The Treatment

<p><span>This week on The Treatment, Elvis sits down with writer and professor David Mikics whose newest book is ‘Stanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker.” Mikics’ other books include “Bellow’s People” and “Slow Reading in a Hurried Age.” On the program, he discusses how Kubrick’s stable, third marriage contributed to the director’s taking on increasingly complex films as his career matured. He talks about what people tend to get wrong about Kubrick’s final film “Eyes Wide Shut” and how Kubrick’s use of classical music and avant garde composers in films was groundbreaking.</span></p>

<p><span>David Talbert on bringing a new holiday classic to all audiences.</span></p>

<p><span>This week Elvis sits down with actor and director Alex Winter, whose new documentary “Zappa” chronicles the life and performance of avant-garde rocker Frank Zappa. Winter’s films as a director include “Downloaded,” “Deep Web” and “Showbiz Kids.” He is also known as an actor for his role as “Bill” in the “Bill and Ted” trilogy. Winter talks about why his pitch to Zappa’s widow about his approach to the film allowed him access to previously unreleased film footage. He talks about Zappa’s unique and misunderstood relationship with his audience and the similarities between Prince and Zappa’s collagist approaches to their art.</span></p>

<p>This week Elvis sits down with Misha Green, showrunner for HBO’s “Lovecraft Country.” Green is also the creator of the series “Underground,” which was broadcast on WGN America. Green talks about how she and Jordan Peele, who’s an executive producer of “Lovecraft Country,” bonded over their love of horror films. She says that in adapting the novel “Lovecraft Country” for the screen, she didn’t want to feel restricted by the book, saying, “it's a beautiful platform, but I want to jump off of it.” And Green talks about why she pitched “Underground” as a heist caper.</p>

<p dir="ltr">This week on The Treatment, Elvis sits down with film critic and writer Glenn Kenny, whose new book “Made Men: The Story of Goodfellas” details the making of Martin Scorsese’s iconic film about New York City mobsters. Kenny talks about the surprising impact on tabloid tv on the aesthetic of the film as well as the people behind the scenes who were hugely important to the film’s success.</p>

<p><span>This week on The Treatment, Elvis sits down with director Sofia Coppola, whose new film "On the Rocks" stars Bill Murray and Rashida Jones. Coppola won an Academy Award in 2004 for best original screenplay for her film "Lost in Translation." Her other films include "The Virgin Suicides," "Marie Antoinette" and "Somewhere." In the conversation, Coppola discusses the similarities between Bill Murray's character in "On the Rocks" and his real life persona, and how his character is a vestige of a bygone era of New York City.</span></p>

<p><span>This week on The Treatment, Elvis Mitchell speaks with Emmy-winning actor Jeremy Strong about playing social activist Jerry Rubin in Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” Strong won an Emmy this year as lead actor in a drama for his role as Kendall Roy in HBO’s “Succession.” Strong discusses the differences between playing the theatrical activist Rubin and the tightly wound Roy as well as the contrast in storytelling styles between Aaron Sorkin, who wrote “Chicago 7” and Jesse Armstrong, creator of “Succession.”</span></p>

<p>‘Queer Eye’ star Tan France on happily proving people wrong</p>

<p><span>This week on The Treatment, Elvis Mitchell speaks with photographer Gregory Crewdson about his new exhibition of photographs "An Eclipse of Moths" currently at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills. The images depict decaying industrial environments encountering the natural world with figures in minimal, ragged clothing, but they manage to also portray the possibility of hope and redemption.</span></p>

<p><span>This week on The Treatment, Elvis Mitchell welcomes Tony-winning director of theater and film Julie Taymor to discuss her newest feature ‘The Glorias.’ The film tells the story of the iconic activist Gloria Steinem in her early years, as four actresses portray her at different stages of her life. Taymor previously directed films including ‘Titus,’ ‘Frida,’ and ‘Across The Universe’ and won a Tony Award for ‘The Lion King.’ Mitchell and Taymor discuss the enduring relevance of her films that chart the stories of political movements and how she uses the fantastical elements of her film to express the emotion of the story and relationships.</span></p>

<p><span> </span><span>This week, </span><span>Elvis Mitchell sits down with Noah Hawley, the executive producer and showrunner of the FX series ‘Fargo.’ The series debuts its fourth incarnation this month. It’s set in the 1950s and stars Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman as members of rival crime families. Hawley talks about how faith and allegories have often informed the storytelling of the series and how he can tell when a story will pass a Coen Brothers’ test.</span></p>

<p><span>This week, </span><span>Elvis Mitchell welcomes the multi-talented Miranda July to The Treatment to discuss her latest film "Kajillionaire," starring Debra Winger, Evan Rachel Wood, and Richard Jenkins. July, who is also an actor and performance artist, wrote and directed the film about an eccentric family who just barely subsists by scamming people. They discuss how "Kajillionaire," though written and filmed before the pandemic, somehow feels prescient of this time.</span></p>

<p><span> </span><span>This week, </span><span>Elvis Mitchell sits down with Oscar-winning screenwriter Kevin Willmott to talk about his newest film, which he also directed, ‘The 24th.’ The film is about the Houston Riot of 1917 in which members of the all-Black 24th United States Infantry Regiment rebelled against the abusive Houston police. Willmott won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay of ‘BlacKkKlansman,’ which he co-wrote with Spike Lee. </span></p>

<p><span>Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino: ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.’</span></p>

<p>Ron Howard: ‘Rebuilding Paradise’</p>

<p><span>Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino: ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’</span></p>

<p><span>Wanda Sykes: ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’</span></p>

<p><span>Dime Davis: ‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’</span></p>

<p><span>This week on The Treatment, Oscar-winning director and screenwriter Oliver Stone sits down with host Elvis Mitchell to discuss his new memoir, ‘Chasing the Light,’ which covers the first 40 years of his life and career as a filmmaker. Stone won a screenwriting Oscar for ‘Midnight Express’ and two as a director of ‘Platoon’ and ‘Born on The Fourth of July.’ </span></p>

<p><span>Playwright and showrunner Katori Hall joins Elvis Mitchell this week on ‘The Treatment.’ Hall’s plays include ‘The Mountaintop’ and ‘Hurt Village,’ and her most recent project is the Starz series ‘P Valley,’ which is about people who work at a strip club in the Mississippi Delta. Hall and Mitchell discuss how her work can often be a “backstage into Blackness” where characters can be unapologetically themselves. She takes issue with her plays and series being called melodrama, saying they are a reflection of real Black experience. And Hall explains why her work is like putting “vitamins into Kool-Aid.”</span></p>

<p><span>Stephen Root: ‘Perry Mason’</span></p>

<p><span>What do Earth, Wind & Fire and Michael Bublé have in common? Mega music producer David Foster. Before he became famous for his presence on reality TV, Foster brought his soaring sensibilities and steely concentration to artists like Barbara Streisand, Whitney Houston, and Chicago. Documentary filmmaker Barry Avrich turned a camera on Foster for the Netflix film, “David Foster: Off the Record,” and tracked the difference between control in the studio and the chaos outside of it. Avirch discusses what draws him to such subjects when he stops by “The Treatment.”</span></p>

<p>In author and cultural historian Sam Wasson's new book, 'The Big Goodbye', he tells us that the 1970s ended in Hollywood in 1974, with the release of the epochal film 'Chinatown'. He takes us inside the chaotic and creative environment that brought screenwriter Robert Towne, director Roman Polanski, studio chief Robert Evans and star Jack Nicholson together -- a once in a lifetime union.</p> <div></div>

<p>Director Gina Prince-Bythewood found a project that fit into many of the themes she's explored in her films going back to her debut, 2000's "Love & Basketball" in, of all places, the pages of an action-adventure graphic novel. She talks about how her upcoming Netflix feature, "<a text="The Old Guard" href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81038963" data-linktype="external" data-val="https://www.netflix.com/title/81038963">The Old Guard</a>", connected many of the dots for her on "The Treatment".</p> <div></div>

<p>Author and crisis historian Max Brooks (‘World War Z’, ‘Harlem Hellfighters’) brings his affinity to translating dystopian scenarios into compelling narrative with his project, ‘Germ Warfare: A Very Graphic History’.</p>

<p>Writer/Director Judd Apatow has focused his career on making comedy – and drama – people who, when forced to make a choice between adulthood and remaining a kid, put it off. And the emotional wreckage that indecision leaves. For Pete Davidson's turn and first starring role, Apatow exposes Pete Davidson to indecision. He'll discuss that perspective taking him from '40-Year-Old Virgin' to 'The King of Staten Island' on The Treatment.</p>

<p>The IFC comedy series 'Sherman's Showcase' uses a parody of 'Soul Train' as its launch point, because 'Soul Train' packed so much under its tent. Most importantly, the songs exist for them as music pieces first and foremost -- and then, as comedy. 'Sherman' stars and creators, Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle, talk about that and more in discussing the upcoming 'Sherman's Showcase Black History Month Spectacular' -- in June! on 'The Treatment'.</p> <div></div>

<p>The best actors can make words dance, and we take pleasure in their pleasure. Holland Taylor is just such an actress and in the Netflix series, 'Hollywood,' Ryan Murphy created the space for her to do her magic, which she talks about on this episode of 'The Treatment.'</p>

<p><span>Faith is what got Andre Leon Talley through decades of intrigues and betrayal in the world of high fashion. The former Vogue Magazine Creative Director -- and the first African-American to hold such a title -- details his survival strategies in his best-selling new memoir 'The Chiffon Trenches', on </span><i>The Treatment</i><span>.</span></p>

<p>Forty-five years ago, Alan Zweibel joined the first group of writers responsible for an unknown project called 'NBC's Saturday Night' -- later changed to 'Saturday Night Live'. Since then, he brought his meticulous perspective -- and voice -- talents from Garry Shandling to Billy Crystal. His new book, 'Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier', details his history in the workday world of television, movie and book comedy.</p> <div></div>

<p>Kenya Barris followers may think his hit sitcom ‘Blackish’ is autobiographical, but his new netflix series ‘#blackAF’ cuts much closer to the bone. He raises the stakes by starring in this show as well — so you know exactly who to blame, or praise.</p>

<p>Writer and director Stella Meghie has moved her strengths — verbal aggression, a revealing eye for wardrobe, distinctive perspectives for characters, narrative driven by women — from comedy to drama with her newest film, ‘The Photograph’.</p>

<p>With just two films -- 'Saving Face' and her newest, 'The Half of It', director Alice Wu has found a way to play with triangles – three-sided romantic relationships, emotional threesomes and the self splintered into trios. She talks about how aware -- and unenlightened – her characters are.</p>

<p>When designer Scott Sternberg shut his clothing line band of outsiders to create a brand, Entireworld, that was strictly about ease and e-commerce rather than formality and brick-and-mortar stores, he had no idea that the new concept would fit so well into the world we now face. He discusses the future of fashion, and style.</p>

<p><span>To help him realize his vision for the Amazon fantasy-drama series, “Tales from the Loop," director Mark Romanek (“One Hour Photo,” “Never Let Me Go”) brought a group of feature-film behind-the-scenes artisans who’ve never worked in TV before. Listen to his take on the result.</span></p>

<p>When the documentary/performance piece they institute caught the attention of Jason Segel, he decided to turn it into a shape shifting drama series about the need for community. The result, which he wrote and stars in, is ‘Dispatches from Elsewhere’, and there’s no better time for it than now.</p>

<p>In a handful of features, including 'Mudbound,' which made her only the second African-American woman ever to get a screenwriting Oscar nomination, writer-director Dee Rees has centered on stories about family that can confound us. Even when they're trying their best. She finds elements of this perspective in Joan Didion's 'The Last Thing He Wanted,' and her adaptation brings new thematic elements to the project as a result.</p>

<p>In 1979, master interviewer Lawrence Grobel's conversation with Marlon Brando changed the shape of the magazine celebrity profile. Grobel got the rights to the article back and has published an extended version of the interview as the book 'Conversations with Brando'. Learn about Grobel's influential approach -- and who he thinks should be in the movie version!</p>

<p>In author and cultural historian Sam Wasson's new book, 'The Big Goodbye', he tells us that the 1970s ended in Hollywood in 1974, with the release of the epochal film 'Chinatown'. He takes us inside the chaotic and creative environment that brought screenwriter Robert Towne, director Roman Polanski, studio chief Robert Evans and star Jack Nicholson together -- a once in a lifetime union.</p> <div></div>

<p><span>Comedian Russell Peters talks about causing trouble and his new highly personal Amazon comedy special, "Deported". </span></p>

<p><span>Cynthia Erivo, nominated for best actress and best song for ‘Harriet’, found a way to bring a lot of her own life to the story of slave turned freedom fighter Harriet Tubman. </span></p>

<p>Costume design is an integral part of movies, a visual storytelling tool that the most engaged directors recognize. Arianne Phillips is one of those artists. Her wardrobe contributions to ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’, her first collaboration with Quentin Tarantino, brought her a third Oscar nomination. She discusses that new relationship in her career, in all of its uniqueness.</p> <div></div>

<p><span>Two generations of African-American talent — Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx — team for ‘Just Mercy’, the story of crusading lawyer Bryan Stevenson’s (Jordan) quest to find justice for wrongly convicted Walter McMillan. The actors bring their own real world experiences to this real-life tragedy. and talk about being inspired by each other.</span></p>

<p>‘The L Word: Generation Q’ is not a reboot of the groundbreaking Showtime series on lesbian life in Los Angeles. It’s an evolution, reuniting characters from the original with a new younger group. Creator Ilene Chaiken discusses the changes, including the welcome one of shooting Los Angeles...in LA this time.</p>

<p>Actor Rufus Sewell is best known as a villain, having struck fear in protagonists’ hearts for over twenty years – with a witty and thoughtful acting style. His current role is one of his biggest, and most challenging – the American Nazi of Amazon Studios’ adaptation of “The Man in the High Castle”. And, of course, Sewell got his start in comedy – and he talks about how his beginnings (and comic precision) still play apart in his work. </p> <div></div>

<p><span>Evasive, brilliant, demanding and charming – just being all of those things would consume most of us. But Mike Nichols was an acclaimed performer, writer and finally, director of stage, screen and television, a career spanning from "The Graduate" to "Angels in America". Yet he hid in plain sight, which led writers Ash Carter and Sam Kashner to gather over one hundred of Nichols' friends and colleagues for the Mike Nichols oral history “Life Isn’t Everything” – a compelling and revealing book.</span></p>

<p>He got his start as a member of Oingo Boingo. He has since brought you the music for the “Men in Black” films, “Good Will Hunting”, has been collaborating with Tim Burton since “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” in 1985 and wrote the enduring theme for “The Simpsons”. Now, Oscar nominated film composer Danny Elfman has done a MasterClass – the newest addition to a career that he will discuss.</p> <div></div>

<p>The title of writer/director Noah Baumbach’s new film, ‘Marriage Story’ both summarizes its intent and then goes beyond into a genre particular to its creator (who also made ‘The Squid and the Whale’ and then 'The Meyerowitz Stories’): an adult coming of age story, touching on marriage, parenthood and finally, their demands.</p>

<p>In her feature film debut, ‘Queen & Slim’, director Melina Matsoukas has made a road drama that examines African American stereotypes and flipped them on their heads. She folds questions about black culture into a new kind of storytelling.</p>

<p><span>If you spliced the Rock Hudson and the James Dean of the movie 'Giant' together -- two different kinds of all American icons -- you'd get the sensibility that Todd Snyder brings to design, from fashion to watches to furniture to cars. He covers the world -- or will, one day soon.</span></p>