The Next Picture Show

Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed begins the new CREED III in a similar position to that of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa in ROCKY III, as a highly regarded, highly comfortable champion who must return to his roots in order to triumph in the ring. But CREED III’s antagonist figure, Johnathan Majors’ Damian Anderson, comes with a more interesting set of motivations and resentments, which we talk over with returning guest Matt Singer in our discussion of the new film. Then we get into the echoes between these two related points on the extended Rocky timeline, from their deployment of narratively convenient character deaths and training montages, to their respective ideas about underdog narratives and what one generation owes the next one. 

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ROCKY III, CREED III, 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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Originating as a late-stage ROCKY sequel, CREED has since evolved into its own multi-sequel franchise, with the new third entry bringing star Michael B. Jordan back into the ring as well as the director’s chair. That’s the same dual role Sylvester Stallone had for 1982’s ROCKY III, which similarly finds its star prizefighter far from his scrappy beginnings, and needing to humble himself in order to find glory again. There’s a lot connecting these two films, but only one of them can boast the involvement of Hulk Hogan, so we’re joined by critic, friend of the show, and ROCKY III advocate Matt Singer to discuss what issues Stallone and the franchise were working through with this underestimated second sequel. Plus, our extended discussion of extended sequences continues in Feedback as we consider some less-loved examples of the long take.

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

Outro music: “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor

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Steven Soderbergh’s MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE ends the Channing Tatum male-stripper trilogy in a much different place than it began, centered on the unlikely romance between Tatum’s Mike and a wealthy woman, played by Salma Hayek, who’s interested in nurturing his talents. And while we’re all in agreement that’s to the detriment of the movie, it does make for a useful comparison point with 1951’s AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. After working through our frustrations with LAST DANCE with the help once again of Chicago critic Deirdre Crimmins, we compare them to our frustrations with AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, as well as the nuances of each film’s unbalanced power dynamics and extended climactic dance sequences. 

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

Works Cited:

Channing Tatum takes an alternate-reality approach to his stripping past in ‘Magic Mike’, by Genevieve Koski (avclub.com)

“Female pleasure looks mighty odd in ‘Magic Mike XXL,’” by Tasha Robinson (thedissolve.com)

“How It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Pulled Off Mac’s Jaw-dropping Dance,” by Maria Elena Fernandez (vulture.com)

Outro music: “Pony” by Ginuwine

Next Pairing: Sylvester Stallone’s ROCKY III and Micheal B. Jordan’s CREED III

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

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

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It’s difficult to watch HBO’s new hit dystopian drama THE LAST OF US without being reminded over and over again of Alfonso Cúaron’s CHILDREN OF MEN, and for good reason: the video game on which the series is based was openly inspired by Cúaron’s 2006 film. That’s most explicit in the series’ central relationship between a hardened, cynical survivor (Pedro Pascal’s Joel) and a young woman who holds the key to reversing humanity’s misfortune (Bella Ramsey’s Ellie), but Cúaron’s film echoes through the series in other ways both broad (depictions of a totalitarian government and violent resistance) and specific (unexpectedly early character exits). We dig into several of those links after a discussion of how THE LAST OF US’s first five entries — in particular its dazzling third episode — distinguish this series from its most explicit reference point and the many other post-apocalyptic narratives that came before. And if that’s not enough well-wrought intergenerational dystopian drama for you, Genevieve has a suggestion for another recent series to check out in Your Next Picture Show. 

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

Outro music: “Never Let Me Down Again” by Depeche Mode

Next Pairing: Vincente Minelli’s AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and Steven Soderbergh’s MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE

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HBO’s new dystopian TV series THE LAST OF US is an adaptation of a dystopian video game that was inspired in part by Alfonso Cuarón’s dystopian film CHILDREN OF MEN, a strikingly timely 2006 thriller whose consideration of cynicism and hope at the world’s end has only grown more timely in the intervening years. So we’re returning to the source of this cross-medium journey through apocalyptic hellscapes, in a conversation about how and why Cuarón’s film continues to resonate, from its efficient worldbuilding and nuanced politics to its well-wrought humor and visceral filmmaking style. Plus, an alternate pairing suggestion in Feedback inspires some live brainstorming of a hypothetical COCAINE BEAR episode.

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

Outro music: “Bless the Beasts and Children” by the Carpenters 

Works Cited

• “Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men Is a Dystopian Masterpiece,” by Abraham Josephine Riesman (vulture.com)

• “Scenic Routes: Children of Men,” by Mike D’Angelo (avclub.com)

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The question of “Why?” hovers over Alice Diop’s new SAINT OMER, as well as the 2016 French crime that inspired it, in the same way it hovers over 1967’s IN COLD BLOOD, Richard Brooks’ film adaptation of the Truman Capote “non-fiction novel” that helped establish the true crime genre as we understand it today. We bring that understanding of true crime to our discussion of SAINT OMER on its own terms— in particular how its removed observational style intersects with its complex emotional center — as well as in conversation with IN COLD BLOOD’s own mythologizing of madness. Plus, Scott reviews some 2022 highlights from one of our favorite film distributors in Your Next Picture Show.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about IN COLD BLOOD, SAINT OMER, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to [email protected], leaving a short voicemail at 773-234-9730, or commenting on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes and more. 

Outro music: “Little Girl Blue” by Nina Simone

Next pairing: Alfonso Cuarón’s CHILDREN OF MEN and HBO’s THE LAST OF US

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The new French film SAINT OMER fictionalizes the true story of an inexplicable crime, giving the perpetrator’s story a full airing in a way that recalls Truman Capote’s formative non-fiction novel IN COLD BLOOD, and by extension director Richard Brooks’ near-contemporaneous film of the same name. So this week we’re looking back at how IN COLD BLOOD shaped the true-crime genre for better and worse, how Brooks and cinematographer Conrad Hall used expressive yet revealing black-and-white photography to create the cinematic equivalent of the non-fiction novel, and how the film’s unusual structure affects the impact of seeing its central crime play out. Plus, we respond to some feedback inspired by our recent episodes on CHILD’S PLAY and GLASS ONION.

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

Outro music: “Kansas (Remembers Me Now)” by Orville Peck

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The new tech-horror movie M3GAN achieved viral status before it even hit theaters, but its subsequent box-office performance suggests there’s more to this film’s success than just dance memes. Part of it can be chalked up to the degree to which it is a perfect January movie, but there’s also its well-balanced combination of self-aware humor, capitalist critique, and parental anxiety, all of which it shares with its most direct cinematic antecedent, 1988’s franchise-starter CHILD’S PLAY. After talking out our reactions to M3GAN’s use of magic-adjacent “emergent technology” to stoke very real human fears, we draw some connections to CHILD’S PLAY’s weaponization of the uncanny valley, skepticism about marketing to children, and understanding of childhood trauma. Plus, our resident Chucky expert Scott offers his suggestions for how to navigate the rest of the franchise.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CHILD’S PLAY, M3GAN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to [email protected], leaving a short voicemail at 773-234-9730, or commenting on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes and more. 

Outro music: “Titanium” by Anthony Willis & Jenna Davis (M3GAN OST)

Next pairing: Richard Brooks’ IN COLD BLOOD and Alice Diop’s SAINT OMER

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The new horror-comedy M3GAN is full of conscious, obvious throwbacks to other movies, but none as foundational as 1988’s CHILD’S PLAY. Director Tom Holland and writer Don Mancini’s now-iconic villain Chucky was not horror’s first killer doll, nor its last, and his legacy has evolved along with the franchise, but his origins as a dark, opportunistic satire of ’80s consumerism links him directly to the ideas animating M3GAN. So we begin our killer-doll double feature by revisiting those original animating ideas in CHILD’S PLAY, to consider what motivates Chucky in both human and doll form, the contemporaneous culture that shaped him, and whether it all adds up to an experience that’s scary and/or funny today. Plus, we take on an alternate pairing for TÁR and an alternate reading of KNIVES OUT in Feedback.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about CHILD’S PLAY, M3GAN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Outro music: “Get Back Home,” by The Cabbage Patch Kids

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