The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 431: Robert Greene on You Can See Everything + Nathan Fielder + performance + documentary

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. When I saw You Can See Everything, I immediately wanted to make sense of what I had seen by talking through it with someone else. And who better to talk through the latest Nathan Fielder project than another filmmaker who constantly explores the complexities of performance and portrayal in documentary: Robert Greene, the director of Kate Plays Christine, Procession, Actress, Bisbee ’17, and most recently Too Much Sugar (which had its world premiere last month in Venice). Greene generously shared his thoughts on You Can See Everything (directed by Fielder and Lance Oppenheim) and its blockbuster chronicle of Fielder embedding with convicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Billy Evans.

You Can See Everything is in theaters now. Greene is also the filmmaker-in-chief at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri and is on the faculty of its School of Visual Studies.

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Ep. 430: Jessica Green on American Regionalism at BAM: Giant, When I Get Home, Brigham City, The Delta, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Run Tecato Run, Shakedown

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. A new series at BAM in Brooklyn explores American Regionalism in film, showing the different ways the tapestry of American cultures and identities appear in movies. It’s curated by Jessica Green, a programmer whose work I’ve followed for many years, and who now also works in development at She Spun Films. Among the films discussed are the Texas rancher epic Giant (directed by George Stevens, starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean), the visual album When I Get Home (Solange Knowles), Virginia-set The Delta (Ira Sachs), Mormon police procedural Brigham City (Richard Dutcher), Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper), addiction drama Run Tecato Run (Efrain Gutiérrez), Pacific Northwest thriller Paydirt (Penny Allen), Montana-set Bitterroot (Vera Brunner-Sung), Corpus: A Home Movie About Selena (Lourdes Portillo), Grey Gardens (Albert and David Maysles), and Los Angeles black-lesbian nightclub documentary Shakedown (Leilah Weinraub).

The series “Area Coded: American Regionalism in Film” runs October 23 to 29 at BAM and was programmed by Jessica Green.

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Ep. 429: Alissa Wilkinson on Artificial, Digger, You Can See Everything, One in a Million, 14th, The Social Reckoning

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

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Ep. 428: Jon Dieringer of Screen Slate on Screaming Mad George series, New Resident Evil, plus Notes on Chronicling Repertory Culture

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Founded by mastermind Jon Dieringer, Screen Slate remains a delightful guiding light for film-lovers of all stripes to read listings and criticism spanning the wild array of movies and moving-image culture generally. I had a wonderful time hearing from Dieringer about a few matters that are currently top of mind: his forthcoming 35mm series honoring the great special effects artist Screaming Mad George (R.I.P.) at the Roxy Cinema in New York, with special attention to his best-known work in Society (1989, directed by Brian Yuzna); the new Resident Evil movie (2026, Zach Cregger) and its related game universe; and the role of Screen Slate in chronicling the vibrant world of repertory film culture—especially in a new era of AI-powered appropriation of things we like.

The 35mm series “Psycho-Fiction: The Surreal Nightmares of Screaming Mad George”, programmed by Jon Dieringer, screens at the Roxy Cinema starting October 23.

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Ep. 427: Amy Taubin on Arthur Jafa, NYFF: La Gradiva, Rose, Naza, Everything Else Is Noise, I Deserve a Lover, The Unknown, The Dreamed Adventure, plus Godard

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

Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony is on display at the New Museum through January 3. Jean-Luc Godard: Unmade and Abandoned screens through October 15 at L’Alliance New York. The 64th New York Film Festival runs through October 12 at Lincoln Center. Several NYFF selections discussed also open in theaters in October, November, and December.

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Ep. 426: Julia Loktev on My Undesirable Friends: Part II—Exile

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Julia Loktev’s continuing chronicle of Russian independent journalists My Undesirable Friends: Part II—Exile had its world premiere at the Venice film. I sat down with Loktev in Venice to talk about her equally stirring and urgent Part II. We delved into the trust involved in accomplishing this up-close-and-personal filmmaking as well as capturing all the complex tones (dramatic and even some humor) among these journalists, who boldly continue their work chronicling Russia abroad even as their home country declares them persona non grata.

My Undesirable Friends: Part II—Exiles opens October 9 at Film Forum after screening in the New York Film Festival.

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Ep. 425: Robert Daniels on Toronto 2026: Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, Union Town, Alpha Gang, The Liberation, I Play Rocky

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

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Ep. 424: Mark Asch on Toronto 2026: Tender Loving Care, The Debut, Misty Green, Idda, The Face of Horror

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The 2026 Toronto Film Festival kicked off its 51st edition this year, and I saw as many films as I could fit into my visit to the city. Here to talk about a few is Mark Asch, who’s writing for a number of publications. Among the titles discussed are the new Mike Leigh movie, Tender Loving Care; The Debut (directed by Jesse Eisenberg, starring Julianne Moore); Misty Green (directed by and featuring Chris Rock, starring Rosalind Eleazar); Idda ( directed by Irene Dionisio); and The Face of Horror (directed by Anna Biller).

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Ep. 423: Jessica Kiang on Venice 2026: Bunker, Possible Love, Queer Edward II, Mr. Nelson Did You Kill People, Oasis

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

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Ep. 422: Jonathan Romney on Venice 2026: Dau, Life of Jorge Luis Borges, Bertolucci by Guadagnino, Musk, plus Naza

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. The podcast returns with more from the 2026 Venice Film Festival! This time I’m joined on the Lido by Jonathan Romney, who writes criticism at Screen Daily and the Observer. Among the films discussed are Dau (directed by Ilya Khrzhanovsky), Life of Jorge Luis Borges (Mariano Llinás), Joie de Vivre (aka the Bernardo Bertolucci documentary by Luca Guadagnino), Musk (Alex Gibney), and the devastating Naza (Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor).

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