Film

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the highly-anticiapted Stephen Spielberg film, adapted from the book by Michael Crichton.

Allen and Albert Hughes, 21-year old twins, and directors of "Menace II Society." Their mother steered them away from drugs and gangs when they were twelve by buying them video equipment. After making several music videos and short films, they've made their first feature. It's firmly in the gangster genre, an unflinching film about young men growing up in Watts. The film's 23-year old screenwriter Tyger Williams explains: "For every 'good' kid that makes it out of the ghetto, there are five more who don't.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new movie by first-time directors, the Hughes Brothers.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Cliffhanger," a flawed movie that somehow works. It stars Sylvester Stallone on a mountaintop.

Regular Stephen Schiff is covering the final days of the Cannes Film Festival. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead fills in with a review of "Sliver".

Bridges comes from a famous family: his father is Lloyd Bridges, star of the TV series "Sea Hunt"; his brother is actor Beau Bridges. He's starred in the movies like "Starman," "The Last Picture Show," "The Fabulous Baker Boys," and "The Fisher King." Now he's let his hair grow for the new film, "American Heart," directed by Martin Bell. Bridges plays a newly released ex-con who is "cornered" by his teen-age son whom he abandoned.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead fills in for our regular film reviewer Stephen Schiff. Whitehead reviews "Posse," a new Western by Mario Van Peebles.

McElwee's new documentary is "Time Indefinite", an autobiographical film about his family. McElwee's earlier movie, "Sherman's March" started out as a documentary about Civil War General William Sherman's march to the sea and ended up a examination of personal identity and the mysteries of love.

Brown revolutionized cinematography with the the steadicam, skycam, and the mobicam. The steadicam is a camera-suspension system that eliminates the jiggle in hand-held shots. Brown's work with the steadicam can be seen in "Rocky," "The Shining," and "Return of the Jedi," among other films. The skycam is a suspended remote-controlled aerial camera, which gives the affect of putting the viewer in an airplane. The mobicam is for underwater shots, and has been used in the Olympics.

Belushi is starring in the upcoming ABC series, "Wild Palms," produced by Oliver Stone. It's a thriller set in the future. Belushi plays a television executive caught up in the computer-generated world of illusion that his network broadcasts. Belushi is the brother of the late John Belushi.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Dave," the new film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.

Ullman is best known for her work with director Ingmar Bergman. She's making her directing debut with the new film, "Sofie," based on a novel by Danish writer Henri Nathansen. Ullman also travels around the world on behalf of starving children, as Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF

Tolkin wrote the novel, "The Player," a satirical look at Hollywood which was made into a film by Robert Altman. He also wrote and directed the film, "The Rapture." His newest work is a novel, "Among the Dead."

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film directed Taylor Hackford, about Chicano gang life in L.A.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the "This Boy's Life," based on the book of the same name. The movie stars Robert DeNiro and Ellen Barkin, and features a great performance by star Leonardo DiCaprio.

O'Toole is the star of "Lawrence of Arabia," "The Lion in the Winter," and "My Favorite Year." He has a new autobiography about the start of his career, called "Loitering with Intent.

Palin is best known for his comedy work with England's legendary Monty Python troupe. But his new movie, "American Friends," is a romance based on the life of his great-grandfather. Edward Palin was a 35 year-old tutor at Oxford University when he met 17-year-old Brita, an American girl touring Europe. Oxford tutors in the Victorian era were sworn to chastity, so Edward Palin left his job to marry Brita. Michael Palin found the story in his great-grandfather's journal.

Hall has been an actor, a private detective and a screenwriter -- he wrote the horror movie C.H.U.D. Now he is a novelist, writing mysteries featuring Stanley Hastings, a failed actor turned detective.

Nilsson founded the Tenderloin Action Group in San Francisco. He works with "drifters and dreamers who shared the same conundrums of heart and head that confront us all." The organization has a grass-roots theatre group and are putting together a film, "Chalk," a pool-hall drama, about and starring homeless actors. Nilsson began the project as a way to alleviate his own feelings concerning his younger brother, who lived on the street.

The world of New York drag queens was captured on film long before "Paris Is Burning." In 1968, a movie called "The Queen" documented the Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant. The film was a sensation in New York City; it was even shown at the Cannes Film Festival. This month "The Queen" has been revived for a short run at New York's Film Forum. Terry talks with Jack Doroshow also known as Sabrina, the organizer and mistress of ceremonies of the 1968 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant.