Maltin on Movies

The meanest-looking man on screen, the star of Robert Rodriguez's Machete and its sequels, is perhaps better known Trejo's Cantina and other food emporiums have revealed the truth: despite his violent background he has reinvented himself as a good guy and plays that role extremely well, onscreen and off. (He also headlines a new streaming movie, Seven Cemeteries.) Leonard and Jessie enjoyed meetin...

He's been a familiar face on television for years, on the long-running comedy Wings and the current Chicago Med. He grew up in a show-business family so it shouldn't be surprising that he loves to perform. His range is limitless and his credits attest to that: everything from Mel Brooks' stage musical The Producers to the TV adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining. He and Leonard enjoy exchanging...

Dan is what Hollywood used to call a multi-hyphenate. He's an actor (with an Emmy to prove it), producer, director, and writer, and successful in each arena. As Lisa Kudrow's longtime partner he produced her forward-thinking web series Web Therapy as well as the savvy sitcom The Comeback. Most recently he worked on the hilarious comedy series Hacks and Mid-Century Modern. He shares some of his har...

As diehard fans of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Leonard and Jessie are always rooting for writer-director Eli Craig, whose latest blood-stained outing is called Clown in a Cornfield. It's very different in tone, and its satiric point is muted until the climax. You can see it now in theaters. We also spoke to Eli about his unusual upbringing, living mostly with his brother and dad in Oregon, but casti...

As the longtime senior editor of  Los Angeles  magazine, Chris Nichols has accumulated more knowledge about this city than anyone else we know. As an author and frequent tour guide, he loves sharing his discoveries, which is why his newest book  BowlaRama (Angel City Press, written with Adriene Biondo) is so much fun. Leonard and Jessie enjoy diving into the fad-like growth of bowling alleys in th...

Avy Kaufman's name should be familiar to anyone who reads credits, as we do. She has cast scores of films and television series, from The Ice Storm to Succession , and launched many a career along the way. You can hear the pride in her voice when she recounts how she brought young Haley Joel Osment to meet the star and director of The Sixth Sense. Recent credits include some of the most talked-abo...

Last year, Leonard and Jessie got a rare opportunity to interview Frank Oz at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas before a live audience. His alter egos are world-renowned, but Leonard and Jessie didn't focus on Miss Piggy or Yoda in this conversation. The main topic was directing movies, which Oz has done so well for so many years: The Muppets Take Manhattan, Little Shop of Horrors, In & Out, Dir...

He's an author, film buff, publicist, and now the host of a web series called Locationland that brings us to the spots around Los Angeles where memorable movies were shot—from Grease to Plan 9 From Outer Space. Harry is a lifelong cinephile lover who first made his mark writing about the worst movies of all time, which led to the Golden Turkey Awards—now reincarnated as the Razzies. He and Leonard...

For Jessie, busy actor Jon Seda will always be Selena's loving husband Chris Pérez, but he's had many memorable roles in films and television: The Pacific, Chicago PD, Homicide: Life on the Streets, Treme, and La Brea , to name just a few. If you're a fan you already know that he was heading for a career in boxing when he was hired to appear in Gladiator, which was literally a life-changing experi...

As a boy, Danny Elfman showed no interest in music, but he's made up for it ever since, earning Grammy and Emmy awards, Oscar nominations, and the roar of the crowd in live concerts around the world. His historic collaboration with director Tim Burton began with Pee -wee's Big Adventure  and shows no signs of stopping. His theme music for The Simpsons is just one way he remains in our consciousnes...

He will be forever known as Potsie from Happy Days , but his memories of that much-loved TV series are all positive, especially his relationship with the show's creator Garry Marshall. Having begun in the theater and turned director (with dozens of TV shows to his credit) he is now piloting his wife's new play Crazy Mama: A True Story of Love and Madness at the celebrated Rubicon Theatre in Ventur...

Patrick Wilson wears many show-business hats. Fans of his Tony-nominated work on Broadway may not know of his involvement in the spooky Insidious and The Conjuring  movies. (He even made his directorial debut on Insidious: The Red Door .) And horror/supernatural fans might have missed his star performances in the celebrated arthouse hit Little Children and the Mike Nichols-directed miniseries vers...

AL PACINO needs no introduction. In 2018 he joined us for a relaxed conversation that centered on his documentary "Wilde/Salome," about his stage production of an Oscar Wilde play featuring a newcomer named Jessica Chastain. But without much prompting he also discussed his career at large, from The Godfather and Dog Day Afternoon onward. His recently published autobiography taps into his way of th...

The man whose latest film, Anora , is an awards-season favorite and an Oscar candidate, first joined us in 2017 to discuss his unpredictable career, which began on public-access television in Manhattan. He caused a stir when he shot his feature, Tangerine , on iPhones, and he won new fans with The Florida Project, which featured Willem Dafoe. He has a big heart, which is evident in every one of hi...

Billy Bob Thornton is in a class by himself. If you haven't seen Season 1 of his new show Landman on Paramount Plus, you're missing out. It's a perfect follow-up to his earlier series Goliath and his unforgettable turn on the first season of Fargo. Leonard and Jessie are longtime fans and delight in talking to him about finding his place in Hollywood, working with the Coen Brothers, playing the Pr...

On the heels of a terrific new Apple+ TV series, BAD MONKEY (which will film its second season in the near future), let's revisit our last chat with him, recorded in front of a live audience at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas in September of 2017. Vince was at the festival with his then-brand-new movie Brawl in Cell Block 99, but had no hesitation in reviewing his career and the film that launched...

Doug Jones's face is often hidden behind elaborate makeup, yet somehow, through his eyes and body language he always create memorable characters. A favorite of filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, he was the sea creature in The Shape of Water and had key roles in Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Pan's Labyrinth. He spent five seasons on Star Trek: Discovery and is currently having a ball making...

In recent times, David Krumholtz has appeared in Oppenheimer onscreen and Leopoldstadt on Broadway…but Jessie and Leonard first became fans watching him in films like The Santa Clause, Liberty Heights, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Slums of Beverly Hills . He is the very definition of a working actor—on stage, film and television (where he spent five years as the star of NUMB3RZ ), with a health...

Becky Ann Baker has played moms—on popular shows like Girls, Ted Lasso and Freaks and Geeks. But pigeonholing her is foolish given her theatrical training and can-do approach to life and career (alongside her equally talented husband, Dylan Baker). She's worked for everyone from Sam Raimi to Steven Spielberg to You can see her right now with Rob Huebel in All Hapy Families on VOD, but if you just...

Rob Huebel can currently be seen in the comedy feature film All Happy Families (costarring Josh Radnor and Becky Ann Baker) on VOD, but he is never out of sight for long. An improv comedian and actor par excellence who honed his chops at Upright Citizens Brigade, he frequently works with such pals as Rob Riggle, Paul Scheer, and Will Arnett. His movie credits include I Love You, Man, The Descendan...

It's been decades since Lucy Lawless became world-famous as Xena, the Warrior Princess. Since then she's done everything from appearing on Broadway in Grease to starring in an eye-opening Spartacus TV series. Now she's made her directorial debut with a compelling documentary called Never Look Away , about videographer Margaret Moth, who thrived on the adrenaline of shooting in war zones. It played...

Lou Diamond Phillips has an old-school, theater-based work ethic, which is why there's almost nothing he can't or won't do—from appearing on The Masked Singer  to imitating the look of Buffalo Bill Cody for his newest film Get Fast , now available on VOD. He doesn't mind that people still talk to him about playing Ritchie Valens in La Bamba because he's (justly) proud of the film and his performan...

Liam Neeson needs no introduction; his work over the past five decades speaks for itself. What you may not know is what a charming man he is…or how dedicated to his craft he remains after all this time. He says he still finds acting a source of wonder and discovery. His latest film, an action thriller called Absolution , opens today. Is it a great movie? Not in the same class as Schindler's List,...

The meanest-looking man on screen, the star of Robert Rodriguez's Machete and its sequels, is perhaps better known Trejo's Cantina and other food emporiums have revealed the truth: despite his violent background he has reinvented himself as a good guy and plays that role extremely well, onscreen and off. (He also headlines a new streaming movie, Seven Cemeteries.) Leonard and Jessie enjoyed meetin...