Film

Cronenberg's films explore the tumultuous and often frightening relationship between the mind and the body. His newest movie, called Dead Ringers, is about twin gynecologists who fall in love with the same woman.

Joan Micklin Silver's film, set in New York City, is about a single woman in the publishing industry who recruits a matchmaker to find love. Film critic Stephen Schiff says it reminds him of the TV show Moonstruck, but without the motivational message.

Ken Tucker reviews the home video of "Gates of Heaven," the documentary on pet cemeteries by Erroll Morris.

Part 2 of the Fresh Air interview with screenwriter and director Paul Scrader. Schrader grew up in a Calvinist home and was forbidden from seeing movies as a child; he learned about cinema watching art films in college. He wanted to be a minister, and later channeled his preoccupation with morality and guilt into his screenplays.

Film critic Stephen Schiff wonders if he's the only reviewer who laughed at Paul Mazursky's new comedy, about an actor impersonating the late dictator of a fictional Caribbean country. Schiff asks Fresh Air listeners to send their own reviews to the radio station.

Part 1 of Terry Gross's interview. Schrader's newest movie is Patty Hearst, about the magazine heiress's kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army. He recently collaborated with Martin Scorsese on the film The Last Temptation of Christ.

Book critic John Leonard says that Ingmar Bergman's lacerating new autobiography, The Magic Lantern, is an important literary text. It explores Bergman's bleak inner life as well as his philosophies on filmmaking.

Jane Alexander has worked onstage and, most notably, on a made-for-TV movie about Eleanor Roosevelt. She recently founded her own production company. Alexander joins Fresh Air to talk about some of her film roles and the place for older women in the motion picture industry.

Eight Men Out, about a 1919 baseball scandal, is directed by John Sayles. Film critic Stephen Schiff says there are some good performances, but the movie is more of a moralistic argument than a story; it could have used some of the wit Sayles injected into his earlier B-movies.

The actor left India to study in England; he says there were no opportunities to hone his craft in his home country. Despite personal discrimination and early difficulties finding race-approriate roles, Saeed refused to become bitter; he says harboring that emotion would have hurt his acting. He stars in the new film The Deceivers.

Baker stars opposite Michael Keaton in the new movie Clean and Sober. Previously, she played a sex worker in Street Smart, which gained popularity after its home video release. Baker didn't start acting until she was in her thirties.

PBS will soon air the documentary Missile, about the fourteen-week training program for launch operators. TV critic David Bianculli says it gives real life context to the hit film Wargames. Director Frederick Wiseman's signature eschewing of interviews sometimes detracts from the narrative, but the movie is overall worth watching.

Critic and homeowner Ken Tucker reviews an instructional video about basic home repair, which enthralled him with the actors' calm, zombie-like performances. Tucker also recommends VHS releases of Cry Freedom and Tampopo.

Accomplished stage and screen actor Simon Callow wrote a biography of Charles Laughton, from whom he drew tremendous inspiration. Callow says Laughton's skill in part stemmed from the late actor's self-hatred and closeted homosexuality.

Film critic Stephen Schiff says that Michael Keaton is too good an actor to star in Clean and Sober, a movie that focuses more on problems than characters. Schiff says the film feels like it was made for TV, rather than the big screen.

Lumet is known for completing movies quickly and under budget. He's made 38 films in 30 years -- a pace typically associated with the studio system of early Hollywood. He joins Fresh Air to discuss the consistency of American actors, including stars like Al Pacino and Henry Fonda, and the production of several of his classic movies.

Together, Griffin Dunne and Amy Robinson have produced respected, independent, low-budget features like Chilly Scenes of Winter, Baby It's You, and Martin Scorsese's After Hours. Rejecting auteur theory, they see movie-making as a collaborative process with the director. Their newest film, "Running on Empty," is directed by Sidney Lumet.

The PBS series' latest episode is a documentary of the legendary soul singer. TV critic David Bianculli say the film gives viewers a chance to see rare interviews and concert footage, but glosses over much of Franklin's personal life.

Kirk Douglas says that growing up in abject poverty was an advantage: he had nowhere to go but up. Often known for his tough guy roles, he also enjoys playing men who are weak, lost and vulnerable. He started his own production company to make movies he believed had depth and substance. His new autobiography looks back on his career so far.

Errol Morris thinks of himself as much a detective as a documentary filmmaker. Known for his off-beat subjects, he's adopted a more serious tone with his new movie, The Thin Blue Line, about a murder investigation in Dallas. Errol believes the man sentenced to death for the crime, Randall Dale Adams, is innocent.