Film

Hackford produced the Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba. He recently produced and directed Everybody's All American, about the life a college football hero. Hackford joins Fresh Air to talk about his early successes and failures, and the role songs play in his films.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the documentary Hotel Terminus, about Nazi officer Klaus Barbie, who fled to South America after the end of World War II. Despite the dark subject material, Stone says the movie is a pleasure, and praises director Marcel Orphuls unblinking camerawork.

The new film Cry in the Dark dramatizes the true story of Lindy Chamberlain, who was wrongfully convicted of infanticide while camping in Australia. Film critic Stephen Schiff says the movie proves Schepisi is a great director.

Cruikshank's newest work, Face Like a Frog, is now playing at film festivals. It features a soundtrack by composer Danny Elfman. She joins Fresh Air to talk about some of her earlier works, and what it takes to make a career in cartoons.

Actor Robert Prosky is best known for his performance as a role call sergeant in Hill Street Blues. He appears in David Mamet's new movie Things Change. For 23 years he worked at Washington, DC's Arena Stage.

Ken Tucker reviews the home video release of the highest grossing film of all time. He says the movie doesn't transfer well to the smaller dimensions of a TV screen, but its heart is still there. Conversely, Cinderella is perfect for home viewing, but it still suffers from Disney's sentimental revisions of the original tale. The Three Caballeros, another recent Disney release, is also worth watching.

Jonathan Katz stars as standup comedian Jackie Shore in the new movie Things Change, which was written by his friend David Mamet. Katz played a con man in the earlier Mamet movie House of Games, which Katz says was loosely based on their experience as small-time ping pong hustlers.

Stephen Schiff says that director Leonard Nimoy's adaptation of Sue Miller's novel is lifeless, but Diane Keaton's performance might justify the cost of a ticket.

Author William Gibson is credited with creating the cyberpunk genre, which dispenses with nationalistic ideas of the future, and instead posits a world where multinational corporations rule and nation-states have eroded. His newest novel is called Mona Lisa Overdrive.

Carpenter has made films in a variety of genres, but he has a special affection for horror and sci-fi. His first movie, Halloween, spawned several sequels. His latest, They Live, is a political satire about aliens colonizing Earth.

Director Ken Russell's new movie, Lair of the White Worm, updates a minor Bram Stoker novel of the same name for the 1980s. Film critic Stephen Schiff says the movie's acting and effects are silly and over-the-top. That's all part of the charm.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews Alysssa Milano's exercise video Teen Steam, which is geared toward teenage girls; adults caught watching it can't help feeling faintly unclean, he says. He also recommends new releases of Withnail and I and Rambo III.

The director trades comedy for drama in his latest movie. Film critic Stephen Schiff says the story explores the tired, false dichotomy of thinking versus feeling; and the dialogue leaves much to be desired.

Clint Eastwood's biopic Bird delves deep into the personal life and legend of Charlie Parker. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says the story fails to connect these often tumultuous moments with the genius of Parker's music.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone recently saw the Dian Fossey biopic. She praises the film's power and compassion, fueled in large part by star Sigourney Weaver's outstanding performance.

Film critic Stephen Schiff bemoans Hollywood's current preoccupation with courtroom dramas -- most, he says, aren't very good. The new Jodi Foster movie The Accused, loosely based on a high-profile gang rape trial, leans too heavily on the lurid details of the case, and not enough on developing an interesting narrative.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film based on the life of legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker. Schiff says it makes up for its lack of narrative drive with insight and an excellent soundtrack.

The writer's new book, An Empire of Their Own, examines the long-neglected history of how a group of Jewish European emigrees created the screen's idea of the American Dream, and how America adopted that dream.

Every three years or so, a collection of Pauline Kael's movie reviews are collected into a book. Her forthcoming anthology is called Hooked. Kael believes film once served as a kind of common culture, and bemoans the fragmentation of movie audiences. She joins Fresh Air to talk about the state of the film industry and the changing tastes and expectations of audiences.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg reflects on how changing modes of speech in motion pictures signify a character's personal transformation. The 1938 version of Pygmalion is a great example -- but the trope can be found in several other films.