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The Next Picture Show

#251: Byrne-ing Down the House, Pt. 2 — David Byrne's American Utopia

The Next Picture Show

Filmspotting

Tv & Film, Film History, Film Reviews

4.6858 Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2020

⏱️ 64 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA is a fairly traditional concert film — at least as traditional as a collaboration between David Byrne and Spike Lee can be — which differentiates it from Byrne’s vignette-based 1986 ramble TRUE STORIES, but both projects are indelibly marked by the musician’s mindset, clearly the products of someone who works intuitively and metaphorically. This week we attempt to parse how the “David Byrne” character has evolved over the decades separating the two films, and how TRUE STORIES and AMERICAN UTOPIA echo each other’s interests in American stories, collective celebration through music, and how technology can foster human connection. 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 TRUE STORIES, AMERICAN UTOPIA, 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: Genevieve: Marielle Heller’s WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME Keith: Costa Gavras’ Z Tasha: Michael O’Shea’s THE TRANSFIGURATION Scott: John Huston’s FAT CITY Outro Music: “Burning Down the House” from DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:28.2

Bachelor life varies with you switching settings.

0:31.5

It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present.

0:35.3

You believe that someone out of the past can enter and take possession of a living being?

0:42.0

We may be true with the past, but the past is not through with us.

0:50.0

Welcome back to the next picture show, a movie of the week podcast devoted to a classic film and the way it's shaped our thoughts on a recent release.

0:57.0

I'm Tasha Robinson here again with Keith Phipps.

1:00.0

Genevieve Kosky.

1:01.0

It's Scott Tobias.

1:02.0

In our last episode, we talked about David Burns' true stories, a 1986 movie overview of a fictional Texas small town where the air is clear, the radio reception is great,

1:11.6

and the people are straight out of supermarket tabloids, literally, because the film was inspired

...

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