The Last Picture House – Details, episodes & analysis

On this episode, Marcus and Maria look ahead to this year's Cannes Film Festival. They preview the films, the filmmakers as well the controversies.

The 76th edition of the festival will be held from May 16 to 27, 2023. 

This week, Marcus and Maria are joined by academic Garrett De Orio to talk about Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise's groundbreaking musical, West Side Story (1961).

A loose re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story is set on the streets of 1950s New York. Two young lovers must overcome racial prejudice and gang violence in order to be together. 

The panel discuss the film's journey from stage to screen, the challenges of production in New York City, and the film's reception.

As always, this episode contains spoilers. We strongly recommend (re)watching the film before listening. There's also some strong language which may not be suitable for younger listeners.

Links to some of the things discussed:

• Official West Side Story website
• Documentary on Bernstein's 1984 recording of West Side Story with opera stars Jose Carreras and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
• Leonard Bernstein: The Political Life of an American Musician
• A memoir by Bernstein's assistant of the early 1980s, who became the estate's musical executor and archivist; dishy Bernstein gossip
• Profile of Arthur Laurents in New York Magazine
• What Jerome Robbins Knew That Leonard Bernstein Didn't
• Time Out's review of Rooftops
• Scenes from the Officer Krupke episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Stephen Sondheim's obituary in the New York Times 

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On this episode, Maria, Iain and Marcus discuss "One Upon a Time… in Hollywood," the latest film from Quentin Tarantino. They compare the film with the director's previous work, ask whether or not it exploits the tragic death of Sharon Tate, and discuss how it treats the many other 60s film stars who make an appearance.   Links to some of the things discussed this week:  

• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood's many, many controversies, explained
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood review – uneven ode to a lost era
• Quentin Tarantino and His Many Italian Movie References
• Music in the movies: Quentin Tarantino
• Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood: the music

  As always, this episode contains mild spoilers.

On this episode, Marcus, Maria, and Iain discuss what motivates an actor to risk their career by taking on a challenging or an otherwise "difficult" character. Along the way, they examine great performances that have provoked audiences and upturned expectations.

Links to some of the things we discussed this week:

• Meryl Streep calls out Dustin Hoffman for 'Kramer vs Kramer' slap from 40 years ago
• How 10 Things I Hate About You turned Heath Ledger into a reluctant star
• Christian Bale is Sick and Tired Of His "Miserable" Body Transformations
• Roger Ebert reviews "Irreversible"
• Monica Bellucci discusses "Irreversible"
• Philadelphia: un-packaging the Hollywood Aids drama
• How "Philadelphia" Has, And Hasn't, Changed How We See AIDS
• Just Plain Good: the criminally underrated Fred McMurray
• Boys Don't Cry and Hollywood's Ongoing Obsession with Trans Suffering

As always, this episode contains mild spoilers.

On this episode Marcus, Iain, Dai and Maria discuss the enduring popularity of the monster movie and consider the latest in the Godzilla franchise, "Godzilla: King of the Monsters". Next, the panel talk about John Landis's horror comedy "American Werewolf in London" and its memorable transformation scene. Finally, the hosts share their thoughts on Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" and speculate on Eliza's life post-Baltimore.

Links to some of the things we discussed this week:

• Jason Barr's The Kaiju Film on Amazon
• Article on Takashi Murakami
• No Surprises video and The Making Of video
• The Man Who Was Godzilla
• Monster Movies: A Sexual Theory
• The transformation scene from An American Werewolf in London
• Creature from The Black Lagoon trailer

As always, this episode contains mild spoilers.

On this special episode, we discuss some of the highlights at Tokyo's recent Italian Film Festival, including Matteo Garrone's "Dogman," Valerio Mieli's "Ricordi?," and Alessandro Aronadio's "Io c'è". We also sit down for exclusive interviews with some of the filmmakers.

Contains mild spoilers. 

 

On this episode, we ask if there's such a thing as an unfilmable novel. Are some projects just too complex, expensive or controversial to adapt? We examine three movies based on supposedly unfilmable source material: Norwegian Wood, adapted from the book by Haruki Murakami, Apocalypse Now, based on Joseph Conrad's novella, and Dune, adapted from the books by Frank Herbert.

Contains mild spoilers.

We sit down with CG animator Stephane Mangin to discuss his work on such films as Jungle Book, Mowgli, Fantastic Beasts, Frozen and Wreck it Ralph.

In part two of the show, we talk with Mangin about Katsuhiro Otomo's anime classic "Akira" and consider the film's impact.

On this episode, we examine cinema audiences' seemingly inexhaustible appetite for remakes. We consider what makes them successful, discuss how they differ from reboots and reimaginings, and (of course!) talk about some of our favorites.

Contains mild spoilers.

This week we discuss the recent Golden Globe Awards, Bradley Cooper's "A Star is Born," and the films we're looking forward to in 2019.

Contains mild spoilers.