Film

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.

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.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews X2: X-Men United.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews The Memory of All That, the new literary autobiography by Betsy Blair, the first wife of dancer Gene Kelly.

Critic Milo Miles reviews the new documentary and soundtrack Amandla! about protest music in black communities of South Africa during the Apartheid years.