BEHIND THE LENS #536: Featuring Padraic McKinley

Welcome back to another week of BEHIND THE LENS! I was going to air director Scott Waugh's interview on RUNNER starring Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson today, but given that the review has been out, my interview feature with Scott is also out, and there's so much positive traction on the film already, that I'm switching things up and bringing you PADRAIC "PAT" McKINLEY and his new film THE WEIGHT!

What a film!

Directed by Pat McKinley and written by Matthew Booi and Shelby Gaines, THE WEIGHT stars Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelic, Avi Nash, Sam Hazeldine, and the oh so adorable Avy Berry.

A taut thriller set in Oregon in 1933 during the depths of the Great Depression, THE WEIGHT stars Ethan Hawke as Samuel Murphy, a father torn from his daughter and imprisoned in a brutal work camp where Russell Crowe's corrupt and imposing Warden Clancy offers him a chance at early release: help smuggle gold through miles of unforgiving wilderness.

What follows is not merely an adventure or survival story, but a testament to the human spirit and the need for personal freedom, anchored by the gut-wrenching power of a father's love for his daughter. This is the story of an ordinary man in an extraordinary circumstance.

There are a lot of new films out right now in theatres and On Demand and On Digital. I just want to put a few of the indie gems on your radar. One is a sweet nostalgic film is AMERICAN SUMMER starring Steve Guttenberg as a 50-something year old guy looking back on his best summer ever. Then there are two bloody horror films for you – FEED which has an interesting juxtaposition of social media influencers and vampires; and GATOR FACE which is oh so fun with real alligators and the "leader" of the gators wearing a to-die-for gator coat and a gator mask that is shaped like a gator snout but strongly resembles a WWI gas mask. For a change of pace, the British spy thriller KNIGHTFALL is now on digital and it stars Ian Ogilvy, Jeanine Sothcott, and none other than Geoffrey Moore (son of 007 Sir Roger Moore). I'll be speaking with Geoffrey on Tuesday. Plus, I'm speaking with the wonderful James Nunn again this week talking about ONE LAST SHOT to close out the "One Shot" trilogy with Scott Adkins. And folks – it is action-packed. And there's so much more already onn the calendar and in the queue!