Terry and film critic Stephen Schiff look back on the movies of the 80s, and how the decade changed film making. Stephen also gives his picks for the best films of the 1980s.
For the last word on the 80s, comedian Al Franken looks back on the Al Franken decade. It's from an interview Terry did with Franken on March 22, 1988.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead looks back on jazz in the 80s...the big figures, the big trends, the big albums, and he takes a guess as to what the 90s will bring.
Television critic David Bianculli gives his picks for the best shows of the 80s..the big surprise is that relatively few of them were on the three major networks.
Sports writer Rick Telander (TAL-en-der). Telander's new book, "The Hundred Yard Lie," is a scathing indictment of the college football system. Telander says college football makes millions and millions of dollars while bathing itself in a false light of amateurism. The players, meanwhile suffer physical pain, financial corruption, and educational starvation. Telander has seen college football from both sides of the fence. He's a staff writer for Sports Illustrated and a former all-conference cornerback for Northwestern University.
Jazz guitarist Jim Hall. In the 50s, Hall was part of the West Coast jazz scene. Several years later he was touring South America with Ella Fitzgerald when the Bossa Nova craze hit. That music's been a lasting influence on Hall. In the 70s, Hall recorded with free-jazz player Ornette Coleman and made several albums with jazz's best bassists. In all, Hall's made more than 100 albums, his latest, with his quartet, is called "All Across The City." It's on the Concord jazz label.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Quincy Jones' new album "Back on the Block." Jones produced the album, co-wrote some of the numbers and performs a bit, but mainly it's a showcase for some of his favorite performers, ranging from Dizzy Gillespie to the rapper Ice-T.
Writer Randy Cohen. He's an Emmy award-winning writer for "Late Night With David Letterman." A collection of his pieces, "Diary of a Flying Man," has just been published.
Stephen Harvey, associate curator in the Department of Film of The Museum of Modern Art. The museum is currently showing a retrospective of the films of director Vincente Minnelli, including "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "An American in Paris." Harvey has written the companion book to the retrospective.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new movie "Born on the Fourth of July," directed by Oliver Stone and starring Tom Cruise. It's based on the autobiography of the same name by Vietnam vet and anti-war activist Ron Kovic.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new album of contemporary American music by pianist Ursula Oppens. It has music both commissioned and performed by Oppens. It's "Ursula Oppens Plays American Piano Music of Our Time" on the Music & Arts label.
Film director Jim Jarmusch. After his first feature, "Permanent Vacation," gained a cult as well as a critical following in Europe, Jarmusch made "Stranger Than Paradise," which won the Camera d'Or at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Jarmusch's third feature was "Down By Law." His new film is called "Mystery Train." It's set in a seedy hotel in Memphis, Tennessee and tells the story of two young Japanese tourists.
