Best Til The Last Drop Podcasts (2025)

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#503: The Eternal Question, Pt. 1 — After Life (1998) 1:08:25

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5d ago1:08:25

1:08:25

The new fantasy romcom Eternity turns on a scenario familiar from any number of films that imagine life after death as a bureaucratic process, but its focus on characters forced to make big, symbolic choices for big, symbolic reasons is particularly reminiscent of After Life, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 1998 movie in which the recently departed are given o…

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#502: Human/Nature, Pt. 2 — Train Dreams 53:22

12d ago53:22

53:22

Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams uses gorgeous imagery of the natural world, combined with an omniscient narrator quoting from the Denis Johnson novella the film adapts, to speak for a taciturn protagonist who struggles to understand, much less articulate, his place in the world. That approach has earned it the Terrence Malick comparisons that informed…

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#501: Human/Nature, Pt. 1 — Days of Heaven 58:54

19d ago58:54

58:54

Clint Bentley’s new Train Dreams uses the vast canvas of the natural world to frame a relatively tiny story of a single human life, a juxtaposition of story and visuals that’s reminiscent of the work of Terrence Malick, in particular 1978’s Days of Heaven. Set, like Train Dreams, in the midst of America’s Industrial Revolution, Days of Heaven takes…

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#500: What's In a Name — The Last Picture Show 1:30:10

26d ago1:30:10

1:30:10

Don’t be alarmed by the title of this week’s movie selection, this is not our final episode — in fact, it’s our 500th, a milestone none of us expected to hit when we started this podcast a decade ago. So in honor of all our past pairings, we’re devoting this one-off episode to a film we’ve never managed to find an excuse to cover on this show, desp…

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#499: Impaired Visions, Pt. 2 — Radu Jude's Dracula 1:01:45

1M ago1:01:45

1:01:45

From its nearly three-hour runtime to its deployment of some of the most deranged CGI you’ve ever seen committed to screen, Radu Jude’s DRACULA often feels like an extended act of trolling, but is it art? The answer to that question is inextricable from the film’s presentation of AI-derived art as grotesque, inhuman, and unsatisfying, and it makes …

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#498: Impaired Visions, Pt. 1 — 8 1/2 1:01:25

1M ago1:01:25

1:01:25

Radu Jude’s DRACULA is, technically speaking, yet another movie about one of the most depicted antagonists in all of cinema, but in actuality it’s about a different beast that has fascinated filmmakers for nearly as long: filmmaking. Within the grand tradition of “movies about moviemaking,” DRACULA’s surreal humor, combined with its focus on a stru…

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#497: First Strikes, Pt. 2 — A House of Dynamite 1:02:01

2M ago1:02:01

1:02:01

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is built on an undeniably hooky premise — a nuclear missile originating from an unknown source is heading right for us — but is that premise enough to support a successful movie? We’re joined once again by critic and author Jason Bailey to unpack that question, particularly as it applies to the film’s triptych structure and nerv…

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#496: First Strikes, Pt. 1 — Fail Safe 58:17

2M ago58:17

58:17

Kathryn Bigelow’s new A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE games out a scenario that filmmakers have been grappling with since the mid-20th century, in particular the year 1964, which saw the release of two very different classics of the nuclear-catastrophe genre: DR. STRANGELOVE, followed a few months later by the other half of this week’s pairing, FAIL SAFE. If t…

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#495: Revolutionary Roads, Pt. 2 — One Battle After Another 1:10:25

2M ago1:10:25

1:10:25

Paul Thomas Anderson’s ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is a very different film in form and function than the other half of this pairing, RUNNING ON EMPTY, but it’s built on the same foundational questions as Sidney Lumet’s 1988 family drama: what does it mean to lead a revolutionary life, and how does one generation’s fight get handed off to the next? Af…

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#494: Revolutionary Roads, Pt. 1 — Running on Empty (1988) 58:27

2M ago58:27

58:27

By Genevieve Koski, Keith Phipps, Tasha Robinson & Scott Tobias

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#493: 'Til You Drop, Pt. 2 — The Long Walk 1:17:29

3M ago1:17:29

1:17:29

It took decades in development hell for an adaptation of Stephen King’s THE LONG WALK to trudge its way into theaters, and now that it has, we’re of split opinions on how Francis Lawrence’s film goes about distinguishing itself from its source material, particularly in its graphic depiction of violence. There’s also the matter of the film’s very di…

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#492: 'Til You Drop, Pt. 1 — They Shoot Horses, Don't They? 1:03:44

3M ago1:03:44

1:03:44

It took decades for THE LONG WALK to make it to the big screen, in part because the Stephen King novel on which it’s based is so unrelentingly grim — but as we discovered this week, it may actually be less so than the other half of this pairing, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY. Set during the Great Depression and featuring a protagonist who is greatl…

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#491: Kings' Ransoms, Pt. 2 — Highest 2 Lowest 1:24:15

3M ago1:24:15

1:24:15

Spike Lee’s HIGHEST 2 LOWEST is built on the rock-solid narrative foundation of HIGH AND LOW, but the “interpretation” of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime-thriller classic he builds atop it can be shaky at times. We’re all in agreement that HIGHEST 2 LOWEST has flaws, but whether those flaws add up to ruin or simply provide texture to a singular filmmak…

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#490: Kings' Ransoms, Pt. 1 — High and Low (1963) 1:03:58

3M ago1:03:58

1:03:58

The new HIGHEST 2 LOWEST includes an onscreen credit for “the master” Akira Kurosawa as inspiration for a film that has the same basic shape and mistaken-identity kidnapping premise of 1963’s HIGH AND LOW, but is still unmistakably a Spike Lee joint. So in order to better evaluate Lee’s modernization of a crime classic, we’re returning to the maste…

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#489: The Kids Aren't Alright, Pt. 2 — Weapons 1:11:30

3M ago1:11:30

1:11:30

Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS overlaps with Atom Egoyan’s THE SWEET HEREAFTER in both its broad narrative setup — a town grapples with the sudden disappearance of a group of children — and its non-traditional structure, but diverges considerably in its tone. Then again, WEAPONS diverges considerably from its own tone as it goes on, artfully shifting gears…

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#488: The Kids Aren't Alright, Pt. 1 — The Sweet Hereafter 1:13:03

4M ago1:13:03

1:13:03

As a story about a community shattered by the disappearance of its children, Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS lured us, Pied Piper-like, toward Atom Egoyan’s 1997 film THE SWEET HEREAFTER, which doesn’t have quite as many jump scares as Cregger’s film, but makes up for it in enveloping sadness as it explores the far-reaching effects of a school bus crash on …

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#487: Double Drebin, Pt. 2 — The Naked Gun (2025) 1:09:04

4M ago1:09:04

1:09:04

Akiva Schaffer’s new take on THE NAKED GUN sends up both the cop-story cliches that inspired the 1988 Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker original and the modern action tropes littering the filmography of star Liam Neeson, but at heart it’s less a genre parody than a spoof of nostalgia reboots like, well, this one. That meta layer is a major distinction between…

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#486: Double Drebin, Pt. 1 — The Naked Gun (1988) 1:01:52

4M ago1:01:52

1:01:52

While technically a sequel, Akiva Schaffer’s new THE NAKED GUN is more accurately a reboot of the 1988 Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker cop-show spoof, which was itself a sequel-slash-reboot of their TV series POLICE SQUAD and would go on to spawn two sequels of its own. As circuitous as this IP has become over the years, though, THE NAKED GUN remains simple…

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Announcement: Next Pairing 1:04

4M ago1:04

1:04

New pairing launching Tuesday, August 12th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Genevieve Koski, Keith Phipps, Tasha Robinson & Scott Tobias

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485: Men of Steel, Pt. 2 — Superman (2025) 1:13:41

5M ago1:13:41

1:13:41

By skipping the origin story and dropping viewers right into the action, James Gunn’s SUPERMAN avoids feeling like the franchise reset it is, and allows the director to get to work creating the sort of busy, quick-paced onscreen universe at which he excels. We’re joined once again by writer, podcaster, and Superman aficionado Chris Klimek to break …

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#484: Men of Steel, Pt. 1 — Superman (1978) 1:15:22

5M ago1:15:22

1:15:22

James Gunn’s new SUPERMAN begins from the assumption that audiences already have a working knowledge of the Man of Steel’s origin story, his super-skill set, and his romance with Lois Lane. Gunn’s film benefits greatly from being able to skip past the basics, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Richard Donner’s franchise-launching blockbuste…

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#483: Kings of the Road, Pt. 2 — F1 1:01:17

5M ago1:01:17

1:01:17

On the one hand, the IMAX-driven spectacle of F1 is undeniably satisfying to watch on the big screen; on the other hand, we all walked out of Joseph Kosinski’s second teamup with producer Jerry Bruckheimer unsure whether it qualifies as a movie and not just a sophisticated simulation thereof. Despite the star power of Brad Pitt and a plethora of fa…

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#482: Kings of the Road, Pt. 1 — Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby 1:07:18

5M ago1:07:18

1:07:18

The new F1 brings even more attention to a sport/brand that’s becoming as popular in the U.S. as it is internationally, but its application of sports-movie tropes to the world of racing, in particular its focus on an intersquad rivalry, has big, booming echoes in the defiantly American world of NASCAR as depicted in TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF …

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#481: For Love or Money, Pt. 2 — Materialists 1:06:33

6M ago1:06:33

1:06:33

Celine Song’s new MATERIALISTS feints at being a romcom, but it’s far too interested in the economic realities and calculated compromise of modern dating for the label to be a comfortable fit; its romantic leanings are more in line with the works of Jane Austen and several cinematic adaptations thereof, as laid out in the “movie syllabus” Song made…

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#480: For Love or Money, Pt. 1 — Pride & Prejudice (2005) 59:09

6M ago59:09

59:09

Celine Song’s new not-quite-a-rom-com MATERIALISTS openly evokes Jane Austen in its focus on the rituals and codes of courtship, as well as its frankness about how one’s net worth can shape their romantic prospects. That could have led us to any number of Austen adaptations, but few as instantly beguiling as Joe Wright’s 2005 feature debut, PRIDE &…

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#479: Musical Not-obiography, Pt. 2 — Pavements 1:06:49

6M ago1:06:49

1:06:49

Like I’M NOT THERE, Alex Ross Perry’s new docu-like feature PAVEMENTS takes a “print the legend” approach to its subject, blurring reality and fiction to convey the significance of defining ‘90s indie rock group Pavement from a few different semi-fabricated angles. Is that approach better suited to established fans, including our returning guest an…

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#478: Musical Not-obiography, Pt. 1 — I'm Not There 55:48

6M ago55:48

55:48

Alex Ross Perry’s new hybrid documentary PAVEMENTS rejects convention in a way that’s both in keeping with the spirit of the ’90s indie-rock band at its center, and reminiscent of Todd Haynes’ deconstructed Bob Dylan biopic I’M NOT THERE. And while you arguably don’t need to be well-versed in either act to appreciate the films about them, it certai…

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#477: Pain Pals, Pt. 2 — Friendship 1:00:32

6M ago1:00:32

1:00:32

We were admittedly a bit dubious going into this pairing, which was spoken into existence by writer-director Andrew DeYoung invoking THE MASTER when describing his new Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd comedy FRIENDSHIP, but it’s not the stretch we thought it would be. In fact, Paul Thomas Anderson’s discomfiting psychological drama proves such an interesting…

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#476: Pain Pals, Pt. 1 — The Master 1:08:04

7M ago1:08:04

1:08:04

We can’t say that it would have occurred to us to pair the new Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd comedy FRIENDSHIP with THE MASTER if writer-director Andrew DeYoung hadn’t specifically invoked Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2012 psychological drama, but the two films do wind up being unexpectedly complementary portraits of relationships between emotionally unstable m…

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#475: Less Than Hero, Pt. 2 — Thunderbolts* 1:15:35

7M ago1:15:35

1:15:35

The new THUNDERBOLTS* assembles a group of leftovers from various MCU stories to face off against their personal failings in a way that’s broadly reminiscent of, yet tonally distinct from, the wannabe superheroes of 1999’s MYSTERY MEN. It’s also tonally distinct from most recent Marvel projects in a way that we all responded to, even if we differ o…

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#474: Less Than Hero, Pt. 1 — Mystery Men 1:02:36

7M ago1:02:36

1:02:36

The new THUNDERBOLTS* assembles some leftovers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe who are tough to describe as superheroes but nonetheless step up to save the day when their city needs them, which reminded us of MYSTERY MEN and its negligibly powered not-so-superteam. A flop in 1999, the comedy is as chaotic and sloppy as its titular (with an aster…

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#473: The Dead of Night, Pt. 2 — Sinners 1:15:52

7M ago1:15:52

1:15:52

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:03 Sinners Discussion: 00:02:04-00:28:46 Connections: 00:28:47-1:02:37 Your Next Picture Show, next pairing, and goodbyes: 1:02-38-end Director Ryan Coogler has been generous in sharing his many points of inspiration for SINNERS, including the other film in this pairing, but his exceptional new feature is refreshingly singular…

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#472: The Dead of Night, Pt. 1 — From Dusk Till Dawn 1:08:19

8M ago1:08:19

1:08:19

Comparing 1996's FROM DUSK TILL DAWN to the new SINNERS can feel a bit like, as Scott puts it, comparing “Chopsticks” to Beethoven’s Fifth. But Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s sleazy vampire flick was clearly on Ryan Coogler’s mind when crafting his own film about a pair of brothers who spend one fateful night defending a nightclub from an…

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#471: Body By Cronenberg, Pt. 2 — The Shrouds 1:12:16

8M ago1:12:16

1:12:16

Over the decades, David Cronenberg has carved a distinctive and provocative filmography out of his interest in human decay and death, up to and including his new THE SHROUDS, a late-career entry in the writer-director’s body-horror canon. It’s a film that left some of us confounded in a way that our returning guest, critic Charles Bramesco, might a…

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#470: Body By Cronenberg, Pt. 1 — The Fly (1986) 59:41

8M ago59:41

59:41

The way David Cronenberg’s new THE SHROUDS splices together unsettling ideas about technology and bodily transformation made us think of… well, a lot of his filmography, but the film’s visceral interest in how the human body decays feels directly connected to the director’s unlikeliest hit, his remake of THE FLY. We’re joined this week by critic an…

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#469: Mr. and Mrs. Mystery, Pt. 2 — Black Bag 1:11:51

8M ago1:11:51

1:11:51

BLACK BAG, Steven Soderbergh’s latest 90-minute collaboration with writer David Koepp, is in theory a sprawling international spy thriller, but in practice it’s a more intimate study of how a marriage can thrive in an environment where trusting your spouse is considered a weakness. This week we talk about how that genre disconnect works for and aga…

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#468: Mr. and Mrs. Mystery, Pt. 1 — The Thin Man 1:09:13

9M ago1:09:13

1:09:13

Steven Soderbergh’s new BLACK BAG is a spy thriller, sure, but it’s also the story of a marriage, and watching its sophisticated central couple banter their way through a sprawling mystery, it’s hard not to be reminded of one of cinema’s most enduring and endearing crime-solving couples, Nick and Nora Charles. So this week we’re going back to their…

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#467: Kill 'Em All, Pt. 2 — Mickey 17 1:20:21

9M ago1:20:21

1:20:21

Bong Joon Ho’s new MICKEY 17 takes a lot of big swings, from star Robert Pattinson’s vocal affectation to a comedic fixation on “sauce,” all of it in service of big, bold, arguably blunt satire. It all makes for a somewhat messy but highly discussable film, both on its own and in conversation with Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, another big swi…

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#466: Kill 'Em All, Pt. 1 — Starship Troopers 1:02:54

9M ago1:02:54

1:02:54

This week’s pairing is brought to you by: space bugs! Specifically, space bugs as a metaphor for a fascistic society’s disregard for any perceived-to-be-lower life form, human or otherwise. Inspired by the clear satire of Bong Joon Ho’s new MICKEY 17, we’re revisiting Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, whose satirical intent was less clear to some…

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#465: Late Innings, Pt. 2 — Eephus 1:13:26

9M ago1:13:26

1:13:26

Carson Lund’s feature debut EEPHUS moves at the same deliberate pace as the trick pitch for which it’s named, leisurely unfolding over the course of a season-ending game between two small-town recreation leagues that’s also probably the last time many on the field will ever play. This week we’re joined again by film critic and baseball lover Tim Gr…

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#464: Late Innings, Pt. 1 — Bull Durham 1:03:32

10M ago1:03:32

1:03:32

Quietly observing as a small-town recreation league plays out their last game of the season, and likely ever, the new EEPHUS is a feature-length subversion of “the big game,” simultaneously embracing and rejecting such baseball-movie cliches in a manner that reminded us of 1988’s BULL DURHAM. We’re joined this week by pinch-hitter Tim Grierson to d…

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#463: War Bonds, Pt. 2 — No Other Land 1:00:50

10M ago1:00:50

1:00:50

The story of two journalists reporting on a common cause despite their vastly different backgrounds is what gives NO OTHER LAND its narrative shape — and is what inspired us to pair it with 1984’s THE KILLING FIELDS — but the Oscar-nominated documentary is at heart a story about activism, and the weight of maintaining hope amid a generations-spanni…

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#462: War Bonds, Pt. 1 — The Killing Fields 53:37

10M ago53:37

53:37

Intro & Oscars Chitchat: 00:00:00-00:08:52 Keynote: 00:08:53-00:13:50 The Killing Fields Discussion: 00:13:51-44:37 Feedback & Outro: 00:44:38-end Summary: The Oscar-nominated documentary NO OTHER LAND, a collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers whose common cause and eventual friendship does not change the stark contrast in their p…

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#461: House Haunters, Pt. 2 — Presence 1:15:20

10M ago1:15:20

1:15:20

Steven Soderbergh’s new PRESENCE flips the typical haunted house narrative inside out, but unlike the other film in this pairing, THE OTHERS, it makes its point of view clear from the opening frames. But that POV doesn’t slide fully into focus until PRESENCE’s final-act reveal, which left us with some questions, both critical and metaphysical, to d…

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#460: House Haunters, Pt. 1 — The Others 1:07:31

10M ago1:07:31

1:07:31

Steven Soderbergh’s new PRESENCE is an unconventional haunted house story with a twist that reminded us of 2001’s THE OTHERS, though to say exactly why risks spoiling how Alejandro Amenábar performs his own twist on a comparatively traditional haunted house story. That twist forms the foundation of our discussion this week, which freely roams spoil…

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#459: Fanged Attraction Pt. 2 — Nosferatu (2024) 1:19:55

11M ago1:19:55

1:19:55

Given their shared source material, Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU and Francis Ford Coppola’s BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA understandably have a lot overlap in terms of plot and character, but the two films are miles apart in their interpretation of that source material, particularly as applied to its titular vampire. We’re of split opinions on Eggers’ bleak, m…

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#458: Fanged Attraction, Pt. 1 — Bram Stoker's Dracula 1:02:31

11M ago1:02:31

1:02:31

The heightened gothic sensibility of Robert Eggers’ new NOSFERATU recalls — in its intensity if not its precise contours — BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, Francis Ford Coppola’s feverish 1992 horror-romance that follows the same story from a markedly different perspective. This led us to reconsider Coppola’s flawed but fascinating DRACULA as a film that, ev…

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A Brief Interruption in Service 0:37

11M ago0:37

0:37

Hey Next Picture Show listeners, sorry there’s no new episode in your feed today. Real life got in the way of podcast life and prevented us from recording our next pairing in time to release it this week. But we will be back next Tuesday with part one of our double feature comparing Robert Eggers’ new Nosferatu with Frances Ford Coppola’s own take …

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#457: Our Top Films of 2024 1:06:08

11M ago1:06:08

1:06:08

With the beginning of a new year comes our customary look back, as Keith, Scott, and Tasha gather once again to compare their personal lists of the best films of 2024. While there is some crossover among their picks — particularly when it comes to films that have been discussed in-depth on this podcast — there is much more variance, reflective of a…

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#456: Long Gone, Pt. 2 — Nickel Boys 1:04:49

12M ago1:04:49

1:04:49

The moments in NICKEL BOYS that nod to 1958’s THE DEFIANT ONES are less direct citations than stylized invocations by director RaMell Ross, who incorporates a number of abstractions and flourishes into the film’s visual language. Chief among those stylistic gambits is the film’s use of first-person perspective, which kicks off our discussion of NIC…