Maltin on Movies

His new biography Mike Nichols: A Life is garnering rave reviews, but that's no surprise. Mark Harris's other two books, Pictures at a Revolution and Five Came Back are required reading for anyone who loves films. A native New Yorker, Mark spent many years writing for Entertainment Weekly, which put him on the front lines of pop culture. He continues to cover the film scene for New York magazine....

Listen up! When Quincy Jones speaks he may be imparting Yoda-like wisdom or talking about his collaborations with Steven Spielberg, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, or Hal Ashby, to name just a few. His film credits range from The Pawnbroker and In Cold Blood to The Color Purple and the must-see documentary Keep on Keepin' On . As a musician, arranger, film composer, and entrepreneur he is without...

If you're in your 30s like Jessie, you grew up with Thomas Nicholas onscreen. He starred in Rookie of the Year and A Kid in King Arthur's Court, then—a little older—he appeared the hugely popular American Pie series. He's led a band for many years and has never forsaken acting, but with the release of Adverse on VOD he officially joins the ranks of producers. Leonard and Jessie enjoyed meeting him...

Whatever you may think of the Golden Globes, their voters hit a bull's-eye when they gave a special award to Norman Lear, the youngest 98-year-old in Hollywood. He could easily coast along on his many accomplishments as a writer, producer, director, and political activist; instead he is engaged in new projects on a daily basis. He also penned a candid, entertaining autobiography called Even This I...

A familiar and welcome face as one of the hosts on Turner Classic Movies, Dave Karger has paid his dues as a working journalist for many years. He spent 17 of those years as a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly , and has made frequent appearances on The Today Show, E! and Access Hollywood.  Chronicling celebrity culture requires diplomacy and savvy in equal measures, and Dave is more than up to...

Hi, it's Leonard Maltin. Jessie and I are taking some time off but we want to share another of our favorite episodes of Maltin on Movies. Whether you know her best as Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast , Jessica Fletcher on Murder She Wrote , or the scheming mother from hell in The Manchurian Candidate , you'll be glad to know that the real Angela Lansbury is alive and well at age 95. She was mere...

Leonard and Jessie spend quality time with the one and only Mel Brooks, who's as spry as ever and bursting with great stories. He reveals the name of the funniest comedy he ever saw, talks about  Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles,  and  The Producers , and explains how he and his pal Carl Reiner screen movies together almost every night. You don't want to miss this one.

Two of the world's foremost authorities on movie music—whom we also count as good friends—join in a buoyant conversation filled with insight and laughter. Jon Burlingame writes for Variety and teaches film scoring at USC; his books include The Music of James Bond . Steven Smith's latest book is Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood's Most Influential Composer . Together they represent a...

As the granddaughter of animation pioneer Ub Iwerks and daughter of longtime Imagineer Don Iwerks, Leslie Iwerks automatically earns a niche in film history… but she's forged a great reputation of her own, with Oscar and Emmy nominations to show for it. Her six-part series The Imagineering Story  helped launch Disney+, while her provocative profile of hackers from Macedonia, Selling Lies, earned c...

He's earned immortality as that guy from Ghostbusters (and you'll see him in the forthcoming sequel) but Ernie Hudson is everywhere you look: as the star and executive producer of BET's The Family Business, as Lily Tomlin's love interest in Netlflix's Grace and Frankie, and Gary Dourdan's father in the new movie Redemption Day , opening in theaters today and on VOD next week. He's been in scores o...

Any actress who would title her book I Don't Know What You Know Me From:  Confessions of a Co-Star is certain to be fun to talk to and Judy Greer is just that: a versatile actress who's done a little bit of everything in show business but isn't jaded or disengaged. She loves acting and relishes each new challenge, from voice acting (as a costar of the hit series Archer ) to joining an ensemble of...

Jessie grew up with such popular movies as Little Giants, Casper, and Now and Then so naturally she's a fan of their star Devon Sawa. Now in his 40s, he's the father of two young children and pursuing a career with renewed interest and energy. His latest feature, Hunter Hunter , costarring Nick Stahl, is now playing on demand. Luckily, Devon is aware of his loyal fan base from his years as a child...

Cathy Moriarty achieved immortality when, as a teenager, she was cast in Raging Bull , directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. She earned an Oscar nomination for this memorable debut and has never looked back. The mother of three grown children and founder of Los Angeles' Mulberry Street Pizza restaurants, she's had a colorful life and enjoys talking about it—as well...

Margo Martindale is worth her weight in gold—to filmmakers and fans like us. Her presence is reason enough to watch any film or TV show. She's part of the ensemble of the new indie drama Uncle Frank, and shows once more why she is any director's best friend. Last year she tackled a real-life character, Bella Abzug, in the miniseries Mrs. America and pulled it off as easily as she has the fictional...

The new book Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise is the latest in a long line of superior biographies written by Scott Eyman, a lifelong movie buff and friend of the family. Scott shares his experiences getting to "know" people he never met and capturing their essence, from the contentious director John Ford to the epic-making Cecil B. DeMille…along with Mary Pickford, Henry Fonda, James Stewart and...

April Wright has found her calling as a filmmaker. Her first feature-length documentary, Going Attractions: The Definitive History of the American Drive-In was followed by Going Attractions: The Definitive History of the Movie Palace . Now she's taken a contemporary turn with a terrific new film called Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story, which is now streaming online via Shout! Factory. Leonar...

Sydney native Ryan Kwanten learned his craft while working on the popular Australian TV series Home and Away, racking up 223 episodes. He gained further notice on Summerland    but broke through to stardom on the red-hot HBO series True Blood. He's seldom idle for long, having costarred in such recent series as The Oath and Sacred Lies, and while he's now a California resident he still commutes fo...

Leonard and Jessie met the very likable Josh Ruben at this year's Sundance Film Festival, where he was screening his spooky comedy Scare Me , his debut feature which is now playing on Shudder and has been certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. He was hired as a cast member and director by College Humor in 2008 and hasn't looked back. You've seen his work in scores of TV commercials, and you can check...

Leonard and Jessie welcome Jeanine Basinger, perhaps the most influential film teacher of our time. She has shaped the thinking of many of today's best writers, directors and producers at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Along the way she has written invaluable books like A Woman's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960, The Star Machine, and most recently The Movie Musical!,...

Howard: The Howard Ashman Story is a moving documentary by Don Hahn about the incredible man who set the Disney studio on a new course with The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Now available on Disney+, this documentary inspired us to craft an unusual episode of our podcast. We spoke to producer-director Don Hahn, Howard's longtime life partner Bill Lauch, his sister Sarah Gillesp...

Millions of people around the globe have experienced the creativity of Julie Taymor in her groundbreaking stage production of Disney's The Lion King . Her films include the Beatles homage Ac ross the Universe , Frida , and Titus . Now she's tackled the life and times of Gloria Steinem in The Glorias . She fell in love with theater as a girl growing up in the suburbs of Boston and traveled the worl...

Whether you know him best from Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (just reissued in Ultra-High-Definition) or such memorable films as Birdy, Orphans, Short Cuts, or The Dark Knight Rises or if you just discovered him on Stranger Things , Matthew Modine is a talented and versatile actor who's been working steadily since the 1980s. What's more, he grew up in the rarefied setting of drive-in movie t...

Jay Baruchel first caught Jessie's eye in Almost Famous, which led to him being cast in  Judd Apatow's short-lived but well-loved TV series Undeclared . That put him in the same orbit as Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Evan Goldberg and other young talents he's worked with ever since. He made an impression in such movies as Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby , which contributed to his ultimate goal: be...

He's been a familiar face on TV and in movies for decades—Jessie first saw him in Rush Hour —but lately Tzi Ma has come into his own playing fathers in Lulu Wang's The Farewell , Alan Yang's Tigertail and Niki Caro's epic new production of Disney's Mulan , which debuts today on Disney+. In fact, he grew up on Staten Island and fell in love with the theater, as he tells Leonard and Jessie in a fasc...

What if you loved classic movies and were given the chance to physically re-create Old Hollywood? That's what happened when producer Ryan Murphy hired Matthew Flood Ferguson as the production designer of his Netflix miniseries Hollywood… and now he's an Emmy nominee. Leonard and Jessie learn what kind of challenges and decisions Matthew faced while trying to set the stage for a saga set in the gol...