The Popcorn Auteur

Nicole Holofcener got nominated for an Oscar and won a Writers Guild of America award for best adapted screenplay for Can You Ever Forgive Me? In this episode, we are talking about her other 2018 release, The Land of Steady Habits. Did a male lead and no Catherine Keener lead to Netflix success?

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

We are again playing catch-up with one of our auteurs. This time we review Brad Bird's Incredibles 2 and put it into context with the rest of Bird's films.

As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/popcornauteur/, on Twitter, @PopcornAuteur, or email us at [email protected].

Are we really just talking about one movie? In this episode, we revisit Christopher Nolan, reviewing his film Dunkirk and assessing how it fits into his oeuvre.

As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/popcornauteur/, on Twitter, @PopcornAuteur, or email us at [email protected].

You won't see the latter half of Mel Brooks's films on an AFI list or ranked among his best. In this episode, we discuss if the comedy legend's "lesser" works still bring the laughs or if you should stick with the classics.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/bill-pullman-didnt-bother-watching-star-wars-before-app-1796393445

https://film.avclub.com/when-mel-brooks-watched-star-wars-he-saw-space-penises-1798286576

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/life-stinks-1991

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23834688-sick-in-the-head

https://www.avclub.com/mel-brooks-says-he-couldnt-have-made-blazing-saddles-in-1818674405

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/mel-brooks-full-episode/2622/

https://www.maximumfun.org/we-got-this-mark-and-hal/121-best-mel-brooks-film-w-travis-mcelr

It felt wrong to leave our comedy season before considering the works of Mel Brooks (and Chris's Dad wouldn't have allowed it). In Part 1, we look at the golden age of Brook's career. He won an Academy Award and delivered a string of hits throughout the 1970s. Hell, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein came out in the same year and both finished in the top five of the highest grossing films that year. In this episode, we try to temper our fanboy urges to quote every line of memorable dialogue as we assess Mel Brooks, the filmmaker.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-twelve-chairs-1970

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23834688-sick-in-the-head

https://www.avclub.com/mel-brooks-says-he-couldnt-have-made-blazing-saddles-in-1818674405

https://maltinonmovies.libsyn.com/mel-brooks-0

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/mel-brooks-full-episode/2622/

https://www.maximumfun.org/we-got-this-mark-and-hal/121-best-mel-brooks-film-w-travis-mcelroy

https://youtu.be/z2RpZBP_vyg

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2506492/

Gillian Robespierre has been compared to Nora Ephron and Nicole Holofcener. With that distinguished company and a desire to see more Jenny Slate, we were excited to dive into the two films of Robespierre.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/ct-mov-jenny-slate-interview-0728-20170727-column.html

https://www.tvovermind.com/5-things-didnt-know-gillian-robespierre/

https://filmmakermagazine.com/101168-five-questions-with-landline-director-gillian-robespierre/#.XBllv-JrxPY

https://tv.avclub.com/down-with-dramedy-american-indie-cinema-s-adventures-i-1798275789

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/obvious_child

https://www.vogue.com/article/gillian-robespierre-interview

https://filmmakermagazine.com/101168-five-questions-with-landline-director-gillian-robespierre/#.XBllv-JrxPY

https://tv.avclub.com/our-white-people-problems-problem-why-it-s-time-to-s-1798230988

https://www.indiewire.com/2014/01/sundance-women-directors-meet-gillian-robespierre-207495/

https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/that-feeling-of-connection-gillian-robespierre-and-elisabeth-holm-on-landline

https://www.indiewire.com/2017/01/landline-review-gillian-robespierre-jenny-slate-sundance-2017-1201771352/

https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/gillian-robespierre-on-getting-a-movie-made/

https://tv.avclub.com/our-white-people-problems-problem-why-it-s-time-to-s-1798230988

https://www.indiewire.com/2017/01/landline-review-gillian-robespierre-jenny-slate-sundance-2017-1201771352/

https://film.avclub.com/jenny-slate-picks-up-landline-a-warm-family-comedy-fro-1798191849

https://www.talkhouse.com/nicole-holofcener-talks-with-jenny-slate-and-gillian-robespierre-landline-for-the-talkhouse-podcast/

David Zucker was one of the creative minds behind Airplane and The Naked Gun films. He is now one of the creative minds behind the Scary Movie sequels. Luckily (we think), he didn't both write and direct those movies (officially). In this episode, we are joined by Sam Young to discuss the films of David Zucker . . . and to figure out how weird it is to see O.J. Simpson acting.

Sorry for the poor audio quality. Sam was not in fact on the moon.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Dont-call-him-Shirley-An-evening-with-David-Zucker-in-Jerusalem-505345

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/callingtheshots/david_zucker.shtml

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-naked-gun-1988

https://www.avclub.com/david-zucker-1798207952

https://film.avclub.com/surely-you-can-t-be-serious-an-oral-history-of-airplan-1798279218

http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2017/03/director-david-zucker-talks-airplane-comedy-getting-his-start-on-campus

http://www.moviemuse.net/airplane/

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/top-secret-1984

A bonus this month - We take a break from the straight comedies to cover not one, but two filmmakers in our first ever "Battle" of the Network Stars. Zach Braff and Josh Radnor square off (sort of) to determine who is the sitcom star turned true auteur. It may be a little lazy of a comparison, but we had quite a bit of fun with this one.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://film.avclub.com/liberal-arts-1798174150

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/movies/liberal-arts-from-josh-radnor.html

https://www.npr.org/2012/09/10/160892750/liberal-arts-a-lesson-in-arrested-development

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/liberal-arts-2012

https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/rb8d4d/its-the-ten-year-anniversary-of-realizing-garden-state-sucked

http://www.vulture.com/2013/05/defense-of-garden-state-zach-braff.html

https://www.bustle.com/articles/142809-zach-braff-defends-garden-states-manic-pixie-dream-girl-everything-else-about-the-film-people

https://gardenstate.typepad.com/zach_braffs_garden_state_/2004/08/visions_and_rev.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC521017/

Richard Ayoade seems to to do it all: He's an actor, an author, a TV game show host, and (for our interests) he's a filmmaker. We weren't aware of any of this before this episode. Listen as we get to know Richard Ayoade's limited filmography and assess his potential as a filmmaker.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/submarine-2011

https://www.indiewire.com/2011/10/submarine-is-the-greatest-coming-of-age-movie-in-a-long-time-226641/

https://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/555-the-similarities-between-the-double-and-brazil-run/

https://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/555-the-similarities-between-the-double-and-brazil-run/

https://thedissolve.com/features/interview/552-richard-ayoade-on-the-double-and-daring-to-be-dark/

https://thedissolve.com/reviews/779-the-double/

https://youtu.be/Wm_E8bQ2wwg

David Wain never seems to stop working. As a writer, director, and actor, his work can be seen nearly everywhere. In this episode, we are lucky enough to be joined by Jay Cluitt, shepherd over at The LAMB, to discuss the five films written and directed by David Wain; from the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer to box office success with Role Models.

Show Notes/Sources:

http://davidwain.com/bio/

http://davidwain.com/thestatebriefhistory/

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/wanderlust-and-the-new-comedy

http://www.vulture.com/2017/08/why-david-wains-the-ten-is-still-sketch-gold-ten-years-later.html

https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/01/10-years-and-10-questions-with-david-wain/

https://film.avclub.com/the-50-best-comedies-since-2000-1798250301

https://film.avclub.com/the-new-cult-canon-wet-hot-american-summer-1798214174

https://film.avclub.com/wet-hot-american-summer-1798192716

https://www.indiewire.com/2012/02/david-wain-talks-improv-working-with-judd-apatow-the-value-of-test-screening-wanderlust-112711/