While the weather outside is frightful(ly pleasant), the Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre are delightful! The movies are back as a part of WinterFest. We're showing six movies over three weekends starting on Nov. 30.

Doug Pullen (the El Paso Community Foundation's Artistic Director and Program Director for the Plaza Classic Film Festival, and a.k.a. "Friend of the Pod") is back with podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to go over which films made the cut.

Check out the Holiday Movies at the Plaza schedule here.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

The lives of American service members have often been depicted on film -- from 1998's Saving Private Ryan (shown in the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival) to 1979's Apocalypse Now (screened in 2016). But perception isn't always reality.

Kristin Trick -- a member of the film festival's advisory committee, a licensed therapist, and a wife to an Army veteran -- joins Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott in studio to talk about the representation of soldiers and veterans on the big screen.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

During the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival, a new take on the Western genre made its debut, complete with red carpet fanfare for the director, producer, and crew -- many of them with ties to the Borderland.

Long Shadows is set in the Wild West, and follows one man's mission to avenge his parents' death, with lots of twists along the way. In his directorial debut, it was also written by actor William Shockley (RoboCop, Death in Texas), and produced by El Paso native Allen Gilmer.

Shockley and Gilmer join Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott to talk about how the film -- and the film festival screening -- came to be.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

Is Alien a sci-fi, a horror, or both? What about Invasion of the Body Snatchers?

Whichever you choose, both are good options for rewatches on Halloween. Veronica Cartwright ("Lambert" in Alien and "Nancy" in Invasion of the Body Snatchers) joins podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle for a brand-new interview from her home in Los Angeles, where she's preparing to give out candy to trick-or-treaters on Oct. 31. And you have to hear about her favorite costume.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

Great films often begin as strong pitches. But oftentimes, those pitches are critiqued, revised, and refined before they truly shine.

That was the process behind the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival's Pitch Fest. And out of the ten budding local screenwriters, one El Paso Community College English professor came out on top.

Jorge Gomez joined Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott to talk about his pitch and his method.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

It's back! It's growing! And it's even scarier than before!

Horror is taking over the border once again for the 3rd annual Oculto Film Festival. Angel Benitez, the festival's co-deputy director, joins Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to give a sneak peek at what audiences can expect here in El Paso on October 24th and 25th and in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on November 1st and 2nd.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

You don't have to wear stretchy pants to enjoy movies, nor must you believe in science to be a fan of a family-friendly outdoor arts festival.

But if you like quoting the Jack Black comedy Nacho Libre (2006), then get that corn out of your face! Be ready to stake your spot outside the Mexican American Cultural Center for a special showing of 'Nacho' during Chalk the Block.

The MACC's Rebecca Muñoz is back in the podcast studio with Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott to talk about their favorite things (the color light tan and puppies) and how the screening came to be.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

Classic films are timeless and inspirational for both film fans and filmmakers. 

Scott McGee is somewhat of an expert on the classics. McGee has spent the last two decades curating movies that are shown during the film festival sponsored by Turner Classic Movies. And for almost as long, he's shared his  insight with El Paso audiences as a special guest at the Plaza Classic Film Festival.

McGee sat down with Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to go over the theater experience, film-watching etiquette, and his must-watch list.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

One Battle After Another, the latest film by acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson, took over El Paso when the film crew shot parts of the movie here in 2024. The excitement was palpable as Downtown El Paso's historic buildings and unique facades became the backdrop for several scenes and Academy Award winning actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, and Sean Penn were spotted meandering around the city.

On Sept. 13, 2025, the fervor spilled over. Warner Bros. Studios worked with the El Paso Community Foundation and others to screen One Battle at the Plaza Theatre. Dozens of movie extras, local crew, and supporters of the El Paso film community were invited to the special showing two weeks before the world premiere.

Podcast hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott are joined in studio by El Paso location scout Jacob Cena and architect Bill Helm, who were both instrumental in winning "one battle after another" to shoot the film in the Sun City.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

Veronica Cartwright is one of Hollywood's busiest character actors. As a child, she started off as a model, then a commercial actor, and even landed a recurring role in Leave It to Beaver.

Cartwright's big screen break came at age 14, when she was cast as Cathy Brennan in The Birds (1963), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. She later worked alongside Ridley Scott as "Lambert" in the sci-fi classic Alien (1979).

The actress was a special guest at the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival, where she sat for a Q&A ahead of both aforementioned films. The following episode contains the interview Plaza Classic Podcast host Lisa Elliott conducted with Cartwright before the screening of The Birds on July 26.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.