On the thirteenth episode, Matt and Travis tackle the second half of Varda’s diptych with Jane Birkin. After taking a look at our own unease with the subject matter of this controversial fictional film based on a short story Birkin … Continue reading →

On the twelfth episode, Matt and Travis welcome longtime Friend of the Show Ericca Long back to discuss Varda’s idiosyncratic portrait of actress, model and icon Jane Birkin. Along with many tangential topics including modern arcades, getting older, and the … Continue reading →

On the eleventh episode, Matt and Travis welcome Alex Kittle to discuss Vagabond, one of Varda’s most successful and praised films. Alex is a projectionist at the Brattle Theater, one of the greatest and most important repertory theaters in America, … Continue reading →

On the tenth episode, Matt and Travis discuss Documenteur, Varda’s fictional feature pairing with her documentary Mur Murs. A self-described “emotion picture,” Varda’s final film in Hollywood is semi-autobiographical. We discuss the movie’s unique tone merging melancholy and playful meta touches … Continue reading →

On the ninth episode, Matt and Travis discuss Varda’s documentary on the murals of Los Angeles, Mur Murs. Created virtually simultaneously with the fictional film Documenteur,  Mur Murs is a portrait of Los Angeles as a concrete landscape dotted with organic beauty … Continue reading →

On the eighth episode, Matt and Travis welcome Laura Cannon from the Fatal Femmes podcast to discuss Varda’s self-described “feminist musical,” One Sings, the Other Doesn’t. We discuss the film’s still-relevant issues confronting women, the unique nature of the friendship depicted … Continue reading →

On the seventh episode of The Complete Varda, Matt and Travis discuss the charming documentary Varda made for German television in 1975, Daguerréotypes. A simple profile of the shops and their keepers on the block in Paris where Varda lived … Continue reading →

On the sixth episode of the Complete Varda, Matt and Travis discuss the most obscure film in Varda’s filmography, the 1970 made-for-television film Nausicaa. Censored at the time and surviving only in a work print sent to Belgium (with all … Continue reading →

On the fifth episode of the Complete Varda, Matt and Travis discuss another of Varda’s unique explorations, 1969’s Lions Love (…and Lies was added at some point after the initial release). Filmed during Varda’s first stint in Los Angeles, the … Continue reading →

On the fourth episode of the fifth season, Matt and Travis welcome their first guest of the season, the eternally wise and effortlessly cool David Blakeslee of Criterion Reflections, to discuss one of Agnès Varda’s most unusual and idiosyncratic films, … Continue reading →

On the third episode of the fifth season, Matt and Travis discuss one of Varda’s most insidious works of cinematic irony, Le Bonheur. Created in the wake of her international success with Cleo, Varda’s third feature is a joyful evocation … Continue reading →

On the second episode of the fifth season, Matt and Travis quickly encounter Varda’s most famous and praised film, the New Wave masterpiece Cléo from 5 to 7. Made seven years after her debut, Cléo from 5 to 7 is … Continue reading →

On the first episode of the fifth season, Matt and Travis begin their discussion of the films of Agnès Varda with her debut feature, La Pointe Courte. Barely screened upon completion but seen by a handful of hugely influential filmmakers … Continue reading →

For the final episode of the season, Matt and Travis are joined by Andrew Osmond, a writer and journalist who specializes in film and animation and the author of Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist, the only book in English that focuses entirely on Kon. We discuss his interest in animation and anime in particular, along with … Continue reading The Complete Kon 6 – Wrap Up with Andrew Osmond →

Satoshi Kon’s final film is the culmination of his career up to this point: an amalgamation of his most ambitious technical experimentation and the meta and philosophical themes deeply infused into all of his films, here made literal in a story that provides an opportunity for Kon’s vision to play out in a free-flowing manner. … Continue reading The Complete Kon 5 – Paprika →

For the fourth episode, Matt and Travis cover the epic and extraordinary Paranoia Agent, Kon’s 13-episode television series. The first and only thing Kon did for TV began as a combination of many of his smaller ideas and story concepts that didn’t have a home but eventually morphed into something more ambitious and far-reaching. We … Continue reading The Complete Kon 4 – Paranoia Agent →

For the third episode, Travis and Matt discuss the magical comedy adventure Tokyo Godfathers, Kon’s third feature. We discuss the vividly rendered central characters, the small details and recurring motifs that Kon layers into his work, and the departure from the reality/fantasy merging of his two previous films. We wanted to get this out for … Continue reading The Complete Kon 3 – Tokyo Godfathers →

In this episode, Matt and Travis cover Satoshi Kon’s second feature, Millennium Actress. In many ways a reworking of the themes and techniques Kon explored in his debut, the film is nevertheless an entirely different viewing experience: an uplifting and deeply moving exploration of a woman’s life in movies and her quest to find the … Continue reading The Complete Kon 2 – Millennium Actress →

On the first episode of our fourth season, Matt and Travis begin to work through the catalog of Satoshi Kon, our first Japanese filmmaker and the first to work in the medium of animation. We talk about Kon’s life and anime before diving into his debut feature, Perfect Blue. One of the great animated thrillers, … Continue reading The Complete Kon 1 – Perfect Blue →

On the final episode of the season, we reflect on the films we’ve watched over the past two years and the legacy of Kieślowski. We also cover films produced after his death that were associated with him through scripts and other connections, plus the books we’ve enjoyed along the way. We end with our final … Continue reading The Complete Kieślowski 19 – Wrap Up →

For the last of our episodes on Kieślowski’s final work, the Three Colors trilogy, we are joined again by Ericca Long, co-host of The Magic Lantern Podcast to discuss Red, the director’s final work before retiring and soon after passing away from complications during heart surgery. We discuss the film’s depiction of its female protagonist … Continue reading The Complete Kieślowski 18 – Three Colors: Red →

For the second of our episodes on Kieślowski’s final work, the Three Colors trilogy, we are joined again by Ericca Long, co-host of The Magic Lantern Podcast to discuss White, the second film in the series. A surprising departure in a number of ways from the director’s previous two films, White represents a return to … Continue reading The Complete Kieślowski 17 – Three Colors: White →

For the first of our episodes on Kieślowski’s final work, the Three Colors trilogy, we are joined by Ericca Long, co-host of The Magic Lantern Podcast to discuss Blue, the first film in the series. The second film Kieślowski made with international financing, Blue is another towering work of European arthouse cinema, yet remains surprisingly … Continue reading The Complete Kieślowski 16 – Three Colors: Blue →

For the first post-Dekalog episode, Travis and Matt welcome Dave Eves and Becky D’Anna, a couple of cinephiles and Bergman experts, to discuss The Double Life of Veronique. This film was Kieślowski’s first partially French-financed movie, and the first after his newfound international fame. It was also his first movie since the fall of the … Continue reading The Complete Kieślowski 15 – The Double Life of Veronique →