Consider This with Scott Mantz

Jodie Foster has always been extremely selective about the the kinds of movies she will commit to, and for good reason -- At this stage of her career, she only wants to play characters that challenge her, and she always wants to give it her very best. Foster's latest film lives up to her high standards. In "A Private Life," the 2-time Oscar-winner plays a psychiatrist who suspects th...

I'm so excited to be joined on "Consider This" by director Gus Van Sant, whose latest film "Dead Man's Wire" is one of the very best movies of the legendary director's incredible career -- and that's saying a lot coming from the director of classics like "Drugstore Cowboy," "To Die For," "Good Will Hunting" and "Milk" (amo...

"Train Dreams" is an exquisite & beautiful film about a logger & railroad worker (played by Joel Edgerton) trying to make the most of the American Dream during the last days of the American frontier. After premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, it was acquired by Netflix (where it is streaming now), and by the end if the year, it was nominated for two Golden Globes and fi...

In the film "Rental Family," Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser plays an underemployed American actor living in Tokyo, where he is hired by a rental agency to play the father to a young girl of a single mother. "Rental Family" is an exquisite, beautiful and heartwarming film that sneaks up on you, casts a spell and really stays with you, and I had an amazing conversation with writer/d...

SPIKE LEE is one of the very greatest filmmakers of all time, and he's been one of my personal favorite directors ever since I first saw his feature directorial debut with "She's Gotta Have It" in 1986! Since then, he has continued to top himself with the likes of "Do The Right Thing," "Malcolm X," "The 25th Hour," "Inside Man" and "Bl...

What an absolute thrill to dive into the Criterion Collection's new 4K Restoration release of Stanley Kubrick's final film "Eyes Wide Shut" with Cinematographer Larry Smith! "Eyes Wide Shut" is one of my very favorite movies, and it's also the first movie I ever reviewed, so it changed the course of my life and career. I loved it immediately when I saw it for the fi...

"Nuremberg" is a fantastic film about a World War II psychiatrist (played by Oscar & Emmy-winner Rami Malek), who is assigned to analyze a top Nazi official (played by Oscar-winner Russell Crowe) before the Nuremberg trails. I was honored to be joined by writer/director James Vanderbilt for an incredible conversation about the making of this powerful film. In addition to providing fa...

Just when you think you've seen it all when it comes to horror thrillers, along comes "Good Boy," a haunted house story told from the unique point of view of Indy the Dog! In addition to being a very effective, scary & intense thriller, "Good Boy" is also very inventive, clever and emotionally engaging -- quite simply, it's one of the best movies of the year, and I...

When "The Blair Witch Project" had its world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival before opening later that year on July 30, the movie world had never seen anything like it -- not before, and certainly not since. Love it or hate it (and I love it!), it changed the moviemaking game on so many levels! That's what makes my conversation with directors Daniel Myrick & Eduardo S...

So far on "Consider This," I've been focusing on the films of 1999, which I strongly consider to be the best year ever for movies. And this latest episode features the big one: "American Beauty," which won 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture! I was incredibly honored to have a fascinating conversation with Sam Mendes, who won the Oscar for Best Director (and for his very first feature). It's...

"Eyes Wide Shut" was Stanley Kubrick's final film, but it was also his most misunderstood. It opened in theaters on July 16, 1999 -- four months after Kubrick's sudden passing on March 7 -- and it was greeted with mixed reviews from critics and public indifference. Quite simply, people didn't know what to make of it. But like most of Kubrick's movies, "Eyes Wide Shut...

I have always felt that 1999 was the best year ever for movies, and "The Iron Giant" is one of the (many) reasons why. But when the film -- directed by Brad Bird and based on the book by Ted Hughes -- was first released on August 6 , it got lost in the shuffle due to the unfortunate timing of opening the same day as "The Sixth Sense," which became a cinematic phenomenon. But over the years, "The I...

On Episode 2 of "Consider This with Scott Mantz," I interviewed writer-director Sofia Coppola and actors Kirsten Dunst & Josh Hartnett about "The Virgin Suicides," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999. Though it was overlooked with it was first released in U.S. theaters in March of 2000, "The Virgin Suicides" has gained a considerable amount of stature and popularity over the ye...

On the first episode of "Consider This with Scott Mantz," I interviewed actors Reese Witherspoon & Matthew Broderick and writer-director Alexander Payne about "Election," their brilliant film from 1999 that has gained a passionate following and even greater relevancy over the years. It was such a thrill to be able to interview the 3 of them together, and it became quickly obvious that "Electio...