Maltin on Movies

Outlander fans have been cheering Caitriona Balfe for years, and she’s made a strong impression on film buffs who have seen her in Belfast and Ford v. Ferrari as well. The Irish-born actress is now appearing opposite Orlando Bloom in a raw, extremely tough movie called The Cut that is now playing in theaters. In real life she is charming and easy to talk to. It turns out she and Jessie are raising toddlers of the same age, which of course worked its way into our lively conversation.

It’s not just a compliment, it’s a fact: Bob Gurr is a bona fide Disney Legend and at age 93 he shows little sign of slowing down. With a background in automobile design, Walt Disney sought him out in 1954 and immediately put him to work. For the next twenty years he had a hand in almost every major attraction in Disneyland, beginning with Autopia. He then opened his own shop and worked for theme parks around the globe. Jessie has vivid memories of the 30-foot King Kong he built for Universal. She and Leonard were delighted to spend an hour with such an inspiring man.

If you’re wondering why we’ve been revisiting so many programs instead of posting new interviews, there is a reason: Leonard did himself one heck of a mischief. But now he’s back, and he and Jessie thought it was a good time to take stock of what’s been going on in the worlds of movies and television. That’s the purpose of this catch-up episode and we hope you enjoy it. The occasional howling of our two dogs are included at no additional charge.

The meanest-looking man on screen, the star of Robert Rodriguez’s Machete and its sequels, is perhaps better known Trejo’s Cantina and other food emporiums have revealed the truth: despite his violent background he has reinvented himself as a good guy and plays that role extremely well, onscreen and off. (He also headlines a new streaming movie, Seven Cemeteries.) Leonard and Jessie enjoyed meeting him (via Zoom) and hearing the story of how he accidentally broke into movies and wound up working with some of the biggest names in the business.

He’s been a familiar face on television for years, on the long-running comedy Wings and the current Chicago Med. He grew up in a show-business family so it shouldn’t be surprising that he loves to perform. His range is limitless and his credits attest to that: everything from Mel Brooks’ stage musical The Producers to the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining. He and Leonard enjoy exchanging old show-business trivia, and never seem to run out of material. Steven is an articulate connoisseur of comedy…and then some.

Dan is what Hollywood used to call a multi-hyphenate. He’s an actor (with an Emmy to prove it), producer, director, and writer, and successful in each arena. As Lisa Kudrow’s longtime partner he produced her forward-thinking web series Web Therapy as well as the savvy sitcom The Comeback. Most recently he worked on the hilarious comedy series Hacks and Mid-Century Modern. He shares some of his hard-earned wisdom with Leonard and Jessie.

As diehard fans of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Leonard and Jessie are always rooting for writer-director Eli Craig, whose latest blood-stained outing is called Clown in a Cornfield. It's very different in tone, and its satiric point is muted until the climax. You can see it now in theaters or rent it at home on VOD. We also spoke to Eli about his unusual upbringing, living mostly with his brother and dad in Oregon, but casting an eye on the fight for success that made his mother, Sally Field, an enduring star.

As the longtime senior editor of Los Angeles magazine, Chris Nichols has accumulated more knowledge about this city than anyone else we know. As an author and frequent tour guide, he loves sharing his discoveries, which is why his newest book BowlaRama (Angel City Press, written with Adriene Biondo) is so much fun. Leonard and Jessie enjoy diving into the fad-like growth of bowling alleys in the Baby Boom years of the 1950s and early 1960s. (Leonard is still mourning the loss of his Pepsi Cola bowling team shirt.) Chris’s enthusiasm for everything he does is positively infectious.

Avy Kaufman’s name should be familiar to anyone who reads credits, as we do. She has cast scores of films and television series, from The Ice Storm to Succession, and launched many a career along the way. You can hear the pride in her voice when she recounts how she brought young Haley Joel Osment to meet the star and director of The Sixth Sense. Recent credits include some of the most talked-about television shows of our time: Mare of Easttown, Under the Banner of Heaven, Billions, and Fellow Travelers, which could earn her a fourth Emmy Award. (She has three: one for Damages and two for Succession). Avy wears her passion on her sleeve and that makes for great conversation.

Last year, Leonard and Jessie got a rare opportunity to interview Frank Oz at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas before a live audience. His alter egos are world-renowned, but Leonard and Jessie didn’t focus on Miss Piggy or Yoda in this conversation. The main topic was directing movies, which Oz has done so well for so many years: The Muppets Take Manhattan, Little Shop of Horrors, In & Out, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Bowfinger, and What About Bob? are just a few of his credits. What is the through-line, if any, from puppetry to filmmaking. Listen and hear what the amazing Oz has to say.

For Jessie, busy actor Jon Seda will always be Selena’s loving husband Chris Pérez, but he’s had many memorable roles in films and television: The Pacific, Chicago PD, Homicide: Life on the Streets, Treme, and La Brea, to name just a few. If you’re a fan you already know that he was heading for a career in boxing when he was hired to appear in Gladiator, which was literally a life-changing experience. As you will hear, he’s an unpretentious guy who enjoys what he does, appreciates the people he works with, and goes home to his wife and four children knowing he’s earned an honest day’s pay. His latest movie, Into the Deep, also stars Richard Dreyfuss and is available on demand right now. ...

As a boy, Danny Elfman showed no interest in music, but he’s made up for it ever since, earning Grammy and Emmy awards, Oscar nominations, and the roar of the crowd in live concerts around the world. His historic collaboration with director Tim Burton began with Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and shows no signs of stopping. His theme music for The Simpsons is just one way he remains in our consciousness between film scoring gigs. Leonard and Jessie love his passion for what he does—and does so well.

He will be forever known as Potsie from Happy Days, but his memories of that much-loved TV series are all positive, especially his relationship with the show’s creator Garry Marshall. Having begun in the theater and turned director (with dozens of TV shows to his credit) he is now piloting his wife’s new play Crazy Mama: A True Story of Love and Madness at the celebrated Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, California. It’s based on her own experience living with a mother who suffered from severe mental illness. Linda Purl plays 16 roles in this provocative one-woman show. Details are at www.rubicontehatre.org Anson also shares some of his earliest show-business encounters with Leonard and Jessie.

Patrick Wilson wears many show-business hats. Fans of his Tony-nominated work on Broadway may not know of his involvement in the spooky Insidious and The Conjuring movies. (He even made his directorial debut on Insidious: The Red Door.) And horror/supernatural fans might have missed his star performances in the celebrated arthouse hit Little Children and the Mike Nichols-directed miniseries version of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America for HBO. Leonard and Jessie are longtime fans of his—even more so after this congenial conversation.

AL PACINO needs no introduction. In 2018 he joined us for a relaxed conversation that centered on his documentary “Wilde/Salome,” about his stage production of an Oscar Wilde play featuring a newcomer named Jessica Chastain. But without much prompting he also discussed his career at large, from The Godfather and Dog Day Afternoon onward. His recently published autobiography taps into his way of thinking…but you’ll get a taste of that here, as Leonard and Jessie chat up one of the greatest actors of our time.

The man whose latest film, Anora, is an awards-season favorite and an Oscar candidate, first joined us in 2017 to discuss his unpredictable career, which began on public-access television in Manhattan. He caused a stir when he shot his feature, Tangerine, on iPhones, and he won new fans with The Florida Project, which featured Willem Dafoe. He has a big heart, which is evident in every one of his films (including Red Rocket and Anora, which were still in the future when this interview took place).

Billy Bob Thornton is in a class by himself. If you haven’t seen Season 1 of his new show Landman on Paramount Plus, you’re missing out. It’s a perfect follow-up to his earlier seriesGoliath and his unforgettable turn on the first season of Fargo. Leonard and Jessie are longtime fans and delight in talking to him about finding his place in Hollywood, working with the Coen Brothers, playing the President of the United States in Love, Actually, and much, much more. This 2017 conversation doesn’t cover his most recent work but it’s a pleasure to listen to.

On the heels of a terrific new Apple+ TV series, BAD MONKEY (which will film its second season in the near future), let’s revisit our last chat with him, recorded in front of a live audience at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas in September of 2017. Vince was at the festival with his then-brand-new movie Brawl in Cell Block 99, but had no hesitation in reviewing his career and the film that launched it, Swingers.