One Week Only - Podcast

Episode 34 of One Week Only! This week's key film is the documentary "Tower," about the 1966 shootings at the University of Texas tower. The film combines archival footage and rotoscoped animation to recreate the terrifying events of the day, considered the first mass shooting in US history. A unique and powerful documentary, sadly very relevant today, and now playing in select theatres, from Kino Lorber.

Our interview this week is with Platon Theodoris, director of the surreal character drama "Alvin's Harmonious World of Opposites" about a sheltered man forced to deal with his peculiar neighbors, and the brown ooze coming from his ceiling. David Lynch may come to mind, but Theodoris talks about the personal source of the story, and how he created the unique characters. The film is screening next week at the Arclight theatre in Chicago as part of the Slamdance Cinema club.

We also review multi-story drama "Certain Women," starring Kristen Stewart & Michelle Williams, directed by Kelly Reichardt; documentary "Sky Ladder" about Chinese fireworks artist Cia Guo-Qiang, directed by Kevin Macdonald; documentary "Newtown" about the Sandy Hook school shooting (also sadly relevant), directed by Kim Snyder; animated biopic "Miss Hokusai" about a famous Japanese painter & his daughter, directed by Keiichi Hara; and Brazilian drama "Aquarius" starring Sonia Braga as an independent woman fighting against city development, directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.incompetech.com

Episode 33 of One Week Only! Our key film this week is the occult dark comedy "The Alchemist Cookbook" about a loner living in the woods, trying to harness the dark powers of alchemy. Directed by Joel Potrykus (Buzzard) and starring Ty Hickson & Amari Cheatom, it's a strange, creepy & darkly humorous take on the occult, and shows once again why it's a bad idea to mess around with evil in the woods. Now playing in select theatres, and also available online at BitTorrent: pay what you want!

Our interview this week is with director Brian Davis for his documentary "The Million Dollar Duck" about the annual duck painting competition to become the coveted Federal Duck Stamp. A fascinating look at a fierce competition of artists, nature-lovers and stamp collectors, it won the Grand Jury Prize & Audience Award at this year's Slamdance Film Festival, and aired on Animal Planet earlier this year. It screens this month at the Arclight Theatre in Hollywood & Chicago as part of the Slamdance Cinema Club. More information on the Arclight & Slamdance websites.

This week we also review the horror film "Under The Shadow" about a mother & daughter haunted by an evil spirit in 1988 war-torn Tehran, directed by Babak Anvari; French teen drama "Being 17" about two classmates with a difficult relationship, directed by André Téchiné; and the indescribable gross-out murder comedy "The Greasy Strangler" directed by Jim Hosking.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.imcompetech.com

Episode 32 of One Week Only! This week, our key film is “Long Way North,” a thrilling animated adventure story about a young aristocratic woman in 19th Century Russia who is determined to find her missing grandfather’s ship at the North Pole. Directed by Rémi Chayé, and from the producers of “Song of the Sea” & “Ernest & Celestine,” this is a wonderful new animated gem with lush, beautiful animation and a strong female protagonist. Now playing in select theatres thanks to Shout Factory!

We also review “American Honey,” a road-trip odyssey starring Shia LaBeouf & Sasha Lane, by Andrea Arnold; Swedish comedy “A Man Called Ove” starring Rolf Lassgard as grumpy old Ove, by Hannes Holm; Israeli drama “Sand Storm” about a traditional Bedouin community, by Elite Zexer; and the documentary “Danny Says” about the rock & roll life of Publicist/Manager Danny Fields, by Brendan Toller.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.incompetech.com

Episode 31 of One Week Only! Our key film this week is "Closet Monster," a coming-of-age drama about a creative teenager who wants to study movie makeup in New York, and escape his small town and his homophobic father. Directed by Stephen Dunn, this imaginative film takes a familiar story and imbues it with fantastical art design, sharp wit & heartfelt emotion. It is now playing in New York, and will be coming to LA, and is released by Strand Releasing.

This week's interview is with director Debra Eisenstadt, about her third feature film "Before the Sun Explodes," a comedy/thriller about an over-the-hill comedian who spends one crazy night in West Hollywood with a younger female comedian, with unexpected consequences. Eisenstadt talks about her experiences making micro-budget films, using her acting experience as a director, and the importance of the Slamdance filmmaking community. "Before the Sun Explodes" premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, and is part of September's Slamdance Cinema Club in Los Angeles & Chicago.

Other films this week include "Goat," a harrowing look at college Frat hazing, starring Nick Jonas & directed by Andrew Neel; documentary "The Lovers & The Despot" about how Kim Jong-il kidnapped his favorite filmmakers to make films in North Korea, directed by Ross Adam & Robert Cannan; heartbreaking drama "Chronic" starring Tim Roth as a nurse for terminally ill patients, directed by Michel Franco; and "Cameraperson," a documentary memoir by veteran cinematographer Kristen Johnson.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.imcompetech.com

Episode 30 of One Week Only! Our key film this week is "Miss Stevens," a low-key comedy about a 29-year-old High School teacher chaperoning 3 students at a weekend Drama competition. Lily Rabe is terrific as the quiet, socially-awkward but thoughtful teacher, and her performance won her Best Actress at this year's SXSW Film Festival. Directed & Co-Written by Julia Hart, the film is now in theatres & coming soon to VOD, from The Orchard.

For our "Not Yet in Theatres" segment this week, we interview director Paul Taylor about his film "Driftwood," a dialogue-free thriller about a mysterious woman who is rescued and/or kidnapped by an older man for unknown reasons. The film won the Narrative Feature Jury Award at this year's Slamdance Film Festival, and it screens on September 18th at the Arclight Hollywood as part of the Slamdance Cinema Club. Find the complete Slamdance Cinema Club schedule online at www.arclightcinemas.com/news/ArcLight-Presents-Slamdance-Cinema-Club.

We also review the fake documentary "Operation Avalanche" about faking the moon landing, by Matt Johnson (The Dirties); the psychological thriller "The Good Neighbor" starring James Caan, by Kasra Farahani; and the stirring ecological documentary "When Two Worlds Collide" about the indigenous people of Peru's fight to preserve the Rainforest, by Heidi Brandenburg & Mathew Orzel.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.imcompetech.com

Episode 29 of One Week Only! This week, our key film is "Other People," the Opening Night film at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It's the story of a struggling writer who moves back home to care for his cancer-stricken Mom, and it balances a delicate tone of sharp, hilarious character humor and heartbreaking family drama. Written & Directed by Chris Kelly and starring Jesse Plemons & Molly Shannon, it is now in theatres & on VOD, from Vertical Entertainment.

Another film this week is the fascinating documentary "Author: The JT Leroy Story," and we have an interview with director Jeff Feuerzeig about getting to interview the real JT Leroy, Laura Albert, and dealing with the legal challenges surrounding a major literary hoax.

Our other films this week are the Polish horror film "Demon" by Marcin Wrona; religious comedy "The Apostate" by Frederico Veiroj; inspiring documentary "Landfill Harmonic" about the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, by Brad Allgood & Graham Townsley; and Tunisian drama "As I Open My Eyes," set on the eve of the Arab Spring, by Leyla Bouzid.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.imcompetech.com

Episode 28 of One Week Only! This week's key film is "White Girl," a shocking, in-your-face story of one white college student's New York summer of sex & drugs, and her naive attempt to help a Puerto Rican drug dealer. The debut film by Elizabeth Wood, starring Morgan Saylor, Brian Marc, Justin Bartha & Chris Noth, this Sundance drama is a bold new film with a lot to say about white privilege and the harsh realities of a rigged system.

Our interview this week is with director Steve Balderson, who has made over 10 feature films in the last decade. His new film "El Ganzo" comes to the Arena Cinema in LA next week, along with a 10th Anniversary screening of his breakout film "Firecracker." We talk with Balderson about his prolific career and his love of exploring a wide variety of genres in his films.

Also, we review "No Manches Frida," the new Mexican comedy starring Omar Chapparo, directed by Nacho Garcia Velilla; the meta comedy "Zoom" starring Alison Pill and Gael Garcia Bernal, directed by Pedro Morelli; Danish comedy sequel "Klown Forever" by Mikkel Nørgaard; and the Canadian comedy "Yoga Hosers" by Kevin Smith.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.incompetech.com

Episode 27 of One Week Only! This week, our key film is the “The Intervention,” a comedy about 4 couples getting together for a “marriage intervention” that goes horribly and hilariously off the rails. Directed by Clea DuVall and starring a great cast, including Melanie Lynskey, Cobie Smulders, Ben Schwartz, Alia Shawkat, Natasha Lyonne and Jason Ritter, it is now playing in most major cities and on VOD, from Samuel Goldwyn Films & Paramount Pictures.

We also cover the César Award-Winning immigrant drama “Fatima” by Phillipe Faucon; identity crisis mystery “Complete Unknown,” starring Rachel Weisz and Michael Shannon, by Joshua Marston; Italian comedy-drama “Mia Madre” starring Margherita Buy & John Turturro, by Nanni Moretti; and docudrama performance piece “Kate Plays Christine” starring Kate Lyn Sheil, by Robert Greene.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.incompetech.com

Episode 26 of One Week Only! This week, our key film is the LGBT drama “Spa Night” about a Korean-American teenager dealing with his family’s financial struggles and his own closeted sexuality. Directed by Andrew Ahn, and featuring a breakout performance from Joe Seo, this is a terrific, nuanced debut film about class, race, sexuality and the immigrant story; it premiered at Sundance this past January, and won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Outfest Film Festival.

We usually interview filmmakers on the podcast, but this week we talk to film critic Diana Drumm, who has created the Twitter account “Female Film Critics” to create a community of female journalists and critics and bring attention to the lack of female representation in the entertainment journalism circuit. Drumm has created an important & necessary female space in the online journalism world; you can find her page on Facebook, and on Twitter at @FemaleCritics.

Other films we cover this week include the Guatemalan drama “Ixcanul” about a Mayan family, directed by Jayro Bustamante; father-son comedy “Morris From America” by Chad Hartigan, starring Craig Robinson; documentary “Lo And Behold: Reveries of the Connected World” by Werner Herzog, about the expanding world of the internet; and German period film “The People vs Fritz Bauer” about the hunt for Nazi war criminals after WWII, directed by Lars Kraume.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.incompetech.com

Episode 25 of One Week Only! Our key film of the week is “The Lost Arcade,” a nostalgic documentary about the iconic Chinatown Fair, the last of the old-school arcades in New York, and the people who fought to keep it alive, despite the changes in the city and the rise of home videogame consoles. Directed by Kurt Vincent, it plays this week in NYC at the Metrograph! Gamers of all ages should not miss it.

For our “Not Yet in Theatres” segment, we interview director Robert Putka about his darkly funny family drama “MAD,” about two sisters who railroad their mother into a psych ward after she has a nervous breakdown. The film plays this Sunday at the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood as part of the Slamdance Cinema Club, and will also screen at the Arclight in Chicago later this month. Putka talks about his own family experiences, adapting the script to suit the actors, and the struggles of getting distribution as a micro-budget film.

This episode also includes the buddy comedy “Joshy” starring Thomas Middleditch, Nick Kroll and Jenny Slate, directed by Jeff Baena; the documentary “On Meditation” featuring interviews with David Lynch, Giancarlo Esposito & other practitioners of meditation, directed by Rebecca Dreyfus; PTSD thriller “Disorder” starring Matthias Schoenaerts & Diane Kruger, directed by Alice Winocour; and fashion drama “The Model” starring Maria Palm & Ed Skrein, directed by Mads Matthiesen.

Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.incompetech.com