The Next Picture Show

Once again, we’re kicking off the new year with a look back at the film year that was, with Keith, Scott, and Tasha sharing their respective lists of the Top 10 Films of 2022. There’s a lot of overlap this year, both among our respective lists and between the films on these lists and those we covered on the show, but there are also some discussion-generating outliers sprinkled throughout. Be sure to check out Keith and Scott’s full lists at thereveal.substack.com, and Tasha’s over at Polygon.

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

Outro music: “Naatu Naatu” from RRR 

Next Pairing: Tom Holland’s CHILD’S PLAY and Gerard Johnstone’s M3GAN

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Rian Johnson’s new GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY is openly indebted to the 1973 Herbert Ross whodunnit THE LAST OF SHEILA (and has the Stephen Sondheim cameo to prove it), but perhaps even more so to the 2019 Rian Johnson whodunnit referenced in its subtitle. So our spoiler-laden discussion of GLASS ONION begins by wrestling with the inevitable comparisons to its predecessor film before diving deeper into what distinguishes this more playful, “extremely online” Benoit Blanc romp. Then we bring THE LAST OF SHEILA back into the discussion to see how Johnson’s new film lines up with his stated inspiration point, comparing the two films’ respective deployment of manipulative game-play, their satire of/contempt for the wealthy and well-connected, and their gleeful upending of conventional whodunnit structure. Plus, ahead of next week’s best of 2022 episode, we offer up some last-minute recommendations for December viewing in Your Next Picture Show. 

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE LAST OF SHEILA, GLASS ONION, 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: “Mona Lisa” by Nat King Cole

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While in the midst of filming the new GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY, Rian Johnson expressed open admiration for one of the film's inspiration points, Herbert Ross’ 1973 whodunnit THE LAST OF SHEILA, a film which in turn displays open contempt for its characters and the contemporary Hollywood scene they embody. This week we set sail with THE LAST OF SHEILA’S noxious friend group and observe the games they are compelled to play, to deduce what co-writers Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins were attempting to unearth with this Hollywood satire-by-way-of-murder-mystery. Plus, our recent BADLANDS episode prompts a listener question about movies we hate by filmmakers we love, in Feedback.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE LAST OF SHEILA, GLASS ONION, 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: “Company,” Original Broadway Cast

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Luca Guadagnino’s new BONES AND ALL follows a pair of young people on a killing spree across America, which put us in mind of lovers-on-the-lam movies generally and Terrence Malick’s debut feature BADLANDS specifically. But Guadagnino’s film resists such easy classification, from its questionable status as a cannibal romance to its malleable central metaphor. So this week we gnaw on BONES AND ALL’s blood-soaked nuance, before pairing it with BADLANDS to consider how the two films deploy their voiceover narration, charismatic killers, and rationalizations for violence. And in Your Next Picture Show, we offer up a buffet of other cannibalism stories from across pop culture that have stuck with us.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BADLANDS, BONES AND ALL, 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: “Lick It Up” by Kiss

Next pairing: Herbert Ross’s THE LAST OF SHEILA and Rian Johnson’s GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY 

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Luca Guadagnino’s new BONES AND ALL slots nicely into the tradition of films about outlaw lovers on the lam, but also bucks the tropes of that tradition in a manner reminiscent of Terrence Malick’s mold-breaking BADLANDS. This week we’re looking back at Malick’s 1973 feature debut to pinpoint what differentiates it from other young-outlaw tales and what distinguishes it as an early Malick film, in particular its voiceover narration and fascination with the natural world. Plus, two of the year’s most talked-about films, TÁR and THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, get talked about some more via listener feedback.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BADLANDS, BONES AND ALL, 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: “Love Is Strange” by Mickey & Sylvia

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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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14 years after Martin McDonagh’s feature film directorial debut IN BRUGES, he has reunited with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson for THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, a quieter and arguably much darker film about a different splintered friendship, with similar ideas about morality, mortality, and guilt. We’re joined once again by critic Siddhant Adlakha to talk over some of those ideas as they play out in BANSHEES, how they color where our sympathies lie in the civil war between the film’s protagonists, and how much any of that matters when considering this story as a metaphor. Then we bring IN BRUGES into the discussion to consider how both films tap into McDonagh’s particular cinematic and comedic rhythms, use their female characters as a corrective to impulsive and irrational male behavior, and conclude with a choose-your-ending ambiguity. And in Your Next Picture Show, we talk over a different pairing we considered for this week and our reactions to the film that inspired it: WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about IN BRUGES, BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, 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: “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” by The Killers

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Martin McDonagh’s THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN reunites the writer-director with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, stars of his debut film IN BRUGES, for another tale of a platonic breakup between wordy Irishmen, in a very different but equally picturesque setting. This week we’re joined by critic Siddhant Adlakha to head back to Belgium circa 2008 and examine how IN BRUGES engages with its titular city on a dramatic, comedic, and thematic level, how McDonagh blends theatrical and cinematic languages, and what gets revealed and obscured in the film’s many meandering, profane exchanges. Plus, with various interpretations of TÁR rolling in since our last episode, we take up one listener’s reading of what the film shows us, and what it leaves out.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about IN BRUGES, BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, 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: “On Raglan Road,” by The Dubliners

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The contemporary setting of Todd Field’s new TÁR has inspired some to label it a movie about the modern idea of “cancel culture,” but the film’s baseline ideas about sex and power are more timeless, and its story of a woman using her social influence to manipulate others, and her attendant downfall, links it specifically to 1988’s DANGEROUS LIAISONS. While we could have easily spent this entire episode and then some dissecting and debating the many small, nuanced details that bring TÁR to life, we do eventually bring our discussion around to the other film in this pairing to consider what it shares with DANGEROUS LIAISONS in its depiction of feminine power in a patriarchal society, sexual gamesmanship, and public humiliation as comeuppance. Plus, we use Your Next Picture Show to consider the other highlights of Todd Field’s small but mighty directorial filmography.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DANGEROUS LIAISONS, TÁR, 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: Mahler Symphony No. 5

Next Pairing: Martin McDonagh’s IN BRUGES and THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

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The abuse of power and resulting fall from grace in Todd Field’s new TAR put us in mind of another cautionary tale of entitlement and bad behavior, in the form of 1988’s DANGEROUS LIAISONS. So this week we’re revisiting Stephen Frears’ lush, lavish depiction of not-so-secret affairs among the French aristocracy to consider what keeps this 17th-century period piece from feeling stodgy, the cruel intentions at work in its many romantic pairings, and what distinguishes its final shot as one of the all-time greats. Plus, listeners bring some of their own interpretation and insight to our recent pairing of BRIEF ENCOUNTER and DECISION TO LEAVE.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DANGEROUS LIAISONS, TAR, 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: “Beyond My Control” by George Fenton

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