Film

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new film 28 Days Later. The movie is based on the best-selling novel The Beach, in which animal-rights activists break into a lab and free infected monkeys, letting loose a virus that puts people into a permanent state of murderous rage.

Susan Orlean is a staff writer at The New Yorker. In 1994 she wrote a profile of David Friedman, one of the Friedman sons. David was known as Silly Billy, a popular clown who was a favorite at children's birthday parties in New York City. David's father and brother were accused of molesting children, and the family's story is told through their own home movies in the documentary film Capturing the Friedmans. Orlean is also the author of the best-selling book, The Orchid Thief.

His new movie is Capturing the Friedmans. It's a non-fiction feature film about a seemingly normal Long Island, New York family. The film takes a look at the convoluted case and attempts to determine the true story. Capturing the Friedmans won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance festival. This is Jarecki's first feature film. He was also the founder and CEO of Moviefone, which was acquired by AOL in 1999 for nearly $400 million.

Film Critic David Edelstein reviews The Hulk, directed by Ang Lee.

He died June 15, 2003, of prostate cancer at the age of 92. His first film role was in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. He went on to star in several more Hitchcock films, later co-writing the screenplays for Rope and Under Capricorn. He also had starring roles in the films The Postman Always Rings Twice, Brute Force and Ziegfeld Follies. In the 1950s and 60s, Cronyn went to Broadway, often co-starring with his wife, the late Jessica Tandy. He won a Tony award in 1964 for his role as Polonius in the Broadway production of Hamlet.

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.

He starred on Broadway in M Butterfly, and in the TV series Law & Order: SVU and HBO's Oz. He's the author of the new book Following Foo (the electronic adventures of the Chestnut Man). It's about the premature birth of his twin sons in August 2000. The twins suffered a rare medical disorder. One of them died shortly after birth, and the other twin, Jackson Foo, was in neonatal intensive care for three months. At the time Wong began an e-mail correspondence with family and friends on Jackson Foo's progress.

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.