Film

Songwriter Hugh Martin, who co-wrote the classic song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for Judy Garland's 1944 movie, Meet Me in St. Louis died on Friday. He was 96. Fresh Air remembers Martin with highlights from a 1989 interview.

Director and screenwriter Tom McCarthy's film Win-Win stars Paul Giamatti as a high school wrestling coach struggling with a moral dilemma. McCarthy, a former wrestler himself, explains why he left the mats in high school and turned to improv comedy.

Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy appears to tell a simple story -- two people, played by Juliette Binoche and William Shimell, are mistaken for a long-married couple. But there are plot twists that will "ping-pong around your mind for days," says critic David Edelstein.

The Danish film In a Better World won the 2011 Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. Director Susanne Bier explains how stories from her family's escape from the Holocaust inform her work.

The classic 1957 film about the gossip industry has been remastered and rereleased on DVD and Blu-Ray. Critic John Powers says the movie's Manhattan is a "seamy, deglamorized world in which small men destroy lives to make themselves big."

Xavier Beauivois' Of Gods and Men is inspired by the true story of seven French monks working in Algeria, who were kidnapped in 1996 during the Algerian Civil War and later executed. Film critic David Edelstein says the stark drama is both powerful and perceptive.

The worldwide lion population has declined a staggering 90 percent in the past 50 years. In their documentary The Last Lions, conservationists Beverly and Dereck Joubert track the giant hunters across Botswana and warn that without intervention, lions may soon go extinct.

The Farrelly brothers' latest comedy stars Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis as sexually frustrated men given a week off from marriage by their spouses. Movie critic David Edelstein says the movie's premise — while creepy — leaves viewers "with a sad and wise view of adulthood."

Frank Loesser wrote the musicals Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying — in addition to over 700 other songs. On today's Fresh Air, we discuss Loesser's musical legacy.

You may know him from The Matrix, but the French actor portrays a Trappist monk in his latest film — inspired by the true story of seven monks who were kidnapped during the Algerian Civil War.

Liam Neeson plays a botanist-turned-action-star in Jaume Collet-Serra's thriller Unknown. Critic David Edelstein says the tricky thriller takes viewers on a hell of a ride while letting Neeson shine as an action star.

Aaron Katz's mumblecore flick Cold Weather is set in Portland, Ore.; Lee Chang-dong's Poetry is from South Korea. Critic John Powers says both films are wonderful, in part because the stories they tell are so unpredictable.

Packaged teen idol Justin Bieber is the star of a new concert documentary, Never Say Never, which follows him as he prepares for a show at Madison Square Garden. Film critic David Edelstein says the film is an "expertly engineered promo" that can make little girls — and Bieber's marketing team — scream with delight.

Ed Helms plays a paper pusher on The Office and an insurance salesman in the new comedy Cedar Rapids — but on Thursday's Fresh Air, he plays the banjo. With his band The Lonesome Trio, he joins Terry Gross for an in-studio performance and a chat about his latest film.

Hal Needham worked as a Hollywood stuntman for over 40 years. He details some of his most death-defying feats (and why he can't stand modern special effects) in his new memoir, Stuntman!

The winner of the inaugural Queer Palm at Cannes, Gregg Araki's Kaboom is a freewheeling apocalyptic comedy centered around a sexually curious college freshman. Critic David Edelstein says the exhilarating movie is "part Blake Edwards, part David Lynch."

Director Lee Unkrich and screenwriter Michael Arndt discuss the final film in the Toy Story trilogy. One inspiration for the movie? An incident in which Unkrich accidentally threw out his wife's toys.

Barry, who died Sunday at age 77, wrote the scores for 11 Bond films, as well as the theme songs for Goldfinger and Thunderball. Fresh Air remembers the prolific, Oscar-winning film composer with highlights from a 1999 interview.

British actor Jason Statham plays a professional hit man in The Mechanic, based on a 1972 Charles Bronson thriller. Critic John Powers says the film offers a revealing look at Statham's distinctive appeal.