Maltin on Movies

Having appeared in serious movies from Black Hawk Down to The Dark Knight and TV series like Prison Break , William Fichtner is enjoying the novelty of costarring in a popular sitcom like Mom . He's also proud of the new movie he wrote, directed and stars in called Cold Brook , filmed on his home turf in upstate New York and now available for streaming online. Leonard and Jessie asked him to trace...

Samm Levine is one of the smartest—and nicest—movie buffs we know. It's been twenty years since Freaks & Geeks hit the airwaves and its reputation only grows—a testament to its creators and cast, including Samm. He's proud of his work on that series, as well as his long run as sidekick to Kevin Pollak on his weekly chat show. Fans know about his encyclopedic knowledge of movies, which he puts to t...

Omar Epps knew he wanted to work in the arts from the time he was a boy and landed his first movie job (in Juice , with Tupac Shakur) when he was just 17. Since then he's built a reputation as a solid, soulful actor who can fill almost any role, be it a doctor or a prizefighter. His new horror film Trick is playing in theaters and on VOD and an outer space saga called 3022 is coming soon to theate...

Listen up, because Greg Proops talks a mile a minute and is never, ever dull. The quick-witted improv comedian and costar of Whose Line is it Anyway? also hosts a screening series in Los Angeles that takes full advantage of his love for vintage movies. Leonard and Jessie did their best to keep up with Greg when they weren't laughing out loud.

With Ad Astra , writer-director James Gray has achieved the kind of box-office success his films deserve. He's worked with Joaquin Phoenix four times, in such ambitious dramas as The Yards and We Own the Night . If you watch The Lost Kingdom of Z or Two Lovers you'll see why he's considered one of the finest talents working today. He's also a movie buff of the highest order. Leonard and Jessie wer...

Yes, he's a Mac. Justin Long is also a talented actor and a full-time cutup, as Leonard and Jessie learned when they recorded this episode before a live audience at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. He's been in countless movies and TV shows, from Galaxy Quest to Idiocracy , lent his voice to Alvin (of Chipmunk fame) and a variety of characters on King of the Hill . He's played George Harrison (in...

This rugged Aussie has made a splash in such popular movies as Jack Reacher, A Good Day to Die Hard, the Divergent series , Terminator: Genysis, and Suicide Squad (as Captain Boomerang). But he's a serious drama student who tackled Shakespeare's Macbeth on stage in Melbourne not long ago. He's also quite likable and willing to share his experiences working opposite some of the biggest names in sho...

Seth Green is still young but he's been a familiar face (and voice) for more than thirty years, believe it or not. He played a young Woody Allen in Radio Days and Dr. Evil's son in the Austin Powers movies before winning a young generation of fans (like Jessie) on Buffy the Vampire Slayer . He's voiced Chris Griffin on Family Guy and Leonardo on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and won three Emmy Awar...

William Sadler is one of those actors everyone knows even if they can't quite think of his name. He's played everything from the Grim Reaper in the BILL & TED movies (with a reunion film just completed) to the U.S. President in IRON MAN 3 (and AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.). He was a sheriff on ROSWELL and Tommy's father on the last season of POWER. But many of his best stories come from his years of wor...

A versatile actor and filmmaker, Danny Huston is the son of the legendary John Huston and has wonderful stories to share. He's built a considerable career of his own, with such films as Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, Children of Men, Marie Antoinette, 21 Grams, Birth, The Constant Gardener, and Wonder Woman to his credit. He's also the star, writer and director of The Last Photograph , which is no...

Fred Willard is a man for all seasons. He's been making people laugh from the time of Johnny Carson and Ed Sullivan to the present day, now turning up regularly on Jimmy Kimmel Live playing everyone from the ghost of George Washington to Donald Trump's father. He's unforgettable in Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and other Christopher Guest movies and has earned Emmy nominations for recurring ro...

The man who changed television programming with his landmark PBS series The Civil War is back with Country Music , a captivating eight-part, 16-hour saga you don't want to miss. Ken Burns has become America's storyteller and we couldn't ask for a more eloquent or passionate historian. Leonard and Jessie have known him for years on a social basis but this is the first time they've ever sat down for...

A celebrated actor and man of the theater whose films include Amadeus, Shakespeare in Love, and Four Weddings and a Funeral , Simon Callow is also a master biographer, having written a great book about Charles Laughton and a magnum opus on Orson Welles which has extended to four volumes! And yes, he was also the bad guy in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls . Charming and witty, he regaled Leonard and...

Master cinematographer Caleb Deschanel earned the first of six Oscar nominations for The Black Stallion , and the latest just last year for the brilliant German film Never Look Away . Since then he's ventured into the newest form of storytelling, virtual reality, to shoot The Lion King . But his best stories aren't about craft—they're about life lessons he's learned since attending film school at...

Jessie fell in love with Phil LaMarr during his long run on MADTV, but that's just one of hundreds of credits on his resume. He's a charter member of The Black Version , a hilarious show at Los Angeles's Groundlings Theatre and one of the busiest voice actors around. You've heard him on The Family Guy, Futurama, DC Super Hero Girls, Bojack Horseman , and scores of other animated shows and movies....

A born storyteller and natural entrepreneur, Ava DuVernay has achieved many milestones: the first black woman to be named Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival (for M i d d l e o f N o w h e r e ), the first to have a feature nominated for Best Picture ( S e l m a ), and the first to pilot a big-budget blockbuster, A W r i n k l e i n T i m e . She created the hit series Q u e e n S u g a r...

Most people know Lesley Manville for her Oscar-nominated performance as Daniel Day-Lewis's sister in Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread or her many films for British filmmaker Mike Leigh including Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy and Another Year . She's also the star of the irresistible TV comedy Mum , which just launched its third and final season on BritBox. Leonard and Jessie are unabashed fans...

Forever to be remembered as Lt. Commander Data on Star Trek: the Next Generation and other treks to follow, Brent Spiner is a versatile actor and performer with notable Broadway credits—and two fervent fans in Leonard and Jessie, who saw him play John Adams in a masterful revival of 1776 . He's happy to discuss all facets of his career, from musical theater to his memorable role in Independence Da...

If you're like Leonard and Jessie, you've been watching Alanna Ubach for years—even if you don't know her name. She's currently costarring in Euphoria and still winning praise for her portrayal of the matriarch in Disney's animated Coco. But that just scratches the surface of this talented actress's career... from Legally Blonde to Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce. The secret of her long term success...

One of Cleveland's finest sons, Drew Carey is comedy's long-distance runner. A former Marine, he burst on the national scene as a contestant on Star Search in 1988 and hasn't stopped since. The Drew Carey Show enjoyed an extraordinary nine-year run on ABC, matched by the improv hit Whose Line is It Anyway. He'll soon be starting his twelfth season as the host of The Price is Right. We don't know h...

After more than twenty years onscreen, with an Oscar nomination to his credit (for As Good as It Gets ) Greg Kinnear has made his directing debut with a likable film called Phil, which opens in theaters and online this week. Leonard and Jessie ask him what inspired him to move behind the camera, and also touch on highlights of his career—from working opposite Jack Nicholson to playing JFK in a maj...

The prolific author behind Game of Thrones is also a lifelong movie buff and invited us to interview him at his very own theater, The Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, New Mexico. George and Leonard compared notes about starting out as a fan and contributing to fanzines, back in the pre-Internet era. (For more on this, go to www.leonardmaltin.com .) George went on to teach writing and enjoyed succe...

Helen Slater won the role of Supergirl in 1984 fresh out of New York City's High School of the Performing Arts. Now she's playing Melissa Benoist's mother in the newest incarnation of Supergirl on the CW network. In between she's had many experiences in and out of show business which she was only too happy to share with Leonard and Jessie (who fell in love with her in The Legend of Billie Jean )....

Alan Tudyk is a gifted actor and a familiar face who achieved cult status as a costar of Joss Whedon's Firefly and its follow-up feature-film Serenity …but he's also become the man of a thousand voices. If you've seen Wreck-it Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, or even Rogue One: A Star Wars Story you've heard his facility with accents, dialects, and the ability to embody colorful characters. He also star...

Tracy Nelson made a deep impression on a youthful audience in the 1980s TV series Square Pegs and is still acting today. She's also part of show business royalty: her father was Ricky Nelson, her grandparents were Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, and her maternal grandparents were football star-turned-sportscaster Tom Harmon and leading lady Elyse Knox. (Yes, that means her cousin is Mark Harmon.) Tracy...