Maltin on Movies

The little boy who scored such a success in the original Jurassic Park is all grown up now—and playing Freddie Mercury's British bandmate John Deacon in Bohemian Rhapsody . Jurassic costar Richard Attenborough was so impressed with his young costar that he cast him in his moving drama Shadowlands. Director Steven Spielberg liked him so much that he wrote a letter of recommendation when Joe wanted...

Most people remember Topher Grace from his star-making role on the popular comedy series That 70's Show , but this year he showed us a darker side playing KKK kingpin David Duke in Spike Lee's Blackklansman. Not that he hasn't been serious before—in Traffic and  Spider-man 3 , to name just two examples. Leonard and Jessie were delighted to find an engaging interviewee with a wealth of experiences...

Angela Lansbury sailed away from war-torn England when she was 15, earned two Oscar nominations before she was 20, and is still going strong at the age of 93. She's as bright and thoughtful as ever, discussing her amazing stage and screen career on both sides of the Pond. Whether you love her as Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote , or as the voice of Mrs. Potts in Disney's Beauty and the Beast...

From college grad student to director of Creed and Black Panther in a short span of time, Ryan Coogler has kept his feet on the ground. He relies on his wife Zinzi Evans and former USC classmates who form the core of his working team. From his debut feature, Fruitvale Station , through his latest box-office smash, he has found ways to make each film personal to his own experience.  Leonard and Jes...

He's won five Emmy Awards and is a longtime radio host and political pundit. But guess what? Dennis Miller is also a diehard film buff who revels in watching Turner Classic Movies. Jessie was blown away as Leonard and Dennis started comparing notes on favorite films and the people in them. He's the same sharp-witted comic he's always been, but this time the focus is on movies. Excelsior!

At 96 it's fair to call Norman Lear a living legend. He gave birth to such TV series as All in the Family, Maude, and The Jeffersons . Instead of living in the past he's reinventing it, supervising a reboot of One Day at a Time , just for starters. He's worked in television since 1950, but no one seems to talk to him about the movies he wrote, produced, and/or directed, like Cold Turkey or those f...

We've watched Michael Angarano grow up on screen; he's been acting since the age of 5. He worked with Meryl Streep at age 12 (in Music of the Heart ), got to improvise with Frances McDormand in Almost Famous at 13, then joined the cast of Will & Grace as Sean Hayes' son in his early 20s. He's a likable,  unpretentious guy who credits his family for helping him navigate the often-treacherous waters...

The world-class filmmaker with the distinctive voice is our esteemed guest today. He's not intimidating—quite the opposite—as he describes his early life, what drew him to filmmaking, and how he teaches students by throwing them in the deep end of the pool, so to speak. His passion is undiminished after more than fifty years of memorable, provocative films, most recently a series of fascinating do...

He's playing a hero in  The Predator  right now, but Boyd Holbrook has been a chameleon-like presence in TV shows and movies like  Narcos, The Big C, Gone Girl, A Walk Among the Tombstones,  and  Logan , just for starters. Along the way he's had valuable experiences with Gus Van Sant, Liam Neeson, and a host of others. Leonard and Jessie were  so impressed by his stories, candor, and genuine passi...

Get ready to meet a new Jonah Hill—a serious writer-director who has poured his heart and soul into his debut feature film, mid90s , which is playing the festival circuit and opens in theaters in late October. After several years of writing and research (and input from such august filmmakers as Martin Scorsese), he is unveiling his "baby" to the moviegoing public. That's what brought him to Fantas...

Still hale and hearty at 103, Norman Lloyd is one of the few men on the planet who can speak first-hand about Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese…and even Amy Schumer. (He was in Trainwreck .) He set out to be an actor, and earned immortality as the man who dangles from the Statue of Liberty in Hitchcock's Saboteur but proved to be even more useful behind the scenes, u...

Not since Norman Lear has one man had an impact on television comedy as great as Chuck Lorre. He has created, co-created, or produced and written such long-running hits as The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Dharma and Greg, Mike and Molly , and Young Sheldon , to name just a few. Leonard and Jessie found him to be candid in discussing the nuts and bolts of steering these wildly popular serie...

Scion of a multi-generational show business family (and the youngest of five siblings), David Arquette has worked as an actor, writer, director, and producer. Listeners of a certain age will always associate him with the Scream series. He won Leonard and Jessie's heart with an impromptu pantomime performance he gave at a recent Buster Keaton-related ceremony. David is a delightful conversationalis...

A free spirit and a formidable talent, Catherine Hardwicke started out as a production designer, working with some of the top directors in the business (Richard Linklater, David O. Russell, Cameron Crowe) before taking the plunge herself. Her debut film was the impressive Thirteen , which she wrote with costar Nikki Reed. Since then she's made all kinds of movies, from personal projects like Lords...

Floyd Norman is an official Disney Legend, and so much more: Walt Disney's first full-time African-American animator, a contributor to such films as Sleeping Beauty and The Jungle Book , a disciple of Disney's legendary Nine Old Men, and a story man on such Pixar features as Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc. What's more, as Leonard and Jessie have learned, he's a naturally funny man, a great storytell...

If you're a certain age, you probably first saw Peter Facinelli in films like Can't Hardly Wait and Dancer, Tex. Pop. 81 . A decade later he won even more fans as Dr. Carlisle Cullen in the phenomenally popular Twilight movies. He spent seven seasons as another medico, Dr. Cooper, on the TV series Nurse Jackie . Now he's making his feature directorial debut with Breaking and Exiting , playing in t...

A likable actor with excellent bloodlines, Colin Hanks has built a busy career for himself in such films as Orange County, King Kong, W. and TV series like Roswell, The Good Guys , Fargo and the current Life in Pieces . Now he's exploring new avenues as a documentarian with two first-rate features under his belt: Tower Records: All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records and Eagles of...

Director and film buff extraordinaire Joe Dante and Leonard go back a long, long time—to their teens, in fact—and  enjoy swapping stories about early inspirations, moviegoing adventures in New York City, Joe 's move to Hollywood, his first big breaks, and events leading up to casting Leonard as himself in Gremlins 2: The New Batch . Jessie learns some things she never knew before in this entertain...

RZA is a hip-hop icon, music producer, actor and director. Leonard and Jessie sat down with him at the San Diego Comic-con to discuss his upcoming heist movie Cut Throat City (set in New Orleans during the chaos of Katrina) with two of his talented cast members. Articulate and fun to talk to, RZA's enthusiasm is infectious. It's easy to see how a cast and crew would respond to him. Jessie and Leon...

Kelly Macdonald became an overnight sensation when she made a memorable screen debut in Trainspotting some twenty years ago. She hasn't looked back since, doing exceptional work in such films as Gosford Park, Nanny McPhee, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 , and as the voice of Merida in Pixar's Brave . Her newest film, Puzzle, gives her a rare leading role and a great showcase for her t...

If you remember Bobcat Goldthwait's "extreme" standup-comedy persona, it might be difficult to reconcile with his career as a prolific TV and movie director. He's made some great films like World's Greatest Dad with his pal Robin Williams, and Call Me Lucky , a compelling documentary about one of his mentors, comedian-turned-activist Barry Crimmins. Now he's presiding over an unpredictable antholo...

With two drama teachers for parents it isn't surprising that Logan Marshall-Green grew up in and around the theater. But it was television shows like 24  and The O.C. that got him noticed, and the small screen has continued to offer him great opportunities, as in Quarry and Damnation . He's just as effective in movies like Prometheus, The Invitation, Spider-man: Homecoming and the current release...

Paul Williams is a master storyteller: Oscar and multiple-Grammy winner, actor, hit-maker, composer of everything from "The Love Boat" theme to the immortal "Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie. He's as busy as ever, costarring in this season of Goliath with Billy Bob Thornton and serving as president of ASCAP, the performers' rights organization. He's also a raconteur, and you'll hear about...

Mia Wasikowska became an instant star in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland eight years ago and hasn't stopped working since—in a variety of challenging and rewarding parts. Among her credits: The Kids are All Right, Jane Eyre, Only Lovers Left Alive , the underrated Tracks , and Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak . Her latest, now playing in theaters, is Damsel , costarring Robert Pattinson. Leonard...

Jessie and a friend needed cheering up one evening and watching the lighthearted girlfriend comedy Ibiza on Netflix was just the ticket. Gillian Jacobs, of Community, Girls and Love  joins us for a buoyant conversation with the film's writer (Lauryn Kahn) and director (Alex Richanbach ), both veterans of sketch comedy and Funny or Die . Their enthusiasm and team spirit are engaging and inspiring,...