UpClose ... With Catherine Keener And Elvis Mitchell

With member station KCRW in Santa Monica, Calif., NPR launches a first-of-its-kind collaboration — UpClose, an ongoing series of public conversations featuring on-air public-radio personalities and special guests from across the cultural landscape. First up: indie-film favorite Catherine Keener, who sat down at NPR West for a wide-ranging talk with Elvis Mitchell, host of KCRW's The Treatment, and a live studio audience.

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Keener has been celebrated for her roles in films as diverse as Being John Malkovich and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Elvis Mitchell, film critic at The New York Times from 2000 to 2005 and former entertainment critic for NPR's Weekend Edition, has been host of KCRW's The Treatment — an in-depth, informed conversation about the movie business and the making of pop culture — since its first broadcast in 1996.

"The fun of sitting with Catherine Keener ... was getting the chance to see — and hear — that insinuating and expressive laugh of hers ... well, up close," Mitchell says. "It gives away so much of her, and conveys reflection, vulnerability, eagerness."

Six edited outtakes from the evening are above; more excerpts, plus video of the entire conversation, are at KCRW.com.