The Last Picture Show

Episode 218: The Last Picture Show (1971)

Theme: "Last" Movies Month

Hosts: Oz & Curtis

This week, Oz and Curtis wrap up 2025 and "Last" Movies Month by visiting a dusty, dying Texas town where there is absolutely nothing to do but sweep the street, play pool, and make terrible life decisions. It’s Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show—a black-and-white masterpiece about boredom, repressed hormones, and the sheer awkwardness of growing up. Join the hosts as they discuss Ben Johnson’s efficiency (winning an Oscar in under ten minutes), the world’s squeakiest bed, and why you should never, ever visit a pool party hosted by a rich kid named Lester.

The hosts break down:

• Sonny & Duane: Two high school seniors who care more about movies than football, have no idea how to tackle, and seemingly define intimacy as "honking" in a truck.

• Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd): The town’s resident manipulator and social climber who treats relationships like a game of chess where she’s the only one allowed to move.

• Ruth Popper (Cloris Leachman): The tragic, melancholic coach's wife who deserves an Oscar, a better husband, and a mattress that doesn't sound like a Slinky in distress.

• Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson): The moral center of the town (and the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator?) who secures an Academy Award simply by staring into the middle distance and remembering a swim.

• The Town of Anarene: A place so desolate and bored that the primary forms of entertainment are watching a movie theater close down and sweeping dirt from one side of the street to the other.

Final Verdict:

Oz — 549 (Criterion Spine Number)

Curtis — 95 Topless Breakups