Film

Film critic John Powers returns to Fresh Air and reviews the new recut and expanded version of Apocalypse Now which is opening in theaters.

Actor Laurence Fishburne was 15 when he played a young G.I. in Apocalpyse Now. He was also Cowboy Curtis on Pee-wee's Playhouse. His films include Boyz N the Hood, Deep Cover, Searching for Bobby Fisher, What Love Got to Do With It, and The Matrix.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews Ghost World.

John Cameron Mitchell wrote, directed and starred in the off-broadway hit rock musical, –Hedwig and the Angry Inch— (with songs by Stephen Trask). The play has just been made into a new film, also directed by and starring Mitchell. The film won the Audience Award for Drama and the Directing Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. The story is about Hedwig, a German immigrant living in a trailer in Kansas, the victim of a botched sex change operation. With the help of her band, the Angry Inch, she tells the story of her life.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews Americas Sweethearts.

Vince Vaughn teams up again with –Swingers— costar John Favreau in the new movie, –Made.— The movie, written and directed by Favreau, follows two aspiring boxers who concoct a money laundering scheme. Vaughn has appeared in several movies including –Swingers,— –The Lost World,— the remake of Alfred Hitchcock –Psycho,— and –The Cell.—

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews The Score starring Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, and Ed Norton.

Icelandic film director Baltasar Kormakur has been compared with Spanish film director Almodovar for his debut film, an off-beat comedy, 101 Reykjavik. It set (of course) in Iceland, and is the story of a 28 year-old slacker, his mother, and the flamenco teacher they both fall in love with. The film won the Discovery Award for Best First Film at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. And Kormakur was just named by Variety as one of the Ten Directors to Watch.

Film director Julien Temple. His new film Pandaemonium is set in the 1880s and is about the relationship between two poets: William Woodsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Temple is one of the early pioneers of music videos, directing the Kinks, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Janet Jackson. He also directed documentaries. His other films include the 1995 Bullet and the 1999 Vigo.

Casting director and actress Joanna Merlin has written a new guide for actors, Auditioning: An Actor-Friendly Guide (Vintage Books). Merlin was casting director for Harold Prince and his productions of Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Evita, and more. She casted films, as well as acted in films and on television.

Film critic Henry Sheeham reviews the new Stephen Spielberg film A.I.

Brazilian actress Sonia Braga starred in the 1985 independent film Kiss of the Spider Woman (with William Hurt and Raul Julia). The film is currently being re-released. Braga is also a guest star in the HBO comedy series Sex and the City. And she plays Jennifer Lopezabused mother in the film Angel Eyes. Her other films include Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, and The Last Prostitute.

John Lithgow is one of the stars of the animated hit movie, Shrek. His comedy TV series Third Rock From the Sun just finished its run on NBC. Lithgow also writes children's books. He's just published the book Marsupial Sue (Simon and Schuster), and he has released a new CD of music for children called Farkle and Friends (Watershed Records). Lithgow is currently performing his children's material live in concert.

British actress Charlotte Rampling. Shes known for her great beauty. She was a model before beginning her film career in the sixties with hits such as Georgy Girl and The Damned. She may be best known for The Night Porter, a 1974 classic about a concentration camp survivor reunited with the Nazi guard who tortured her. Ramplings new film is the French Under The Sand, about a woman whose husband mysteriously disappears during a seaside vacation.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews Swordfish, starring John Travolta.

Stage and screen actor Jonathan Pryce plays Gustav Mahler in the new film Bride of the Wind. Pryce has won many acting awards, including two Tonys, first for The Comedians, and later for his role in the hit musical Miss Saigon. Hes also appeared in many films including Brazil, Evita, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Glengarry Glenn Ross.

His new movie, With a Friend Like Harry, has been compared to the thrillers of Hitchcock. Its about an accidental meeting of two old friends and the subsequent unsettling turn of events. The French film thrilled audiences at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, and won 4 Cesars awards (the French equivalent of the Oscars). This is the second feature for the 38 year old German born filmmaker; his first was the 1993 Intimacy, a flop at the box office.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews Moulin Rouge, starring Nicole Kidman.

Her films include Addams Family Values, The Ice Storm, Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas, The Opposite of Sex, and the new film The Man Who Cried.

Film Critic Henry Sheehan reviews the film "Pearl Harbor."