The Next Picture Show

Latest Episodes:

Let's Talk About Video Stores and the VHS Era Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once Upon a Toon In Hollywood, Pt. 2 – Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers Jun 07, 2022

Show notes

Despite its box-office success in 1988, Robert Zemeckis’ WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT never received a direct sequel, but the new CHIP ’N’ DALE: RESCUE RANGERS works as a spiritual sequel in more ways than one. Recognizing that this direct-to-streaming feature based on a short-lived Disney cartoon from the ‘90s has some extremely large, squeaky shoes to fill when compared to its groundbreaking predecessor, we unpack the two films’ shared cartoon DNA through their villains, their human allies, and their common Hollywood setting, and try to parse some of the specifics of how toons in this shared universe function in both the entertainment industry and society at large.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, CHIP ’N’ DALE: RESCUE RANGERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Next Pairing: Steven Spielberg’s JURASSIC PARK and Colin Trevorrow’s JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once Upon a Toon in Hollywood Pt. 1 — Who Framed Roger Rabbit? May 31, 2022

Show notes

From its Hollywood setting to its central missing-toons mystery, the new Disney+ streaming exclusive CHIP ’N’ DALE: RESCUE RANGERS is openly and carefully patterned after 1988’s WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. Robert Zemeckis’ groundbreaking hit set a high bar for cameo-packed, self-aware stories that try to redefine the relationships between animated characters and the physical world, packing in layers of setup and reference and payoff that continue to reveal themselves on rewatch after rewatch. We attempt to unpack some of those layers in our revisit of this group favorite, as well as how it uses our familiarity with noir and cartoons alike to its narrative advantage.

Works Cited:

“Book Vs. Film: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” by Tasha Robinson (avclub.com)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Into the Raimiverse, Pt. 2: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness May 24, 2022

Show notes

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS carries its director’s fingerprints more clearly than most films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but is it ultimately more of a Sam Raimi movie or an MCU installment? We hash out that question this week with the continued assistance of our friend Matt Singer, before bringing back in what is unquestionably a Sam Raimi film, 1993’s ARMY OF DARKNESS, to compare how the two movies operate as vehicles for the director’s filmmaking sensibility, as sequels, and as Bruce Campbell showcases.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ARMY OF DARKNESS, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Next pairing: Robert Zemeckis’ WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT and Akiva Schaffer’s CHIP ’N’ DALE: RESCUE RANGERS

A CHIARA opens exclusively in theaters Friday, May 27. More info at CinemaMadeinItaly.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Into the Raimiverse, Pt. 1: Army of Darkness May 17, 2022

Show notes

Unlike so much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the newest Doctor Strange entry carries the unmistakable stamp of its director, Sam Raimi, so we’re preparing to enter the Multiverse of Madness next week with a film that’s an undiluted hit of Raimi: the third entry in the Evil Dead trilogy, 1993’s ARMY OF DARKNESS. We’re joined by our longtime friend and colleague Matt Singer to revisit a film he calls the “pure essence” of Raimi, which makes up for its lack of deeper themes and nuanced character work with a commitment to fun, cartoonish excess that could be looked at as a deconstruction of heroism — or perhaps fun, cartoonish excess for its own sake is the point.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• “Every Sam Raimi Movie, Ranked From Worst To Best” by Matt Singer (screencrush.com)

• “Stop Telling Me to Turn My Brain Off During Movies” by Matt Singer (screencrush.com)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our Favorite Films of 2022 (So Far) May 10, 2022

Show notes

Due to some unavoidable scheduling conflicts, your regularly scheduled Next Picture Show pairing is delayed a week, but in its place, Genevieve, Keith, and Tasha are sharing some of their favorite films of the year so far. Some of these got an in-depth discussion on the regular podcast, some showed up as subjects of a bonus episode on our Patreon, and some are completely new to the podcast, but all of them have stuck with us. Will these films make it to our final lists of 2022’s best films? It’s too soon to say for certain, but at the moment, the odds look good.

Please share your own standouts from this year, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Next pairing (revised): Sam Raimi’s ARMY OF DARKNESS and DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cage Match, Pt. 2 — The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent May 03, 2022

Show notes

The new THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT contains a lot of the same DNA as ADAPTATION, but instead of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, the film’s meta energy is focused on star Nicolas Cage, once again playing two competing sides of the same tortured talent. This week we get into how the confluence of actor, persona, and screenplay works differently in each film, but first we process UNBEARABLE WEIGHT’s lighthearted excavation of its central talent, and consider whether we may have already moved past the stage of Cage’s career that the film is commenting on.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ADAPTATION, THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, Nicolas Cage, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Outro music: Kesha, “Nicolas Cage”

Next pairing: Sam Raimi’s DARKMAN and DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cage Match, Pt. 1 — Adaptation Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

We’re offering four Nicolas Cages for the price of two with this week’s pairing, inspired by Cage’s latest, THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, which finds the actor playing two connected versions of himself. But before entering that hall of mirrors, we’re heading back to 2002’s ADAPTATION for a different strain of meta exercise centered on another set of Nicolas Cages, this one playing the film’s screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, as well as his twin brother/personification of his own self-loathing, Donald. The exact nature of Donald’s character and how it shapes the film’s third act is a big point of discussion this week, as is how literally we are meant to take the film’s title when it comes to its literary source material.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ADAPTATION, THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Outro music: The Turtles, “Happy Together”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Multiple Choice, Pt. 2 — Everything Everywhere All At Once Apr 19, 2022

Show notes

Despite its clear thematic and philosophical connections to the other film in this pairing, Krzysztof Kieślowski’s BLIND CHANCE, Daniel Schienert and Daniel Kwan’s new EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE is a unique experience, a bold, humanistic film full of big messages and also butt jokes. It’s a film that’s built to surprise and delight on first viewing, but what does it offer in terms of rewatch value? That’s one of the things we debate in our discussion of the Daniels’ film, before bringing Kieślowski’s back into the picture to talk through some of those thematic and philosophical connections.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BLIND CHANCE, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net. We may respond to it on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes, recommendations, and more.

Show Notes

Works Cited:

• Everything Everywhere All at Once review by Walter Chaw (filmfreakcentral.net)

• Blind Chance: The Conditional Mood, by Dennis Lim (criterion.com)

Outro music: Son Lux w/ Randy Newman, “Now We’re Cookin’"

Next pairing: Spike Jonze’s ADAPTATION and Tom Gormican’s THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Multiple Choice, Pt. 1 — Blind Chance Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

In addition to being an examination of how much chance determines the person we become, as well as something of a Rosetta Stone for the work of Krzysztof Kieslowski, BLIND CHANCE also plays like the 1980s version of a multiverse story, making it a clear precursor to Daniels Kwan and Scheinert’s new EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. But Kieslowski’s film has different ideas about fate, determination, and the invisible forces that shape our lives as much as the choices we make, all of which we attempt to unpack in our conversation, along with what connects BLIND CHANCE's three timelines, what about the politically minded film invited resistance upon its release, and the significance of that opening scream.

Outro music: Talking Heads, “Once In a Lifetime”

The Tale of King Crab opens April 15th at New York City's Film at Lincoln Center before expanding to cities across the country. Find theater, tickets, and more at kingcrab.oscilloscope.net

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/join/NextPictureShow

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected