The Last Picture Shows
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Search complete. 14 mentions across 4 episodes found for "The Last Picture Shows".
Sep 17, 2026
Evan BernsteinHOST
I'm your host, Evan Bernstein, and we have a special conversation tonight, which means a lot to me, because we're talking about something that's at the heart of why I fell in love with movies in the first place, and that is the movie theater.
Evan BernsteinHOST
Filmmaker Rustin Thompson traveled through 10 states, drove 10,825 miles, and visited 123 theaters for his documentary, The Last Picture Shows.
Evan BernsteinHOST
But what stayed with me watching this film wasn't that number.
Evan BernsteinHOST
It was the people, the people who still turn on the marquee every night, the people keeping these theaters alive when financially sometimes it barely makes sense to do it.
Evan BernsteinHOST
And Rustin really did this from the ground up.
Evan BernsteinHOST
He wrote it, directed it, produced it, shot it, edited it, recorded sound, and traveled all those miles himself.
Evan BernsteinHOST
Now, the last picture shows is very appropriately traveling the country and playing inside the very kinds of independent theaters that the film is about, including several right here in the Bay Area.
Evan BernsteinHOST
Before we start, I also want to thank Tim and Trista at Associated Publicity for introducing me to this beautiful film and helping put this conversation together.
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
film? Yeah.
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
Well, the film is an elegy for small town cinemas of the American West.
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
So I came to this idea because as I said, I live in Seattle and we have lost seven to 10 of our art house theaters in the last 15 years, 10 years.
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
They just keep dropping like flies.
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
I'm out of Seattle.
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
And my current documentary is called The Last Picture Shows.
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
And it is kind of an elegy for the small town cinemas of the American West.
Megan BraunHOST
Yeah, when we got the email about your film, I was like, we have to have this on the podcast because I think it's like the exact type of thing I think our podcast listeners would really be into and care about.
9 MINS LATER
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
And it was a film that I could make on my own, wouldn't cost anything, didn't have to bring a lot of gear.
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
I didn't need a crew and I would be out on the road, which is what I love to do.
Rustin ThompsonGUEST
And it just all sort of coalesced in this idea for the last picture shows.
Megan BraunHOST
Oh, that's awesome.
Chase HutchinsonPANELIST
Edmonds is quite an amazing place.
Chase HutchinsonPANELIST
I was going to ask about that theater experience, because the theater is currently showing the documentary The Last Picture Shows from the local filmmaker Rustin Thompson, which captures the beauty of those small town theater experiences, but also how so many in the region and the country are closing.
Chase HutchinsonPANELIST
It's a real crisis in a lot of ways.
Chase HutchinsonPANELIST
What does it mean to you to be part of a reversal in a small way, but a meaningful way of that trend?
Jane C. HuHOST
Are you still going to do that, Rick?
Rick StevesGUEST
Uh, yeah.
Rick StevesGUEST
In fact, um, um, this is so fun to have this, uh, the last picture shows, uh, movie that Chase mentioned.
Rick StevesGUEST
Um, we're, we're running it, you know, for five nights this, this week.