Film

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Manito, a small budget film by first-time director Eric Eason. Manito won prizes at Sundance. It's being distributed in a novel way. It is getting a limited run in big cities and is also a part of a new DVD subscription service.

The Broadway musical Hairspray was the big winner this week at the Tony Awards. It won awards for best direction, score, book and costume. Hairspray is based on Waters' 1988 film of the same name.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Capturing the Friedmans, a new documentary by Andrew Jarecki about a family torn apart by charges of pedophilia and child molestation.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Italian Job, starring Edward Norton.

Kaige is the director, writer, producer and acts in the new film Together, a coming-of-age tale about a 13-year-old Chinese boy who plays violin. The boy's father takes him from their provincial Chinese city to Beijing, seeking prominence. But plans change as the boy grows up and ultimately chooses his own path. Kaige is best known for his film Farewell My Concubine, which was nominated for an Oscar. His other films include Yellow Earth, The Big Parade and Killing Me Softly.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Seabiscuit.

He's best known for his cult films Tales From the Gimli Hospital (1998) and Careful (1992). In 1995, Maddin was the youngest person to receive the Telluride Medal for Lifetime Achievement. His short film The Heart of the World won a special award from the National Society of Film Critics and was voted one of the 10 best films of the year by J. Hoberman of The Village Voice and A.O. Scott of The New York Times. His new film, Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary, transforms the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's interpretation of Bram Stoker's classic story into a silent film.

He won an Academy Award for his performance as John Laroche in the film Adaptation. His latest project is the HBO film My House in Umbria, starring Maggie Smith, which debuts May 25, 2003. Cooper is also in the soon-to-be-released Seabiscuit, and he had roles in American Beauty, The Bourne Identity, and The Horse Whisperer.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Matrix Reloaded, starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg looks at the new film Spellbound and the history of the spelling bee.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new DVD which features five Cole Porter musicals made between 1940 and 1957. Included are: Broadway Melody of 1940, Kiss Me Kate, High Society, Silk Stockings and Les Girls.

Actor John Malkovich is making his directorial debut with the new film The Dancer Upstairs. Malkovich has been nominated twice for an Academy Award for his work in the films In the Line of Fire and Places in the Heart. His other films include Heart of Darkness, Being John Malkovich, Shadow of the Vampire, Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog and Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. Malkovich is also a founding member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews X2: X-Men United.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews The Memory of All That, the new literary autobiography by Betsy Blair, the first wife of dancer Gene Kelly.

Critic Milo Miles reviews the new documentary and soundtrack Amandla! about protest music in black communities of South Africa during the Apartheid years.

Film critic John Powers reviews Better Luck Tomorrow, the controversial new independent film about a group of Asian American teenagers. It was made by MTV films.

Writer, actor, director, comedian and host of Le Show, Harry Shearer. He's starring in the new folk music mockumentary A Mighty Wind, directed by Christopher Guest, who also directed Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. Shearer also starred with Guest in the classic heavy metal parody This is Spinal Tap. Shearer's public radio show is now in its 19th year.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews A Mighty Wind, the latest from the people who brought you This is Spinal Tap and Best in Show. It's a satiric look at folk music, starring Christopher Guest (who also directed), Eugene Levy and Michael McKean.

Film critic John Powers reviews The Good Thief, the new crime caper by filmmaker Neil Jordan, starring Nick Nolte.