’s malicious manipulation of a woman at the expense of her own credibility. In this half of our gaslighting double feature, we talk over what makes this new INVISIBLE MAN work as well as it does — primarily Elisabeth Moss’s stellar central performance — before diving into what the two films share in their portrayals of manipulation, madness, and trauma, and how each uses atmosphere and physical space to to amplify their sense of unease and terror. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about GASLIGHT, THE INVISIBLE MAN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show

• Scott: Jonathan Demme’s RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

• Tasha: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s THE PLATFORM

• Keith: William Asher’s NIGHT WARNING, aka BUTCHER, BAKER, NIGHTMARE MAKER

Outro music: They Might Be Giants, “I Am Invisible”

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#217: Believe It Or Not, Pt. 1 - Gaslight (1944)

Tue, 10 Mar 2020 05:00:00 -0000

Leigh Whannell’s new take on THE INVISIBLE MAN comes with a modern twist, one based in a dynamic — a husband pushing his wife toward mental illness for personal gain — that was entrenched in the pop-cultural lexicon thanks in large part to George Cukor’s 1944 film GASLIGHT, starring Ingrid Bergman as a woman whose husband mounts a disinformation campaign against her for insidious purposes. In this half of our gaslighting double feature, we dig into how the film’s direction, design, and fine-tuned performances open up what could have been a very set-bound adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play, and how Cukor’s reputation as a “woman’s director” connects an otherwise varied filmography. Plus, Tasha responds to some pushback against her critiques of PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE in Feedback.

Outro Music: Dixie Chicks, “Gaslighter”

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#216: Bad Girls Club, Pt. 2 - Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 06:00:00 -0000

Like the landmark 1991 film THELMA & LOUISE, the latest DC comics movie entry, BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) uses a recognizable form to take its female protagonists to some unfamiliar places. The newer film hasn’t received that same sort of critical acclaim as its predecessor, but some on our panel — which this week once again includes Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture.com — argue why perhaps it should have, on the way to discussing what the two films share in their attitudes about female emancipation in a man’s world, and in their refreshing depictions of women misbehaving without remorse. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THELMA & LOUISE, BIRDS OF PREY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes:

Works Cited

• “It Doesn’t Take Much to Be Seen As an Unruly Woman,” by Angelica Jade Bastién (Vulture.com)

Your Next Picture Show

• Genevieve: Hulu’s HIGH FIDELITY

• Angelica: Paul Mazursky’s AN UNMARRIED WOMAN

• Scott: Kitty Green’s THE ASSISTANT

• Keith: Hong-jin Na’s THE WAILING

Outro music: June Smollett-Bell, “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”

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#215: Bad Girls Club, Pt. 1 - Thelma & Louise

Tue, 25 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0000

The new BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN is part of an inconsistent and fitfully realized tradition of female-empowerment stories told within a high-gloss genre framework, a tradition that reached one of its too-rare high points with THELMA & LOUISE, a Ridley Scott-directed, Callie Khourie-scripted take on a buddy road movie/chase film that ruffled plenty of feathers when it became a sleeper hit in 1991. This week we’re joined by Vulture.com critic and friend of the podcast Angelica Jade Bastién to consider how the conversations THELMA & LOUISE inspired in 1991 would — or wouldn’t — be different today, how the film’s structure and performances subtly underline its feminist themes, and whether complaints about the film’s “cartoonish” male characters hold any water. Plus, we answer some feedback on our recent pairing of THE PIANO and PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Every Brad Pitt Movie Performance, Ranked,” by Angelica Jade Bastién (Vulture.com)

• “The Third Woman of ‘Thelma and Louise,” by Larry Rohter (The New York Times, June 5 1991)

Outro Music: Charlie XCX, “Vroom Vroom”

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#214: Fantasy Islands, Pt. 2 - Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0000

With PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, Céline Sciamma became the first woman director to win the Queer Palm at Cannes, an embarrassingly belated milestone reminiscent of Jane Campion becoming the first woman director to win the Palme d’Or in 1993 with THE PIANO. And while these two films have much more in common than their directors’ gender, as we discover when we put them in conversation this week, both Sciamma and Campion bring a distinct point of view to their respective stories of repressed desire in repressed times that feels inextricably tied to ideas about womanhood and an oppressive patriarchy. We get into how that point of view colors the two films in their expression of desire and consent, the artistic gaze, and the function of myth and legend. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE PIANO, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes:

Works Cited

• “French filmmaker Céline Sciamma on looking, longing and falling in love in Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” CBC Radio

• “Portrait of a Director on a Hot Streak,” by Scott Tobias (theringer.com)

Your Next Picture Show

• Genevieve: Céline Sciamma’s GIRLHOOD

• Scott: Jane Campion’s IN THE CUT

• Keith: David Lynch’s WHAT DID JACK DO?

• Tasha: Christopher Landon’s HAPPY DEATH DAY and HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U

Outro music: Vivaldi’s Concerto No. 2 in G Minor (The Four Seasons, “Summer”)

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#213: Fantasy Islands, Pt. 1 - The Piano

Tue, 11 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0000

Céline Sciamma’s 2019 Cannes sensation PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE is a lush, romantic film set on an isolated island and concerned with irrepressible desires in deeply repressive times, a description that neatly applies to another Cannes breakout from 1993: Jane Campion’s THE PIANO. But the love affair at the heart of Campion’s film plays with a much trickier power imbalance, which we get into as we process THE PIANO’s complicated relationships, its most essential performances, and the conversation around it both now and then. Plus, we tackle some feedback from a couple of recent episodes regarding some details we got wrong, and some we got right.

Works Cited:

• “Sexism and Misogyny: Who Takes the Rap? Misogyny, gangsta rap, and The Piano” by bell hooks (1994)

Outro music: Judy Garland, “I Love a Piano”

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#212: Men of War, Pt. 2 - 1917

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 06:00:00 -0000

We return to the trenches of the first World War to consider Sam Mendes’ 1917 within the greater history of World War I films generally, and as a companion to Peter Weir’s GALLIPOLI specifically. Following some debate over whether 1917’s continuous shot gimmick makes it more or less emotionally affecting, and an attempt to parse the film’s attitudes about war, we look at these two films in tandem to consider what they have to say about the failures of leadership in wartime, their respective depictions of young male friendship and communication, and to what extent each registers as an anti-war film. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about GALLIPOLI, 1917, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited

• “‘Full Metal Jacket’ Seduced My Generation and Sent Us to War,” by Anthony Swofford (The New York Times Magazine)

• “Before 1917: Revisiting the greatest first world war movies,” by Scott Tobias (theguardian.com)

• “The 50 Greatest War Movies Ever Made,’ by Keith Phipps (vulture.com)

Your Next Picture Show

• Scott: King Vidor’s THE BIG PARADE and Lewis Milestone’s ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

• Genevieve: John Chester’s THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM

• Tasha: Sergio G. Sanchez’s MARROWBONE, Sebastian Schipper’s VICTORIA, and Makoto Shinkai’s WEATHERING WITH YOU

• Keith: Francis Ford Coppola’s THE COTTON CLUB

Outro music: “Wayfaring Stranger,” performed by John Stirratt

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#211: Men of War, Pt. 1 — Gallipoli (1981)

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0000

Inspired by this year’s surprise Oscar favorite 1917, we’re digging down into the trenches and slogging through the mud and blood of World War I, with two films centering on young soldiers delivering crucial messages that decide the fates of thousands of other young men. First up this week is Peter Weir’s 1981 film GALLIPOLI, which stars a shockingly young Mel Gibson as one half of a pair of Australian mates who join the war effort out of a mixture of patriotism, pride, and recklessness; we dig into the emotional effects of film’s unusual structure, which saves the wartime action for its final moments, how its Australian provenance makes it stand out among other WWI films, and how it indulges Weir’s affinity for wide open spaces and historical authenticity. Plus, we tackle a listener question about ideal movie-watching conditions whose response may prove the undoing of Scott and Keith’s long and amicable relationship.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Before 1917: revisiting the greatest first world war movies,” by Scott Tobias (theguardian.com)

• “The 50 Greatest War Movies Ever Made,” by Keith Phipps (vulture.com)

• Strange Stars: How Science Fiction and Fantasy Transformed Popular Music, by Jason Heller

Outro music: “Adagio in G Minor”

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#210: March Madness, Pt. 2 - Little Women (2019)

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0000

We return to Orchard House and Concord via Greta Gerwig’s new LITTLE WOMEN, which takes a much less traditional approach to Louisa May Alcott’s famed novel than Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 version, while still hitting on enough nostalgic touchpoints to feel like a faithful adaptation. In this second half of our March family double feature, we dig into how we processed Gerwig’s approach as an intellectual experience versus an emotional one, and how the film’s bold ending works in the context of the familiar story as well as Gerwig’s career. Then we dive into how Gerwig’s film aligns with and diverges from Armstrong’s version in its depiction of love and marriage, talent and ambition, and charity and virtue. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all versions of LITTLE WOMEN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited:

• “Little Women and the Marmee Problem,” by Sarah Blackwood (newyorker.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: DICKINSON on Apple TV+

• Scott: James Cameron’s THE ABYSS

• Keith: Wim Wenders’ UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

• Tasha: James Ivory’s HOWARDS END and Paul Downs Colaizzo’s BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON

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#209: March Madness, Pt. 1 - Little Women (1994)

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0000

In the first half of the 20th century, a steady stream of adaptations made it seem like every generation would have a version of Louisa May Alcott’s novel LITTLE WOMEN to call their own. Then the film adaptations just… stopped, until 1994’s Gillian Armstrong-directed version starring Winona Ryder as Jo became a hit, and set the stage for the latest cinematic iteration of the March sisters, courtesy of Greta Gerwig. In this first half of our LITTLE WOMEN double feature, we dig into the cozy confines of Armstrong’s version to discuss what makes it a quintessentially ‘90s version of the tale, the efficacy of Claire Danes’ iconic cry face, and whether the choice to double-cast Amy at two different ages helps or hinders the film’s navigation of its trickiest romantic relationship. Plus, we tackle some long-tail feedback letters on the respective roles of commercialization and violence in film, inspired by past episodes.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all LITTLE WOMEN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Sisters,” from WHITE CHRISTMAS

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#208: Betting Men. Pt. 2 - Uncut Gems

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 06:00:00 -0000

Though Josh and Benny Safdie are avowed admirers of John Cassavetes, the aggressive intensity of their new gambling drama UNCUT GEMS stands in stark contrast to Cassavetes’ more enigmatic, melancholic take on a similar sort of degenerate in 1976’s THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE. Nonetheless, the two films do share a lot beyond protagonists trying to rebound from some bad bets with bad people. After sharing our (sometimes visceral) reactions to the relentless tension of UNCUT GEMS, we get into some of those commonalities, including how both films approach gambling, death, and the intersection thereof, and their use of female characters as accessories to their male-centric worlds. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE, UNCUT GEMS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited:

• "The Safdie Brothers' Full-Immersion Filmmaking," by Kelefa Sanneh (The New Yorker)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Robert Wise’s RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP

• Scott: Todd Haynes’ DARK WATERS

• Genevieve: MIKE BIRBIGLIA: THE NEW ONE

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#207: Betting Men, Pt. 1 - The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Tue, 31 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Inspired by the Safdie brothers’ new thriller UNCUT GEMS, we’re traveling back to 1976, and the other side of the country, to look at another film about a gambling man at the end of his rope, made by one of the Safdies’ favorite filmmakers: John Cassavetes’ idiosyncratic take on the gangster genre, THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE. In this half of our pairing about bad bets with bad people, we dig into CHINESE BOOKIE’s seeming delight in setting up expectations it has no intention of satisfying, how we’re meant to process our protagonist’s aspirations and art on their own and in relation to Cassavetes himself, and how the film invites different, even opposing, readings of its main character and his motivations. Plus, our discussion of MARRIAGE STORY continues to generate some very strong, and very long, feedback.

Outro music: “What’s Yr Take on Cassavetes?” by Le Tigre

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#206: Rian Johnson's Mystery Master, Pt. 2 - Knives Out

Tue, 24 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Rian Johnson’s new KNIVES OUT is much broader and goofier than the writer-director’s first foray into a murder-mystery genre, 2005’s BRICK, but as with his feature debut, Johnson acknowledges the audience’s expectations for the genre and then subverts them in order to create an outsized world for his characters to play in. After digging into why that approach works to such crowd-pleasing effect in KNIVES OUT, we bring in BRICK to talk about what the two films share, and where they diverge, in their respective deconstructions of murder-mystery tropes and archetypes. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BRICK, KNIVES OUT, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Sergio Pablos and Carlos Martinez Lopez’s KLAUS

• Scott: Scott Z. Burns’ THE REPORT

• Tasha: Tom Harper’s THE AERONAUTS

• Keith: Stuart Cooper’s OVERLORD

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#205: Rian Johnson's Mystery Mastery, Pt. 1 - Brick

Tue, 17 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Rian Johnson’s new KNIVES OUT is much more of a romp than 2005’s BRICK, but it hearkens back to Johnson’s debut feature in the way it upends the conventions of mystery stories and gives the audience much more up-front information about the plot-inducing murder than is typical for the genre. In this half of our Johnson mystery pairing we go back to the beginning to consider what BRICK looks like from the other side of the writer-director’s genre-hopping career, how the film navigates its transposing of noir and high-school movie conventions, and which elements make it stand out as a distinctly Rian Johnson endeavor. Plus, we take on some follow-up feedback, and put out an open call for your comments about “anything else in the world of film.”

Outro music: “A Show of Hands” by Nathan Johnson

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#204: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Pt. 2 - Marriage Story

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Released 40 years after Robert Benton’s Best Picture-winning KRAMER VS. KRAMER, Noah Baumbach’s latest, MARRIAGE STORY, depicts a process that hasn’t grown any easier in the intervening time, but has certainly become less novel. After discussing whether Baumbach’s portrayal of modern divorce might actually be a stealth feel-good movie, and which three of its many great scenes make the film, we get into the shared nuances that connect these two films across the decades, from their portrayal of the legal mechanism of divorce to how gender roles play into their respective depictions of day-to-day parenting and the trials of shared custody. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about KRAMER VS. KRAMER, MARRIAGE STORY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Alma Har’el’s HONEY BOY

• Keith: John Badham’s DRACULA

• Scott: Mads Brügger’s COLD CASE HAMMARSKJÖLD

Outro music: Rilo Kiley, “Breakin Up”

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#203: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Pt. 1 - Kramer vs Kramer

Tue, 03 Dec 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Noah Baumbach’s acclaimed new family drama MARRIAGE STORY has invited comparisons to Robert Benton’s acclaimed 1979 family drama KRAMER VS. KRAMER over the films’ shared preoccupation with the end of love and the challenges of finding happiness while also doing right by the next generation. We’ll dig into the nuances of that comparison via this pairing, beginning with a discussion of how KRAMER VS. KRAMER balances, or doesn’t, its portrayal of divided parenting, why its ending feels like a cop-out, how the film’s style and performances contribute to a sense of intimacy, and how our knowledge of what went into those performances behind the scenes shifts that effect. Plus, we tackle a listener’s big, two-part question about metaphors and second viewings.

Outro music: “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” by Tammy Wynette

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#202: Hitler Heil-arity, Pt. 2: Jojo Rabbit

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Our brief, incomplete history of cinema’s attempts to make comedy out of Adolf Hitler brings us to the present day and writer-director Taika Waititi’s discussion-generating “anti-hate satire” JOJO RABBIT, which doesn’t share much in the way of thematic material with our last film, Mel Brooks’ THE PRODUCERS, but does exhibit a similar eagerness to paint the führer as an object of ridicule. We discuss whether JOJO succeeds in walking the tricky tonal tightrope it sets itself on, and try to locate the precise nature of the controversy the film has invited, on our way to discussing what it shares with THE PRODUCERS not just in its depiction of Hitler, but also how both films present insecure and anxious figures under the sway of terrible mentors, and how both engage, to different extremes, with the idea of women as playthings. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE PRODUCERS, JOJO RABBIT, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Taika Waititi’s BOY

• Scott: Disney’s PERRI (1957)

• Genevieve: Jérémy Clapin’s I LOST MY BODY

Outro Music: The Beatles, “Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand”

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#201: Hitler Heil-arity, Pt 1 - The Producers (1967)

Tue, 19 Nov 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Take Waititi’s new “anti-hate satire” JOJO RABBIT extends a cinematic tradition of casting Adolf Hitler as a buffoon that goes back to Charlie Chaplin, though Mel Brooks’ 1967 debut feature THE PRODUCERS is ultimately more concerned with the question of how to contextualize the very idea of laughing at Hitler. In this half of our pairing, we debate the extent to which Brooks’ rock-solid premise — in which a producer and an accountant bank on audiences being turned off by a musical called “Springtime For Hitler,” only to discover they find it hilarious — and the presence of Gene Wilder makes up for the bumpy ride that is the rest of THE PRODUCERS, and what it’s ultimately saying about how we as audience members are able to view Hitler. Plus, we tackle some feedback about the state of the movie trailer in 2019.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Screen: ‘The Producers’ at Fine Arts,” review by Renata Adler, The New York Times archive, 3/19/1968

• “Terminator 2 and the world’s biggest spoiler,” by Tasha Robinson (thedissolve.com)

Outro music: “Springtime For Hitler” by Mel Brooks

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#200: Family Matters, Pt. 2 - Parasite

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Bong Joon-ho’s new PARASITE feels weirdly similar to his 2006 film THE HOST, even though there’s no monster in sight — unless you count entitlement, inequality, and greed as monsters, which given how they shape PARASITE’s story, maybe you should. But it also features the return of Song Kang-ho as a father figure, albeit a more capable and traditional one, and a story shaped by Bong’s obsessions with family bonds and duty. In this half of our Bong pairing, we look at all the other things these two films share, from their thematic and visual fixation on high and low spaces, to how they utilize humor ranging from the slapstick to the ultra-dark. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE HOST, PARASITE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Bong Joon-ho on Weaving His Personal Memories Into Parasite,” by Karen Han (polygon.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Pedro Almodóvar’s PAIN & GLORY

• Keith: Craig Brewer’s DOLEMITE IS MY NAME

• Tasha: Nick Tomnay’s THE PERFECT HOST

• Genevieve: Dexter Fletcher’s ROCKETMAN

Outro Music: Ray Charles, “Them That Got”

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#199: Family Matters, Pt. 1 - The Host (2006)

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Korean director Bong Joon-ho has a long-running interest in films about family, one that’s mirrored in two of his best-known films: His international breakout THE HOST and his new film PARASITE, both of which star Song Kang-ho as a father trying to keep things together on his kids’ behalf, and both of which are about the sense of duty among protagonists who have to improv their way through unexpected situations. In this half of our pairing, we revisit Bong’s monster movie THE HOST with a focus on its human cast and their family dynamic, and consider how the film’s political and emotional elements square with Bong’s insistence that there is “realism” at the heart of this movie about a rampaging fish-monster. Plus, we continue to wade through the sea of feedback we’ve received on our episodes on THE DARK KNIGHT and JOKER.

Show Notes:

Works Cited:

“Bong Joon-ho’s Dystopia Is Already Here,” by E. Alex Jung (vulture.com)

Outro music: Kacey Musgraves, “Family Is Family”

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#198: Watching Watchmen

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Inspired by our recent pairing of THE DARK KNIGHT and JOKER, we’re diverging from our usual format this week to look at a new TV show that stems from the same era of comic-book history as those films: HBO’s new Damon Lindelof-helmed “remix” of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal superhero deconstruction WATCHMEN. In this one-off episode, we dive into the series to discuss the promise it holds, as well as its potential to run screaming off the rails, based on the first two episodes that have aired so far. Plus, we dip into the deep well of JOKER feedback we’ve already received to discuss how the film and its reception represents the “festival effect” in action.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WATCHMEN, or anything else in the world of film (or television, or comics), by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#197: The Man Who Laughs, Pt. 2 - Joker

Tue, 22 Oct 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Todd Phillips’ new JOKER gives a concrete origin story to a character who, in Christoper Nolan’s 2008 film THE DARK KNIGHT, willfully obfuscates what turned him into Gotham’s Clown Prince of Crime. In this second half of our look at two grim-and-gritty takes on the character, we examine JOKER, and some of the discourse around it, in an attempt to pinpoint meaning within an audacious and violent film, and consider how it fits into Phillips’ filmography of put-upon males processing rejection; then we dive into how it connects to DARK KNIGHT, not just in its treatment of the Joker, but also its depiction of Gotham, and its considerations of class and morality. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE DARK KNIGHT, JOKER, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Todd Phillips Was Destined to Make a Movie Like ‘Joker,’” by Keith Phipps (theringer.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Robert Eggers’ THE LIGHTHOUSE

• Keith: “The Booj” episode of the TWENTY THOUSAND HERTZ podcast; 1964’s MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA, 1964’s GHIDORAH, THE THREE HEADED MONSTER, and 1965’s INVASION OF THE ASTRO MONSTER

• Scott: Noah Baumbach’s MR. JEALOUSY

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#196: The Man Who Laughs, Pt. 1 - The Dark Knight

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The narrative and tone of Todd Phillips’ latest is heavily inspired by TAXI DRIVER and KING OF COMEDY, but given the attention paid to the work of Martin Scorsese on this podcast of late, we decided to look at Phillips’ new JOKER in tandem with a more literal cinematic predecessor: Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT, featuring Heath Ledger’s posthumous Oscar-winning performance as the Clown Prince of Crime himself. In this half we consider Ledger’s Joker in the context of a film that took a radically different approach to the comic-book movie and its villains, debate some confounding plot specifics—and whether they ultimately matter that much to one’s enjoyment of the film—and try to remember what it was like experiencing DARK KNIGHT independent of the subsequnt superhero movie deluge it helped spawn. Plus, we respond to some feedback on our recent episodes looking at CASINO and HUSTLERS.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE DARK KNIGHT, JOKER, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Hans Zimmer, “Why So Serious?”

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#195: Vice Principles, Pt. 2 - Hustlers

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Lorene Scafaria portrays the criminal scam at the heart of HUSTLERS with a sort of cinematic brio that has earned the film comparisons to the work of Martin Scorsese, in particular the similarly flashy Vegas epic CASINO — and not just because both prominently feature chinchilla fur coats. In this half of our vice-ridden pairing, we talk over what works and what doesn’t about HUSTLERS before diving into the two films’ shared preoccupations with destructive trust and capitalist systems and compare the filmmaking flourishes Scafaria and Scorsese use to draw viewers into their seductive worlds. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CASINO, HUSTLERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “The Hustlers at Scores,” by Jessica Pressler (thecut.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Takashi Miike’s FIRST LOVE

• Scott: Jim Jarmusch’s THE DEAD DON’T DIE

• Genevieve: Anthony and Joe Russo’s AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Outro music: Britney Spears, “Gimme More”

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#194: Vice Principles, Pt. 1 - Casino

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The big question at the heart of Lorene Scafaria’s new HUSTLERS — one about the corrupting force of American capitalism and who is allowed to rip off whom — is the same one that drive’s Martin Scorsese’s 1995 Vegas gangster epic CASINO, a question both films address with no small amount of verve and flash. In this half of our vice-ridden pairing, we dig into CASINO’s reputation as a GOODFELLAS retread and how its characters conform, or don’t, to our expectations about Scorsese characters. Plus, a couple of otherwise unrelated feedback letters get us talking about the expectations we bring to films and how they can shift the viewing experience.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CASINO, HUSTLERS, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Devo, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

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#193: Most Dangerous Games, Pt. 2 - Ready or Not

Tue, 17 Sep 2019 05:00:00 -0000

It’s too early to know whether Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s horror-comedy READY OR NOT will eventually become a cult hit in the manner of 1985’s CLUE, but the two films share a foundation in dangerous games and the even more dangerous people who play them. After parsing how READY OR NOT works as both horror and comedy, and inducting star Samara Weaving into the scream queen hall of fame, we dig into the two films’ crucial central performances, how both incorporate elements of class satire and farce, and the extent to which each is indebted to actual game mechanics. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CLUE, READY OR NOT, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Ognjen Glavonic’s THE LOAD

• Keith: Netflix’s THE DARK CRYSTAL: THE AGE OF RESISTANCE, Criterion’s The Koker Trilogy Box

Set, Olive Films’ BUCKET OF BLOOD Blu-ray release

• Tasha: “The Crazy Story of How ‘Clue’ Went From Forgotten Flop To Cult Triumph” by Adam B. Vary at Buzzfeed.com

Outro music: “The Hide and Seek Song” from READY OR NOT

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#192: Most Dangerous Games, Pt. 1 - Clue

Tue, 10 Sep 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The gamified murder and mayhem of the recent horror-comedy READY OR NOT put us in mind of a similarly scrappy, low-budget affair with board games in its DNA: John Landis and Jonathan Lynn’s flop-turned-cult-classic CLUE. In this CLUE-centric half of our deadly games pairing, we get into how much both sides of that flop/cult reputation are earned, how much of the film’s genesis in a board game comes across on screen, and how much those additional endings add to the film. Plus, we respond to some feedback taking us to task for one of the many controversial elements of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD that we left out of our discussion of the film.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CLUE, READY OR NOT, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited:• “The Crazy Story Of How ‘Clue’ Want From Forgotten Flop To Cult Triumph” by Adam B. Vary (Buzzfeed.com)

• “Why Are You Laughing At Bruce Lee?” By Walter Chaw (Vulture.com)

• “Bruce Lee’s Daughter Says Quentin Tarantino ‘Could Shut Up’ About Her Father’s Portrayal” by Audrey Cleo Yap (Variety.com)

Outro music: Bill Haley and the Comets, “Shake, Rattle and Roll”

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#191: Which Side Are You On? Pt. 2 - American Factory

Tue, 03 Sep 2019 05:00:00 -0000

A few decades and a whole industry removed from Barbara Kopple’s HARLAN COUNTY, USA, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s AMERICAN FACTORY is an entertaining yet dispiriting illustration of how much working conditions, labor relations, and blue-collar work have changed — and, in some ways, haven’t. After wrestling with AMERICAN FACTORY’s sometimes-funny, sometimes-demoralizing portrayal of the current state of American industry, unions, and national identity, we dive what unites and separates these films’ approach to depicting the struggles and setbacks of the working American. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about HARLAN COUNTY USA, AMERICAN FACTORY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: INFINITY TRAIN on Cartoon Network

• Genevieve: Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck’s SHUT UP AND SING

• Scott: Barbara Kopple’s AMERICAN DREAM

• Tasha: Richard Linklater’s WHERE’D YOU GO BERNADETTE?

Outro music: Bruce Springsteen, “Factory”

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#190: Which Side Are You On? Pt. 1 - Harlan County, USA

Tue, 27 Aug 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The new Netflix documentary AMERICAN FACTORY is funnier than Barbara Kopple’s 1976 Oscar-winning documentary HARLAN COUNTY USA, and not nearly as fraught with violence, but it pivots on many of the same core tensions between workers and corporate bosses. In this half of our pairing of labor struggles past and present, we look back at HARLAN COUNTY to see how the time Kopple’s team spent embedded in Harlan County shaped the film, as well as the 1973 miners strike it depicts; how the film’s style reflects Kopple’s involvement with the Maysles brothers and direct cinema; and which of Harlan County’s colorful residents leave the biggest mark on the film. Plus, we respond to some feedback on recent episodes and go over some of the dozens of suggestions we got for 2019 pairings we received when we recently put the call out on Twitter.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about HARLAN COUNTY USA, AMERICAN FACTORY, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Hazel Dickens, “They’ll Never Keep Us Down”

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#189: Hollywood Endings, Pt. 2 - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Quentin Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD looks back at 1969 Hollywood from a 2019 vantage point, where Hal Ashby’s 1975 satire SHAMPOO examines that same era from a much closer distance, but the two films share a funny but bittersweet outlook on what would turn out to be a turning point in history. In this half of our pairing of 1969-set “Hollywood endings,” we share our responses to Tarantino’s newest film, and to some of the discussion surrounding it, before diving into what links these two films, including their shared focus on a single event as a historical turning point, and their respective engagement, or lack thereof, with the counterculture. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SHAMPOO, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Alan Elliott and Sydney Pollack’s AMAZING GRACE

• Keith: Jacques Demy’s MODEL SHOP

• Genevieve: Lulu Wang’s THE FAREWELL

Outro music: The Mamas & The Papas, “Dedicated To The One I Love”

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#188: Hollywood Endings, Pt. 1 - Shampoo

Tue, 13 Aug 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Quentin Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD filters its wistful look at the end of an era through the lens of a real historical event (albeit one altered for the film), an approach that mirrors the one taken by director Hal Ashby and star/co-writer Warren Beatty in 1975’s SHAMPOO, which situates its late-1960s Hollywood satire within the broader sociopolitical context of the Nixon presidential election. Both films concern characters looking out at an uncertain future and fearing what unhappy endings might await them, and both function as after-the-fact reflections on a turning point in Hollywood, and American, history. In this half of our pairing we dive into SHAMPOO to consider how well it’s aged, whether it feels prophetic about our current reality, and to what extent we’re meant to sympathize with/pity its lothario protagonist. Plus, we respond to two listeners who wrote in with the same observation regarding our recent episode on THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SHAMPOO, ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: The Beach Boys, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”

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#187: Man Up, Pt. 2 - The Art of Self-Defense

Tue, 06 Aug 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Riley Stearns’ new dark comedy THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE centers on an underground scene of fighters who engage in their own version of the transgressive tactics Tyler Durden plays with in 1999’s FIGHT CLUB, but both films are ultimately about the catharsis of violence. After digging into how ART OF SELF-DEFENSE spins the “fight club” premise to its own ends, we pit these two films against each other to see which reigns supreme!…Or, to determine what each movie has to say about their shared interests in misogyny, toxic masculinity, and the dehumanization of life in corporate America. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about FIGHT CLUB, THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Alfred E. Green’s BABY FACE

• Tasha: Tom Harper’s WILD ROSE

• Scott: Avi Belkin’s MIKE WALLACE IS HERE

Outro music: AC/DC “Spoilin’ For A Fight”

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#186: Man Up, Pt. 1 - Fight Club

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 05:00:00 -0000

We’re looking at two films featuring underground fight clubs, secret identities, and male protagonists trying to reclaim their self-worth through violence, beginning with David Fincher’s FIGHT CLUB, which traffics in many of the same themes as Riley Stearns’ new THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE, albeit with decidedly more stylistic flourish. In this half of our toxic masculinity double feature, we dig into what made FIGHT CLUB so divisive in 1999, and what makes it seem so prescient today. Plus, some feedback asking about our podcast hometown of Chicago and its many cinephiliac offerings.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about FIGHT CLUB, THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Dust Brothers, “Psycho Boy Jack”

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#185: Print the Legend, Pt. 2 - Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story

Tue, 16 Jul 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Our look at musical films that willfully straddle the line between fact and fiction brings in Martin Scorsese’s newest effort for Netflix, ROLLING THUNDER REVUE: A BOB DYLAN STORY, to see how it applies that MO to a documentary format, where Todd Haynes’ VELVET GOLDMINE applied it to a narrative one. After debating to what extent ROLLING THUNDER REVUE tells us anything about its slippery subject, we bring these two films together to see how they each play with ideas about alter-egos and disposable identities, what they have to say about art and commerce, and how each reflect their 1970s setting. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about VELVET GOLDMINE, ROLLING THUNDER REVUE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

SHOW NOTES

Works Cited:

• “Truth and Legends: The Extraordinary Documentaries of Martin Scorsese,” by Scott Tobias (theringer.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Larry Charles’ MASKED AND ANONYMOUS

• Scott: Martin Scorsese’s GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD

• Genevieve: John Cameron Mitchell’s HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

Outro music: Bob Dylan, “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall [Live]”

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#184: Print the Legend, Pt. 1 - Velvet Goldmine

Tue, 09 Jul 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Martin Scorsese’s new ROLLING THUNDER REVUE takes a documentary-esque approach to Bob Dylan’s titular 1970s tour-slash-roadshow, blending fact and fiction in a manner reminiscent of Todd Haynes’ 1998 cult favorite VELVET GOLDMINE, which creates a similar sort of parallel fiction around an extraordinary moment in music history. In this half of our pairing looking at “print the legend” musical histories, we focus on VELVET GOLDMINE and its dense, post-modern approach to crafting an ersatz Bowie biopic, debating the advantages and disadvantage of doing a fictionalized history of a real movement, and whether it matters that Bowie himself did not approve. Plus, still more GODZILLA feedback and a theory inspired by our recent BIG episode.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about VELVET GOLDMINE, ROLLING THUNDER REVUE, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Shudder to Think, “Hot One”

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#183: Galaxy Defenders, Pt. 2 - Men in Black: International

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 05:00:00 -0000

What went wrong with F. Gary Gray’s attempt to revive a franchise with MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL?

There are many answers to that question, which we dig into this week, but a lot of the DOA sequel’s problems can be traced directly back to the successes of 1997’s MEN IN BLACK. We look at the newest MEN IN BLACK alongside its much funnier, more sprightly forebear to see how the two films’ respective use of humor, movie stars, and setting contribute to their success, or lack thereof. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all MENS IN BLACK, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

SHOW NOTES

Works Cited:

• “Rewrites, Infighting and No ‘Urgency’: Behind Sony’s Lackluster ‘Men in Black’ Relaunch,” by Borys Kit (The Hollywood Reporter)

• “‘Men In Black: International’ and the Zombie Franchises That Won’t Die,” by Tim Grierson

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: John Dahl’s THE LAST SEDUCTION

• Keith: Steven Knight’s SERENITY

• Genevieve: HOMECOMING: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ

• Scott: The CHILD’S PLAY franchise, particularly BRIDE OF CHUCKY and SEED OF CHUCKY

Outro music: Danny Elfman & Chris Bacon, “Red Button”

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#182: Galaxy Defenders, Pt. 1 – Men In Black (1997)

Tue, 25 Jun 2019 14:34:00 -0000

The lackluster new MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL has failed to rekindle much interest in the action-comedy franchise — more on that in the next episode — which makes the 1997 blockbuster from which it stems seem like even more of a miracle in hindsight. Having seen how the franchise’s formula can fail, we’re going back to the source to see how director Barry Sonnenfeld, with no small assist from stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones and effects master Rick Baker, achieved that rarest of cinematic feats: a weird blockbuster. This week we dig into the strange performances, mindful effects, and sharp political allegory that enliven this lean, mean galaxy-defending machine. Plus, some feedback on our recent GODZILLA episodes, and a thought experiment inspired by CHINATOWN.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all MEN IN BLACK movies, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited: • “An Oral History of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Perfect Men in Black ‘Sugar Water’ Scene,” by Rachel Handler (vulture.com)

Outro music: Will Smith, “Men In Black”

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#181: King of Monster Movies, Pt. 2 - Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The new GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS looks and acts a lot more like one of the other recent entries in Warner Bros’ “Monsterverse” than it does the classic creature features inspired by the original GODZILLA, but it also consciously echoes Ishiro Honda’s 1954 film in some key ways. After airing our grievances with the frustratingly incoherent KING OF THE MONSTERS, we dig into what links this newest film to its very different predecessor, from its city-flattening monster effects to its shaky attempts to inject human drama amid the kaiju destruction. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all GODZILLAs and/or monsters, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Kirill Serebrennikov’s LETO

• Tasha: Olivia Wilde’s BOOKSMART

• Keith: William Gibson’s ALIEN III (an Audible Original Drama)

Outro music: The Flaming Lips, “Godzilla Flick”

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#180: King of Monster Movies, Pt, 1 - Godzilla (1954)

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The new CGI spectacle GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS further extends the longest running film franchise in history, but it’s a far cry (roar?) from the 1954 film that first set this fire-breathing, city-flattening phenomenon in motion. So this week we’re looking back at Ishiro Honda’s originating film to speculate how and why its central nuclear metaphor shifted over the decades, to discuss how the film and its effects—don’t call them dated or Keith will be sad!—benefit from Godzilla’s literal and figurative weight, and debate what, if anything, the central love triangle adds to this story. Plus, some feedback taking us to task for some things we overlooked in our recent discussions of THE WARRIORS and JOHN WICK 3.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all GODZILLA movies, or anything else film-related, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Kesha, “Godzilla”

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#179: Escapes From New York, Pt. 2 - John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

Tue, 04 Jun 2019 05:00:00 -0000

We return again to the deadly streets of the Big Apple at night to discuss Chad Stahelski’s latest entry in the JOHN WICK franchise, CHAPTER 3—PARABELLUM, and its place in the action pantheon alongside Walter Hill’s 1979 cult classic THE WARRIORS. After talking over our reactions to the latest JOHN WICK, and the series as a whole, we bring in THE WARRIORS to compare how these two films’ respective styles approach the streets of New York and action choreography, how they both embrace the trope of “honor among thieves,” and how their respective portrayals of masculinity play on the juxtaposition of vulnerability and indomitability. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE WARRIORS, JOHN WICK or anything else in the world of film by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

**Show Notes**

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Stanley Kramer’s ON THE BEACH

• Scott: Sebastian Lelio’s GLORIA BELL

• Tasha: Marti Noxon’s TO THE BONE

Works Cited:

•”Horror Sequels Are The Exact Opposite of Horror” by Tasha Robinson (thedissolve.com)

• The Big Picture Podcast, “Making John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum With Chad Stahelski, and Watching It With Shea Serrano” (theringer.com)

Outro music: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Angry Mad”

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#178: Escapes From New York, Pt. 1 - The Warriors

Tue, 28 May 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The latest chapter in the JOHN WICK saga, the new PARABELLUM, follows its assassin hero on a long perilous journey through hostile territory, a setup that brought to mind Walter Hill’s controversial hit turned cult classic THE WARRIORS. In this half of our pairing of violent journeys through the night, we examine Hill’s film in the context of the director’s late-’70s/early-’80s hot streak, to discuss how its rain-slicked streets and stylized version of New York gang culture came to typify a certain strain of ’80s action filmmaking, and debate whether its portrayals of masculinity and romance work in the context of Hill’s bare-bones approach to storytelling. Plus, the UNDER THE SILVER LAKE feedback keeps rolling in.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE WARRIORS, JOHN WICK 3, or anything else film-related by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited:

• Primer: Walter Hill, by Scott Tobias (avclub.com)

Outro music: Pop Will Eat Itself, “Can U Dig It?”

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#177: Political Affairs, Pt. 2 - Long Shot

Tue, 21 May 2019 05:00:00 -0000

It’s rare for a rom-com to situate itself firmly in the realm of contemporary American politics, which makes Jonathan Levin’s new Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen-starring LONG SHOT feel in many ways like a spiritual sequel to 1995’s THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, right down to both films’ exploration of moral compromise through a big environmental initiative. But LONG SHOT takes a distinctly different comedic approach to its material, which we dig into before bringing these two political romances together to talk about the role dignity, or lack thereof, plays in selling their respective fantasies, how they function as both a romance and a comedy, and how each pulls off its respective grand gesture. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, LONG SHOT, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Jason Reitman’s YOUNG ADULT

• Scott: James L. Brooks’ HOW DO YOU KNOW?

• Keith: Yimou Zhang’s SHADOW

• Genevieve: Andrew Rossi’s THE FIRST MONDAY IN MAY

Outro Music: Boyz II Men, “Motownphilly”

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#176: Political Affairs, Pt. 1 - The American President

Tue, 14 May 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The new Charlize Theron/Seth Rogan rom-com LONG SHOT looks for comedy at the intersection of love and the highest tier of American politics, an unusual combination that positions it as a spiritual successor to an earlier, much more earnest portrayal of a similarly unlikely romance — that of Rob Reiner’s 1995 Aaron Sorkin-penned crowd-pleaser THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT. In this half of our pairing of the two films, we look back at THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT to consider how its Clinton-era populism scans in today’s much different political atmosphere, how it functions as both a political film and a rom-com, and how it handles the extreme power differential at the core of its central romance. Plus, some feedback inspired by our recent episode on UNDER THE SILVER LAKE.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, LONG SHOT, or anything else film-related by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Kylie Minogue, “Mr. President”

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#175: Twisty Mysteries, Pt. 2 - Under the Silver Lake

Tue, 07 May 2019 05:00:00 -0000

David Robert Mitchell’s wandering, shaggy, endlessly referential UNDER THE SILVER LAKE isn’t nearly as tightly plotted as Roman Polanski’s CHINATOWN, one of its many cinematic reference points, but it’s just as stark and cynical about both human nature and its Los Angeles setting. In this half of our pairing of twisty, paranoid LA mysteries, we dig into whether UNDER THE SILVER LAKE is a movie that can be solved, or a movie that mocks attempts to solve it, before bringing in CHINATOWN to see how these two films approach conspiracies and paranoia, L.A. as a setting and symbol, and women and their would-be saviors. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CHINATOWN, UNDER THE SILVER LAKE, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Joe Cornish’s THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING

• Tasha: Julia Hart’s FAST COLOR

• Scott: Alex Ross Perry’s HER SMELL

Outro Music: R.E.M. “Strange Currencies”

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#174: Twisty Mysteries, Pt. 1 - Chinatown

Tue, 30 Apr 2019 05:00:00 -0000

In David Robert Mitchell’s new UNDER THE SILVER LAKE, every clue leads deeper down a rabbit hole toward an endpoint that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the beginning point. In a film as referential as Mitchell’s, that structure seems purposefully lifted from Roman Polanski’s 1974 classic CHINATOWN, another sunlit noir about a private investigator who starts with a simple philandering case and winds up peeking into a secret battle for control of the city. In this half of our pairing of the two films, we dig into CHINATOWN’s legacy and how to reconcile it with the Polanski Problem, examine how its story and performances diverge from the noir tradition, and consider whether its twisty mystery ultimately lands in a satisfying place. Plus, some feedback inspired by our recent episodes on US and VELVET BUZZSAW.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CHINATOWN, UNDER THE SILVER LAKE, or anything else film-related by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Destroyer, “Chinatown”

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#173: Big Little Guys, Pt. 2 - Shazam!

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The new superhero movie SHAZAM owes such a debt to Penny Marshall’s weird and whimsical 1988 comedy BIG that it includes a giant piano as an homage, but the connections between these two wish-fulfillment fantasies go beyond their shared premises. After discussing how SHAZAM distinguishes itself from other superhero films, and what it might say about the future of the DCEU, we bring in BIG to see how these two films echo and refract each other in their ideas about what maturity looks like to kids, in their depictions of home and family, and in their use of toys as signifiers of childhood. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BIG, SHAZAM, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Wim Wenders’ WINGS OF DESIRE (via The Criterion Channel)

• Genevieve: Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek’s THE BREAKER UPPERERS

• Keith: Joseph H. Lewis’ MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (via The Criterion Channel’s ‘Columbia Noir’ Collection)

• Scott: Don Siegel’s THE LINEUP (via The Criterion Channel’s ‘Columbia Noir’ Collection)

Outro Music: Queen, “Don’t Stop Me Now”

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#172: Big Little Guys, Pt. 1 - Big (1988)

Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The new SHAZAM, about a 14-year-old kid granted the power of becoming a grown-up superhero, openly acknowledges the debt it owes to Penny Marshall’s 1988 breakthrough BIG, which made a potent comic fantasy out of what adolescents imagine adulthood to be. In this first half of our pairing of the two films, we wrestle with BIG's age-shifted central relationship and marvel over how stars Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins manage to find some real sweetness within an uncomfortable romantic scenario, which leads us to consider how the horrors lurking beneath the comedic premise reveal themselves with age, and whether the film works despite that. Plus, some feedback inspired by our recent episodes on INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and US, and a response to some criticism of our recent string of superhero pairings.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BIG, SHAZAM, or anything else film-related by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited:

• ’Big’ Is Secretly a Horror Movie, by Shea Serrano (TheRinger.com)

• ‘Big’ Review, by Keith Phipps (TheDissolve.com)

• Robert De Niro and the origin of “The Face,” by Scott Tobias (TheDissolve.com)

Outro music: Nelly, “Country Grammar”

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#171: Double Troubles, Pt. 2 - Us

Tue, 09 Apr 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Our pairing of devious doppelgängers arrives at Jordan Peele’s new US, which brings into 2019 some of the same themes of paranoia and dread seen in one of its many predecessors, Philip Kaufman’s INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. After comparing our reactions to US’s “messy by design” narrative and the conversations that have sprung up around it, we bring these two films together to compare how they reflect their respective eras, how each works as horror, and the weird character relationships that underscore the human drama behind the allegory. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, US, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

*Show Notes*

Works cited:

• Unpacking Reddit’s Wildest Theory About US, by Rebecca Alter (Vulture.com)

• What Was Hands Across America, and What Does It Have to Do With US?, by Keith Phipps (Slate.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s AMERICAN FACTORY, Rachel Leads’ KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE, and Hassan Fazili’s MIDNIGHT TRAVELER

• Tasha: The IMMUNITIES podcast, and Terry Gilliam’s THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE

• Keith: Steve Mitchell’s KING COHEN, and Larry Cohen’s THE STUFF and GOD TOLD ME TO

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#170: Double Troubles, Pt. 1 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Tue, 02 Apr 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Jordan Peele’s new US extends a long history of horror stories that use doppelgängers to explore identity, one that includes as a cornerstone Philip Kaufman’s 1978 adaptation of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. This episode we delve into the film’s eerie version of San Francisco to talk about how its atmosphere of dread and late-‘70s malaise distinguishes it from other versions of this story, and amplifies the human drama within this classic alien-invasion narrative. Plus, some feedback inspired by our recent TOTAL RECALL episode and a broader question on the state of film criticism.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, US, or anything else film-related by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Imogen Heap, “Bad Body Double”

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#169: Muscled Memories, Pt. 2 - Captain Marvel

Tue, 26 Mar 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Our pairing of sci-fi action films with a side of meditation on memory and identity brings in the new CAPTAIN MARVEL to see how Carol Danvers’ journey of lost and reclaimed memories looks next to the very different (and much bloodier) journey taken by Douglas Quaid in Paul Verhoeven’s TOTAL RECALL. We share our reactions to CAPTAIN MARVEL and its choice to center its narrative on an amnesiac hero, then bring in TOTAL RECALL to compare the two films’ approaches to their central ideas about memory, how they function as science-fiction stories, how they treat their female characters, and more. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TOTAL RECALL, CAPTAIN MARVEL, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

*Show Notes*

Works cited:• Captain Marvel’s Cat Wrangler Explains How Goose Became a Flerken Hero on Set, by April Wolfe (Vulture.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s BIRDS OF PASSAGE, and Movie Premieres Unlimited (@NightOpening)

• Keith: Robert Aldrich’s VERA CRUZ

• Genevieve: Robbie Thompson and Niko Henrichon’s MEET THE SKRULLS comic, and FX’s WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

Outro Music: Smashing Pumpkins, “Today”

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#168: Muscled Memories, Pt. 1 - Total Recall (1990)

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 05:00:00 -0000

The newest MCU entry CAPTAIN MARVEL is, among other things, an action-packed science-fiction film that’s also interested in the question of how memory relates to identity. That, plus the film’s 1990s setting, put us in mind of another cosmic blockbuster from that era with similar ideas crackling beneath its action-movie surface: Paul Verhoeven’s TOTAL RECALL. In this half of our pairing of brawny-yet-brainy blockbusters, we debate how much TOTAL RECALL is asking us to interrogate the bloody action in which it revels, whether casting Arnold Schwarzenegger as a would-be ordinary Joe contributes to or detracts from the film’s self-awareness, and if there’s any validity to the reading that Quaid’s memory trip is all just a dream. Plus, some feedback inspired by our recent pairings, and pairings that could have been.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TOTAL RECALL, CAPTAIN MARVEL, or anything else film-related by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Jerry Goldsmith, "The Big Jump"

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#167: The Hustle Play, Pt, 2 - High Flying Bird

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Like WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP, Steven Soderbergh’s new Netflix digital experiment HIGH FLYING BIRD looks at what it takes for talented basketball players to survive outside of the professional leagues, with a high-stakes corporate heist in place of that film’s street-level hustle. This week, we talk over our reactions to HIGH FLYING BIRD’s story, dialogue, and in particular its iPhone cinematography, before bringing these two films together to look at how they each depict baller life outside the NBA, and how their respective cinematic styles buck sports-movie conventions. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP, HIGH-FLYING BIRD, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Dean DeBlois’ HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD

• Genevieve: Spike Lee’s PASSING STRANGE

• Scott: Christian Petzold’s TRANSIT

• Tasha: Christopher Caldwell and Zeke Earl’s PROSPECT and Lee Cronin’s THE HOLE IN THE GROUND

Outro Music: Lupe Fiasco & Evidence, “Catch Me I’m Ballin’”

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#166: The Hustle Play, Pt. 1 - White Men Can't Jump

Tue, 05 Mar 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Steven Soderbergh’s new quick-and-dirty Netflix film HIGH FLYING BIRD follows a basketball agent’s bold attempt to work outside the dictates of a professional league, a hustle that calls to mind the Venice Beach street-ball scene of Ron Shelton’s 1992 comedy WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP. In this half of our look at freelance ballers and the games they play on and off the court, we talk about what WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP has to say about the game, friendship, race, and how they intersect, and dig into how and why Shelton has so reliably put his own unique spin on the sports movie. Plus, some feedback inspired by our VELVET BUZZSAW episode and the Academy’s newly crowned Best Picture.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP, HIGH FLYING BIRD, or anything else film-related by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#165: The Bloody Act of Creation, Pt. 2 - Velvet Buzzsaw

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 06:00:00 -0000

Like Roger Corman’s A BUCKET OF BLOOD, the new Netflix release VELVET BUZZSAW, director Dan Gilroy’s follow-up to NIGHTCRAWLER, presents as an art-world satire wrapped around the bones of a horror movie, though it doesn’t deliver on the horror element until pretty deep into the film. We talk over whether that approach is a benefit or detriment to both sides of the horror-satire equation, and about whether Netflix’s current content model is a natural evolution of the “give ‘em what they want” strategy that guided Corman’s American International Pictures. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BUCKET OF BLOOD, VELVET BUZZSAW, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730..

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Steven Soderbergh’s HIGH FLYING BIRD

• Keith: Samuel Fuller’s 40 GUNS

• Tasha: Chiwetel Ejiofor’s THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND, and “At Netflix Who Wins

When It’s Hollywood Vs. The Algorithm?,” by Shalini Ramachandran and Joe Flint (wsj.com)

Outro Music: Talking Heads, “Artists Only”

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#164: The Bloody Act of Creation, Pt. 1 - A Bucket of Blood

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 14:45:00 -0000

Inspired by Dan Gilroy’s new VELVET BUZZSAW — and a listener suggestion — we’re looking back this week at another darkly humorous tweaking of the destructive world of high art and those who inhabit it: Roger Corman’s 1959 low-budget horror-comedy A BUCKET OF BLOOD. In this half of the pairing we talk about how Corman and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith balance the film’s tricky tone, how its obvious cheapness reflects Corman’s storied ability to work within restrictions, and what it’s like to watch iconic character actor Dick Miller in one of his rare starring turns. Plus, some feedback on our recent episodes on UNBREAKABLE and WIDOWS.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about A BUCKET OF BLOOD, VELVET BUZZSAW, or anything else film-related by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#163: Chris Smith's Charismatic Dreamers, Pt. 2 - American Movie

Tue, 12 Feb 2019 05:00:00 -0000

Chris Smith’s new Netflix doc FYRE tells the story of huckster Billy McFarland and his doomed Fyre Festival as a compelling piece of meat-and-potatoes journalism that’s far from the verité of Smith’s portrait of Mark Borchardt in 1999’s AMERICAN MOVIE. But for all their surface differences, at heart FYRE is another movie about a charismatic leader who overpromises and under-delivers. After dissecting what FYRE shows us — and doesn’t show us — about McFarland’s history of scammy endeavors, we dig into what connects and separates Smith’s two protagonists in terms of their ambitions, their approaches, and their intent. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about AMERICAN MOVIE, FYRE, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes / Works cited:

• Fyre Fest Fiasco GoFundMe (gofundme.com/exuma-point-fyre-fest-debt)

• Fyre Fight: The Inside Story of How We Got Two Warring Fyre Festival Documentaries in the Same Week, by Scott Tobias (TheRinger.com)

• Amateurs, Con Artists, and Vanishing Movie Stars: Inside the World of Chris Smith’s Documentaries, by Scott Tobias (TheRinger.com)

• The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars, by Keith Phipps (Vulture.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: George Hill’s THE BIG HOUSE

• Scott: Talal Derki’s OF FATHERS AND SONS

• Genevieve: Jason Reitman’s TULLY

Outro Music: Beth Ditto, “Fire”

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#162: Chris Smith's Charismatic Dreamers, Pt. 1 - American Movie

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 06:00:00 -0000

The new Netflix documentary FYRE: THE GREATEST PARTY THAT NEVER HAPPENEDfinds director Chris Smith returning to a character type that defined his 1999 Sundance breakout AMERICAN MOVIE: the charismatic dreamer who overpromises and under-delivers. In AMERICAN MOVIE, that dreamer is one Mark Borchardt, an independent filmmaker from Milwaukee whose moviemaking dreams are continually stymied by circumstance, both external and of his own making. In this half of our Smith pairing, we revisit AMERICAN MOVIE and Borchardt to see how our perceptions of both have been changed by time and distance, debate what we’re to make of the film’s curious relationships, and analyze how Smith constructs a compelling story around an ambitious eccentric. Plus, some feedback on recent episodes.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about AMERICAN MOVIE, FYRE, or anything else film-related by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro Music: The Kinks, “Groovy Movies”

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#161: Enter the Shyamalaniverse, Pt. 2 - Glass

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 17:00:00 -0000

The evolution of a divisive auteur.

We return once more to the Shyamalaniverse to dig into the culmination of the so-called Eastrail 177 trilogy, the new GLASS, which purports to be the thrilling conclusion of a story that began with 2000’s UNBREAKABLE. Has divisive auteur M. Night Shyamalan discovered a new trick up his sleeve, or is GLASS and its climactic parking lot fight yet another example of the diminishing returns that have plagued his filmography? After breaking down our reactions to GLASS, we bring in UNBREAKABLE to talk over what the films reveal about Shyamalan’s evolution, or lack thereof, what they have to say about the idea of determination vs. free will, and whether Shyamalan’s female characters will ever catch a break. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about UNBREAKABLE, GLASS, or any other corner of the Shyamalaniverse by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Barry Jenkins’ IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

• Scott: Chris Smith’s COLLAPSE

• Tasha: The Odd Splice podcast and Karyn Kusama’s DESTROYER and THE INVITATION

Outro Music: Annie Lennox, “Walking on Broken Glass”

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#160: Enter The Shyamalaniverse, Pt. 1 - Unbreakable

Tue, 22 Jan 2019 22:30:00 -0000

With M. Night Shyamalan’s new GLASS purporting to be the culmination of his so-called Eastrail 177 trilogy, we’re returning to the film that set it in motion, and that many rank among the divisive writer-director’s best: UNBREAKABLE. How does this brooding, stylistically bold superhero origin story look today, in a culture where both comics and their movie adaptations play a much more central role than they did in 2000? How do Shyamalan’s various auteur signatures, good and bad alike, play out in this film and his filmography more generally? We get into all that and more, with some bonus disagreement on Shyamalan’s breakthrough, THE SIXTH SENSE, and some feedback on our recent episodes on THE FAVOURITE and INTO THE SPIDERVERSE.

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#159: Great Power, Great Responsibility, Pt. 2 - Into the Spider-Verse

Tue, 01 Jan 2019 06:00:00 -0000

The remarkable new animated film SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDERVERSE has us thwipping through the beloved web-slinger’s cinematic history to see how it culminated in a Miles Morales origin story that doubles as a giddy trip through Spidey-lore. After some collective swooning over SPIDERVERSE’s unique and eye-popping style and clever conceit, we put the new film in conversation with another top-tier Spider-man film, Sam Raimi’s 2004 sequel SPIDER-MAN 2, to see what the films share, and how they differ, in their respective handling of their various Spider-entities, their villains, and their setting. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SPIDER-MAN 2, INTO THE SPIDERVERSE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

*Show Notes*

Works Cited

• “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse directors on the film’s gorgeous style,” by Devon Maloney (TheVerge.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Phil Johnson and Rich Moore’s RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET and Jacques Audiard’s THE SISTERS BROTHERS

• Keith: Jon S. Baird’s STAN & OLLIE

• Tasha: Hirokazu Koreeda’s SHOPLIFTERS

• Scott: Travis Knight’s BUMBLEBEE, George Tillman Jr.’s THE HATE U GIVE, patreon.com/gemko

Outro Music: Chris Pine, “Spidey-Bells”

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#158: Great Power, Great Responsibility, Pt. 1 - Spider-Man 2

Tue, 25 Dec 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Spider-Man, the web-slinging comics creation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, has made the leap to movie screens many times, but arguably never as successfully as in Sam Raimi’s 2004 sequel SPIDER-MAN 2 — or, perhaps, in the new animated entry INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE. This week we’re putting two of Spidey’s cinematic high-water marks in conversation, beginning with a deep dive into why SPIDER-MAN 2 holds up so well, how its performances and action work together to honor its comic-book roots, and whether we prefer our web-shooters organic or engineered. Plus, some feedback on recent episodes and a reader question about whether different generations regard the film canon differently.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all Spider-men (or Spider-women, or Spider-pigs) by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#157: Girl World, Pt. 2 - The Favourite

Tue, 18 Dec 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Our trip through Girl World makes its second stop with Yorgos Lanthimos’ new period piece THE FAVOURITE, to see how its portrayal of women battling for social advantage in Queen Anne’s court looks next to the more contemporary high-school machinations of 2004’s MEAN GIRLS. After sharing our reactions to THE FAVOURITE and pinpointing its most “Lanthimosian” characteristics, we pit these two films against each other to see which portrayal of the cruelty and backbiting of Girl World—and Guy World!—is ultimately more fetch. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MEAN GIRLS, THE FAVOURITE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Roy Del Ruth’s IT HAPPENED ON FIFTH AVENUE

• Tasha: John McPhail’s ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE

• Scott: Michael Dweck’s THE LAST RACE

• Genevieve: Wash Westmoreland’s COLETTE

Outro Music: New Kids on the Block, “Favorite Girl”

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#156: Girl World, Pt. 1 - Mean Girls

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE FAVOURITE is, in the words of star Rachel Weisz, a bit like a “high-stakes MEAN GIRLS”: It’s the story of a woman in power challenged by a fresh young outsider, only it plays out in the halls of court rather than the halls of a suburban high school. In this half of our pairing examining the power plays and back-biting of “Girl World,” we look back first at Mark Waters’s MEAN GIRLS to ask whether the much-quoted Tina Fey-penned comedy is still totally fetch, and which of its insights about teen girl-dom circa 2004 still resonate today. Plus, some feedback on recent episodes and a discussion of other pairings we considered for THE FAVOURITE.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MEAN GIRLS, THE FAVOURITE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro Music: Boomkat, “Rip Her to Shreds”

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#155: The Chicago Way, Pt. 2 - Steve McQueen's "Widows"

Tue, 04 Dec 2018 06:00:00 -0000

We return to the City of Big Shoulders circa the present day for a discussion of Steve McQueen's thrilling new WIDOWS, a Chicago-set heist movie that builds on a foundation of urban corruption in a manner reminiscent of Michael Mann's 1981 debut THIEF. After sharing our reactions to WIDOWS, we look at the two films in tandem to see how they portray their respective criminal leaders, how they incorporate the city's deeply entrenched corruption and cynicism, and how they each handle Scott's Beloved Violence (TM). Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THIEF, WIDOWS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Sara Colengelo's THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

• Scott: Lazarus Lake's THE BARKLEY MARATHONS: THE RACE THAT EATS ITS YOUNG

• Tasha: The Coen Bros.' THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS

Outro Music: Sade, "The Big Unknown"

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#154: The Chicago Way, Pt. 1 - Michael Mann's "Thief"

Tue, 27 Nov 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Director Steve McQueen’s new thriller WIDOWS is a Chicago-set heist film that puts to good use the city’s notorious corruption, which puts it in the company of Michael Mann’s stylish 1981 feature debut THIEF. In this half of our Windy City-centric pairing, we dig into THIEF and its strangely compelling criminal protagonist Frank, played by James Caan, to see what the film says about the kind of city Chicago was (and is), and the kind of filmmaker Mann would become. Plus, still more feedback on Bradley Cooper's version of A STAR IS BORN.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THIEF, WIDOWS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro Music: Tangerine Dream, “Final Confrontation”

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#153: Lost Films Found, Pt . 2 - Shirkers

Tue, 20 Nov 2018 06:00:00 -0000

A landmark first feature shot in the 90s but never seen until now.

Where Orson Welles' THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND is the story of a movie finished years after its director let it go, Sandi Tan’s new SHIRKERS is the story of a film its director could never really let go. In this half of our discussion on lost films found, we share our reactions to Tan’s unusual film, before bringing in Welles' WIND to see what the two films share in their portraits of auteurism, their difficult production histories, and their respective movies-within-the-movie. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, SHIRKERS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730..

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Frederick Wiseman’s MONROVIA, INDIANA

• Keith: Luca Guadagnino’s SUSPIRIA

• Tasha: Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl’s PROSPECT

Outro Music: Weish’s “Tick Tick”

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#152: Lost Films Found, Pt. 1 - The Other Side of the Wind

Tue, 13 Nov 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Orson Welles' final film is finally finished.

We’re switching things up this week to look at a pair of new films that are also old films — sort of — which together show that while making movies is always hard, some are harder than others. Orson Welles shot THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND decades ago, but the previously unfinished film is only seeing the light of day now, alongside a documentary about another kind of lost film, Sandi Tan’s SHIRKERS. In this first half, we dig in to why WIND is the loudest of the many ghosts haunting Welles’ filmography, debating whether it feels like a finished film, or even a good film, and to what degree it needs to be either. Plus, some feedback on would-be pairings past and our recent query on what a ‘90s STAR IS BORN would look like.

Outro Music: Queen, “Ride The Wild Wind”

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#151: A Star Is Born, Pt. 2 - Bradley Cooper (2018)

Tue, 06 Nov 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Bradley Cooper’s debut directorial feature A STAR IS BORN is the fourth film to bear that title, and the second to translate this Hollywood tale of rising and falling fame to the music industry. And much like George Cukor’s 1954 version starring Judy Garland, it’s a fantastic showcase for its leading lady, played this time around by Lady Gaga as an aspiring songwriter to Bradley Cooper’s fading rock god. In bringing this oft-told tale to the screen, Cooper’s version follows most of of the broad strokes of its predecessors — but does it do enough to distinguish itself among its lineage? We talk it over before getting into the connections between Cooper and Cukor’s STARS, from their respective approaches to musical performance to their messy gender dynamics. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all versions of A STAR IS BORN by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

*Show Notes*

Works Cited

• “How the Media Would Have Covered the Events of A Star Is Born,” by Nate Jones (Vulture.com)

• “A Star Is Born Makes a Romance of Rock’s Most Damaging Myths,” by Sam Adams (Slate.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: George Cukor’s WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD?

• Keith: Elizabeth Chomko’s WHAT THEY HAD

• Tasha: Joseph Kahn’s BODIED

• Scott: Ol Parker’s MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN

Outro Music: Lady Gaga, “La Vie En Rose”

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#150: A Star Is Born, Pt. 1 - George Cukor (1954)

Tue, 30 Oct 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Bradley Cooper’s new A STAR IS BORN remake is a current-day spin on a Hollywood fable that’s been around since the 1930s, about a struggling male star and the young ingenue he pushes toward fame. But its music-industry setting makes it a particularly apt match for George Cukor’s 1954 musical spin on the tale, starring a career-redefining Judy Garland as the titular star to James Mason’s fading one. In this half of our two-part discussion of the films, we dig into the legend and legacy of Cukor’s STAR, piece together what the film lost and gained via studio meddling and reconstruction, and debate the nature of the story’s central tragedy. Plus, by listener request, we give some of our recommendations for first-time film festival-goers.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all of Hollywood’s takes on A STAR IS BORN by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro Music: Judy Garland, “Born In A Trunk”

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#149: Robert Redford, Pt. 2 - The Old Man and the Gun

Tue, 23 Oct 2018 04:00:00 -0000

Robert Redford says that his starring role in David Lowery’s new THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN will be his final film performance, and if that turns out to be the case, it is in many ways an ideal bookend to Redford’s breakout role in the classic 1969 Western BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. In this second half of our Redford pairing, we talk over the many echoes between OLD MAN and BUTCH CASSIDY, from their respective views on a life of crime and methods of robbery, to how each treats their central cad’s trusting love interest. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Drew Goddard’s BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE

• Scott: The Ringer’s HALLOWEEN UNMASKED podcast, Tamara Jenkins’ PRIVATE LIFE

• Keith: Robert Siegel’s CRUISE and Phil Alden Robinson’s SNEAKERS

Outro Music: Bonnie “Prince” Billy, “Easy Does It”

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#148: Robert Redford, Pt. 1 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Tue, 16 Oct 2018 04:00:00 -0000

David Lowery’s new THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN draws purposely and purposefully on the legacy of Robert Redford, which makes it a perfect bookend to Redford’s star-making turn in George Roy Hill’s elegiac 1969 blockbuster BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. In this first half of our Redford double feature, we dive into that earlier film’s legacy, considering its place in the Western tradition, its quirky yet widely appealing tone, and the complimentary but very different performances of Redford and his co-star, Paul Newman. Plus, some feedback on our recent episodes on MALCOLM X and BLACKKKLANSMAN.

Outro Music: BJ Thomas, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”

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#147: (Pt. 2) Fahrenheit 11/9 / Roger & Me

Tue, 09 Oct 2018 04:00:00 -0000

Is FAHRENHEIT 11/9, Michael Moore’s latest essay-film about the state of the nation under Trump, a natural extension of the techniques used in his 1989 debut ROGER & ME, or a worst-case-scenario evolution of Moore’s filmmaking style? We try to wrap our heads around that question as we put the two films in conversation, looking at what they tell us about the figure Moore has become, how he’s affected the development of first-person documentary, and whether his approach plays in 2018’s heightened political climate. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ROGER & ME, FAHRENHEIT 11/9, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Alan J. Pakula’s STARTING OVER

• Genevieve: Andrew Bujalski’s SUPPORT THE GIRLS

• Scott: Robert Greene’s BISBEE ’17

Outro Music: K’naan, “With God On Our Side”

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#146: (Pt. 1) Fahrenheit 11/9 / Roger & Me

Tue, 02 Oct 2018 04:00:00 -0000

With Michael Moore’s latest provocation, FAHRENHEIT 11/9, in theaters, we’re returning to the liberal gadfly’s cinematic origins: 1989’s ROGER & ME, a first-person documentary about the declining fortunes of Moore’s hometown of Flint, Michigan, which makes a notable return appearance in his latest film. In this half of the pairing, we consider the impact of Michael Moore, for better and worse, on the culture and documentary form alike, and whether the criticisms leveled at the film upon its release have grown more or less relevant over time. Plus, we take a bite out of the feedback we received on our recent mega-shark double feature.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ROGER & ME, FAHRENHEIT 11/9, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro Music: The Beach Boys, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”

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#145: (Pt. 2) BlackKklansman / Malcolm X

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 04:00:00 -0000

Though BLACKKKLANSMAN is, like MALCOLM X, drawn from real life, Spike Lee’s newest film takes more liberties in telling its ostensibly true story (something that’s drawn criticism from some corners). And also like MALCOLM X, it’s a film set in the past that’s commenting, often directly, on the present. Together the two films give us a lot to talk about, from their respective uses of speechmaking and divided identities, to their perspectives on white allies. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MALCOLM X,

BLACKKKLANSMAN, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• Boots Riley’s thoughts on Blackkklansman:

twitter.com/BootsRiley/status/1030575674447212544

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Colin Minihan’s WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE

• Scott: Bing Liu’s MINDING THE GAP

• Genevieve: Susan Johnson’s TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE

• Keith: Steve Mitchell’s KING COHEN: THE WILD WORLD OF FILMMAKER LARRY COHEN

Outro Music: Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose’s “Too Late To Turn Back Now”

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#144: (Pt. 1) BlackKklansman / Malcolm X

Tue, 04 Sep 2018 04:00:00 -0000

Spike Lee’s new BLACKKKLANSMAN is an urgent call to look to the past to understand the present, an approach it shares with many of Lee’s films, though perhaps none as strongly as his 1992 epic biopic MALCOLM X. The films revisit two different chapters in 20th-century history, and star two different members of the Washington family — Denzel and his son, John David — but both are pure Lee in both their narrative motivations and their filmmaking technique. In this half, we consider what makes MALCOLM X the rare cradle-to-grave biopic that works, how Lee finds the dynamism in near-constant speechmaking, and whether Angela Bassett elevates a thankless role, or simply channels its innate nuance. Plus, some feedback asking our two less confrontational co-hosts to step up with their unpopular opinions.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MALCOLM X, BLACKKKLANSMAN, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro Music: Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come”

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#143: (Pt. 2) Jaws / The Meg

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 04:00:00 -0000

Jon Turteltaub’s new late-summer sharkstravaganza THE MEG isn’t shy about the debt it owes to Steven Spielberg’s JAWS, nor about its clear conception as an international co-production partially aimed at the Chinese market. We discuss whether those qualities end up being an asset or a liability in our discussion of THE MEG, before bringing in JAWS to examine how the shark movie has progressed, and not, from 1975 through the current day. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about JAWS, THE MEG, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “The 20-year journey of The Meg, the movie the internet wouldn’t let die,” by Brian Raftery (Wired.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: byNWR.com

• Genevieve: Lenny Abrahamson’s THE LITTLE STRANGER

• Tasha: Jon M. Chu’s CRAZY RICH ASIANS

Outro Music: Lady Gaga, “Teeth”

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#142: (Pt. 1) Jaws / The Meg

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 04:00:00 -0000

The new Jason Statham late-summer vehicle THE MEG, like so many middling shark movies before it, can trace its lineage directly to the 1975 film that made us afraid to go into the water: Steven Spielberg’s JAWS. In this half of our sharktastic discussion, we’re diving in (cautiously) to what your NPS crew considers a perfect movie, considering what gives JAWS its hidden depths, what it told us about the director Spielberg would become, and whether its impact on the blockbuster model is a net positive for movies. Plus, some feedback on our recent MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and SORRY TO BOTHER YOU episodes.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about JAWS, THE MEG, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “The great lost Jaws rip-off” by Keith Phipps

• “The men, monsters, and troubled waters of Jaws” by Noel Murray, Keith Phipps, Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, and Scott Tobias

Outro Music: Dwight Twilley Band, “Shark”

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#141: (Pt. 2) Mission: Impossible - Fallout / Mission: Impossible (1996)

Tue, 14 Aug 2018 04:00:00 -0000

With its latest entry FALLOUT, the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise has solidified its evolution from the spy thriller Brian De Palma made in 1996 into the setpiece-centric, Tom Cruise-endangering action series we know it as today. In this half of our franchise-spanning conversation, we look at what FALLOUT, helmed by first-time returning director Christopher McQuarrie, brings to the table in terms of stakes-raising action and plot. Then we pull at the many strings connecting the two ends of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise, most notably its seemingly ageless star, Tom Cruise, as well as its treatment of Ethan Hunt’s associates, both professional and romantic. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE, give or take a FALLOUT, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited: • Get Ready for Mission: Impossible—Fallout With This Recap of the Entire Series (From Michelle Monaghan’s Character’s Perspective) by Matthew Dessem (Slate.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Guy Richie’s THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

• Keith: Aaron Horvath and Peter Rida Michail’s TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES

• Genevieve: Carlos Lopez Estrada’s BLINDSPOTTING

• Scott: Bo Burnham’s EIGTH GRADE

Outro Music: Lorne Balfe, “Mission: Accomplished”

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#140: (Pt. 1) Mission: Impossible - Fallout / Mission: Impossible (1996)

Tue, 07 Aug 2018 04:00:00 -0000

The new MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — FALLOUT is the latest entry in a franchise that’s become a showpiece for Tom Cruise-endangering stunts and practical effects, but the surprisingly enduring action series began as something more akin to a spy thriller built around a handful of Hitchcockian setpieces. In this half of our franchise-spanning pairing, we look back at 1996’s MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, in which Brian De Palma helped shape what the series would become, while also exerting his own iconoclastic style on the film. Plus, some feedback on our recent episodes on HEREDITARY and DON’T LOOK NOW.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, give or take a FALLOUT, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: Pulp, “I Spy”

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#139: (Pt. 2) Sorry To Bother You / Putney Swope (1969)

Tue, 31 Jul 2018 05:00:00 -0000

As with Robert Downey Sr.’s 1969 satirical oddity PUTNEY SWOPE, there’s a lot going on in Boots Riley’s new SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, which takes a similar anything-goes approach to the intersection of race and capitalism. In the second part of our “white voice” double feature, we dig into the anti-capitalist philosophy that unites Riley’s work and keeps SORRY TO BOTHER YOU on the rails, then we look at how the two films compare in their views of race and capitalism, and their use of satire and surrealism. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PUTNEY SWOPE, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Works Cited: • “Why Sorry To Bother You director Boots Riley thinks artists should be activists” by Alissa Wilkinson (Vox.com)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: The Coup’s SORRY TO BOTHER YOU and TuneYards’ I CAN FEEL YOU CREEP INTO MY PRIVATE LIFE

• Scott: Lynn Ramsay’s YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

• Keith: Lewis Teague’s CUJO

• Tasha: Federico D’Allesandro’s TAU

Outro Music: The Coup f/ Lakeith Stanfield, “OYAHYTT”

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#138: (Pt. 1) Sorry To Bother You / Putney Swope (1969)

Tue, 24 Jul 2018 04:00:00 -0000

Rapper-director Boots Riley has said he hadn’t seen Robert Downey Sr.’s 1969 satirical comedy PUTNEY SWOPE when he made the buzzy new SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, but the films share so much on both a surface level (white men providing the literal voices of black characters) and deeper thematic ones (concerns about capitalism, race, and what it might take to burn down an unjust system) that we had to put them in conversation with each other. In this half, we try to make sense of the fascinating mess that is PUTNEY SWOPE, considering how it works as both satire and comedy, and whether Downey’s choice to overdub his black title character’s voice with his own is an asset or a liability. Plus, feedback on our recent INCREDIBLES 2/GOLDFINGER episodes and some general thoughts on auteur theory and film categorization.

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#137: (Pt. 2) Hereditary / Don't Look Now

Tue, 17 Jul 2018 04:00:00 -0000

Ari Aster’s debut feature HEREDITARY carries over the themes of grief, guilt, and extrasensory perception found in Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 shocker DON’T LOOK NOW, another emotionally grueling story about parents wrestling with loss. After discussing our sometimes-visceral reactions to Aster’s film, we put these two movies in conversation with each other, talking over their use of shock tactics, the supernatural, and a memorable setting. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DON’T LOOK NOW, HEREDITARY, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• "How Hereditary composer Colin Stetson made the movie 'feel evil,'" by Bryan Bishop (The Verge)

• "The biggest shock in Hereditary was almost much worse," by Bryan Bishop (The Verge)

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: “How Pixar’s Open Sexism Ruined My Dream Job” by Cassandar Smolcic

(Variety/Medium) and Debra Granik’s LEAVE NO TRACE

• Scott: Tim Wardle’s THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS

• Keith: Dave Itzkoff’s ROBIN and Marina Zenovich’s ROBIN WILLIAMS: COME INSIDE MY MIND

Outro Music: The Muppets, “Pass It On”

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#136: (Pt. 1) Hereditary / Don't Look Now

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Ari Aster’s breakout debut HEREDITARY draws on a fair number of horror touchpoints, but it’s linked by its themes of parental grief and psychic distress to another terrifying film about the lingering impact of a death in the family: Nicolas Roeg’s form-busting 1973 thriller DON’T LOOK NOW. In this half focused on Roeg’s film, we discuss why the film’s intensity of emotion is integral to its horror, what makes its shadowy vision of Venice so unnerving, and what's behind the film’s famously graphic sex scene. Plus, some feedback on our recent episode on GOLDFINGER and INCREDIBLES 2.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DON’T LOOK NOW, HEREDITARY, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Don’t Look Now” by Torch Song

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#135: (Pt. 2) Incredibles 2 / Goldfinger

Thu, 28 Jun 2018 05:00:00 -0000

On the surface, Brad Bird’s new animated family adventure INCREDIBLES 2 wouldn’t seem to have a lot in common with Guy Hamilton’s swingin’ 1964 James Bond entry GOLDFINGER, but superhero films and spy movies are actually pretty closely thematically related, as we discover in our comparison of the two films. After discussing our reactions to INCREDIBLES 2, a follow-up to what one of us calls “a perfect movie,” we look at how these two very different versions of 1960s heroism compare in their evolution (and establishment) of familiar tropes, in their respective wish-fulfillment fantasies, and in how they handle extraordinary individuals with a license to kill. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about GOLDFINGER, INCREDIBLES 2, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Show Notes

Your Next Picture Show: • Scott: The Science Behind Pixar exhibit

• Tasha: David Lynch and Kristine McKenna’s ROOM TO DREAM

• Keith: Sidney J. Furie’s THE IPCRESS FILE

Outro Music: Michael Giacchino, “Pow! Pow! Pow! - Mr. Incredible’s Theme”

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#134: (Pt. 1) Incredibles 2 / Goldfinger

Tue, 26 Jun 2018 05:00:00 -0000

This week on the podcast, it’s supervillains, secretive heroes, and slippery schemes as we pair Brad Bird’s new, long-delayed INCREDIBLES 2 with arguably the best iteration of one of Bird’s oft-cited reference points — James Bond — the third film in the Bond franchise, 1964’s GOLDFINGER. In this Bond-centric first half, we discuss how GOLDFINGER helped codify the 007 we know so well today, how its aspirational qualities and gender politics have aged, and how playing Bond shapes an actor’s subsequent career. Plus, some (semi-spoiler-y) feedback on our recent episode on FIRST REFORMED.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about GOLDFINGER, INCREDIBLES 2, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Goldfinger” by Shirley Bassey.

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#133: (Pt. 2) First Reformed / Taxi Driver

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Our examination of Paul Schrader’s fixation with “God’s Lonely Man” continues with the critic-turned-screenwriter-turned-director’s 20th film, the searing and excellent FIRST REFORMED, which shares more in common with the Schrader-scripted TAXI DRIVER than just a lonely male protagonist. After examining our reactions to FIRST REFORMED — including its bold ending — we look at how these two films make use of their female characters and the idea of the male savior, what they have to say about societal values and decline, and their conspicuous use of voiceover. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TAXI DRIVER, FIRST REFORMED, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Alex Richanbach’s IBIZA

• Scott: Baltasar Kormakur’s ADRIFT

• Keith: THE ATOMIC CAFE and THE VALLEY OF GWANGI

Works cited: “Let’s talk about the ending of First Reformed,” by Kevin Lincoln (Vulture.com)

Outro Music: Iris Dement, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”

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#132: (Pt. 1) First Reformed / Taxi Driver

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Paul Schrader’s excellent, difficult new film FIRST REFORMED inspires us to travel back to Schrader’s first screenwriting collaboration with Martin Scorsese and grapple with TAXI DRIVER, to see how Schrader’s vision of “God’s Lonely Man” first graced movie screens. In this first half focusing on TAXI DRIVER, we discuss the techniques Scorsese uses to force us into Travis Bickle’s sick mind, and consider what effect that approach has had on the reception and legacy of this “dangerous” film. Plus, some feedback on our recent episode on THE RIDER, and another question that asks us to ponder the state of STAR WARS.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TAXI DRIVER, FIRST REFORMED, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Late For The Sky” by Jackson Browne

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#131: (Pt. 2) Deadpool 2 / Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Thu, 31 May 2018 04:00:00 -0000

In part two of our comparison of two part twos, we dig into the meta magic that animates both GREMLINS 2 and DEADPOOL 2 (and get a little meta ourselves in the process). After discussing what works and doesn’t in DEADPOOL 2, a film with a lot that works and a lot that doesn’t, we look at how these two studio sequels tap into similar but different veins of self-aware and reference-based humor, how they play with the restrictions and perks of studio filmmaking, and how to break the fourth wall without losing the audience. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about GREMLINS 2, DEADPOOL 2, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show: • Tasha: Taika Waititi’s HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE and John Cameron Mitchell’s HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES• Genevieve: Agnes Varda and JR’s FACES PLACES• Keith: Christopher Nolan’s “unrestored” 70mm 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and Jennifer Fox’s THE TALE• Scott: Joe Dante’s HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, James Schamus’s INDIGNATION, and John Boorman’s QUEEN & COUNTRY

Outro Music: Celine Dion f/Deadpool, “Ashes”

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#130: (Pt. 1) Deadpool 2 / Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Tue, 29 May 2018 04:00:00 -0000

The new DEADPOOL 2 shares a self-aware sensibility and anarchic spirit with Joe Dante’s GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH, which saw the director returning reluctantly to the franchise and wreaking havoc on everything that had made it a hit, up to and including the much-loved (by everyone but Dante) mogwai Gizmo. That approach works far better for some of us that others, and so we spend much of the first half of this pairing debating whether GREMLINS 2 is a funny movie, a good movie, both — or neither. Plus, feedback on our recent episodes pairing X2 and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about GREMLINS 2, DEADPOOL 2, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “New York, New York,” by Tony Randall

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#129: (Pt. 2) Avengers: Infinity War / X2: X-Men United

Thu, 17 May 2018 05:00:00 -0000

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is the culmination of a decade of Marvel moviemaking, but much of the mechanics of this massive superteam machine can be traced back further, to what was once the biggest teamup of the modern superhero era, 2002’s X2: X-MEN UNITED. After we spend some time helping Scott work out his emotions surrounding INFINITY WAR, we dive into the connections between these two films, including their mass-extinction plots, their lazily conceived romantic pairings, and their respective fealty to their comics source material. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about X2, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show: • Genevieve: Paul King’s PADDINGTON 2• Scott: Tony Zierra’s FILMWORKER• Tasha: Julia Hart’s FAST COLOR• Keith: Mike Flanagan’s HUSH

Outro Music: Infinity War Cast, “The Marvel Bunch” (via The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon)

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#128: (Pt. 1) Avengers: Infinity War / X2: X-Men United

Tue, 15 May 2018 05:00:00 -0000

The Russo Brothers’ new, massive AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR may exist in a different cinematic universe than Bryan Singer’s 2003 sequel X2: X-MEN UNITED, but the two films use a lot of the same tricks to bring Marvel's four-color heroes to a live-action setting, and both function as middle chapters in a bigger ongoing saga. In this half of the pairing, we consider how X2’s superteam dynamics look after 15 years of subsequent superhero-movie evolution, dig into the malleability of the mutant metaphor, and wonder whether the morality of mutant freedom is as cut-and-dry as that metaphor suggests. Plus, feedback on some recent episodes and a discussion of our thought process around superhero-movie pairings.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about X2, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “X-Men Opening Theme” by Ron Wasserman

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#127: (Pt 2) The Rider / Close-Up

Thu, 03 May 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Chloe Zhao’s THE RIDER’s naturalistic synthesis of documentary and narrative has some roots in Abbas Kiarostami’s 1990 Iranian classic CLOSE-UP, but with a very different story to tell, about a very different part of the world. After discussing what made The Rider one of our favorite films of the year so far, we look at how these two films both dance on the line separating fact and fiction, through their use of non-actors, their respective sense of place, and their preoccupation with identity. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CLOSE-UP, THE RIDER, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Kay Cannon’s BLOCKERS

• Scott: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s THE ENDLESS

• Keith: Francois Truffaut’s TWO ENGLISH GIRLS and MISSISSIPPI MERMAID

Outro Music: Woody Guthrie, “Gamblin’ Man”

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#126: (Pt. 1) The Rider / Close-Up

Tue, 01 May 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Chloe Zhao’s new THE RIDER lives in the space between the real world and a fictional world that was memorably carved out by Abbas Kiarostami’s 1990 classic CLOSE-UP, which blends documentary and narrative to find a third approach that draws on the strengths of both while committing to neither. In this half of the comparison, we dig into what makes CLOSE-UP tick, where it fits into a Western understanding of Iranian cinema, and how Kiarostami calls attention to the artificiality of filmmaking. Plus, feedback on our recent episodes on CHICKEN RUN and ISLE OF DOGS.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CLOSE-UP, THE RIDER, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#125: (Pt. 2) Isle of Dogs / Chicken Run

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 05:00:00 -0000

We continue our examination of stop-motion animals conspiring to escape captivity by bringing in ISLE OF DOGS, Wes Anderson’s new Japan-set homage/provocation, to see how it stacks up against Aardman Animations’ 2000 feature CHICKEN RUN. After weighing the controversy that’s arisen around ISLE OF DOGS against our own reactions to the film, we dig into what unites these two tonally distinct features, from their deployment of cinematic reference points to their ideas about human/animal interaction to their respective death machines. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CHICKEN RUN, ISLE OF DOGS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Your Next Picture Show: • Tasha: Sergio G. Sanchez’s MARROWBONE• Keith: Plane viewing via the Starz app• Genevieve: Jeff Baena’s THE LITTLE HOURS• Scott: Christian Nemescu’s CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’

SHOW NOTES:

Works Cited:• “Wes Anderson’s ‘Isle of Dogs’ is often captivating, but cultural sensitivity gets lost in translation” by Justin Chang (latimes.com)• “Orientalism Is Alive And Well In American Cinema” by Allison Willmore (buzzfeed.com)• “Unpacking the Akira Kurosawa References in Isle of Dogs” by Charles Bramesco (vulture.com)• “Wes Anderson Explains Hayao Miyazaki’s Influence on ‘Isle of Dogs’” by Zack Sharf (indiewire.com)• “Stream These 12 Great Films From Romania” by Scott Tobias (nytimes.com)

Outro Music: Cat Stevens, “I Love My Dog”

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#124: (Pt. 1) Isle of Dogs / Chicken Run

Tue, 17 Apr 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Is there such a thing as “auteurist animation”? That’s a question that unites this week’s pairing, which looks at two highly collaborative stop-motion animated films that nonetheless bear the fingerprints of a singular filmmaking presence: Wes Anderson’s new ISLE OF DOGS and Aardman Animations’ 2000 feature CHICKEN RUN, co-directed by Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park. In this half of the pairing we focus on CHICKEN RUN, digging into what exactly gives it that “Aardman Touch,” whether its storyline reflects its status as a US-Britain co-production, and the advantages of silicone over plasticine when it comes to chicken puppets. Plus, feedback on our recent episodes on TRON and READY PLAYER ONE.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CHICKEN RUN, ISLE OF DOGS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

SHOW NOTES:

Works Cited: “Home is a reminder that DreamWorks Animation needs an actual identity” by Tasha Robinson (thedissolve.com)

Outro music: “Flip, Flop, and Fly” by Ellis Hall

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#123: (Pt. 2) Ready Player One / Tron (1982)

Thu, 05 Apr 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Steven Lisberger’s groundbreaking live-action Disney film TRON is one of the few 1980s properties that doesn’t get explicitly referenced in Steven Spielberg’s new adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel READY PLAYER ONE, but the earlier film makes up a significant portion of RP1’s source code. After discussing our reactions to READY PLAYER ONE, and hashing out what made Cline’s novel become so strangely controversial, we look at what connects and distinguishes these two films about life inside a video game, from their attitudes about human/computer relationships to how they approach the idea of corporate control. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TRON, READY PLAYER ONE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Your Next Picture Show: • Genevieve: Anders Walter’s I KILL GIANTS• Scott: Andrew Haigh’s LEAN ON PETE• Tasha: Rich Moore’s WRECK-IT RALPH

SHOW NOTES:

Works Cited:• “The Ready Player One Backlash, Explained” by Constance Grady (Vox.com)• “Ready Player One is a truly awful book. I’m really looking forward to the movie” by Todd VanDerWerff (Vox.com)• “Ernest Cline: Ready Player One” (review) by Kevin McFarland (AVClub.com)• Ernest Cline’s “Ultraman is Airwolf” (ErnestCline.com)• “Here are all the references in Ready Player One” by Abraham Riesman (Vulture.com)• “I Kill Giants director Anders Walter on making a likable fantasy with a hateful protagonist” by Tasha Robinson (TheVerge.com)• “Our film critic and the director of a movie he hated sat down and tried to work out their differences” by David Ehrlich (Indiewire.com)

Outro Music: Rush, “2112 (The Temples of Syrnix)”

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#122: (Pt. 1) Ready Player One / Tron (1982)

Tue, 03 Apr 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Steven Spielberg’s new READY PLAYER ONE turns videogaming into both a fantasy adventure and a meta-narrative about adventure fantasies, a premise that feels directly inspired — and given Ernest Cline’s source novel, almost certainly is — by Steven Lisberger’s 1982 Disney oddity TRON. Before digging into what connects the two films, we dive into TRON’s glow-y, rudimentarily CGI-ed mainframe to consider the bits and bytes that drive this fascinatingly flawed film, from its confusing religious undertones (overtones?) to its strange real world/virtual world disconnect. Plus, we continue to wade through the ocean of feedback on our episodes pairing STALKER and ANNIHILATION.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TRON, READY PLAYER ONE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Only Solutions” by Journey (TRON OST)

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#121: (Pt. 2) Thoroughbreds / Diabolique (1955)

Thu, 22 Mar 2018 05:00:00 -0000

Like H.G. Clouzot’s DIABOLIQUE, Cory Finley’s directorial debut THOROUGHBREDS develops around a plot between two women who enter into a pact to murder a purely malevolent man, but to much different effect. After discussing our reactions to THOROUGHBREDS’ hyper-formal style and disconcerting ending, we dig into how the two films compare and contrast in terms of their many stylistic flourishes, their motivations for murder, and their respective killer conspiracies. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DIABOLIQUE, THOROUGHBREDS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Your Next Picture Show: • Keith: Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea’s CLOUZOT’S INFERNO• Genevieve: Anna Deavere Smith and Kristi Zea’s NOTES FROM THE FIELD• Scott: Clarence Brown’s INTRUDER IN THE DUST

Outro Music: The Sweet Hurt, “All The Things”

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#120: (Pt. 1) Thoroughbreds / Diabolique (1955)

Tue, 20 Mar 2018 12:00:00 -0000

Cory Finley’s stylish directorial debut THOROUGHBREDS follows an unlikely pairing of women as they endeavor to kill a domineering man in their life, a setup reminiscent of H.G. Clouzot’s classic 1955 shocker DIABOLIQUE, which took that premise and then applied one of cinema’s all-time greatest twists. In this half of our pairing, we dig deep into DIABOLIQUE, discussing whether its legendary ending is “spoiler-proof,” admiring the skill with which Clouzot keeps viewers off their guard (and how it differs from the approach of Clouzot’s contemporary, Alfred Hitchcock), and debating what makes for a believable on-screen drowning. Plus, a glimpse at the mountain of feedback we received on our episodes pairing STALKER and ANNIHILATION.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DIABOLIQUE, THOROUGHBREDS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Deadly Valentine” by Charlotte Gainsbourg

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#119: (Pt. 2) Annihilation / Stalker (1979)

Thu, 08 Mar 2018 06:00:00 -0000

We take another science-fiction-adjacent journey into the unknown via Alex Garland’s new ANNIHILATION, a distinctive cinematic vision that nonetheless calls back to Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 film STALKER in terms of its structure and filmmaking — if not quite the specifics of its dreamlike narrative and themes. After discussing what puzzled and delighted us about ANNIHILATION, we discuss what connects it to STALKER, and how both challenge viewers in their own way. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about STALKER, ANNIHILATION, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Your Next Picture Show: • Genevieve: Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman’s LOVING VINCENT• Tasha: Duncan Jones’ MOON• Keith: Saul Bass’ PHASE IV• Scott: Travis Wilkerson’s DID YOU WONDER WHO FIRED THE GUN?

SHOW NOTES:Works Cited:• “So, the lady or the tiger? 28 stories that make the audience choose the ending” by Tasha Robinson et al (The A.V. Club) • “The original scripted ending of Annihilation sounds better” by Tasha Robinson (The Verge)• “Annihilation Co-Composer Ben Salisbury Explains How That Weird Little Melody Wound Up in the Film’s Trailer” by Marissa Matinelli (Slate.com)• Instagram account @petrifiedrainbow

Outro Music: Crosby, Stills & Nash “Helplessly Hoping”

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#118: (Pt. 1) Annihilation / Stalker (1979)

Tue, 06 Mar 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Alex Garland’s new ANNIHILATION is a loose adaptation of a novel, but its premise, themes, and style give it just as strong a connection to Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 philosophical science fiction film STALKER. In this half of the pairing, we venture into STALKER’s mysterious Zone on a search for meaning and metaphor within an enigmatic cinematic landscape that’s as beguiling as it is intimidating. Plus, feedback on some recent episodes that were, and episodes that might have been.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about STALKER, ANNIHILATION, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Meditation” by Eduard Artemiev

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#117: (Pt. 2) The Shape of Water / The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)

Thu, 22 Feb 2018 06:00:00 -0000

We return to the deep, dark waters of the id to unpack what SHAPE OF WATER director Guillermo Del Toro saw in Jack Arnold’s 1954 horror-sci-fi classic CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON that inspired him to literalize a relationship between a woman and a fish-man. After analyzing the range of reactions we had toward Del Toro’s film and debating whether it is a “snowglobe movie,” we plunge into the connections that link the two films, from the obvious character analogs to their not-so-obvious shared nostalgia. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, SHAPE OF WATER, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Joe Dante’s MATINEE

• Scott: William Wyler’s MRS. MINIVER

• Tasha: Agnieszka Smoczynska’s THE LURE

Outro Music: Sally Hawkins, “You’ll Never Know”

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#116: (Pt. 1) The Shape of Water / The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)

Tue, 20 Feb 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Guillermo Del Toro has made clear that his new THE SHAPE OF WATER stems directly from his obsession with 1954’s THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, and his desire to see the “romance” between the monster and leading lady work out. We unpack that desire by revisiting Jack Arnold’s horror-sci-fi classic, to consider the film’s place in the Universal Monsters pantheon and mid-century sci-fi boom alike, ponder what makes the image of a screaming woman being spirited away by a monster so enduring, and pinpoint the Herzogian echoes in the film's ill-fated excursion to the Amazon. Plus, some feedback on our recent episodes on A FUTILE AND STUPID GESTURE and PHANTOM THREAD.

Outro music: “Underwater Love” by Smoke City

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#115: (Pt 2) A Futile and Stupid Gesture / Wet Hot American Summer

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 06:00:00 -0000

David Wain’s new A FUTILE AND STUPID GESTURE brings the deconstructive spirit of his cult comedy classic WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER to the biopic formula, putting a meta, self-aware spin on the story of Doug Kenney, co-founder of The National Lampoon. After digging into the benefits and limitations of Wain’s approach as applied to a sprawling biopic-slash-portrait of a scene, we talk over how the two films work together, as points of comparison as well as contrast. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, A FUTILE AND STUPID GESTURE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Elaine May’s A NEW LEAF

• Genevieve: Michael Almeryeda’s MARJORIE PRIME

• Scott: Abbas Kiarostami’s 24 FRAMES

Outro Music: Martin Mull, “The Time Of My Life”

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#114: (Pt. 1) A Futile and Stupid Gesture / Wet Hot American Summer

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 06:00:00 -0000

David Wain’s new biopic spoof A FUTILE AND STUPID GESTURE had a pretty ignominious Netflix debut, but that seems in keeping with the comedic director’s history of films that are unappreciated in their time but grow a cult following — a history that was established with 2001’s WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, a Sundance flop that’s now rightly considered a comedy classic. In the first half of our comparison of the two films, we talk over our WET HOT impressions then and now, share some theories for why it didn’t hit with critics or audiences, and consider the limitations of Wain’s affectionate but ultimately insincere, sketch-comedy-influenced style. Plus, some feedback on our recent episodes on PHANTOM THREAD and I, TONYA.

Outro music: “Higher and Higher” by Craig Wedron and Theodore Shapiro

Articles cited:

• Tonya Harding Would Like Her Apology Now, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (New York Times)

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#113: (Pt. 2) Phantom Thread / Rebecca (1940)

Thu, 25 Jan 2018 05:00:00 -0000

With PHANTOM THREAD, Paul Thomas Anderson has repurposed REBECCA to his own ends, telling a personal story that’s unique from the original yet still resonates with echoes of Hitchcock’s gothic romance. We tug at the many threads Anderson has woven throughout his film, before diving into what unites it with REBECCA, from the two films’ character analogs to their complementary relationships with food. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about REBECCA, PHANTOM THREAD, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: William Oldroyd’s LADY MACBETH and Frederic Tcheng’s DIOR AND I

• Scott: Michal Marczak’s ALL THESE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

• Keith: Christopher Landen’s HAPPY DEATH DAY

• Tasha: Brian Taylor’s MOM AND DAD

Outro Music: Chic, “I Want Your Love”

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#112: (Pt. 1) Phantom Thread / Rebecca (1940)

Tue, 23 Jan 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Paul Thomas Anderson has made it clear that his new PHANTOM THREAD is a purposeful riff on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 Best Picture winner REBECCA, inspiring us to return to Manderley for a reflection on the film that brought Hitchcock to Hollywood (and to producer David O. Selznick, whom he famously clashed with). We talk over what REBECCA gained and lost from being produced under the Hays Code, what it signaled for Hitchcock’s career going forward, and what to make of the two big relationships (or would-be love triangle) at its center. Plus, some belated but welcome feedback on our CALL ME BY YOUR NAME discussion.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about REBECCA, PHANTOM THREAD, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Walking With a Ghost” by Tegan and Sara

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#111: (Pt. 2) I, Tonya / To Die For (1995)

Thu, 11 Jan 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Like Gus Van Sant’s TO DIE FOR, Craig Gillespie’s new I, TONYA takes a light, playful tone with a lot of ugly events, an approach that’s earned it acclaim and some criticism, particularly for its treatment of domestic violence. We talk over our reactions to that and the rest of I, TONYA, then dive into the many connections between these two films, from their portrayals of a scandal-hungry media to their depictions of ambitious women in bad marriages to their conspicuous use of attention-getting music. Then we wrap up by sharing our individual picks for the top 5 films of 2017.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TO DIE FOR, I, TONYA, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro Music: Joanie Sommers, “Little Girl Bad”

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#110: (Pt. 1) I, Tonya / To Die For (1995)

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 06:00:00 -0000

Craig Gillespie’s crowd-pleasing new I, TONYA features a tragicomic tone, a genesis in tabloid true-crime, and an abundance of style, all qualities it shares with Gus Van Sant’s 1995 mockumentary TO DIE FOR, starring an ascendant Nicole Kidman. In this half of our discussion of the two films, we attempt to pinpoint where TO DIE FOR fits into Van Sant’s varied filmography, how it navigates its tricky tonal and narrative divides, and what exactly its broad satire is actually targeting. Plus, in place of our usual Feedback segment, our four hosts share the first half of their individual lists of 2017’s best films.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TO DIE FOR, I, TONYA, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

**Show Notes**

Outro music: “Season of the Witch,” by Donovan

Works cited:

• “Naked Animals and Sacred Cows: Buck Henry” by Tim Sheridan at StopSmilingOnline.com

• “The 15 best movies of 2017” by Tasha Robinson at TheVerge.com

• Filmspotting #661 and #662 (“Top 10 Films of 2017”) at filmspotting.net

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#109: (Pt. 2) Call Me By Your Name / The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Thu, 28 Dec 2017 06:00:00 -0000

We return to the consideration of pleasure and heartbreak under the Italian sun via Luca Guadagnino’s sensual new romance CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, a film with a very different narrative than THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY that nonetheless shares some of its major characteristics. After sharing our reactions to CMBYN, we dive into a discussion of what the two films share, and don’t, in their portrayals of life in (and a little bit out of) the closet, their approach to the Italian/American cultural divide, and their use of music as an emotional and thematic underpinning. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Dee Rees’ MUDBOUND

• Scott: Jairus McLeary and Gethin Aldous’ THE WORK

• Keith: Wim Wenders’ THE AMERICAN FRIEND

Outro Music: The Psychedelic Furs, “Love My Way”

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#108: (Pt. 1) Call Me By Your Name / The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Tue, 26 Dec 2017 06:00:00 -0000

The new CALL ME BY YOUR NAME’s gorgeous invocation of Italian summers and repressed desire brought to mind an earlier film that does the same, though to much darker ends: Anthony Minghella’s 1999 film THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, starring top-of-their-games Matt Damon, Jude Law, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Gwyneth Paltrow. In this half of the discussion, we dig into what all three of those actors bring to their respective roles, as well as the additions Minghella brings to his adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel — including a pivotal character created for the film — and how he manages the film’s tricky tone. Plus, feedback from our recent episodes on ED WOOD and THE DISASTER ARTIST.

**Show Notes**

Outro music: “Tu Vuò Fà l’Americano” from THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY

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#107: (Pt. 2) The Disaster Artist / Ed Wood (1994)

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 06:00:00 -0000

Our so-bad-it’s-good moviemaking double feature continues with a new film from James Franco that channels the spirit of Tim Burton’s ED WOOD: THE DISASTER ARTIST, about the tortured making of Tommy Wiseau’s cult hit THE ROOM. We discuss the new film in some depth before going into its connections to ED WOOD, from their depictions of the filmmaking process to their shared instinct to send their tragic subjects out on a high note. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ED WOOD, THE DISASTER ARTIST, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: “The Battle over ‘The Room’” (Entertainment Weekly); “What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in The Disaster Artist,” by Marissa Martinelli (Slate); “The Room Actors: Where Are They Now” (Funny or Die)

• Genevieve: Craig Gillespie’s I, TONYA

• Keith: You Must Remember This: Boris and Bela

• Scott: Santiago Rizzo’s QUEST

Outro Music: Kitra Williams, “You Are My Rose”

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#106: (Pt. 1) The Disaster Artist / Ed Wood (1994)

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 06:00:00 -0000

Inspired by James Franco’s new THE DISASTER ARTIST, we look back at another movie about bad movies and the people who make them, Tim Burton’s 1994 comic biodrama ED WOOD. In this half of our discussion, we muse on the motivations driving Wood and Burton alike, locate the emotional core of this highly stylized film, and try to determine what makes a good bad movie, rather than just a plain old bad one. Plus, some feedback on a recent episode and a suggestion for a pairing that might have been.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ED WOOD, THE DISASTER ARTIST, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

**Show Notes**

Outro music: “Que Sera Sera,” by Bill Murray w/Mariachi Band (from ED WOOD deleted scenes).

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#105: (Pt. 2) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri / State & Main (2000)

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 06:00:00 -0000

Following our visit to David Mamet’s STATE AND MAIN, we head to another small town for a different sort of redemption tale: Martin McDonagh’s THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI. While the two films may not have a whole lot of overlap in terms of plot, they share a theatrical lineage as well as a tweaked view of small-town life, and both feature stacked ensembles with a strong handle on writerly dialogue, all of which we dig into here. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about STATE AND MAIN, THREE BILLBOARDS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Brett Morgan’s JANE and Chris Smith’s JIM & ANDY: THE GREAT BEYOND

• Genevieve: Nora Twomy’s THE BREADWINNER

• Tasha: Joachim Trier’s THELMA

• Keith: Jamie M. Dagg’s SWEET VIRGINIA

Outro Music: The Four Tops, “Walk Away Renee”

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#104: (Pt. 1) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri / State & Main (2000)

Tue, 28 Nov 2017 06:00:00 -0000

Inspired by Martin McDonagh’s new pitch-black comedy THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, we look back at another playwright-driven film about redemption set in a small town populated by a colorful ensemble: David Mamet’s 2000 comedy STATE AND MAIN. How does the sex scandal at the center of Mamet's film look in a post-Weinstein 2017? What are we to make of the film’s cynicism toward Hollywood and those who populate it? And just what is the deal with that running matzo gag? We discuss all that and more, plus dig into some excellent feedback from recent episodes.

**Show Notes**

Outro music: “The Song Of The Old Mill” by Patti Lupone

Articles cited:

• “David Mamet’s State And Main Engineers A Perfect Punchline,” by Mike D’Angelo (The AV Club)

• William H. Macy Interview (2001), by Scott Tobias (AV Club)

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#103: (Pt. 2) Lady Bird / Ghost World (2001)

Thu, 16 Nov 2017 06:00:00 -0000

We return to the dawn of the millennium to discuss Greta Gerwig’s new solo directorial debut LADY BIRD, and how it echoes the sardonic coming-of-age comedy that characterizes Terry Zwigoff’s GHOST WORLD. After parsing our individual reactions to and readings of LADY BIRD, we look at how the two films compare in terms of their view of nostalgia and mainstream culture, as well as the respective family dynamics that affect each protagonist’s view of the world. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about GHOST WORLD, LADY BIRD, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Taika Waititi’s BOY

• Tasha: Caroline Labreche and Steeve Leonard’s RADIUS

• Scott: Switchblade Sisters podcast

Show Notes:

Articles cited:

• “How Greta Gerwig Turned the Personal ‘Lady Bird’ Into a Perfect Movie,” by Esther Zuckerman (RollingStone.com)

• Interview with RADIUS’ Caroline Labreche and Steeve Leonard, by Tasha Robinson (TheVerge.com)

Outro Music: Dave Matthews Band, “Crash Into Me”

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#102: (Pt. 1) Lady Bird / Ghost World (2001)

Tue, 14 Nov 2017 06:00:00 -0000

Greta Gerwig’s fantastic directorial debut LADY BIRD is set in 2002, when its protagonist might have recognized a contemporary kindred spirit in Enid, the protagonist of Terry Zwigoff’s 2001 coming-of-age comedy GHOST WORLD: Both characters are creatively minded outcasts who are leaving high school and facing uncertainty about their futures. In this half of our pairing of the two films, we focus on the prickly and not-quite-lovable iconoclasts who populate GHOST WORLD, discussing its garish version of the turn of the millennium, how it translates Danial Clowes’ comic of the same name for movie screens, and whether it contains the best existential fart joke ever committed to film. Plus, feedback from our recent episodes on MOTHER! and THE GRADUATE.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about GHOST WORLD, LADY BIRD, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Devil Got My Woman” by Skip James

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#101: (Pt. 2) The Graduate (1967) / The Meyerowitz Stories

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Noah Baumbach’s new THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED), starring Dustin Hoffman, has some strong connections to Hoffman’s star-making role in Mike Nichols’ THE GRADUATE, in particular, its depiction of generations trying to escape one another. After discussing our largely positive reactions to the new film (with one major exception), we talk over how the two stories reflect and refract each other, in their Hoffman performances as well as their respective family dynamics and female characters. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE GRADUATE, THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Jeremy Rush’s WHEELMAN

• Genevieve: Sean Baker’s THE FLORIDA PROJECT

• Keith: Elaine May’s THE HEARTBREAK KID

• Scott: David Miller’s LONELY ARE THE BRAVE

Outro Music: Adam Sandler and Grace Van Patten, “Genius Girl”

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#100: (Pt. 1) The Graduate (1967) / The Meyerowitz Stories

Tue, 31 Oct 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Noah Baumbach’s new THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES casts Dustin Hoffman on one side of a generational divide, which naturally brings to mind Hoffman’s breakout role as a character on the other side of that generation divide: Mike Nichols’ seminal 1967 comedy-drama THE GRADUATE. In this half of the discussion dedicated to that earlier film, we discuss how THE GRADUATE’s sympathies shift with age, argue over the nature of Ben Braddock’s affair with Mrs. Robinson, and swoon together over that perfect ending. Plus, a brief sampling of the mountain of feedback we’ve received on our recent episodes on BLADE RUNNER 2049 and MOTHER!

**Show Notes**

Articles cited: "The Best Thing About Blade Runner 2049 Is What It Isn't" at Vox.com

Outro music: “Sound of Silence” by Simon &Garfunkel

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#099: (Pt. 2) Blade Runner 2049 / Blade Runner (1982)

Thu, 19 Oct 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Our consideration of Blade Running through the decades continues with a discussion of Denis Villeneuve’s new BLADE RUNNER 2049, which picks up several of the threads left dangling by Ridley Scott’s BLADE RUNNER and adds a few more of its own in the process. After discussing our mixed reactions to the new film, we dig into the many ways 2049 is informed by its predecessor, and the ways in which it manages to distinguish itself as well. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BLADE RUNNER, BLADE RUNNER 2049, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: S. Craig Zahler’s BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99

• Genevieve: Susan Lacy's SPIELBERG

• Tasha: Angela Robinson’s PROFESSOR MARSON AND THE WONDER WOMEN

• Keith: John Carroll Lynch's LUCKY and Kevin Phillips’ SUPER DARK TIMES

Outro Music: Lauren Daigle, "Almost Human"

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#098: (Pt. 1) Blade Runner 2049 / Blade Runner (1982)

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Denis Villeneuve’s new sequel BLADE RUNNER 2049 made an inauspicious debut with audiences and critics alike when it opened, something it shares with its predecessor and inspiration, Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi noir touchstone BLADE RUNNER. Will the new sequel follow in its ancestor’s footsteps and become a cult classic that viewers are still picking apart 35 years later? It’s too soon to tell, but we do know that the original BLADE RUNNER offers plenty to talk about in this first half of our discussion, which digs into the film’s unusual tone and structure, its many variations, and whether the “Is Deckard a replicant?” question ultimately matters. Plus, some belated feedback from our recent episodes on STAND BY ME and IT.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BLADE RUNNER, BLADE RUNNER 2049, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Tears In Rain” by Vangelis

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#097: (Pt. 2) Mother! / The Exterminating Angel

Thu, 05 Oct 2017 05:00:00 -0000

We return to the realm of societal allegory in our examination of Darren Aronofsky’s divisive horror-comedy-whatsit MOTHER! and how it relates to Luis Buńuel’s 1962 surrealist satire THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL, a film Aronofsky has cited as direct inspiration. After grappling with our reactions to MOTHER! and its abundance of malleable metaphors, we look at what the two films share — and what they don’t — in terms of their central allegories, their relationship with religion, their tone and style, and depiction of nightmares. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL, MOTHER!, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: JG Ballard’s HIGH RISE and David Cronenberg’s SHIVERS

• Scott: David Gordon Green’s STRONGER

• Tasha: Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert’s THE BIG BAD FOX AND OTHER TALES

Outro Music: Kate Bush, “Mother Stands For Comfort”

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#096: (Pt. 1) Mother! / The Exterminating Angel

Tue, 03 Oct 2017 05:00:00 -0000

In Darren Aronofsky’s MOTHER!, Jennifer Lawrence is stuck in a creepy old estate while a series of bizarre, inexplicable events drive her to the brink of madness — a premise and tone that’s surprisingly similar to the surreal black comedy of Luis Buñuel, in particular his 1962 classic THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL. In this half of the discussion, we dig into Buñuel’s film, its place in his filmography, and what the film's deadpan satire and surrealism reveal about its maker's opinion of human nature. Plus, some belated feedback from our recent episodes on OCEAN’S ELEVEN and LOGAN LUCKY. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL, MOTHER!, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Exterminating Angel” by The Creatures

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#095: (Pt. 2) It (2017) / Stand By Me

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 05:00:00 -0000

We return to the realm of Stephen King adaptations for a first-impressions review of the new IT, whose vision of 1980s childhood camaraderie and adventure shares a lot with STAND BY ME’s vision of 1950s childhood camaraderie and adventure — only with a really scary clown in the mix. We dig into how the two films reflect some of King’s favored tropes around bullies and adults, how they each handle their period settings, and whether or not they’re both “rite of passage” movies. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about STAND BY ME, IT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Stephen King’s PET SEMATARY and “Why is John Denver's Music In So Many Movies This Year?” by Karen Han at Vulture.com

• Keith: Robert Bierman’s VAMPIRE’S KISS

• Scott: Houda Benyamina’s DIVINES and Adam Leon’s TRAMPS

Outro Music: New Kids On The Block, “Hangin’ Tough”

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#094: (Pt. 1) It (2017) / Stand By Me

Tue, 19 Sep 2017 05:00:00 -0000

On the surface, Andy Muschietti’s new adaptation of Stephen King’s IT is about a scary clown and fear itself, but beyond that, it’s also about friendship, nostalgia, and the moment when childhood ends — themes it shares with another of the better cinematic King adaptations, Rob Reiner’s 1986 film STAND BY ME. In this half of our comparison of the two films, we speculate why King thought STAND BY ME was the first film adaptation to get his work right, what in the film holds up (the performances), and what doesn’t (that framing device). Plus, some belated feedback from our recent episodes on THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS and DETROIT.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about STAND BY ME, IT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Stand By Me” by Ben E King

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#093: (Pt. 2) Logan Lucky / Oceans 11

Thu, 07 Sep 2017 05:00:00 -0000

For the second half our gentleman-thieves pairing, we bring LOGAN LUCKY into the discussion, to see how it fits into the reliably eclectic filmography of Steven Soderbergh, and how it stands up to its clear forebear within that filmography, 2001’s OCEAN’S ELEVEN. But there are marked distinctions between the two films as well, from their wildly different settings and characters to the mechanics and styles of their central heists, all of which we get into in Connections. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about OCEAN’S ELEVEN, LOGAN LUCKY, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Matt Spicer’s INGRID GOES WEST

• Keith: Michael Curtiz’s THE BREAKING POINT

• Tasha: Jules Dassin’s RIFIFI and Sidney Lumet’s DOG DAY AFTERNOON

• Scott: Eliza Hittman’s IT FELT LIKE LOVE and BEACH RATS

Outro music: Farrah Mackenzie, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”

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#092: (Pt. 1) Logan Lucky / Oceans 11

Tue, 05 Sep 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Steven Soderbergh’s recent return to feature filmmaking, LOGAN LUCKY, has drawn comparisons to the director’s 2001 smash hit OCEAN’S ELEVEN, and not without good reason: The two crowd-pleasing heist films share a lot in terms of their structure, team dynamics, and filmmaking style. In this first half of our discussion of the two films, we dive into Soderbergh’s OCEAN’S to talk over how this finely tuned entertainment machine reflects its director’s preoccupations as a filmmaker, how it utilizes its movie-star-heavy cast, and whether it has anything deeper on its mind than a good time at the movies. Plus, some belated feedback from our recent episodes on 1968's PLANET OF THE APES and WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about OCEAN’S ELEVEN, LOGAN LUCKY, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “A Little Less Conversation” by Elvis Presley

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#091: (Pt. 2) Detroit / Battle of Algiers

Thu, 24 Aug 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Like Gillo Pontecorvo’s BATTLE OF ALGIERS, Kathryn Bigalow’s new film DETROIT expresses a strong point of view on racial injustice through a careful recreation of a real historical event — and also like BATTLE OF ALGIERS, it’s stirred up some controversy surrounding its docu-journalistic approach. We unpack that controversy, and DETROIT more generally, before diving into how the two films compare in their visceral style, their portrayals of law enforcement, their use of female characters, and more. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, DETROIT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Dave McCary’s BRIGSBY BEAR

• Keith: Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis’ WHOSE STREETS? and Ronal Neame’s HOPSCOTCH

• Scott: Gillo Pontecorvo’s BURN

• Genevieve: Amanda Lipitz’s STEP

Outro music: The Roots, “It Ain’t Fair”

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#090: (Pt. 1) Detroit / Battle of Algiers

Tue, 22 Aug 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Kathryn Bigelow’s intense, controversial new docu-drama DETROIT owes no small debt to Gillo Pontecorvo’s intense, controversial 1966 film THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, which covers another volatile historical moment with a potent mixture of newsreel-style realism and expressionistic fervor. In this half of our comparison of the two films, we discuss what makes BATTLE OF ALGIERS such an unsettling and resonant film, debate what point it’s making around the issues of terrorism and torture, and, somehow, find the echoes of Pontecorvo’s film in James Cameron’s AVATAR. Plus, a listener takes us up on our request for feedback on “anything else film-related” with a fruitful prompt on unadaptable adaptations.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, DETROIT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#089: (Pt. 2) Planet of the Apes ('68) / War for the Planet of the Apes

Thu, 10 Aug 2017 05:00:00 -0000

We return to the PLANET OF THE APES series to see how it’s evolved from the 1968 original to Matt Reeves’ stunning new WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. After discussing why the new trilogy, and WAR in particular, works so well in the current era, we examine how the two ends of this franchise speak to each other over the span of five decades, discussing their ape effects, their social themes, and their very different central performances. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PLANET OF THE APES, WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Scott: Amanda Lipitz’s STEP, Kogonada’s COLUMBUS, and Brett Leonard’s THE LAWNMOWER MAN

• Keith: the rest of the PLANET OF THE APES original series

• Genevieve: The Ross Bros.’ CONTEMPORARY COLOR

Outro music: The Kinks, “Apeman”

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#088: (Pt. 1) Planet of the Apes ('68) / War for the Planet of the Apes

Tue, 08 Aug 2017 05:00:00 -0000

This week, we’re exploring two films from the opposite ends of the same ape-filled franchise. First, we focus on the cry of “YOU MANIACS” heard ’round the world, 1968’s PLANET OF THE APES, which introduced a fruitful concept that would continue evolve through sequels, TV series, remakes, and a modern prequel series, the most recent installment of which, WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, we’ll discuss in Pt. 2. In this half, we tease out the various thematic notions that have kept this premise enticing over the decades, debate the merits of Charlton Heston’s hammy lead performance, and more. Plus, some spirited feedback from our recent episode on A GHOST STORY.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PLANET OF THE APES and WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, and all other ape-related queries, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#087: (Pt. 2) A Ghost Story / Carnival of Souls (1962)

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 05:00:00 -0000

We return to a plane somewhere between life and death (and between horror and drama) to discuss David Lowery’s new A GHOST STORY, both on its own and in the context of Herk Harvey’s similar haunting and genre-defying CARNIVAL OF SOULS. We talk over how the two films tackle big, weighty concepts like the nature of time and the afterlife, as well as how their distinctive use of music contributes to their eeriness. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CARNIVAL OF SOULS, A GHOST STORY, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Genevieve: Douglas McGrath’s EMMA

• Tasha: Tom Weaver’s interviews with Candace Hilligoss on BMonster.com and Hirokazu Koreeda’s AFTER LIFE

• Scott: Brian Knappenberger’s NOBODY SPEAK: TRIALS OF THE FREE PRESS and Malcolm D. Lee’s GIRLS TRIP

Outro music: Dark Rooms, “I Get Overwhelmed” from A GHOST STORY

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#086: (Pt. 1) A Ghost Story / Carnival of Souls (1962)

Tue, 25 Jul 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Inspired by David Lowery’s new A GHOST STORY, we’re looking back at another microbudget horror-drama that’s haunting in both the literal and puntastic sense: Herk Harvey’s creepy cult hit CARNIVAL OF SOULS, a 1962 oddity about a woman trapped somewhere between life and death who can’t ditch the strange figures following her. In this half of the discussion, we look for links to Harvey’s background in industrial filmmaking and interest in European cinema, contextualize the film’s strangely wooden performances, and consider just what makes this strange film work, seemingly against all odds. Plus, some feedback on recent episodes and a brief discussion of another pairing we discussed for this week.

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#085: (Pt. 2) Okja / Babe (1995)

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Bong-Joon Ho’s new Netflix release OKJA has some commonalities with Chris Noonan’s 1995 family film BABE — beyond just a porcine protagonist — but it’s a decidedly different animal. In this half of the discussion, we talk over the odd beast that is OKJA, then consider the how it and BABE both engage with the question of whether it’s wrong to eat meat, how they use very different settings and time periods to similar effect, and more. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BABE, OKJA, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Keith: Nicholas Ray’s THEY LIVE BY NIGHT

• Scott: Alison Maclean’s THE REHEARSAL

• Genevieve: Edgar Wright’s BABY DRIVER, Michael Showalter’s THE BIG SICK, and James Mangold’s LOGAN NOIR

Outro music: The Mamas and The Papas, “Dedicated To The One I Love”

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#084: (Pt. 1) Okja / Babe (1995)

Tue, 11 Jul 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Inspired by Bong Joon-ho’s new OKJA, we look back at another whimsical fantasy film about a super-pig and its human, albeit one of a decidedly different breed: BABE, Christopher Noonan’s 1995 family hit about a taciturn farmer and his innocent sheep-pig. In this half of the discussion, we consider the film’s well-honed storybook sensibility, the endurance of its then-cutting-edge special effects, and the note-perfect perfect performance at its center. Plus, some of the excellent feedback we received on our recent episodes on THE THING and IT COMES AT NIGHT.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BABE, OKJA, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#083: (Pt. 2) It Comes At Night / The Thing

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 14:00:00 -0000

We return to matters of isolation and paranoia in the second half of our comparison of John Carpenter’s THE THING with Trey Edward Shults’ new horror-drama IT COMES AT NIGHT. After debating IT COMES AT NIGHT’s difficult ending and almost perverse commitment to ambiguity, we talk over what the two films share — and don’t — in their portrayals of paranoia, the ties that bind, the apocalypse, and, naturally, dogs. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE THING, IT COMES AT NIGHT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: John Sayles’ LIMBO and Jack Sholder’s THE HIDDEN

• Keith: Brad Bird’s THE IRON GIANT

• Scott: Alain Guiraudie’s STAYING VERTICAL

Outro music: Brian McOmber, “It Comes At Night”

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#082: (Pt. 1) It Comes At Night / The Thing

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 12:00:00 -0000

Trey Edward Shults’ new IT COMES AS NIGHT takes as one of its influences John Carpenter’s 1982 bloody masterpiece THE THING, which is as good a reason as any to revisit one of our favorite genre films. In this half of the discussion, we geek out over the film’s how’d-they-do-that gore effects and distinctive ensemble, and theorize why THE THING didn’t connect with audiences in 1982, and why it holds up so well today. Plus, a small taste of the deluge of feedback we got on our recent episodes on WONDER WOMAN and PATHS OF GLORY.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE THING, IT COMES AT NIGHT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#081: (Pt. 2) Wonder Woman / Paths of Glory

Thu, 15 Jun 2017 05:00:00 -0000

We return to the battlefields of WWI to talk over Patty Jenkins’ new WONDER WOMAN, both on its own and as it relates to Stanley Kubrick’s PATHS OF GLORY. After discussing what worked and didn’t work in WONDER WOMAN, we bring in the Kubrick film to discuss how these two stories approach themes of leadership and the military, as well as their views of the Great War specifically and all war in general. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PATHS OF GLORY, WONDER WOMAN, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• Tasha: Karl Freund's THE MUMMY (1932)

• Keith: Amber Tamblyn's PAINT IT BLACK and Bill Morrison's DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME

• Scott: kogonada.com and the work of Kogonada

• Genevieve: The One Perfect Shot video-essay database (video.filmschoolrejects.com)

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#080: (Pt. 1) Wonder Woman / Paths of Glory

Tue, 13 Jun 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Patty Jenkins’ new WONDER WOMAN takes World War I as its setting, opening up a host of comparisons to a much earlier, much different cinematic vision that looks to the Great War to uncover the best and worst of humanity: Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 anti-war drama PATHS OF GLORY. In this half of the discussion, we focus on PATHS OF GLORY, marveling at its efficiency and technical achievement — and at how both contribute to the film’s delicate but scathing unilateral indictment of the military system. And in lieu of feedback this week, we also discuss some other potential pairings we considered for this episode.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PATHS OF GLORY, WONDER WOMAN, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#079: (Pt. 2) Baywatch / The Brady Bunch Movie

Thu, 01 Jun 2017 05:00:00 -0000

We brave the choppy comedic waters of the new BAYWATCH movie to see how it stacks up against the parodic TV-to-film genius of 1995’s THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE. Spoiler: Not well. But the comparison allows us to unpack the nuances of each film’s comedic approach, and consider how the films’ respective approaches to self-awareness, casting, and sophomoric humor contribute to their overall success. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, BAYWATCH, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

* Genevieve: Howard Zieff’s PRIVATE BENJAMIN

* Tasha: “Logan: Superhero Movies Get Old” by YouTube user Nerdwriter1

* Keith: Goran Olsson’s THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975

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#078: (Pt. 1) Baywatch / The Brady Bunch Movie

Tue, 30 May 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Inspired by the less-than-inspiring new BAYWATCH movie, we consider the strange alchemy that is the cheesy-TV-show-to-feature-film adaptation, via one of the genre’s standout entries: Betty Thomas’ 1995 spoof THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE. In this half of the discussion, we debate how essential knowing the source material is to the BRADY BUNCH MOVIE’s comedy, which of the many standout Brady performances reigns supreme, and whether the film’s moments of slapstick add anything to a movie that thrives on a very different strain of humor. Plus, some feedback from recent episodes.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, BAYWATCH, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#077: (Pt. 2) Stop Making Sense / Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids

Thu, 18 May 2017 05:00:00 -0000

In this half of our appreciation of the late, great director Jonathan Demme, we bring what would be his final film, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE + THE TENNESSEE KIDS, into the mix, to see what connects it to the director’s first foray into the concert-film genre, STOP MAKING SENSE. The two films focus on very different musical acts, but they’re undeniably connected via “the Demme touch,” and function as appropriate bookends to an impressive filmmaking career (which we can’t help but explore a little more broadly in this discussion as well). Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about STOP MAKING SENSE, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE + THE TENNESSEE KIDS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

* Scott: Kitty Greene’s CASTING JONBENET

* Genevieve: Paul Thomas Anderson’s music video for Haim’s “Right Now”

* Keith: Ben Young’s HOUNDS OF LOVE

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#076: (Pt. 1) Stop Making Sense / Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids

Tue, 16 May 2017 05:00:00 -0000

We’re still mourning the recent death of Jonathan Demme, a director of incredible range capable of working across many different genres — most notably, for our purposes, the concert film. This week, we hold our lighters aloft for Demme by looking at his first and last concert films, 1984’s STOP MAKING SENSE and 2016’s JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE + THE TENNESSEE KIDS. In this half, we consider the first film’s enduring legacy and influence on the concert-film genre, and how the film functions as a symbiosis of the unique talents of both Demme and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Plus, some very strange but undeniably well-executed feedback on our recent episodes on BURDEN OF DREAMS and THE LOST CITY OF Z.

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#075: (Pt. 2) The Lost City of Z / Burden of Dreams

Thu, 04 May 2017 05:00:00 -0000

There’s a lot more connecting Les Blank's BURDEN OF DREAMS with James Gray’s new THE LOST CITY OF Z than the jungle setting, though that of course factors into our discussion of the two films. In this half, we share our reactions to Gray’s stately new film before delving into how the two films engage with obsession and hubris, the clash between European and South American cultures, and the handling of early-19th-century stories. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BURDEN OF DREAMS, THE LOST CITY OF Z, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

* Genevieve: Paul F. Tompkins’ “The Great Undiscovered Project” and Jonathan Demme’s RICKI AND THE FLASH

* Keith: Les Blank’s GARLIC IS AS GOOD AS TEN MOTHERS

* Scott: Francois Ozon’s FRANTZ

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#074: (Pt. 1) The Lost City of Z / Burden of Dreams

Tue, 02 May 2017 06:00:00 -0000

James Gray’s new jungle adventure THE LOST CITY OF Z inspired us to take another trip to the Amazon via Les Blank’s BURDEN OF DREAMS, the 1982 documentary chronicling the notoriously difficult filming of Werner Herzog’s Amazonian epic FITZCARRALDO. In this half, we talk about Herzog — both the director and the pop-culture character we’ve come to know — and the borderline-mania that seems to drive his unique process. We also wrestle with what BURDEN reveals about how the indigenous people who worked on Herzog’s film were treated. Plus, some feedback from our recent episodes on THE MATRIX and GHOST IN THE SHELL.

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#073: (Pt. 2) The Matrix / Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 05:00:00 -0000

In this half of our discussion of the “weird conceptual sandwich” that is THE MATRIX and GHOST IN THE SHELL, we puzzle over why the latter hyper-stylish, cerebral film fails where the former succeeds. The two films ultimately have different aims, but their approaches are surprisingly similar — though it’s how they differ that’s most telling. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE MATRIX, GHOST IN THE SHELL, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

* Keith: Makoto Shinkai’s YOUR NAME and David Cronenberg’s EXISTENZ

* Genevieve: Netflix’s FIVE CAME BACK

* Tasha: Jonathan Glazer’s UNDER THE SKIN

* Scott: Oz Perkins’ I AM THE PRETTY THING THAT LIVES IN THE HOUSE and THE BLACKCOAT'S DAUGHTER

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#072: (Pt. 1) The Matrix / Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Tue, 18 Apr 2017 05:00:00 -0000

The poorly received new live-action GHOST IN THE SHELL draws inspiration from a lot of different sources — including one that was itself inspired by the original GHOST IN THE SHELL anime: The Wachowskis’ 1999 future-thriller THE MATRIX, which turns on a similar form of science-fiction dysmorphia. In this half of the discussion, we focus in on tiny miracle that is THE MATRIX, a studio-backed, creator-driven sci-fi film that drew from a deep well of cinematic, literary, and philosophical reference points — and would go on to influence countless other films in turn, including, naturally, the new GHOST IN THE SHELL. Plus, some feedback from our recent episodes on ALIEN and LIFE (2017).

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE MATRIX, GHOST IN THE SHELL, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#070: (Pt. 1) Alien (1979) / Life (2017)

Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:00:00 -0000

The new LIFE has come in for some pointed comparisons to Ridley Scott’s ALIEN, which seems like as good an excuse as any to revisit the unimpeachable 1979 space thriller. In this half of the conversation, we marvel at how a film so narratively economical can be so deliberately paced, and still manage to induce scares after multiple viewings. Plus, some feedback from our recent episodes on KONG: SKULL ISLAND and GET OUT.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ALIEN, LIFE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#069: (Pt. 2) Kong: Skull Island / King Kong (1933)

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 05:00:00 -0000

We return to Skull Island to puzzle over the stylish curiosity that is Jordan Vogt-Roberts’s new take on the classic film monster, KONG: SKULL ISLAND. Why is this movie aping APOCALYPSE NOW? Have we reached our limit of giant CGI creatures pummeling each other? And, most pertinent of all, how does this bigger, bolder vision of Kong reflect and react to the legacy of its legendary cinematic ancestor, 1933's KING KONG? Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about KING KONG, KONG: SKULL ISLAND, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

* Genevieve: Macon Blair’s I DON’T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE

* Keith: Robert Zemeckis’ ALLIED

* Tasha: Danny Boyle’s T2: TRAINSPOTTING

* Scott: Theo Anthony’s RAT FILM and the True/False film festival

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#068: (Pt. 1) Kong: Skull Island / King Kong (1933)

Tue, 21 Mar 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Does every generation get the Kong it deserves? That’s the question on our minds with the release of Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ new take on the great ape, KONG: SKULL ISLAND, which inspired us to go all the way back to the source: 1933’s medium-defining KING KONG. In this half of the discussion, we attempt to separate the movie from the cinema myth, grapple with some less savory aspects of the film’s legacy, and give Keith a few more opportunities to rail against the term “dated.” Plus, a few of the many, many great comments we received in response to our last discussion on GET OUT.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about KING KONG, KONG: SKULL ISLAND, or any other Kongs present and future, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#067: (Pt. 2) Get Out / People Under The Stairs

Thu, 09 Mar 2017 06:00:00 -0000

Jordan Peele’s writing-directing debut GET OUT translates the satirical horror of Wes Craven’s THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS from the Reagan era to the Obama era, to very different — and highly entertaining — effect. In this half of our discussion of the two films, we rave for a bit about GET OUT’s willingness to make us uncomfortable, then discuss the two films’ respective horror-to-satire ratios, as well as their approach to comedy. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS, GET OUT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

* Keith: Gore Verbinski’s A CURE FOR WELLNESS

* Tasha: Colm McCarthy’s THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

* Scott: Anthony Mann/John Alton collaborations T-MEN, RAW DEAL, and HE WALKED BY NIGHT

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#066: (Pt. 1) Get Out / People Under The Stairs

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 06:00:00 -0000

Inspired by Jordan Peele’s excellent new writing-directing debut GET OUT, we’re looking at another horror film that openly addresses race, inequality, and its era: the 1991 Wes Craven oddity THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS. In this half, we debate how the earlier film’s central metaphor holds up divorced from the Reagan era that inspired it, how it reflects and fits into Craven’s directorial viewpoint, and to what extent it's actually scary and/or funny. Plus, excerpts from some of the most detailed feedback we’ve ever received, on our previous BATMAN discussion.

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#065: (Pt. 2) Batman (1989) / The Lego Batman Movie

Thu, 23 Feb 2017 06:00:00 -0000

Tim Burton’s BATMAN kick-started the cinematic and pop-culture proliferation of the now-ubiquitous Batman, who today can not only sustain multiple movies at once, but also provides ample fodder for the reference-happy new THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE. In this half of our discussion of all things Batmen, we talk about all the ways LEGO BATMAN draws on — and benefits from — the character’s long history, and consider how the larger Bat Universe has evolved on film since Burton’s day. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BATMAN, LEGO BATMAN, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

* Tasha: ’66 BATMAN, BATMAN: RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS, and BOY WONDER: MY LIFE IN TIGHTS

* Keith: Kirsten Johnson’s CAMERAPERSON

* Genevieve: Stephen Frears’ FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

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#063: (Pt. 2) The War Room / Weiner

Thu, 09 Feb 2017 13:00:00 -0000

We turn our attention now to Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg's cringe-inducing 2016 behind-the-scenes campaign documentary WEINER, which plays in many ways like a natural extension of 1993’s THE WAR ROOM. After discussing how WEINER plays today — after its star, disgraced Congressman and mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, arguably had a hand in sinking Hillary Clinton’s presidential hopes — we talk about how the newer film’s versions of scandal, politics, and media compares to those of THE WAR ROOM. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE WAR ROOM, WEINER, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

* Genevieve: Michael Dowse’s WHAT IF

* Keith: Michael Dudok du Wit’s THE RED TURTLE

* Scott: Clay Tweel’s GLEASON

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#062: (Pt. 1) The War Room / Weiner

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 13:00:00 -0000

This week’s pairing tracks the rise and fall of Clintonism in America via two behind-the-scenes documentaries following dramatic Democratic campaigns: 1993’s THE WAR ROOM and 2016’s WEINER. In this deep-dive discussion of the earlier film, we talk over the advantages and limitations of Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker's fly-on-the-wall documentary style, compare the yin-yang personalities of stars James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, and, inevitably, wonder about the lasting effects of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign on the 2016 election. Plus, some feedback from our last few episodes.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE WAR ROOM, WEINER, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#061: Live at the Chicago Podcast Festival

Tue, 24 Jan 2017 06:00:00 -0000

In lieu of our regularly scheduled episode — postponed two weeks due to the collision of illness and the Sundance Film Festival — we bring you a recording of our recent live episode, recorded at the Chicago Podcast Festival in November 2016. Inspired by the selection process that goes into each Next Picture Show pairing, with each host pitches a future episode inspired by a 2016 film (and letting the audience decide which we'll do). Plus, a game where the hosts — and live audience — challenge each other to find the connective tissue linking two seemingly unrelated films.

Enjoy, and come back in two weeks for our discussion of WEINER and THE WAR ROOM.

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#060: (Pt. 2) Stranger Than Paradise / Paterson

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 05:00:00 -0000

Jim Jarmusch’s new PATERSON is one of 2016’s best films, and plays like a natural mirror to his breakthrough, STRANGER THAN PARADISE. After waxing rhapsodic about PATERSON for a while, we talk about how the two movies are connected, through their observational approaches, their quirky relationships with time, and their appreciation for the small things in life. We also try in vain to determine whether Jarmusch actually hates dogs, or just finds them unpredictable. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about STRANGER THAN PARADISE, PATERSON, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

* Tasha: John Schlesinger’s COLD COMFORT FARM

* Scott: Fritz Lang’s American films, specifically FURY, YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, SCARLET STREET, and HOUSE BY THE RIVER (as curated from this Noel Murray overview of Lang’s career: thedissolve.com/features/career-view/222-the-sprawling-obsessive-career-of-fritz-lang)

* Keith: Wim Wenders’ KINGS OF THE ROAD

* Genevieve: Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens’ BRIGHT LIGHTS

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#058: (Pt. 2) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg / La La Land

Thu, 29 Dec 2016 06:00:00 -0000

Our melancholy-musical double feature heads from Cherbourg, France, to Los Angeles USA, to see how Damien Chazelle’s new “modern-throwback” musical LA LA LAND stacks up against Jacques Demy’s UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG. We talk over LA LA LAND’s nostalgic appeal and speculate about its staying power, then compare how the two films utilize their settings, love stories, and singing to different but complementary ends. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about UMBRELLA OF CHERBOURG, LA LA LAND, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

*Genevieve: Jeff Nichols’ LOVING

* Keith: Martin Scorsese’s SILENCE, Maren Ade’s TONI ERDMANN, Pedro Almodovar’s JULIETA

* Scott: Karyn Kusama’s THE INVITATION

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#057: (Pt. 1) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg / La La Land

Tue, 27 Dec 2016 06:00:00 -0000

Damian Chazelle’s new big-screen musical LA LA LAND takes its cues from various singing-and-dancing cinematic predecessors, but its melancholy tone is directly descended from Jacques Demy’s classic 1964 musical THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG — a Next Picture Show favorite that we dig into in this first half. We talk over the effects of the film’s sung-through style and working-class setting, and try to pinpoint that certain je ne said quoi that makes UMBRELLAS so indelible. Plus, some feedback on our recent episodes on MOANA and ARRIVAL.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, LA LA LAND, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#056: (Pt. 2) Mulan / Moana

Thu, 15 Dec 2016 06:00:00 -0000

Disney Feature Animation had some ups and downs—both artistic and commercial—in the years between MULAN and MOANA, and we chart them in the second half of our comparison of the two films. After taking a moment for a big collective squee over the great MOANA, we get into the evolution of the Disney female heroine (and her sidekicks) and discuss how music features in these films—perhaps with some singing involved. (You're welcome!) Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MULAN, MOANA or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Supplemental materials:

*"The Translation of 'We Know The Way' From 'Moana' Makes Perfect Sense" (Bustle): bustle.com/articles/196387-the-translation-of-we-know-the-way-from-moana-makes-perfect-sense

*"How Pacific Islanders Helped Disney's 'Moana' Find Its Way" (Vanity Fair): vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/11/moana-oceanic-trust-disney-controversy-pacific-islanders-polynesia

*The 25 Best Films of 2016: A Video Countdown (David Ehrlich): vimeo.com/194508152

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#055: (Pt. 1) Mulan / Moana

Tue, 13 Dec 2016 13:00:00 -0000

MOANA is a successful new entry in Disney Feature Animation’s ongoing experimentation with non-Western stories and non-white characters, an experiment that was still in its nascent stages around the time of 1998’s MULAN. Inspired by an ancient Chinese poem about a female warrior who disguises herself as a man, the film is an odd mishmash of comedy and war movie, of ancient and modern reference points, and of traditional and CG animation. In this half, we talk over how MULAN fares in 2016, and puzzle over a couple of the movie’s stranger casting choices. Plus, lots of feedback, most of it on ARRIVAL.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MULAN, MOANA, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#054: (Pt. 2) Contact / Arrival

Thu, 01 Dec 2016 06:00:00 -0000

Our conversation about movies about talking to aliens moves to the present with Denis Villeneuve’s new ARRIVAL, which hits many of the same narrative points as CONTACT, but points them in a different emotional direction. We talk about our reactions to the newer film, and how its ideas about science, communication, and emotion compare with CONTACT’s. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CONTACT, ARRIVAL, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

00:00-01:40 - Intro

01:41-25:34 - "Arrival"

25:35-39:41 - Connections

39:42-50:40 - Your Next Picture Show:

*Genevieve: Ava DuVernay’s 13TH

*Scott: Paul Verhoeven’s ELLE

*Keith: Criterion’s LONE WOLF AND CUB box set

*Tasha: TORCHWOOD “Children of Earth” miniseries, Ben Wheatley’s HIGH-RISE

50:41-53:41 - Outro

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#053: (Pt. 1) Contact / Arrival

Tue, 29 Nov 2016 06:00:00 -0000

This week, we look to the skies to consider two films about the difficulty of communication between worlds, and the inward journeys involved in looking to the stars. Inspired by Denis Villeneuve’s new ARRIVAL, we begin with an in-depth discussion of an earlier film with which it shares many thematic and narrative elements: Robert Zemeckis' 1997 Carl Sagan adaptation CONTACT. We consider the film’s ambition, dissect its blockbuster qualities, and try to determine what makes this unwieldy, emotional movie work so well, almost despite itself. (Spoiler: It’s mostly Jodie Foster.) Plus, a brief feedback discussion on cultural empathy and the movies.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CONTACT, ARRIVAL, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#052: (Pt. 2) In the Mood for Love / Moonlight

Thu, 24 Nov 2016 06:00:00 -0000

Our discussion of lyrical portraits of unrequited love turns its attention to Barry Jenkins’ MOONLIGHT, the look and feel of which—the final third in particular—recalls the bittersweet tone of Wong Kar-Wai’s IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. We share our reactions to MOONLIGHT, and consider the two films’ shared qualities, including their use of unusual framing and the thematic importance placed on food. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, MOONLIGHT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes:

Intro: 00:00-03:00

Main Discussion: 03:01-39:50

Your Next Picture Show: 39:50-

*Tasha: Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn’s TROLLS

*Keith: Kelly Fremon Craig’s THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN

*Scott: David Farrier’s TICKLED

*Genevieve: Park Chan-Wook’s THE HANDMAIDEN

Outro: 51:07-54:30

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#051: (Pt. 1) In the Mood for Love / Moonlight

Tue, 22 Nov 2016 06:00:00 -0000

Inspired by one of the year’s biggest indie sensations, Barry Jenkins’ MOONLIGHT, we’re looking at another highly romanticized tale of unrequited love: Wong Kar-wai’s beautiful 2000 film IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. In this half, we talk about how affecting LOVE’s central non-love-story is - and why - and consider how the film reflects Wong’s improvisational methods and his desire to create a dreamlike return to the Hong Kong of his childhood. Plus, feedback from our last episode on AMERICAN HONEY and MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, MOONLIGHT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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Short: Elections, Entertainment, and Empathy

Tue, 15 Nov 2016 05:00:00 -0000

This week’s regular episode has been postponed a week, but in the meantime, Tasha and Genevieve get together to chat a little about why we’re postponing, and how we’re collectively figuring out how to care about movies again when so much else is going on in the world.

Check back in two weeks for our regular episodes on IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and MOONLIGHT.

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#049: (Pt. 1) My Own Private Idaho / American Honey

Tue, 01 Nov 2016 05:00:00 -0000

This week, we’ve all come to look for America, and we’re looking for it in a pair of road movies about underprivileged outsiders and the dreams that keep them hustling from place to place. Inspired by Andrea Arnold's sprawling new AMERICAN HONEY, we look back at Gus Van Sant's 1991 indie-punk-surrealist-fantasy-coming-of-age mishmash MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO. In this half, we attempt to wrangle IDAHO's many moving parts, admire and mourn its central performances, and share some crazy (or not so crazy??) fan theories.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, AMERICAN HONEY, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro/Keynote: 00:00-06:11

Main Discussion: 06:12-34:47

Feedback/Outro: 34:48-43:38

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#048: (Pt. 2) Westworld (1973) / Westworld (2016)

Thu, 20 Oct 2016 12:00:00 -0000

We return to WESTWORLD in the second half of our double-feature, this time venturing into the wilds of television to discuss HBO's high-profile new series, which uses the concept of Michael Crichton's 1973 film as a jumping off point for a sprawling meditation on humanity, AI, evil, and where they intersect. We talk about how the series extends some of the ideas of the original film, and talk about what the two share—and don't—in their portrayals of humans, robots, and techno-paranoia. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WESTWORLD v.1.0, WESTWORLD v.2.0, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes:

Intro: 00:00-01:50

Main Discussion: 01:51-42:22

Your Next Picture Show: 42:23-53:56

*Genevieve: Every Frame A Painting

*Scott: Kelly Reichardt's CERTAIN WOMEN

•Keith: Babak Anvari's UNDER THE SHADOW

*Tasha: "How Hollywood Whitewashed the Old West" (The Atlantic), and Rick Morales' BATMAN: RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS

Outro: 53:57-57:09

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#047: (Pt. 1) Westworld (1973) / Westworld (2016)

Tue, 18 Oct 2016 05:00:00 -0000

This week, we take two trips to Westworld—one via hovercraft, in Michael Crichton's 1973 film of the same name, and one via underground train, in the new HBO series that blows out the film's premise to a serialized-television scale. In this half we focus on Crichton's film, questioning whether it's a political film or just a sci-fi lark, how WESTWORLD plays into its creator's ongoing fixations (ahem, JURASSIC PARK), and what the deal is with those weird robot hands. And yes, we also talk robot sex.

Time Codes

Intro/Keynote: 00:00-06:50

Main Discussion: 06:51-36:52

Feedback/Outro: 36:53-44:31

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#046: (Pt. 2) Don't Breathe / Wait Until Dark

Thu, 06 Oct 2016 05:00:00 -0000

In this half, we look at a successor to WAIT UNTIL DARK that puts a very different sort of blind person in the middle of a home invasion: Fede Alvarez's recent horror-thriller DON'T BREATHE, which stars Stephen Lang as a blind ex-Marine who turns out to be much more than a simple victim. We talk over the new movie's more grisly aspects, and compare how the two films both use their settings and space, empathy, and blindness itself to eke different kinds of thrills from their viewers.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WAIT UNTIL DARK, DON'T BREATHE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes

Intro: 00:00-02:19

Main Discussion: 02:20-37:10

Your Next Picture Show: 37:11-44:43

*Keith: IMAGINARY WORLDS podcast

*Scott: Kirsten Johnson's CAMERAPERSON

*Tasha: Andrea Arnold's AMERICAN HONEY and Mira Nair's QUEEN OF KATWE

Outro: 44:44-48:33

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#045: (Pt. 1) Don't Breathe / Wait Until Dark

Tue, 04 Oct 2016 14:00:00 -0000

We return from hiatus with a much-requested pairing inspired by Fede Alvarez's new breakout horror hit, DON'T BREATHE, which reminded us, and our listeners, of a different cinematic take on the story of a blind person fending off a home invasion: Terence Young's WAIT UNTIL DARK, a 1967 Audrey Hepburn-starring thriller that plays on different sympathies than its modern successor, but delivers similarly chilling results.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WAIT UNTIL DARK, DON'T BREATHE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes

Intro/Keynote: 00:00-06:35

Main Discussion: 06:36-40:21

Feedback/Outro: 40:22-50:06

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#044: (Pt. 2) Kubo and the Two Strings / The Dark Crystal

Thu, 08 Sep 2016 07:00:00 -0000

We turn our discussion of puppet-driven fairy-tale adventure stories to Laika Studios' new stop-motion wonder, KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, to see how it extends THE DARK CRYSTAL's tradition of deep personal investment on the part of committed craftspeople. We discuss the two films' shared strengths and weakness, and how they're reflected in how each utilize puppetry, villains, and mythology. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent film-related experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE DARK CRYSTAL, KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes

Intro: 00:00-01:59

Main Discussion: 02:00-37:08

Your Next Picture Show: 37:09-49:46

*Keith: THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION

*Tasha: "How the father of Claymation lost his company" (via Priceonomics.com); Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal; Mark Osborne's THE LITTLE PRINCE (Netflix)

*Genevieve: Jim Henson's Creature Show Challenge, "Return of the Skekses"; Journey; WEINER

Outro: 49:47-52:50

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#043: (Pt. 1) Kubo and the Two Strings / The Dark Crystal

Tue, 06 Sep 2016 17:00:00 -0000

Inspired by the new Laika stop-motion marvel KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, we look back at another unconventional children's movie, made by unconventional creators pushing the envelop of their craft: Jim Henson's live-action puppet fantasy THE DARK CRYSTAL. In this half, we talk about how Henson and conceptual designer Brian Froud created their high-fantasy world, and wonder whether there's room for a satisfying story among all the visual wizardry. Plus, we talk over some of the other suggestions we got for KUBO pairings from our listeners.

Time Codes

Intro/Keynote: 00:00-07:01

Main Discussion: 07:02-41:53

Feedback/Outro: 41:54-50:55

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#041: (Pt 1) Pete's Dragon / The Black Stallion

Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:00:00 -0000

The director of the new Disney live-action remake PETE’S DRAGON, David Lowery, recently cited as inspiration Carroll Ballard’s 1979 film THE BLACK STALLION, noting the older film’s careful merging of art and the mainstream. Following Lowery’s example, we look back this week at THE BLACK STALLION’s wondrous beauty and split structure, and try to ascertain what makes the film unique among films aimed at children. Plus, we’re still fielding feedback from our GHOSTBUSTERS episodes, and we have some more to share.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BLACK STALLION, PETE’S DRAGON, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes

Intro: 00:00-03:41

Keynote: 03:42-07:16

Main Discussion: 07:17-40:35

Feedback/Outro: 40:36-47:28

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#040: (Pt. 2) Suicide Squad / The Dirty Dozen

Thu, 11 Aug 2016 05:00:00 -0000

Our comparison of bad-guys-doing-good films continues with THE DIRTY DOZEN’s ultra-modern, ultra-messy progeny, the new DC Extended Universe entry SUICIDE SQUAD. We try to make sense of the many issues plaguing the newer film, and decipher how the two films each come down on the ideas of villainy and leadership. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE DIRTY DOZEN, SUICIDE SQUAD, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes:

Intro: 00:00-01:45

Main Discussion: 01:46-42:44

Your Next Picture Show: 42:43-52:56

*Scott: Joachim Trier’s LOUDER THAN BOMBS

*Keith: Justin Lin’s STAR TREK BEYOND

*Tasha: Sian Heder’s TALLULAH

*Genevieve: Andrew Haigh’s LOOKING: THE MOVIE

Outro: 52:57-55:01

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#038: (Pt. 2) Ghostbusters (2016) / Ghostbusters (1984)

Thu, 28 Jul 2016 17:00:00 -0000

Our GHOSTBUSTERS discussion turns its attention to Paul Feig's new remake, which was made with obvious affection for (and cameos from) the 1984 version, and replicates certain character types and plot points. But it also breaks from it in significant ways we'll discuss, as well as thoughts on the effects, the villains, New York City, blockbuster culture, and more. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about Oldbusters, Newbusters, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00-02:09

Main Discussion: 02:10-51:24

Your Next Picture Show: 51:25-58:50

*Genevieve: Emily Carmichael's STRYKA

*Tasha: Entertainment Weekly's GHOSTBUSTERS oral history

*Scott: Hirokazu Koreeda's OUR LITTLE SISTER

*Keith: King Hu's A TOUCH OF ZEN

Outro: 58:51-1:02:58

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#037: (Pt. 1) Ghostbusters (2016) / Ghostbusters (1984)

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 05:00:00 -0000

This week, we ain’t afraid of no ghosts, but we’re a little freaked out by the politics of busting them. The strange controversy over Paul Feig's gender-reversed GHOSTBUSTERS has us looking back at the original 1984 GHOSTBUSTERS to see what about it has inspired such strong feeling. In this half of the conversation, we focus on the then-and-now of Ivan Reitman's original, while trying (unsuccessfully) to dodge the dreaded "N" word: "nostalgia." Plus, some extra-long, extra-great feedback from our SUSPIRIA/NEON DEMON episodes.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about Oldbusters, Newbusters, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00-02:50

Keynote: 02:51-05:10

Main Discussion: 05:11-41:02

Feedback/Outro: 41:03-51:25

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#036: (Pt. 2) The Neon Demon / Suspiria

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:00:00 -0000

We move our conversation of Dario Argento's 1977 film SUSPIRIA to Nicholas Winding Refn’s THE NEON DEMON, which works as a contemporary companion piece. In this half, we talk over the two films' respective uses of color, violence, and female competition. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SUSPIRIA, THE NEON DEMON, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes:

Intro: 00:00-02:01

Main Discussion: 02:17-40:13

Your Next Picture Show: 40:14-47:13

*Tasha: ACTION MOVIE KID on YouTube

*Keith: Isaac Florentine's NINJA: SHADOW OF A TEAR

*Scott: Hong-jin Na's THE WAILING

Outro: 47:14-50:18

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#035: (Pt. 1) The Neon Demon / Suspiria

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 05:00:00 -0000

Nicholas Winding Refn’s new THE NEON DEMON inspired us to look back at another tale of female rivalry that plays out in lurid colors and more than a little violence: Dario Argento’s classic 1977 horror movie SUSPIRIA. In this half, we explore the specific, lurid style in which Argento works, and consider how it functions as both cinema and horror. Plus, lots of MEMENTO feedback from our last episode.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about NEON DEMON, SUSPIRIA or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00-03:25

Keynote: 03:26-07:09

Main Discussion: 07:10-42:06

Feedback/Outro: 42:07-51:34

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#033: (Pt. 1) Finding Dory / Memento

Tue, 28 Jun 2016 14:04:00 -0000

The conceit behind Pixar's new FINDING DORY, about Ellen Degeneres' forgetful fish character, inspired us to talk about a very different film about memory and the limits thereof: Christopher Nolan's breakthrough feature MEMENTO. In this half, we consider the unsolvable mysteries of Nolan's film, how it fits into his larger body of work, and whether it qualifies as a noir. Plus, some contentious feedback from our SPINAL TAP/POPSTAR episodes.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MEMENTO, FINDING DORY, or both by sending an email tocomments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes:

Intro: 00:00-03:59

Keynote: 04:00-6:30

Main Discussion: 06:31-38:23

Feedback/Outro: 38:24-54:51

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#031: (Pt. 1) This Is Spinal Tap / Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Tue, 14 Jun 2016 05:00:00 -0000

Inspired by the new Lonely Island feature mockumentary POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING, we look back at the grandaddy of mock-rock-docs: Rob Reiner's THIS IS SPINAL TAP, which helped set the template for modern comedy in more ways than one. In this half of the discussion, we go deep into the hows and why's of SPINAL TAP's improvised humor, and consider how the film's message scans in the current music-industry climate. Plus, lots of feedback from our L.A. CONFIDENTIAL/THE NICE GUYS episode.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THIS IS SPINAL TAP, POPSTAR, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Time Codes:

Intro: 00:00-03:23

Keynote: 03:24-07:04

Main Discussion: 07:05-39:18

Feedback/Outro: 39:19-51:47

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#030: (Pt. 2) L.A. Confidential / The Nice Guys

Thu, 02 Jun 2016 05:00:00 -0000

We bring our discussion of L.A. noir into the modern era by connecting L.A. CONFIDENTIAL with the slick new buddy action-comedy from Shane Black, THE NICE GUYS. The two films are playing on very different sandboxes, and decades, but we find connective tissue in their central ideas of justice, their period settings, and their view of L.A.'s secrets. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, THE NICE GUYS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

TIME CODES

 Intro: 00:00-02:19 

Main Discussion: 02:20-48:33 

Your Next Picture Show: 48:34-59:17 

-Keith: Kaneto Shindo's THE NAKED ISLAND

 -Tasha: Jodie Foster's MONEY MONSTER and Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg's WEINER

-Genevieve: Patton Oswalt's TALKING FOR CLAPPING

-Scott: Arthur Penn's NIGHT MOVES

Next Show Announcement/Goodbyes: 59:18-1:02:30

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#029: (Pt. 1) L.A. Confidential / The Nice Guys

Tue, 31 May 2016 15:00:00 -0000

This week's pairing brings us into the twisted world of L.A. noir, courtesy of two period pieces that follow byzantine plots to the depths of human depravity. Inspired by Shane Black's new THE NICE GUYS, we're revisiting Curtis Hanson's L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, which has a much different tone, but similar spirit. In this half, we zoom in on the tabloid sleaze and police corruption that inform "Confidential," and how it reflects the preoccupations of L.A. noir.

 Intro: 00:00-03:06 

Keynote: 03:07-05:19

 Main Discussion: 05:20-39:45 

Feedback/Outro: 39:46--48:36

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#028: Iron Man / Captain America: Civil War (Pt. 2)

Thu, 19 May 2016 05:00:00 -0000

We return again to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to see how the armor-plated seed planted in IRON MAN has blossomed into the sprawling new CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. We discuss how the newer movie carries its added weight, and compare how the two films - and their MCU brethren - handle matters of heroes, villains, and the Marvel House style. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about IRON MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00-02:14 Main Discussion: 02:15-52:07 Your Next Picture Show: 52:08-1:01:36 -Scott: Paul Thomas Anderson's 35mm music video for Radiohead's "Daydreaming" -Genevieve: Tom King's comic series VISION -Keith: Whit Stillman's LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP -Tasha: Josh Trank's FANTASTIC FOUR Next Show Announcement/Goodbyes: 1:01:37-1:04:52

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#027: Iron Man / Captain America: Civil War (Pt. 1)

Tue, 17 May 2016 05:00:00 -0000

This week, The Next Picture Show is going full-on superhero. Inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest offering, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, we look back at the movie that serves as the Big Bang for the MCU: 2008's IRON MAN. This half of the discussion focuses on how Jon Favreau's interpretation of Tony Stark's superhero transformation helped set the template for what became the biggest thing in modern blockbuster cinema, and how that vision holds up under the weight of what followed. Plus, we share some excellent feedback from the last episode about GREEN ROOM. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about IRON MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Intro: 00:00-03:05 Keynote: 03:06-06:22 Main Discussion: 06:23-42:30 Feedback/Outro: 42:31-50:44

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#026: Assualt On Precinct 13 (1976) / Green Room (Pt. 2)

Thu, 28 Apr 2016 05:00:00 -0000

In this half of our ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13/GREEN ROOM discussion, we bring Jeremy Saulnier's chill-inducing new thriller into the picture, and consider the many ways in which it reflects John Carpenter's earlier work. The two films have a lot to say about each other, particularly in their distinctive approaches to political statement and violence, and the way in which they both use callbacks to create a distinctive narrative. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ASSAULT, GREEN ROOM, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#025: Assault On Precinct 13 (1976) / Green Room (Pt. 1)

Tue, 26 Apr 2016 05:00:00 -0000

As John Carpenter fans, we were excited to see director Jeremy Saulnier citing Carpenter's ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 as a specific influence on his excellent new film GREEN ROOM. Watching the two movies together, it’s hard to miss the connections: Both feature an outnumbered and outgunned group of people barricaded in a small, remote space, figuring out how to either hold off waves of merciless attackers, or make a break for it through enemy lines. In this Carpenter-focused half of this week's discussion, we’ll talk about the roots of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, what it says about its era, and how it reflects some of John Carpenter’s most recognizable signatures as a director. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ASSAULT, GREEN ROOM, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#024: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind / Midnight Special (Pt. 2)

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 05:30:00 -0000

Our CLOSE ENCOUNTERS/MIDNIGHT SPECIAL discussion turns toward the newer film, and the ways it reflects its Spielbergian inspiration – and the many more ways it diverts from the earlier film. We'll talk over how the two films explore spirituality and mystery, and the similar ways they utilize child actors. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#023: Close Encounters of the Third Kind / Midnight Special (Pt. 1)

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 05:00:00 -0000

Director Jeff Nichols cited the 1977 Steven Spielberg classic CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND as one of his primary inspirations for the new MIDNIGHT SPECIAL. But while the two films work toward a similar ending, they don't necessarily work toward the same ends. In this half, we dig into the wonders and optimism of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, and the many ways in which the film reflects both its director and its era. Plus, we share some of the great feedback we received from our PSYCHO/10 CLOVERFIELD LANE episodes. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#021: Psycho (1960) / 10 Cloverfield Lane (Pt. 1)

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 05:00:00 -0000

Two women skip town in a hurry and find themselves in an isolated place, overseen by a gentle-toned but temperamental host: You might think us mad to compare PSYCHO and 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, but we all go a little mad sometimes. There's more than just the setup connecting these two films, though. In this half of the discussion, we dig deep into Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 horror-suspense classic, getting into its legacy, style, and psychology, and how all three affect a modern viewing of the film. Plus, we wrestle with some of the feedback we got for our contentious MASH episode. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PSYCHO, 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#020: MASH / Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Pt. 2)

Thu, 17 Mar 2016 05:00:00 -0000

Our MASH - WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT discussion digs deeper into the two films' many contrasts, finding unexpected connections in the films' depictions of the military, women, and downtime. We also get into the two films' very different strains of black humor. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MASH, WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#019: MASH / Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Pt. 1)

Tue, 15 Mar 2016 14:38:00 -0000

Attention. Attention: This week’s movie pairing looks at the communities that spring up in the middle of war, and the odd ways people try to push back against the insanity that surrounds them. Inspired by the new Tina Fey wartime dramedy WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT, we look back at Robert Altman's 1970 breakthrough MASH to see how the lives of those at war – and the visions of those depicting it – have changed in the years between Korea and Afghanistan. Fittingly, this turns out to be our most contentious selection ever. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MASH, WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#018: The Wicker Man (1973) / The Witch (Pt. 2)

Thu, 03 Mar 2016 06:00:00 -0000

Our THE WICKER MAN - THE WITCH conversation goes deeper into the two films' shared qualities, including their portrayals of religion and women, and their canny use of (very different types of) music. We'll also get deeper into the question of "is it horror?" and whether that ultimately matters. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE WICKER MAN, THE WITCH, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#017: The Wicker Man (1973) / The Witch (Pt. 1)

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 06:00:00 -0000

The buzzy new horror film THE WITCH inspired us to look at another period piece about good, evil, self-righteousness, and murder: Robin Hardy's 1973 cult classic THE WICKER MAN. (No, not the Nicolas Cage one - though it does come up.) In this half of the discussion, we talk over both films' reputations as horror (or not), and get into how THE WICKER MAN cultivates its very specific strain of dread. Plus, lots and lots of feedback from our last Coen Brothers-centric episode. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE WICKER MAN, THE WITCH, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#016: Barton Fink / Hail, Caesar! (Pt. 2)

Thu, 18 Feb 2016 06:00:00 -0000

Our cinematic matchup of Coen brothers past and present continues as we dive deeper into the connections between 1991's BARTON FINK and the new HAIL, CAESAR! In this half of the discussion, we get into the films' shared lineage as "movies about movies," and try to home in on what exactly gives both films "that Coen Brothers feeling." Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BARTON FINK, HAIL, CAESAR!, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#015: Barton Fink / Hail, Caesar! (Pt. 1)

Tue, 16 Feb 2016 06:00:00 -0000

This week's pairing seems like an obvious one: Two Coen Brothers films about Hollywood, set at the same fictional studio, during roughly the same time period–what do you need, a roadmap? But Joel and Ethan Coen's 1991 breakout BARTON FINK has very different things on its mind than the brothers' new HAIL, CAESAR! In the first half of this week's discussion, we get into our various interpretations of BARTON FINK, its titular character, and what it says about the Coens' work as a whole. Plus, listener feedback on our last pairing, complete with some other, non-JOHN CARTER suggestions for a Mars-set double feature. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BARTON FINK, HAIL, CAESAR!, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#012: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? / 45 Years (Pt. 2)

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 17:48:00 -0000

Our discussion of "old marrieds" past and present reveals that Andrew Haigh's new 45 YEARS covers a lot of the same ground as Mike Nichols' WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF — it just does it a lot more quietly. We talk over how the two films relate and diverge when it comes to their depictions of a long marriage, how the past informs those marriages, and what emotional inflections each film brings to the party. Plus, Your Next Picture show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, 45 YEARS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#011: Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? / 45 Years (Pt. 1)

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 06:00:00 -0000

The release of Andrew Haigh's beautiful 45 YEARS got us thinking about another film about the toxic dynamic between a long-married couple: Mike Nichols' 1966 film debut WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? In this half, we discuss how Nichols brought Edward Albee’s play to the screen, how Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton brought the tension of their own famously fraught marriage to their performances, and what the film says about the institution of marriage, our capacity for illusion, and American society itself. Plus, lots and lots of feedback from our STAR WARS episodes. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, 45 YEARS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#010: Star Wars: A New Hope / The Force Awakens (Pt. 2)

Thu, 07 Jan 2016 06:00:00 -0000

Our conversation linking the very first STAR WARS film with the new sequel (or is it a reboot? a remake?) THE FORCE AWAKENS delves into the myriad ways the two films are connected, and how the cultural impact of A NEW HOPE plays out in the new film. And in a special edition of our recommendation segment Your Next Picture Show, we'll share our top films of 2015, our ultimate recommendation for what to watch during the January catch-up season. Please share your comments, thoughts and questions about A NEW HOPE, THE FORCE AWAKENS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#009: Star Wars: A New Hope / The Force Awakens (Pt. 1)

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 19:32:00 -0000

J.J. Abrams' record-breaking smash THE FORCE AWAKENS consciously reaches back to the very first entry in the STAR WARS universe, 1977's A NEW HOPE, for inspiration, plot points and design — and offers us an opportunity to look back at how George Lucas changed the game for science-fiction, and film in general, forever. In this half of this week's discussion, we'll look at Lucas' inspirations, the story A NEW HOPE tells, and how the legend around it grew into a billion-dollar business. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about A NEW HOPE, THE FORCE AWAKENS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#008: Aguirre, The Wrath of God / The Revenant (Pt. 2)

Thu, 24 Dec 2015 06:00:00 -0000

Our conversation about the links between Werner Herzog's 1972 cult classic AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD and Alejandro González Iñárritu's new THE REVENANT delves into the way the two films handle the themes of imperialism and madness, and how each is informed by their reportedly tense and exhausting shooting conditions. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about "Aguirre," "The Revenant," or both, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#007: Aguirre, The Wrath of God / The Revenant (Pt. 1)

Tue, 22 Dec 2015 06:00:00 -0000

BIRDMAN director Alejandro González Iñárritu is back with THE REVENANT, a half-revenge thriller/half-survival adventure that recalls in many ways the work of cinema’s most intrepid adventurer, Werner Herzog – particularly AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD. In the first half of this week's discussion, we talk about how Herzog's 1972 cult classic, about Spanish conquistadors searching for El Dorado, informs "The Revenant," in both its depiction of arrogant non-natives trying to exploit a foreign land, and its central figure of a man who is pushed to the brink of madness and beyond. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about "Aguirre," "The Revenant," or both, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#006: Toy Story / The Good Dinosaur (Pt. 2)

Thu, 10 Dec 2015 06:00:00 -0000

Our conversation on Pixar's trajectory from 1995 to today delves into the company's most recent offering, discussing how THE GOOD DINOSAUR fits in with the rest of Pixar's output, including TOY STORY, as well as the modern computer-animated-feature landscape. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TOY STORY, THE GOOD DINOSAUR, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#005: Toy Story / The Good Dinosaur (Pt. 1)

Tue, 08 Dec 2015 06:00:00 -0000

The second Pixar film of 2015, THE GOOD DINOSAUR, inspires us to look back at the revered animation company's auspicious beginning: 1995's TOY STORY, the first computer-animated feature film. In the first half of this Pixar-spanning discussion, we discuss the history of the company that would go on to change feature animation forever, and how the seeds of that change are apparent in TOY STORY. Please share your comments, thoughts and questions about TOY STORY, THE GOOD DINOSAUR, or both, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#004: Battle Royale / The Hunger Games Series (Pt. 2)

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 06:00:00 -0000

Our conversation on the many connections between BATTLE ROYALE and THE HUNGER GAMES series continues with the Forum discussion focusing on the films' respective styles, their different approaches to violence and teen angst, and their influence on the YA film genre as a whole. Plus, Your Next Picture show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BATTLE ROYALE, THE HUNGER GAMES series, or both, by emailing comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#003: Battle Royale / Hunger Games Series (Pt. 1)

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 06:00:00 -0000

With the final installment of the blockbuster YA series THE HUNGER GAMES hitting theaters, we look back to the material many accused HUNGER GAMES author Suzanne Collins of ripping off: 2000's BATTLE ROYALE, a hyper-violent Japanese film adaptation of a hyper-violent manga about kids killing kids in a government-mandated slaughter. In this episode, we get into the many similarities – and many more differences – between the two, as well as BATTLE ROYALE's reputation and place in the larger scope of Japanese cinema. Please share your comments, thoughts and questions about BATTLE ROYALE, THE HUNGER GAMES series, or both, by emailing comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#002: All The President's Men / Spotlight (Pt. 2)

Thu, 12 Nov 2015 06:00:00 -0000

The Next Picture Show's discussion of ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and SPOTLIGHT continues with the group Forum discussion. In this half, Scott Tobias, Tasha Robinson and Keith Phipps talk about the films' respective approaches to journalism, the cities of Washington, D.C., and Boston, and visual style. Plus, Your Next Picture show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about "All The President's Men," "Spotlight," or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#001: All The President's Men / Spotlight (Pt. 1)

Tue, 10 Nov 2015 20:01:00 -0000

Welcome to The Next Picture Show, a movie of the week podcast devoted to a classic film that has shaped our take on a new release. With director Tom McCarthy's SPOTLIGHT getting lots of acclaim for its treatment of the Boston Globe's investigation into the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, Scott Tobias, Tasha Robinson and Keith Phipps devote their debut show to arguably the Fourth Estate's finest couple of hours on celluloid, the 1970s classic ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. Part of the Filmspotting Podcast Network.

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