A24

[11 mins.] The great filmmaker Gus Van Sant (To Die For, Milk) visits Filmwax Radio (for the first time) to discuss his exceptionally moving new movie, based on John Callahan’s memoir Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot. After nearly dying in a car accident, the last thing Oregon slacker John Callahan (Joachin Phoenix) intends […]

The legendary screenwriter & director Paul Schrader (Hardcore, Light Sleeper) is on this episode to discuss his new film, First Reformed. The film, which opens in NYC and LA on Friday, May 18th, stars Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried & Cedric Kyles (aka Cedric the Entertainer) and is being distributed by A24. Reverend Ernst Toller (Hawke) is a solitary, middle-aged parish pastor at a small Dutch Reform church in upstate New York on the cusp of celebrating its 250th anniversary. Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, the church is now a tourist attraction catering to a dwindling congregation, eclipsed by its nearby parent church, Abundant Life, with its state-of-the-art facilities and 5,000-strong flock. When a pregnant parishioner (Seyfried) asks Reverend Toller to counsel her husband, a radical environmentalist, the clergyman finds himself plunged into his own tormented past, and equally despairing future, until he finds redemption in an act of grandiose violence.

Then Baltimore-based filmmaker Matt Porterfield (Putty Hill, I Used to Be Darker) makes his first appearance on the podcast. His new film, Sollers Point, was shot entirely in the Baltimore county titular neighborhood and stars McCaul Lombardi, Zazie Beetz, Jim Belushi, Lynne Cohen & Marin Ireland. Keith (Lombardi) is a 24-year-old drug dealer who is newly released from prison and living with his father (Belushi) under house arrest in Baltimore. He struggles to re-establish himself in a community scarred by unemployment, neglect and segregation. The film is opened this past week in Baltimore and opens in NYC and LA on Friday, May 18th thanks to Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

[3 mins. 41 secs.] Andrew Dosunmu returns to the podcast. He was last on Episode 161 with his previous feature Mother of George. He’s back with a new feature called Where is Kyra? which premiered at Sundance last year and which stars Michelle Pfeiffer & Kiefer Sutherland in very different roles. Pfieffer plays Kyra, a fragile woman who is already stressed from a fast-paced world when her mother dies and she must find a means for survival while hiding her struggles from her new boyfriend (Sutherland). The film will have a theatrical engagement at the Quad Cinema in NYC beginning Friday, April 6th as well as other cities. Check your local listing for further details.

[38 mins. 21 secs.] I saw Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete at SxSW last month. We were lucky to talk to Andrew (Weekend, 45 Years) while in Austin as well as his lead actor, Charlie Plummer (King Jack, All The Money In The World) and my colleague Zefrey Throwell. Charley (Plummer), a teen living with his single father, finds work caring for an aging racehorse named Lean On Pete. When he learns Pete is bound for slaughter, the two embark on an odyssey across the new American frontier in search of a place to call home. The film, which is being distributed by A24 and which opens on Friday, April 6th, also stars Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny & Steve Zahn in supporting roles.

Filmwax Radio is presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.

[8 mins. 13 secs.] Up first on Episode 405 of Filmwax Radio​, Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace, High Rise) with his new film, Free Fire​. The film, which stars Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer & Cillian Murphy, is currently in theaters. Set in Boston in 1978, a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two gangs […]

The exceptional indie film, Krisha, is celebrated on Episode 340 of the podcast. Among those on the podcast are first time feature director Trey Edward Shults, the actress Krisha Fairchild, plus supporting character actors Chris Doubek (returning to the show) and Bill Wise. The film, distributed by A24, will open in select cities on Friday, March 18th.

Two friends of the podcast return for their second visits: Atom Egoyan (Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter) talks about Remember starring Christopher Plummer and Ben Dickinson (First Winter) talks about his new Creative Control. Both films open Friday, March 11th.