Film

Buck Henry. He's best-known as a frequent guest host on Saturday Night Live. Henry's other accomplishments include writing the screenplays for "The Graduate" and "Catch-22," creating the TV series "Get Smart" in collaboration with Mel Brooks, and co-directing the film "Heaven Can Wait" with Warren Beatty.

Film director Bill Forsyth. He's the first Scottish director to make internationally successful films, including "Gregory's Girl," "Local Hero," and "Comfort and Joy." His latest film, "Breaking In," has a screenplay by John Sayles and stars Burt Reynolds as a professional safecracker.

Commentator Owen Gleiberman (GLY-ber-man) reviews "Bloodsport," a 1987 martial arts film which has just been released on video. The film stars Jean Claude Van Damme, the successor to martial arts film star Bruce Lee. His current film, "Kickboxer," is currently being shown in theaters, but "Bloodsport" is the film that introduced Van Damme to martial arts audiences.

Dmitri Nabokov. Son of writer Vladimir Nabokov and a writer himself, as well as a translator of his father's works. He has just edited a volume of his father's letters dating from 1940-1977. The letters trace Nabokov's struggles beginning with his arrival in America from Russia, to his legal battles over censorship of his most famous novel, "Lolita."

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "An Innocent Man." It stars Tom Selleck as a man falsely accused of being a drug dealer and sentenced to a 6-year term in a maximum-security prison.

Film director Harold Becker. His latest film is the steamy thriller "Sea of Love," starring Al Pacino. He also directed James Woods in the 1979 film "The Onion Field," a terrifying portrayal of a policeman's murder.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Straight, No Chaser", the new documentary on jazz pianist, Thelonious Monk.

Film director Arthur Penn. Penn's latest film is "Penn and Teller Get Killed." His previous movies include "Bonnie and Clyde," "Little Big Man," "The Miracle Worker," "Alice's Restaurant," and "The Missouri Breaks."

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the theatrical re-release of "Tom Jones." The 1963 film adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel of a bawdy 18th century playboy won Oscars for best picture, director, screenplay, and score. It stars Albert Finney and Susannah York.

Writer Thomas McGuane. McGuane's been called "Ernest Hemingway with a sense of humor ... (and) ... Franz Kafka journeying through Montana. He's the author of the acclaimed novels The Sporting Club, Ninety-Two In The Shade, and To Skin A Cat. McGuane's new novel is called Keep The Change. It follows a self-despising artist as he travels to Montana to try to make a new life for himself. McGuane himself runs a ranch in Montana.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Black Rain." It stars Michael Douglas as a New York City cop who goes to Japan to try to track down a killer. The movie's directed by Ridley Scott, who also made "Blade Runner" and "Alien."

Critic Owen Gleiberman reviews the home video version of John Sayles' 1983 film, "Baby, It's You."

Film critic Steven Schiff previews "Sea of Love," which opens on Friday (Sept. 15). It stars Al Pacino as a cop who falls in love with a suspected killer, played by Ellen Barkin.

Director, screenwriter, musician and actor Christopher Guest. Guest makes his feature directorial debut in the new film "The Big Picture." Guest co-wrote the rock parody "This Is Spinal Tap," and he was a writer and regular performer on Saturday Night Live.

Filmmaker Ketan Mehta (Kay-Tahn May-Ta). He's one of a group of young, politically committed directors in India today who believe movies can be effective tools for social change and not just entertainment, and his films have dealt with such issues as the caste system and feminism. His latest film, "Spices," tells the story of a young woman in a remote village in India and her struggle to resist the advances of a powerful feudal overlord.

Actor Charles Grodin. Unlike his contemporaries - and friends - like Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, Grodin achieved the great success that every actor strives for only recently. He starred with Robert De Niro in last year's "Midnight Run," his first major success in a long, twisted journey through the acting profession. Grodin has written a memoir about his passage; it's titled It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Shirley Valentine," the adaptation of the hit Broadway play. The film stars the British actress Pauline Collins, who also starred in the play.

Cinematographer Stephen Burum. His latest film is Brian De Palma's "Casualties of War." This is his third film for De Palma; his first was "Body Double." He also shot "The Untouchables," which was nominated for the American Society of Cinematographers Award. Burum got his start as an assistant to Francis Ford Coppola on "Apocalypse Now." His other films include "St. Elmo's Fire," "The Outsiders" and "Rumble Fish."

Television Critic David Bianculli previews "Dream Season," a production of NFL Films that creates dream teams that compete in dream Super Bowls. Through computer generation and sophisticated editing, the producers take film from the last 20 years of televised football and extract key sequences featuring players from from top teams of their times and match them with other top opposing teams from different times. The effect is the video equivalent of the `what-if-the-'85-Raiders-played the-'87-Redskins' questions typical of radio call-in shows.

Sound Designer Randy Thom. He began his career in community radio (WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio) producing live music and dramas. He then moved into producing sound for films, although he still produces some independent radio dramas.