Podcast
The Last Thing I Saw
Hosted by Nicolas Rapold · EN
Critic Nicolas Rapold talks with guests about the movies they've been watching. From home viewing to the latest from festivals and retrospectives. Named one of the 10 Best Film Podcasts by Sight & Sound magazine. Guests include critics, curators, and filmmakers.
36episodes
Episodes
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Ep. 409: Chris LeMaire on Bleak Week + John Wilson on Beak Week 2026
3w ago00:41:37Tap to summarizeEp. 409: Chris LeMaire on Bleak Week + John Wilson on Beak Week 2026 Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2026 edition of Bleak Week marks the fifth year of the acclaimed series at the American Cinematheque, which now also takes place in other theaters across the nation and the globe. Happily I was able to talk to Chris Lemaire, director of programming at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles and co-founder of Bleak Week, about a few fantastic selections in the ongoing series, including tribute programs for guests Isabelle Huppert and Warwick Thornton, rarities like Letters from a Dead Man and Eureka, and restorations such as Buster and Billie. On the second half of the episode, I was lucky to catch filmmaker John Wilson, co-founder of the Low Cinema in Ridgewood, in the midst of the theater’s delightful Beak Week program. Wilson talks about a personal favorite from the bird-centric lineup, a special recent surprise guest, a program of pigeon shorts, and some infrequently screened titles in the lineup. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
Transcribe →Ep. 408: Tubi programmer Ryan Lavalette on The In-Laws, Magic, 20 Questions, Arlington Road, Scorpio, Captain Ron, Report to the Commissioner, Skinamarink
4w ago00:46:14Tap to summarizeEp. 408: Tubi programmer Ryan Lavallette on The In-Laws, Magic, 20 Questions, Arlington Road, Scorpio, Captain Ron, Report to the Commissioner, Skinamarink Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Tubi holds a special place among streamers for its free, wildly eclectic selection, and I’m not the only one who goes trawling through its selections to find something different to watch. And so for the latest episode, I had a blast talking with a member of the Tubi programming team, Ryan Lavalette, senior manager of content programming at the streamer. I picked his brain a little about how the Tubi mix is created, and then we chatted about a few movies currently on Tubi that had caught our eye for various reasons: The In-Laws (1979, with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin), Magic (1978, with Anthony Hopkins), 20 Questions (1987), Arlington Road (1999), Scorpio (1973), Captain Ron (1992), Report to the Commissioner (1975), and Skinamarink (2022). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
Transcribe →Ep. 407: K.J. Relth-Miller on Cannes Classics 2026: La Dérive, The Devils, Report to Mother, Moonlighting, Tilai, The Pelechian Project
4w ago01:11:54Tap to summarizeEp. 407: K.J. Relth-Miller on Cannes Classics 2026: La Dérive, The Devils, Report to Mother, Moonlighting, Tilai, The Pelechian Project Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Every year at the Cannes Film Festival I always make sure to scrutinize the Cannes Classics line-up of restorations, and for the 2026 edition, I was happy once again to catch up with K.J. Relth-Miller of the Academy Museum in Los Angeles and chat about a few titles. Among the films discussed were an absolute discovery, La Dérive (1964, directed by Paula Delsol), Ken Russell’s one and only The Devils (1971), another discovery Report to Mother (1986, John Abraham), Moonlighting (1982, Jerzy Skolimowski), and Tilai (1990, Idrissa Ouédraogo), with shout-outs to The Pelechian Project (1966-1975, a collection of shorts by Armenia’s Artavazd Peleshian) and Taiwanese classic The Dull Ice Flower (1989, Li Kao Yang). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
Transcribe →Ep. 406: Manohla Dargis on Cannes 2026
May 3000:45:18Tap to summarizeEp. 406: Manohla Dargis on Cannes 2026 Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As the 2026 Cannes Film Festival drew to a close, I was fortunate again to sit down with Manohla Dargis, chief film critic of The New York Times, for our annual Cannes finale. The films discussed included titles that hadn’t been addressed yet on the podcast, as well as some that had. Throughout, Dargis shares her thoughts on this year’s edition of the festival in a historical context. Please note that the episode was recorded before the awards ceremony. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
Transcribe →Ep. 405: Justin Chang on Cannes 2026: All of a Sudden, The Samurai and the Prisoner, Coward, Fjord Redux
May 3000:53:47Tap to summarizeEp. 405: Justin Chang on Cannes 2026: All of a Sudden, The Samurai and the Prisoner, Coward, Fjord Redux Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. At the 2026 Cannes Film Festival I sat down with Justin Chang of The New Yorker for a chat about a few films we had missed to talk about. Among the titles discussed are All of a Sudden (directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi), The Samurai and the Prisoner (Kiyoshi Kurosawa), Coward (Lukas Dhont), and Fjord (Cristian Mungiu), which at the time of recording had not yet won the Palme d’Or. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
Transcribe →Ep. 404: Jessica Kiang on Cannes 2026: Sheep in the Box, The Dreamed Adventure, Too Many Beasts, The Unknown, La Perra, Colony
May 2801:12:01Tap to summarizeEp. 404: Jessica Kiang on Cannes 2026: Sheep in the Box, The Dreamed Adventure, Too Many Beasts, The Unknown, La Perra, Colony Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. At the 2026 Cannes Film Festival I sat down with Jessica Kiang of Variety and the Berlinale for our customary epic pod by the light of French Riviera sun. Among the films discussed were Sheep in the Box (directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda), The Dreamed Adventure (Valeska Grisebach), Too Many Beasts (Sarah Arnold), The Unknown (Arthur Harari), La Perra (Dominga Sotomayor), and Colony (Yeon Sang-ho), plus a final word on her levitatingly good absolute favorite of the festival. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
Transcribe →Ep. 403: Nick Davis on Cannes 2026: The Dreamed Adventure, Red Rocks, A Man of His Time, Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building, Flesh and Fuel
May 2700:43:27Tap to summarizeEp. 403: Nick Davis on Cannes 2026: The Dreamed Adventure, Red Rocks, A Man of His Time, Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building, Flesh and Fuel Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. At the 2026 Cannes Film Festival I joyfully reunited with Nick Davis, a professor in the Department of English at Northwestern, an associate programmer with the Chicago International Film Festival, and longtime critical colleague. Among the films discussed at a late but alert hour: The Dreamed Adventure (directed by Valeska Grisebach), Red Rocks (Bruno Dumont), A Man of His Time (Emmanuel Marre), Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building (Bruno Santamaría Razo), and Flesh and Fuel (Pierre Le Gall). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
Transcribe →Ep. 402: Keva York on Cannes 2026: The Unknown, Everytime, Libertad Doble
May 2600:27:39Tap to summarizeEp. 402: Keva York on Cannes 2026: The Unknown, Everytime, Libertad Doble Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. At the 2026 Cannes Film Festival I chatted with Keva York, a past guest on the podcast who was filing pieces from Cannes for Filmmaker and n+1 magazine. We discussed a few differently entrancing films from this year’s edition: The Unknown (directed by Arthur Harari, starring Léa Seydoux), Everytime (Sandra Wollner), and Libertad Doble (Lisandro Alonso). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
Transcribe →Ep. 401: Robert Daniels on Cannes 2026: Ben’Imana, A Man of His Time, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, Clarissa Redux
May 2500:33:55Tap to summarizeEp. 401: Robert Daniels on Cannes 2026: Ben’Imana, A Man of His Time, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, Clarissa Redux Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. At the 2026 Cannes Film Festival I caught Robert Daniels, New York Times critic and associate editor of RogerEbert.Com, just before he was wrapping up his festival visit. Among the films discussed were later Camera d’Or winner Ben’Imana (directed by Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo), A Man of His Time (Emmanuel Marré, winner of Best Screenplay), I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning (Clio Barnard), and festival sensation Clarissa (Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
Transcribe →Ep. 400: Eric Hynes on Cannes 2026: Paper Tiger, Bola Negra, 9 Temples to Heaven, Thank You for Coming
May 2300:33:21Tap to summarizeEp. 400: Eric Hynes on Cannes 2026: Paper Tiger, Bola Negra, 9 Temples to Heaven, Thank You for Coming Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. With the 2026 Cannes Film Festival underway, I was happy to chat once again with Eric Hynes of the Jacob Burns Film Center. Among the films discussed were Paper Tiger (directed by James Gray, discussed with perhaps evident New York homesickness?), Bola Negra (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi), 9 Temples to Heaven (Sompot Chidgasornpongse), and Thank You for Coming (Alain Cavalier), plus an additional pick by Mr Hynes. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
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