Film criticism

A review of the year's best films with critic John Powers. He'll talk with Terry about which are his favorites and why.

Film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert join Terry Gross on stage in Chicago for a live audience version of Fresh Air. This was recorded in February 1996. The duo began their TV collaboration in 1975 on Chicago Public Television station WTTW. After two successful seasons, the program became a national PBS show. In 1981 it moved to commercial television. Their show is now known as "Siskel and Ebert" and is heard in 180 markets. (ORIGINAL BROADCAST 3/21/96) (CONTINUES AFTER FLOATER)

Film Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert join Terry Gross on stage in Chicago for a "live" audience version of Fresh Air. This was recorded in February 1996. The duo began their TV collaboration in 1975 on Chicago Public Television station WTTW. After two successful season, the program became a national PBS show. In 1981 it moved to commercial television.Their show is now known as "Siskel and Ebert" and is heard in 180 markets. Gene Siskel is film columnist for the Chicago Tribune, and Roger Ebert is critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

The former New Yorker writer reviewed movies for the magazine for 25 years, and is the author of 13 books about the cinema, including a National Book Award winner. Her newest book is a collection of more than 275 of her reviews, called "For Keeps: Thirty Years at the Movies."

It's Oscar night. New Yorker film critic Terrence Rafferty joins Terry to talk about the best and worst of last year's movies, who deserves to win tonight, and who probably will.

Film critic Pauline Kael talk to us from her house in Massachusetts. Kael spent years reviewing movies for The New Yorker. Her final collection of New Yorker reviews has just been published. It's called "Movie Love: Complete Reviews 1988-1991. (It's published by William Abrahams).

Film critic Stephen Schiff and book critic John Leonard look back at the movies and books of 1990. They give us their favorites from the year, and consider trends and highlights in popular culture.

Sarris reviews movies for several newspapers and teaches at Columbia University. In the 1960s, he pushed forth the auteur theory, which said that films could best be understood by the director's singular vision within the context of their full body of work. Now, he often finds genre films more interesting than mainstream movies that explore important ideas.

Film critic Stephen Schiff talks to Fresh Air guest host Marty Moss-Coane about some noteworthy movies he's seen at the festival so far.

Film critic Stephen Schiff talks with Terry Gross about this years movies. He says 1988 was an unusually good year for American films, though his favorite Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. His least favorite movie was Willow.