The Popcorn Auteur

The Popcorn Auteur

By Chris Staron & Jon DickeyTV & Film
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The Popcorn Auteur episodes

  • Wes Craven - Part 2

    Does the latter half of Wes Craven's filmography (outside of the Scream franchise) require a deep examination of family structure, faith, and Craven's upbringing? Listen and find out!

    As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, on Twitter, @PopcornAuteur, or email us at [email protected].

    Show Notes/Sources:

    https://www.avclub.com/wes-craven-1798215940

    https://www.npr.org/2015/09/04/437320291/fresh-air-remembers-nightmare-director-wes-craven

    https://pca.st/podcast/facd7a60-7214-012e-3189-00163e1b201c

    https://slate.com/culture/2015/09/wes-craven-s-secret-feminism-as-seen-in-nightmare-on-elm-street-and-scream.html

    https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2022/great-directors/craven-wes/

    https://www.npr.org/2015/09/04/437320291/fresh-air-remembers-nightmare-director-wes-craven

    https://www.slashfilm.com/1053182/how-wes-craven-accidentally-fell-into-a-career-of-making-horror-films/

    https://collider.com/director-wes-craven-interview-scream-4/

    1 hr 58 min
  • Wes Craven - Part 1

    It's Halloween! It's Wes Craven! It's Kowaltober!

    First Featured Clip: Freddy's Tub Attack

    Second Featured Clip: This is God

    As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, on Twitter, @PopcornAuteur, or email us at [email protected].

    1 hr 46 min
  • Kelly Reichardt

    Reichardt has had a busy and interesting career as a filmmaker. Beloved by the critics, her movies may be too understated for the award season. Her latest, The Mastermind, will be hitting theaters this fall, so we educate ourselves by watching the films written and directed by Reichardt.

    As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, on Twitter, @PopcornAuteur, or email us at [email protected].

    Show Notes/Sources:

    https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-states-of-kelly-reichardt

    https://letterboxd.com/film/the-mastermind-2025/

    https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1424-kelly-reichardt

    https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6728-old-joy-northwest-passages

    1 hr 24 min
  • Harry Elfont & Deborah Kaplan

    You may not know this writing team's credits, but if you are our age, you know Can't Hardly Wait. You may also consider Josie and the Pussycats a cult classic. Hop into a time machine with us to examine the films of Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan.

    As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook or email us at [email protected].

    Show Notes/Sources:

    https://www.theringer.com/2018/06/11/movies/cant-hardly-wait-20th-anniversary

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/i-rewatched-cant-hardly-wait-as-an-adult-and-it-was-quite-a

    https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jarettwieselman/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-josie-and-the-pussycats

    1 hr 3 min
  • Megan Park

    Megan Park is an up and coming filmmaker. After a lengthy career as an actress, she has now directed two films: The Fallout and My Old Ass. We saw My Old Ass on some top ten lists last year and the level of praise from Chris Columbus had us intrigued:

    ""My Old Ass" is an instant classic, this generation's "It's A Wonderful Life." Over the past decade, I've witnessed a handful of young filmmakers with this kind of extraordinary promise. Megan, along with directors like Ryan Coogler and Robert Eggers, is a crucial component of our cinematic future. Yet she expertly acknowledges the inspiration of our celluloid past, proudly walking in the footsteps of Billy Wilder, Elaine May and John Hughes."

    In this episode we review Park's first two films, assess coming of age stories from our youth, and consider whether Park will be a future auteur (or maybe she already is).

    As always let us know what we got wrong (or right) at [email protected].

    Show Notes/Sources:

    https://variety.com/lists/christopher-nolan-gladiator-2-michael-mann-barry-jenkins/inside-out-2/

    https://deadline.com/2025/01/megan-park-drama-sterling-point-series-order-prime-video-1236271633/

    https://www.sundance.org/blogs/give-me-the-backstory-get-to-know-megan-park-the-filmmaker-behind-my-old-ass/

    https://exclaim.ca/film/article/my-old-ass-megan-park-interview

    1 hr 4 min
  • Richard Curtis

    Richard Curtis is one of the mosty successful screenwriters to come out of Great Britain, but he's also directed three films of his own. From the modern Christmas classic of Love Actually to the underseen About Time, we will discuss the films written and directed by Curtis. Our Holiday episode made it out while there is still snow on the ground, so that's something.

    As always let us know what we got wrong at [email protected].

    Show Notes/Sources:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gugpWvACiiw

    https://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/252-how-about-time-revolutionizes-the-time-travel-stor/

    https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/hugh-grant-love-actually-about-pain-1235227095/

    https://www.these3three.com/home/richard-curtis

    https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2020/10/23/the-richard-curtis-cinematic-universe/

    https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63805817

    1 hr 11 min
  • Alejandro G. Iñárritu

    Why did it take us this long to cover the last of the three amigos? Perhaps it was the memories of Babel or a fear of bear attacks. Or perhaps the fact that Alejandro G. Iñárritu wasn't always a screenwriter. No matter the reason, in this episdoe we have a spolier-filled discussion of the four films written and directed by Iñárritu.

    As an added bonus, you get to hear Chris mispronounce a number of Spanish words (in addition to the usual French words).

    As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, on Twitter, @PopcornAuteur, or email us at [email protected].

    Show Notes/Sources:

    https://thedissolve.com/reviews/1152-birdman/

    https://youtu.be/t0stsBzS30E?feature=shared

    https://open.spotify.com/episode/1OCuKjqUKgbCzko76Qh6yD?si=kFwHmg6jSmWOcmOsTp2vFA

    https://youtu.be/qSiNDcOoay8?feature=shared

    https://youtu.be/JgP8HkhRwqQ?feature=shared

    1 hr 15 min
  • Ari Aster

    Happy Halloween! This year, Paul Kowalski is back to help us examine the films of Ari Aster. Come for the dread and decapitations, stay for the unified Ari Aster theory. Plenty of spoilers in this discussion.

    As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, on Twitter, @PopcornAuteur, or email us at [email protected].

    Show Notes/Sources:

    https://letterboxd.com/samvanhallgren/film/midsommar/

    https://www.gq.com/story/ari-aster-martin-scorsese-interview-beau-is-afraid-a24

    https://a24films.com/notes/2019/07/deep-cuts-with-robert-eggers-and-ari-aster

    https://slate.com/culture/2023/04/beau-is-afraid-movie-ending-explained-maybe.html

    1 hr 41 min
  • Duncan Jones

    Duncan Jones has a famous father, but he's attempted to blaze his own trail as an artist. Once a rising star in sci-fi filmmaking, Jones has struggled to find success as of late. In this espisode, we discuss the highs and lows of his filmography.

    As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, on Twitter, @PopcornAuteur, or email us at [email protected].

    Show Notes:

    https://www.theverge.com/2016/6/9/11885594/warcraft-movie-review-duncan-jones-blizzard-film-adaptation

    https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/viscosity-in-the-early-80s-with-chris-nashawaty/id1525039108?i=1000664689578

    http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-892-duncan-jones-brendon-small

    https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/moon-2009

    https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/02/mute-netflix-duncan-jones-review/554126/

    1 hr 13 min
  • Sofia Coppola

    Sofia Coppola's surname means a lot in filmmaking, and yet she's been able to blaze her own distinct trail. She's a particular filmmaker intent on executing her particular vision. Listen as we discuss what did and did not connect with us from Coppola's filmography.

    As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, on Twitter, @PopcornAuteur, or email us at [email protected].

    Show Notes/Sources:

    https://slate.com/culture/2017/06/sofia-coppolas-whitewashed-new-movie-the-beguiled.html

    https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/somewhere-2010

    https://youtu.be/1r3FkR5rziY?feature=shared

    http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-822-sofia-coppola

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sofia-coppola-rankings-and-on-the-rocks/id1439252196?i=1000495723544

    https://www.wgaeast.org/onwriting/sofia-coppola-on-the-rocks/

    https://www.npr.org/2023/11/06/1197958330/fresh-air-draft-11-06-2023

    https://www.filmspotting.net/episodes-archive/2023/11/9/df9b15h7fdcdq1mwf4uwa8mkjoiz9z

    https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/coppolas-queens-pt-1-marie-antoinette/id1057714949?i=1000634860682

    https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/coppolas-queens-pt-2-priscilla/id1057714949?i=1000635510881

    1 hr 34 min

About The Popcorn Auteur

From the publisher's feed

Jon and Chris get a film education, one filmmaker at a time. Each month, we pick a famous filmmaker and watch every film that he or she wrote and directed. Then, we research the filmmaker's history…