The Projector #1: The Next Picture Show Has a Patreon, and a Newsletter, and Digs Todd Haynes (Patreon)

Hello! And welcome to the first installment of The Projector, a newsletter from The Next Picture Show. If you’re reading this you’re most likely:

a) a supporter of our new Patreon (Thanks!) 

and

b) already familiar with what we do. (“We get together to talk over a classic film, and consider how it relates to a current movie,” etc.”)

So, with that out of the way, let’s talk about what we want to cover with this newsletter. In short, just about anything we think might be of interest to our listeners. That means a lot of movie talk, maybe some TV talk thrown in for fun, and anything else inspired by the movies we cover on our podcasts. We’ll also be throwing in some behind-the-scenes info about our episodes, links to articles we like (and we’ve written), and whatever else occurs to us. If The Next Picture Show is the Beastie Boys (stay with us for this analogy) we’d like The Projector to be its Grand Royal, a place where we can cover, however briefly, whatever we think is cool. 

(Like, say, Grand Royal magazine, which was amazing, even if it hardly ever published an issue and vanished unceremoniously. One issue had Laverne & Shirley co-stars Michael McKean and David Lander modeling Wu Wear. Unfortunately, back issues go for the price of gold on eBay, but you can find some scans online if you poke around.)

Anyway, back to the podcast. This week finds us talking about Todd Haynes’ 1998 cult classic Velvet Goldmine, inspired by Martin Scorsese’s new film Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story. Mostly a documentary film about a tour of small venues accompanied by a ragtag bunch of supporting artists that included Joan Baez, Patti Smith, Roger McGuinn, and Allen Ginsberg. The film mixes fact with fiction in ways that reminded a listener named Enrico of Haynes’ fact-bending fantasia of the glam rock era, Velvet Goldmine.

Sure, we could also have covered Hanes’ Dylan-inspired I’m Not There, but we decided to mix it up because who doesn’t want an excuse to talk about Velvet Goldmine? It’s terrific. We hope you enjoy the episode. And if you’re looking for some background reading, check out this interview our own Keith Phipps did with Haynes 21 years ago (!?!). It’s filled with Haynes’ thoughts about glam music and how its artists took the ways we all perform identity to an extreme. (“It's like having every possibility at your fingertips, as opposed to some natural sense of who we'll be imprisoned by for the rest of our lives. Maybe dad dresses up as dad every day.”)

We’re also rolling out two (yes two!) bonus episodes for Patreon supporters in the coming days. In the first, Tasha and Scott discuss the new Spider-Man: Far From Home. In the second, Genevieve and Keith discuss the new, mall-fixated season of Stranger Things. Look for them soon. (And tell your friends how good they are and how cool it would be if they supported us on Patreon.)

A few other notes: We talked about covering Claire Denis’ High Life but never got around to it. But maybe we should have? (And if so, what should we have paired it with? Moon? Dark Star? Silent Running? Saturn 3?) It’s now on VOD and very much worth your time. Also, Amazon Prime subscribers should be aware that the service now features Under the Silver Lake. Puzzle over its mysteries. Accept the futility of never being able to answer them. Beware the Dog Killer.

We’ll be fine tuning The Projector each week. So please tell us what you’d like to see and what you’d like to hear more of on the show via the usual email address: comments@nextpictureshow.net.

Finally, here’s some recommended reading.

For The Ringer, Scott Tobias wrote about Martin Scorsese’s documentary adventures: “Truth and Legends: The Extraordinary Documentaries of Martin Scorsese"

For The Verge, Tasha Robinson reviewed Spider-Man: Far From Home: “Spider-Man: Far From Home is a full-on heroic triumph”

For The Verge, Keith Phipps wrote about the return of William Gibson’s discarded Alien III screenplay in audio drama form: “How William Gibson’s Long-Lost Alien 3 Script Became 2019’S Most Intriguing Audio Drama”

For Mel, Keith Phipps wrote about the long, twisting history of John Shaft: “The Unlikely, Gritty Origins of John Shaft”

For NPR, Scott Tobias reviewed Ophelia: “'Ophelia' Drowns ... In Meaninglessness”

We also like:

The Associated Press recently ran a fascinating item a Pennsylvania drive-in that never converted to digital but has found a second life playing themed double-features (we like that!): Drive-In is country’s last showing 35 mm films every weekend

For The Los Angeles Times, NPS friend Noel Murray wrestled with the legacy of Forrest Gump at 25: “Revisiting ‘Forrest Gump’ at 25 — what made it a cultural phenomenon”

And, for Vulture, here’s the great Rachel Handler history of one of Men In Black’s most memorable scenes we alluded to in a previous episode: “An Oral History of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Perfect Men in Black ‘Sugar Water’ Scene”