The Next Picture Show

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 [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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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 [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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

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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. 

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 [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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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 [email protected], 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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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. 

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

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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 [email protected], 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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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.

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 [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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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 [email protected], 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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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.

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 [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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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 [email protected], 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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