Maltin on Movies

The same man who directed such cherished films as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (his feature debut), October Sky, Hidalgo, and The Rocketeer started out as an artist and designer. His creations include the Millennium Falcon and…wait for it… Yoda!  Joe Johnston has had a remarkable career in many phases of movie production and has stories to go with all of them. Leonard and Jessie listened in rapt atten...

If he had don't nothing beyond production design for E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Jim Bissell's name would shine in movie history. Happily for us he has no intention of changing careers or slowing down. His other credits include Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, 300, Good Night and Good Luck, and The Spiderwick Chronicles . He was also a founding member of the Art Directors Guild, which subsequen...

A five-time nominee for the Tony Award, Brian is a young Broadway veteran who has performed in every imaginable kind of show, from Macbeth to Hamilton . He also played the leading character in Shrek the Musical for one full year. Filmmaker Edward Burns has just cast him as a sibling in Finnegan's Foursome , which you can watch now on Video on Demand; it marks their fifth film together. Brian is th...

Drew Goddard is having an exceptionally good year. He wrote the screenplay for the hit movie Project Hail Mary and is in production for a third season of the TV series High Potential. But he is the first to say that "good luck" is often the a result of hard work. This has been true from the beginning of his multifaceted career, writing shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and movies like Cloverfiel...

If you still associate Kevin Nealon with Saturday Night Live, it's no wonder: he was a vital cast member for nine years. But he's also an author, video producer, banjoist, savvy second banana (on such series as Weeds and Man With a Plan ), dedicated standup comic, and member of Adam Sandler's comedic stock company. And if you haven't seen his spectacular caricatures, you're missing out: his book i...

As admirers of "working actors" who bring their experience to each new assignment, Leonard and Jessie are pleased to share their chat with John  Pyper -Ferguson, who is now on theater screens in Casa Grande, a feature based on a popular miniseries starring Lou Diamond Phillips. Jon has made a vivid impression in shows like The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Suits as well as features including...

It's been a long time since we caught up with Bruce Davison, a lifelong actor whose latest film, Casa Grande , is now available on digital platforms. He talks about the pride and perils of guiding a career that incorporates theater, films and television—and how he keeps that fire burning within. From Ozark and The Lincoln Lawyer all the way back to Willard (where he worked with a rat named Ben, su...

He's spent a lifetime in front of the camera, but Corbin Bernsen is still ready to perform when the proverbial red light goes on. His latest release. The Yeti, is now on demand digitally, or you can channel-surf and find him on Your Friends and Neighbors, Duster, The Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins, and such vintage hits as L.A. Law and Psych. He's produced, directed and written (even a novel) and...

It's hard to believe that more than twenty years have passed since Leonard and Jessie became aware of Lou Taylor Pucci, who starred in two Sundance features called Thumbsucker and Chumscrubber that launched a career that's still going strong. The still-youthful actor is forever taking on challenges, none wilder than the bug-eyed alien he plays in Touch Me , which is now ON DEMAND AND ON DIGITAL Ap...

If you can judge a person by the company they keep, you'll know why Leonard and Jessie were eager to talk to Stephanie Laing. She has worked with Tracey Ullman, Julia Louis Dreyfuss and other comedy luminaries as a producer and director and has a new movie opening in theaters today: Tow starring Rose Byrne. Stephanie spoke to us from a shuttered hospital in Jersey City, which is the set of her nex...

Her career has taken her from Shakespeare to Stallone and she has wonderful stories to tell. Caroline Goodall has worked for Steven Spielberg twice—in Hook and Schindler's List . Now she's playing a military leader who cuts quite a figure in the science-fiction fantasy Storm Rider: Legend of Hammerhead , which is only in theaters March 13. Leonard and Jessie hit it off with Caroline, who zoomed wi...

When your film career starts out with E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and The Outsiders people expect big things to follow. C. Thomas Howell has made good on this promise by working steadily ever since those early 1980s milestones—and promoting literacy through screenings of the S.E. Hinton classic. He has scores of film and television credits, but Leonard and Jessie are most impressed with his work et...

You know his face and have felt his presence. Israeli-born Oded Fehr studied acting at the Old Vic in London and first made a vivid impression on movie audiences in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns . Since then he has dodged stereotype casting, agreeing to play a terrorist in the TV series Sleeper Cell because it was a three-dimensional character. He then forged a new path in Star Trek: Discovery a...

It's been a long time since Patty McCormack became a sensation—and a star—playing the title role in The Bad Seed on Broadway and then in Hollywood, but it's still a calling card. Her talent has taken her from soap operas to sitcoms and The Sopranos . She's onscreen again in Stop Time, happy to be working but content to live outside the spotlight. Leonard and Jessie got to know her when she found r...

Jobeth Williams is part of our communal moviegoing experience. She's in such milestone films as Kramer vs. Kramer, Poltergeist, and The Big Chill and has scores of television shows and miniseries under her belt, including Adam and The Day After . She costars in the recently released Not Without Hope, now available on VOD. She spent many years involved with the Screen Actors Guild Foundation and ha...

To untold millions of people she will always be bright-eyed Jane Banks in the original  Mary Poppins  (1964). The real-life Karen Dotrice is the mother of three who grew up in a show-business family. Her father Roy was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and her godfather was Charles Laughton! Luckily for us, Karen cherishes the memory of making  Poppins and has especially fond recollections...

With a terrific new movie called Song Sung Blue opening on Christmas day, writer-director Craig Brewer adds another bull's-eye to his filmography, which includes Hustle and Flow , the remake of Footloose , and Eddie Murphy's Dolemite is My Name. Although completely self-taught, he had a great mentor in the late John Singleton and an ability to glean the best lessons to be derived from reading all...

Bryan Fuller has written, produced and directed more TV series than we can count—including popular shows like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Disc overy, as well as cult-audience favorites Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies. Now he's unveiling his debut theatrical feature as writer and director, Dust Bunny, starring Mads Mikkelsen (with whom he made the Hannibal TV series) and it will not d...

Can it really be nine years since Leonard and Jessie sat down with Mel Brooks? He's still going strong at age 99 and we wish him another happy hundred years. In the meantime, enjoy this intimate conversation with one of the funniest men who ever walked the earth. 

One of the mainstays of Disney+ and the Disney Channel is a delightfully funny show called  Big City Greens . Like all great cartoons, it's not just for kids. It's bright and funny, and once you hear the two brothers who created it you'll know why. Chris (who also voices the main character, Cricket) and Shane draw on their own experiences as country boys who moved to the city to make good—and they...

Patrick Stump is no stranger to success. He's been the lead singer for Fall Out Boy for 24 years and just completed their latest tour. He's done voice acting and scored a number of film and television shows, but in our household he reigns supreme as the writer and performer of the theme song for Spidey and his amazing Friends on Disney Jr. He truly loves both the film and music world and happily c...

From instant—and enduring—recognition for a TV commercial to the present day, Sean Whalen has forged his own path as an actor. You can see him in the new release Traumatika , or you can surf any channel and come upon him in movies and TV shows: he has more than 200 credits on IMDB!  He has written and directed two feature films for himself, and become a genuine star in the newest medium, TikTok, w...

Outlander  fans have been cheering Caitriona Balfe for years, and she's made a strong impression on film buffs who have seen her in Belfast and  Ford v. Ferrari  as well. The Irish-born actress is now appearing opposite Orlando Bloom in a raw, extremely tough movie called The Cut that is now playing in  theaters. In real life she is charming and easy to talk to. It turns out she and Jessie are rai...

It's not just a compliment, it's a fact: Bob Gurr is a bona fide Disney Legend and at age 93 he shows little sign of slowing down. With a background in automobile design, Walt Disney sought him out in 1954 and immediately put him to work. For the next twenty years he had a hand in almost every major attraction in Disneyland, beginning with Autopia. He then opened his own shop and worked for theme...

If you're wondering why we've been revisiting so many programs instead of posting new interviews, there is a reason: Leonard did himself one heck of a mischief. But now he's back, and he and Jessie thought it was a good time to take stock of what's been going on in the worlds of movies and television.  That's the purpose of this catch-up episode and we hope you enjoy it. The occasional howling of...