Maltin on Movies

John Ross Bowie is a comedic actor you know from such TV shows as T h e B i g B a n g T h e o r y and S p e e c h l e s s (not to mention the newly-hatched F e e l G o o d and G e n e r a t i o n s ). His pet project is a new podcast dedicated to character actors called H o u s e h o l d F a c e s . Leonard and Jessie share his interest in these unsung heroes of films and television… and apparentl...

Ann Dowd is one of today's foremost character actresses, and finally has an Emmy award to prove it, in recognition of her chilling performance in A Handmaid's Tale . She fell in love with acting as a girl and set her sights on a stage career; television and movies have helped her reach an even wider audience. Her new movie Mass opens in theaters today… or you can watch her in replays of everything...

Having organized a series of film festivals, rescued little known movies from oblivion, and written eloquent odes to many a forgotten picture, Eddie Muller has earned the soubriquet "the czar of noir." He now reaches a wider audience than ever on Turner Classic Movies' Noir Alley and has recently published an expanded edition of his milestone book "Dark City" (Running Press.) Jessie and Leonard al...

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...

If you're a baby boomer, you know all about Hayley Mills, the charming young actress who became an overnight star in Pollyanna and The Parent Trap under the tutelage of Walt Disney. Her new autobiography, Forever Young , will hold surprises even for the most devout fan, as Hayley was given access to her files in the Walt Disney Archives, where she made discoveries about herself and her loving but...

Billy Bob Thornton is in a class by himself. If you haven't seen his Amazon series Goliath , just about to launch its fourth and final season, you're missing a great acting showcase…a perfect follow-up to 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, playi...

Joe Morgenstern is the age-defying film critic for the Wall Street Journal , a post he has held since 1995. He's also one of only three film critics to have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Sample any one of his reviews and you will see why he is so highly regarded. An elegant, witty, and knowledgeable essayist, he represents the best of the breed. What's more, his enthusiasm remains intact after de...

How many authors get to see themselves portrayed on the big screen? R.L. Stine has—and by the very cool Jack Black, in two movies, based on his phenomenally popular Goosebumps books. Bob has entertained (and scared) several generations of kids—like Jessie—with his scary books for young people, and seems as surprised by their success and durability as anyone in his vast audience. Leonard and Bob re...

Norman Lloyd was a mere 103 when we recorded this interview in 2018. He lived to be 106…and what a rich life it was. Listen as he talks about people he knew and worked with: Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Jean Renoir, Martin Scorsese. Leonard and Jessie will never forget the day they made this recording and think it's well worth a reprise.

In 2018 Al Pacino—yes, Al Pacino—spent an hour with Leonard and Jessie talking about the theatrical release of his long-delayed film of Salome (featuring a young Jessica Chastain) and its accompanying documentary Wilde Salome . If you also want to hear what challenges him as an actor…or stories about the making of The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, and other classics of American film, you won't be...

Penn Jillette is the talking half of one of the most successful acts in all of show business, Penn and Teller. He is a highly principled purveyor of magic and a great entertainer as well. He and his partner have conquered every conceivable medium and show no signs of slowing down—in Las Vegas or on television. Leonard and Jessie loved getting to spend an hour in the company of someone they've admi...

Rahmin Bahrani is one of the most gifted filmmakers of our time. He proved this with his first ultra-low-budget features, Man Push Cart and Chop Shop —keen-eyed observational portraits of characters living in the margins of society.  (Both are now available in comprehensive Blu-ray editions from the Criterion Collection). What's more, he is a recent Oscar nominee for his searing adaptation of the...

Jake Johnson is a versatile guy who was inspired by the Second City troupe in Chicago, and set out to emulate them, first in New York and then in Los Angeles where he started landing movie and TV roles. Eventually he won a costarring role in New Girl with Zooey Deschanel and Max Greenfield. Leonard and Jessie discuss how each job—and personal connection—has led to other projects, from the modest i...

The music you remember from The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, Angels in America, Finding Nemo, 1917 , and the James Bond films Skyfall and Spectre was all written by Thomas Newman. His father was the legendary film composer Alfred Newman (who won nine Oscars and composed the 20 th Century Fox fanfare). His brother David is also a film composer, and his cousin is songwriter/composer/perfor...

Max Casella has been a familiar presence on TV and movie screens since he was a kid, costarring in Newsies and Doogie Houser, M.D. Since then he's kept busy on Broadway (in The Lion King --as the original Timon), on stage, television ( The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire ) and films, working with everyone from George Clooney to Spike Lee. He costars with Kevin Corrigan and Paul Reiser in the pandemic d...

Sam Richardson's performance as the clueless but good-hearted Richard Splett on Veep endeared him to a legion of viewers…but he started winning fans before that on The Office, in movies like Horrible Bosses and We're the Millers , and on The Detroiters , a comedy series he created and starred in with his best friend Tim Robinson. He has the leading role in Josh Ruben's new comedy feature Werewolve...

The moving force behind so many comedy careers, Judd Apatow has just returned from London where he's made a movie about shooting a film during the pandemic! It's the latest move in a unique career. From comedy fan to standup comic to writer, director, producer and mentor, he is one of a kind. His credits stretch from Freaks & Geeks and Girls on television to such movies as The Forty Year Old Virgi...

From The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi to such movies as Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News and As Good as It Gets , writer-director-producer James L. Brooks has created quality entertainment for decades and has no intention of slowing down. He has served as mentor to the likes of Cameron Crowe and Wes Anderson and continues to work with young talents behind the camera. Oh yes—he's also produced...

Casting directors are the unsung heroes and heroines of the entertainment business. Sarah Finn has cast every single film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as well as their TV and streaming series) so she has great stories to tell about lobbying for Robert Downey Jr. to star in Iron Man , why she approached Vin Diesel to play Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy , and how she overcame a slight obstacl...

Four-time Oscar winner Ben Burtt has crafted and created sounds we all know—from the heavy-breathing of Darth Vader to the pops and squeaks of R2D2, not to mention the voices of WALL-E and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. He's been obsessed with sounds since he was a boy and has never lost that passion, which comes through in everything he does—including this interview with two of his biggest fans, Leo...

Since starring in the hit American TV series The Guardian and The Mentalist , Australian-born Simon Baker has returned to his homeland and made two pet projects: the surfing drama Breath (which he also directed and co-wrote) and High Ground , which is now playing in theaters and On Demand. Filmed in remote and spectacular locations, it's about a culture clash involving Aboriginal tribes and the co...

Bob Balaban's resumé is filled with milestones: he shares an unforgettable scene with Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy , plays Francois Truffaut's interpreter in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind , and is part of the Christopher Guest ensemble ( Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show ) and the Wes Anderson repertory group ( Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel ). H...

Richard Kind is beloved by fans and colleagues alike. A versatile actor and endearing presence on TV shows like Spin City, Mad About You, and Curb Your Enthusiasm , movies including Argo, and A Serious Man , and animated films including A Bug's Life, Cars, and Inside Out , he has made a lasting impression. He's also performed on Broadway in such shows as The Producers and accumulated a lifetime's...

A onetime piano prodigy is now an Oscar nominee. Having won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition in 2011, Kris Bowers has spread his wings and achieved his goal of becoming a composer for film and television. Among his credits: Green Book, Bridgerton, When They See Us, and the upcoming Space Jam: A New Legacy . What's more, his charming short subject, A Concerto is a Conversati...

He's enjoying the success and acclaim he rightly deserves for The Queen's Gambit (Netflix's most-watched scripted miniseries), but Scott Frank is not just a flavor of the month. He's written movies like Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Minority Report, Logan , and our favorite sleeper The Lookout , which marked his directing debut. Scott has a wealth of observations about screenwriting and moviemaking wh...