On this week’s episode, we bring back a beloved Film Comment Podcast format of yore: Movie Gifts. It’s like Secret Santa but for movies—each participant picks a title for another that the recipient hasn’t seen. It’s a fun way for us to share our enthusiasms, gain new insights on old favorites, and fill in some longstanding blindspots. 

And who better to join us in the spirit of gift-giving than our two erudite guests: K. Austin Collins, film critic for Rolling Stone; and Adam Nayman, writer for The Ringer, contributing editor to CinemaScope, and author of Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks. Kameron and Adam joined Film Comment editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute to unwrap some fantastic presents, including Cinda Firestone’s Attica, Allan King’s Warrendale, Abbas Kiarostami’s First Case, Second Case, and Elaine May’s A New Leaf. 

Links & Things:

Attica (Cinda Firestone, 1974) on YouTube
Carmen Gray in the Village Voice on Attica and other women-directed movies from the New Hollywood Era
Warrendale (Allan King, 1967) on Criterion Channel
Michael Koresky on the Criterion Collection’s Eclipse Series 24: The Actuality Dramas of Allan King
Two Solutions for One Problem (Abbas Kiarostami, 1975) on YouTube
Devika Girish in Reverse Shot on And Life Goes On
A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971) on Criterion Channel
Adam Nayman’s forthcoming book David Fincher: Mind Games now available for pre-order!

This episode of the Film Comment Podcast is sponsored by MUBI. Film Comment readers and listeners can get 30 days of great cinema free at mubi.com/filmcomment.