A New Film Features Falling Stars
Director Michael Crichton's latest, a cop thriller called Physical Evidence, stars Burt Reynolds and Theresa Russell, who fail to breathe life into the film's clumsy script. Critic Stephen Schiff wonders if Crichton was having an out-of-body experience when he directed the movie.
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Other segments from the episode on January 26, 1989
Longshoreman and Author George Benet
Benet worked as a longshoreman in San Francisco until gentrification and automation rendered his labor unnecessary. He says he mourns the workers' culture more than the job itself. Benet later went to graduate school and became a novelist and poet. His newest book is called A Short Dance in the Sun.
Orbison's Final Album Is Relaxed and Confident
Rock critic Ken Tucker says that few comeback albums from aging rock stars in the 1980s have been good. The late Roy Orbison's Mystery Girl is an exception.
Mike Leigh's "High Hopes" for His New Film
The British director and screenwriter's latest movie examines the life of London's working class in the age of Margaret Thatcher.
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Stephen Schiff on How "Lolita" Explores the "Beastly and the Beautiful"
Fresh Air's former film critic returns to discuss writing the screenplay for the controversial film adaptation of Nabokov's "Lolita." The $58 million film inspired such controversy that distribution in the U.S. was delayed. "Lolita," directed by Adrian Lyne (Flashdance, 9 1/2 Weeks) will premiere on the Showtime cable channel August 2nd. It's just been announced that the film will be released in movie houses in September. Schiff's screenplay, "Lolita: The Book of the Film" (Applause books), will be published next month.