The Next Picture Show

#266: Uneasy Riders Pt. 2 — Nomadland

In Chloe Zhao’s new NOMADLAND, Frances McDormand’s Fern “drops out of society” not by choice, unlike the yuppie couple at the center of Albert Brooks’ 1985 comedy LOST IN AMERICA, but she proves much more adept than they at surviving (perhaps even thriving?) outside the mainstream. This week we bring NOMADLAND’s view of life on the road into conversation with LOST IN AMERICA’s satirization of the impulse to pursue that lifestyle, to consider their respective approaches to dropping out of society and living without a safety net. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about LOST IN AMERICA, NOMADLAND, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. 

Your Next Picture Show:

Tasha: David Lynch’s THE STRAIGHT STORY
Keith: Agnès Varda’s DAGUERREOTYPES
Genevieve: The New York Times Presents FRAMING BRITNEY SPEARS
Scott: Sarah Polley’s STORIES WE TELL
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Looking at cinema's present via its past. The Next Picture Show is a biweekly roundtable by the former editorial team of The Dissolve examining how classic films inspire and inform modern movies. Episodes take a deep dive into a classic film and its legacy in the first half, then compare and contrast that film with a modern successor in the second. Hosted and produced by Genevieve Koski, Keith Phipps, Tasha Robinson and Scott Tobias.