Auteur Theory

Nicholas Jones, Christopher R Smith

Nicholas Jones, Christopher R Smith

Nicholas Jones, Christopher R Smith

Nicholas Jones, Christopher R Smith

Nicholas Jones, Christopher R Smith

Nicholas Jones, Christopher R Smith, Liz Manning

Christopher R Smith Nicholas E Jones

Nicholas Edward Jones, Christopher R Smith, and guests Chelsea Claire Zuzia and Jameson Mars

With Christopher R Smith, Nicholas Jones, and guests Scott Guesser and Bryan Cartwright

With Christopher R Smith, Nicholas Jones, and guest Bill Pierce

With Christopher R Smith, Nicholas Jones, and guest Hal C Astell.

With Christopher R Smith, Nicholas Jones, and guest Chelsea Claire Zuzia

The John Carpentcast with Christopher R Smith, Nicholas Jones, and Matthew Robinson

The Thing! talked about by  Christopher R Smith, Nicholas Jones and guest Derk Herron.

Escape from New York with Christopher R Smith and Nicholas Jones

The John Carpentcast with Christopher R Smith, Nicholas Jones and Cecil Laird.

The John Carpentcast - Elvis Part 1

The John Carpentcast continues. 

Originally published August/September 2016

First published August 2016

Well, we made it. The Future: 2020. That glimmering utopia of progress and innovation -- ehhh, well, it's the year 2020 now. But what of the decade that came before? On this special bonus episode, Nick and Chris will be presenting their Top 10 Best Of the Decade 2010-2019. Find out which films (and other media, because someone decided not to follow the rules, even though the episode was his idea) Nick and Chris think will stand the test of time, unlike the many, many others that will be lost like tears in rain...

From the imagination of George Lucas, a boy with a thirst for adventure must leave his humble home on an epic quest - aided by a charming outlaw, a princess, and a wise old wizard - to master a magical power in order to defeat an evil dark sorcerer. Are there lightsabers, spaceships, and robots? No. But this one has a tiny Kevin Pollack and someone gets turned into a duck at one point! It's the 1988 fantasy adventure epic Willow. Lucas leaves behind a galaxy far, far away for a world of castles and dragons - and brings Ron Howard into the director's chair hoping to create the next great Hollywood franchise. That didn't happen. But in the over 30 years since, it has developed a devoted cult following.  Nick and Chris are joined by Cecil Laird of The Horror Show to see if this overlooked epic can still muster up some magic.

This week, Nick and Chris are joined by Jeff Gordon of Zia Records to take a look at Ron Howard's re-teaming with Michael Keaton for the 1986 comedy Gung-Ho. A slapstick-satire of the culture clash between working-class heartland Americans and the emerging Japanese corporate culture - this one was a staple of VHS video stores and mid-afternoon cable back in the 80s and 90s. But how well does it hold up in 2019? Join Nick, Chris, and Jeff to find out if Howard and Keaton of the 80s in a modern cultural climate pull off a laugh-fest, or a cringe-fest.

So in our exploration of the film work of director Ron Howard, why are we doing an episode on this forgotten 1985 animated Disney opus? We don't really know either. But why not, here it is. Nick and Chris are joined once again by podcaster Heidi Schilling (Campfire Curmudgeon, A Schilling for Your Thoughts) to revisit one of Disney's most controversial films, the gothic-fantasy The Black Cauldron.  Decades in production, hastily re-edited, and not often talked about; does this dark fairy tale adventure hold up? Join us to find out.

Alright, so this was mostly a conversation that happened off-air, but I think we just need to get out in front of it. Our co-host, Nicholas Edward Jones, has a deep hatred for chartered boats. I don't know what happened to him in his past to ingrain this in him; but he especially hates them when the captain on board is Steve Guttenberg. He's apparently fine with them when the captain is a drunk Englishman who gets eaten by an oversized fish; but not someone who - despite being a trained law-enforcement officer - needs help from Becker and Spock to raise a Little Lady.  In fact, I, Christopher R. Smith, and our special guest, comedian/musician Scott Gesser, find charter boats lovely and charming; especially when they're escorting some lovable old folks to escape this planet with their new extraterrestrial friends as they do in Ron Howard's 1985 sci-fi/ comedy Cocoon. There's not much we can do about Nick's bigotry against a mid-sized schooner with The Gutts at the helm. But maybe this feel-good 80s favorite will melt his cold, cold heart. Join Scott, me, and Ebenezer Jones to find out.

Mermaids. Now that the Discovery Channel has shown us incontrovertible evidence that they exist, our movie this week is more relevant than ever. It's Ron Howard's 1984 fantasy romantic comedy Splash. It's Tom Hanks. It's Daryl Hannah. And, hey! John Candy is there too! Will these land/sea-crossed lovers finally bridge the gap between human and mermaid relations? Or will their romance be relegated to airing on Animal Planet at 2am that you vaguely remember watching while drunk? Join Nick, Chris, and podcaster Heidi Schilling (Campfire Curmudgeon, A Schilling for Your Thoughts) to find out if this 80s fan favorite is a keeper, or should just be thrown back.

When you're in the mood for a fun, breezy comedy, where else would you look than the crime and corruption of the mean, gritty streets of late-70s/early-80s New York? Not sounding great? But what if you had Henry Winkler, Micheal Keaton, and Shelly Long as your guides? That's more or less what happens in Ron Howard's 1982 comedy Night Shift. Join Nick, Chris, and actor/comedian/podcaster Michelle Nakamoto as we look at this 80s sex-worker farce to see if Beetlejuice and the Fonz can manage to pull more laughs than cringes.

As we start off our new season examining the films of Ron Howard, we're starting at the beginning. Howard has left the comfortable TV confines of the sleepy streets of Mayberry and 1950s suburban Milwaukee to begin his rise to one of Hollywood's most successful and prolific directors. From 1977, it's the rollicking car crash action-comedy Grand Theft Auto. Produced by Roger Corman, this drive-in cult oddity was Howard's first theatrically-released feature film. After spending his entire young life in show business, what happens when Howard first climbs behind the camera? Strap in with Nick and Chris to find out.

So we maybe overdid it with this one. We're moving into Season 3 of Auteur Theory. As we did with the end of last season, we're going to look into Nick's Top 10 favorite movies. This episode is over 3 hours long. Interesting that Nick was allowed to ramble for 3 hours; and last season, Chris' Top 10 had a time limit. Guess you know now who edits the episodes and who writes and posts the intros. Anyway. Here's Nick's Top 10. Chris has made another Top 10 list; and that episode might top out at 7 hours, so be prepared for that.  Also, Season 3 is Ron Howard.

As we come to the end of our exploration of the films of Sofia Coppola, Nick and Chris are going to try to do something a little different. Before she took the independent film world by storm, Sofia Coppola directed a score of shorts, music videos, and commercials. And now Nick and Chris are going to watch them all in real time with some live commentary. Join us as we close out Season 2. But we're right around the corner with Season 3, so stay tuned. If you want to join us and follow along, here's the link to our YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnG9YYkZibqd31-ZLCZq8DXucPCx4zUM_

So it seems we've come to our end of our exploration of the films of director Sofia Coppola, and our second season here on Auteur Theory - at least until her upcoming 2020 film On the Rocks (starring Bill Murray and Rashida jones), when we'll probably pester you with a bonus episode or something. But now we can finally get down to the big question... What's the true history behind Nick's hat?! It's Sofia Coppola's dark psycho-drama The Beguiled from 2017. This Civil War-era story of mind games at a Southern girls boarding school is a remake of the classic 1971 Don Siegel-Clint Eastwood joint. As her first remake/adaptation and a real change of pace from her other work, how does her new spin on it stack up against the original? To close out this season, Nick and Chris are joined by a couple of first-time guests: podcaster Maria Harris and comedian Ryan VanderWolde to take a look at this film, and speculate about what Coppola might have in store for us in the future. We'll be back next with the beginning of Season Three. And there may be some bonus content sprinkled about too, so stay tuned.

Sssshhhh... He doesn't know. It's time for Sofia Coppola and us to throw a special Christmas party bash for Bill Murray! Is it the end of summer and 120 degrees here in Phoenix and we're all dying from the heat - it doesn't matter - Bill Murray!!!? It's Sofia Coppola's 2015 Netflix Christmas special 'A Very Murray Christmas'. Join Chris, Nick, and special guest Liz Manning along with a cavalcade of celebrity guests including Chris Rock, George Clooney, Michael Cera, Rashida Jones, Amy Poehler, and more! Will Miley Cyrus randomly show up at some point? You'll just have to watch and see! Also, a hilariously old depressed Bill Murray. Sofia Coppola really swings for the fences with this one. Will Nick, Chris, and Liz get into the yuletide spirit while burning alive? You'll have to listen to find out.

If you've ever wanted to see Hermione Granger break bad, and can't get enough montages of obnoxious rich kids trying on clothes while terrible pop music blares, have we got a movie for you. It's Sofia Coppola's 2013 true crime / comedy? drama? The Bling Ring. Based on a true story, the film didn't make a big splash when it was first released; but is there some deeper social commentary beneath the glitz and artifice, or can you judge this bedazzled book by its cover? Chris and Nick really have some thoughts on this.

Negative 1. We watch too many movies and think too much of their stars. Negative 2. We're tired of feeling guilty about how many of them are artsy auteur-driven indie films that we praise unconditionally. This is the Auteur Theory podcast, and we may or may not have just found a smarter solution.   Sofia Coppola's 2010 indie dramedy Somewhere. This low-key film gives you a look at the mundanity of show business life. Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning are there. And best of all, no offensive odor - because it's a movie, and doesn't have a smell.   With Somewhere, Nick, Chris,and special guest Jo Anna Larson take a look at a film you can watch at a basketball game if you want to. Don't know why you would, but we're not gonna stop you. Point is, you can watch this movie and make up your opinion pretty much anywhere. But here's ours.   We're all adults here. And I think it's rated R, because there's some language and I think you see some boobs once. Come on, guys. Just listen to the episode.   ...No one is going to get this obscure reference or care about how much time I spent writing this parody. But just listen to damn episode.

We return to the turn of the century... 1700-something? Give me a break, I'm not good at math and I got confused by all the 80s New Wave pop songs. This week, we're taking a look at Sofia Coppola's 2006 costume drama/teen coming-of-age story Marie Antoinette. Nick and Chris are joined once again by Liz Manning to see if this visually lavish by-way-of John Hughes biopic is one for the ages, or actually deserves the guillotine. (Sorry, spoilers for centuries-old history)

You're alone. It's a nice place, a really swanky hotel. But it's in a foreign land in a foreign culture and you're feeling very alone. Who better to spend that time with than Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson? This week, we're looking at Sofia Coppola's Oscar-winning ground-breaking film Lost In Translation. Nick and Chris are joined by Michelle Nakamoto to see if this indie hit still holds up, and if the person you need in your life is just a few steps away. No pressure. Anyway, Sofia Coppola's Lost In Translation. 

Auteur Theory has finally returned for our Second Season. We'll start things off at the turn-of-the-century, 1999. Independent film has finally entered the mainstream of American cinema, and opened the door for new voices to make their mark. One of the most talked-about among them was the subject of this season, Sofia Coppola. She already had the cards stacked against her; being one of the few female directors working in Hollywood, as well as the daughter of legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. We're starting this season off with her first feature film as a director, the coming-of-age drama The Virgin Suicides. It's been twenty years since the movie made a big splash on the independent film scene. This week, Nick and Chris are revisiting it with Liz Manning to see if it still has the same fresh, groundbreaking impact it had back then.

So, we somehow survived Season 1 and our sticky exploration of the world of David Cronenberg. But what's next for Auteur Theory? Well, before we get things off and running again, Nick pressured Chris into participating in one of those dumb Facebook trending bullshits where he had to put together a list of his 10 favorite films in 10 days. And Chris being Chris, he came up with a grab-bag of weird shit that then had to be addressed in podcast form. So here's that. We're also announcing our second season. In the coming weeks, we'll be looking at the films of Sofia Coppola. So you can expect some returning friends of the show as well as some new friends as we completely switch gears and explore Coppola's unique take on the formative early-2000s independent film scene - and beyond - that turned so many of us into the cinephiles we are today.

So we've come to the end of our cinematic journey through the world and warped mind of director David Cronenberg. Needless to say, we've seen some things. There were growths. There were fluids. There was genitalia growing out of places where there shouldn't be. But as we end our first season, it's time to take one last trip through the most absurdly bizarre and corruptly depraved places of all... Hollywood!!! It's David Cronenberg's 2014 dark show business satire Maps to the Stars. It doesn't matter if you're a deranged A-lister Julianne Moore, a hipster self-help guru John Cusack, or a disfigured, disturbed debutante Mia Wasikowska; all is not right in the state of Tinseltown. Join Nick and Chris for one last trip down Cronenberg Blvd., and stay tuned for news of what's next for Auteur Theory.

Yeah, the World. It's pretty much fucked. It's gotten to the point that even a pretty-boy millionaire can't even get across town in his high-tech/high-security limo to get a damn a haircut without society collapsing around him! This week, it's David Cronenberg's adaptation of Don DeLillo's dystopian satire Cosmopolis. Nick and Chris are joined once again by Liz Manning to question the big questions: Capitalism. Technology. Economy. Narcissism. Jay Baruchel. And Rats. Tune in and join the debate over just what that anti-social, gun-toting rascal Paul Giamatti did at the end there. This one's a corker of a social apocalypse!

Of all the strange worlds Cronenberg has brought to the screen over the decades, the most surprising might be the stately parlours of turn-of-the-century Vienna. It's the 2011 historical drama A Dangerous Method. Nick and Chris are joined by author and artist Suzanne Steinberg and director and performer Mack Duncan to see if the Master of Body Horror can hold his own in the genteel world of the period costume drama. Will he plum the depths of darkest aspects of human psychology, as he has with other films, or will it be a scholarly snooze? Tune in to find out.

So, even when we started this season several months ago, we knew what you - the listener - really wanted to hear. Half an hour of host Christopher R. Smith rambling about the early days of Canadian television and some old commercials he found on YouTube. In this special bonus episode of Auteur Theory, Chris risks the bends for an especially deep dive into the odds and ends of David Cronenberg's cinematic and television career. From his 1960s experimental student films, his sporadic work for the Canadian Broadcast Company, his expansion into the literary world, and every other weird little avenue he took in his decades as an auteur. If you're a real Cronenberg nerd and want to hear about the connection between Cronenberg and Cadbury Chocolate, this is the show for you. We'll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming.  

Russians. They exist. And sometimes, it turns out, some of them aren't the nicest guys. In fact, some of them are up to no good at all! Never has this been more clearly illustrated (well, maybe not never) than in David Cronenberg's 2007 crime drama Eastern Promises. Nick and Chris are joined once again by film critic Bill Pierce to take another look at this morality tale of blood and borscht in the mean streets of London. And, yes, you very briefly see Viggo's balls. Get over it so we can talk about the damn movie.

Auteur Theory is back and inviting you to take up a stool at our low-key, small-town podcast diner for a cup of joe. As long as a one-eyed Ed Harris doesn't show up and you are who you say you are, there shouldn't be a problem. You are you who say you are? Right? It's David Cronenberg's 2005 crime drama A History of Violence. This week, Nick and Chris are joined once again by Cecil Laird of The Horror Show and Derk Harron of Here Comes the Pitch to take a look at Cronenberg's take on small town living. I'm sure no one will lose a jaw. We'll see you there, neighbor!

We here at Auteur Theory hope you're having a wonderful week and in great spirits. But if you'd like to change that, how about a trip to the grayest of England's gray, crumbling streets with a mumbling, mentally-broken Ralph Fiennes as your guide? It's David Cronenberg's 2002 downer psycho-drama Spider. Nick ad Chris are joined by Cecil Laird of The Horror Show to take a look at one of Cronenberg's most acclaimed, but seldom-viewed efforts. Is it an overlooked diamond-in-the-rough, or just rough to watch? Join us to find out.

After a decade of dabbling with high-brow psycho-dramas, David Cronenberg is back in the straight-up body-horror game, and now Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law are on the run. It's Cronenberg's mind-bending 1999 virtual reality sci-fi thriller eXistenZ. Nick and Chris are joined once again by Perla Caballero to revisit Cronenberg's look into the 21st century in all its diseased, erotically-charged, existential crisis-inducing strangeness. Lubricate your bio-port with a little EX-60 and let's play.

Sex. Car crashes. More sex. Broken glass. Still more sex. Twisted metal. Sex. Based on this very accurate and apt description, you can pretty much decide if you're gonna love or hate this one. It's David Cronenberg's controversial 1996 psycho-sexual drama Crash (and, no, not the shitty 2004 racism-is-bad-mmkay Oscar-winner). Cronenberg's sleek and stylish take on J.G. Ballard's underground cult-classic novel is one of the most divisive of his (and anyone else's) cinematic career. Nick and Chris are joined by Perla X. Caballero to discuss whether or not this film that shocked audiences in the mid-90s still packs its visceral gut-punch today.

On this week's show, Nick and Chris take a look at one of David Cronenberg's strangest films. Strange, relative to Cronenberg, that is - this movie has nary a bursting cocoon, involuntary surgery, or phantasmagoric stomach-vagina in sight! It's the 1993 period-piece romantic drama M. Butterfly. We join Jeremy Irons in 1960s Beijing, where his ill-fated romance/obsession with an opera singer gets him into all sorts of shit. Does David Cronenberg's unique style still work outside of the world of Canadian bio-horror and in the world of Chinese opera and political unrest? Join Nick and Chris to find out.

Auteur Theory is back with a special Bonus episode, as we take a particularly deep dive into the work of director David Cronenberg. Chris is joined by film critic and author Hal C.F. Astell for an in-depth look at Cronenberg's college experimental films Stereo (1969) and Crimes of the Future (1970). These early Cronenberg curiosities can be rough going to watch, but as Connoisseurs of Obscure Cinematic Oddities, Chris and Hal will break down just how they relate to the themes, imagery, and obsessions that define Cronenberg as the filmmaker he is today - these two films offer a fascinating look at an artist in his pupa stage. Speaking of holometabolismic insects, we'll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming.