Film

Michael Crichton gave up a medical career to become a science fiction author and film director. His newest book, Sphere, deals with an alien encounter and a growing fear of computers.

While some reviewers think River's Edge could become the Blue Valentine of 1987, film critic Stephen Schiff says the film suffers from a weak message and poor casting.

Film director David Lynch has collaborated with Alan Splet on all of his movies. Splet joins Fresh Air to discuss how he helped Lynch create an unsettling atmosphere in movies like Eraserhead and Blue Velvet.

Film actor, writer, and director Robert Townsend satirizes his experiences as an African American in Hollywood in the new film, Hollywood Shuffle. He says that television commercials have given him more opportunities than movies to play diverse roles.

Film critic Stephen Schiff thinks Brian de Palma's gangster movie showcases both the director's technical prowess and weak character development. Despite its flaws, the film is still enjoyable.

After working as prostitute in England, Cynthia Payne started her own brothel which featured parties and other social gatherings in addition to sex. The new film Personal Services tells her story.

Composer John Morris is film director Mel Brooks' longtime collaborator. In addition to writing the music for comedies, Morris also scored David Lynch's The Elephant Man.

John Schlesinger's new movie The Believers leans on racist ideas of African religion to create an uncomfortable cinematic experience based on human sacrifice.

Von Brandenstein began her career painting theater sets before moving on to motion pictures. She is known for her focus on authenticity, particularly in historical films like The Untouchables and Amadeus.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews Roxanne, Steve Martin's new romantic comedy. Schiff says the movie is evidence that Martin in the finest comic actor working in film today.

Character actor Robert Loggia is best known for his roles as cops in major motion pictures, including his Academy Award-nominated performance of Sam Ransom in Jagged Edge. He also played a Cuban drug dealer in Scarface.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews a new play and movie about the African American experience, both written by African American artists. She says the works should be celebrated for their refusal to pander to white audiences.

Film critic Stephen Schiff says that Full Metal Jacket, about Marines training for and serving in the Vietnam War, is bleak and stylized, but suffers from a lack of developed characters -- a Kubrick trademark better deployed in 2001 and Dr. Strangelove.

Critic Ken Tucker recommends home video releases of the the director's films The Palm Beach Story and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, which he says have a quick wit not often found in contemporary comedies.

Film critic Stephen Schiff says Innerspace hits all the right notes with its mix of adventure, conflict, and romance. He also says it's a great vehicle for Martin Short, whose performance proves he's a real actor.

Dave Brody is an entomologist who helps directors use insects in their movies. While those films are designed to inspire fear and disgust, Brody, who by day works for the Museum of Natural History in New York City, is a great lover of insects who avoids hurting or killing the animals at all costs.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone says that the recent crop of movies left her cranky, with their focus on style over substance. But they weren't all bad -- she recommends seeing RoboCop, Withnail and I, and Innerspace.

Brothers Luis and Daniel Valens' collaborated on a biopic of the late singer's life, called La Bamba. They discuss how they tracked down Valens' family to learn more about his early life.

Critic Ken Tucker says that the movie adaptation of the celebrated play Crimes of the Heart, now shrunk down for home consumption, is no better--and sometimes worse--than many popular television shows.

Film critic Stephen Schiff says that director Paul Verhoeven's first American film, about a murdered police officer who is turned into a cybernetic law enforcement officer, might be the best action flick since The Terminator.