
Topics covered include: following Todd Haynes to Portland, cattle politics, the nature of the “American Experiment,” why it’s so hard to make a good period piece, lessons from Lyndon Johnson, whether Mark Ruffalo could effectively play an evil person (answer: yes), the randomness of art, the actor/movie star dichotomy, bad old movies versus bad new movies, and why it’s always better when there’s a dog.
Jan 26
49 min

Topics covered include: the purity of poetry, radical okay-ness, the alternate version of Ocean’s life as a straight man, why love wasn't a question in Memorial, the power of saying no, learning to choose yourself, the exoticism of suburbia, the upside of being small, letting another artist expand upon your vision through adaptation, and why being a writer is less a career than a miracle.
Dec 21, 2020
48 min

Topics covered include: Zoom culture, petty arguments, band name trends through the decades, the humble origins of Moonbase 8, rethinking “independent” television, the demoralizing experience of pitching a show to Amazon and Netflix accompanied by a 30 person chorus, learning to trust Ravi, whether A24 needs help with money, and why you sometimes need a couple years of distance to fall in love with something you made.
Nov 24, 2020
44 min

Topics covered include: embracing your animal essence, what high school is really like, the Euphoria chili scene, learning cinematography from reality TV, the secret to acting like Nathan, fairy portals, approaches to cat parenting, the kindness of strangers, and crying so hard you laugh.
Oct 28, 2020
54 min

Topics covered include: performance anxiety, living in the body of a character, the annual Gathering of the Juggalos, how Cousin Greg got his rich vocabulary, Britell’s early gigs writing telephone hold music, getting out of your own head, and why you should just keep going when it feels good.
Oct 14, 2020
50 min

Topics covered include: finding your creative collaborators, strip club breakfast buffets, editing as the final draft of a script, the Sundance party scene, why bad notes are better than no notes, meaningful nudity on screen, getting paid the least for doing the most, and what it’s like making a naughty movie when you’re a prude.
Sep 23, 2020
56 min

Topics covered include: hot mics, shooting in airports pre-9/11, "movie star grapes," Josh seeing Sandler in Punch Drunk Love at age 18, writing a script that feels like there is no script at all, His Royal Highness Darius Khondji, the firecracker scene in Boogie Nights, the feeling when it all works artistically, post-filmmaking blues, losing the Ziegfeld theater in NYC, and why it just makes sense to ship a precious gem inside of a fish.
Dec 23, 2019
1 hr

Bergman Mission Accomplished. Here's the extended version of last week’s Deep Cuts with Ari Aster & Robert Eggers.
ROB & ARI'S WATCH LIST (in order of appearance)
The Servant (1963) dir. Joseph Losey
The Sacrifice (1986) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
Cries and Whispers (1972) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Autumn Sonata (1978) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Persona (1966) dir. Ingmar Bergman
The Master (2012) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
The Virgin Spring (1960) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Shame (1968) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Winter Light (1963) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Fanny and Alexander (1982) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Scenes from a Marriage (1973) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Andrei Rublev (1973) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
Through a Glass Darkly (1961) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Ivan’s Childhood (1963) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
Hour of the Wolf (1968) dir. Ingmar Bergman
From the Life of the Marionettes (1981) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Carrie (1976) dir. Brian De Palma
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) dir. Peter Greenaway
The Snowman (1982) dir. Dianne Jackson, Jimmy T. Murakami
Blue Velvet (1986) dir. David Lynch
A Clockwork Orange (1971) dir. Stanley Kubrick
Mary Poppins (1964) dir. Robert Stevenson
Conan the Barbarian (1982) dir. John Milius
Legend (1986) dir. Ridley Scott
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) dir. George Lucas
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) dir. Steven Spielberg
Nosferatu (1922) dir. F.W. Murnau
The Bostonians (1984) dir. James Ivory
Maurice (1987) dir. James Ivory
The Seventh Seal (1957) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Lost Highway (1997) dir. David Lynch
The Dark Knight (2008) dir. Christopher Nolan
A Life in Suitcases (2005) dir. Peter Greenaway
The Falls (1980) dir. Peter Greenaway
Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) dir. Ingmar Bergman
The Silence (1963) dir. Ingmar Bergman
Seventh Samurai (1954) dir. Akira Kurosawa
Last Year at Marienbad (1963) dir. Alain Resnais
Jul 25, 2019
55 min

Topics covered include: chasing the Bergman closeup, preferred aspect ratios, why Hereditary is unabashedly a horror movie, talking to press while intoxicated, the “trick” of Midsommar, the scene from Carrie that still gives Ari nightmares, dealing with the consequences of an A24 marketing stunt you did not consent to, the silver lining on a ‘D’ Cinemascore, why films are meant to be watched more than once, and the magic of being in dialogue with other filmmakers across history—and becoming more yourself in the process.
Jul 17, 2019
44 min

Topics covered include: lies we tell our families, the gift of cold hard cash, visiting Disney as an adult, pet monkeys (dream versus reality), Murakami, the Malcolm X watch, LA car culture, universality through specificity, connecting the dots, and the longing to know the places our parents' parents once called home.
Jun 12, 2019
47 min
Load more