Film

Actress and director Lee Grant. As an actress, Grant won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Shampoo," Emmys for her work on "Peyton Place" and "Electra," and an Obie for "The Maids." As a director, she won an Academy Award for her documentary "Down and Out in America." This month, HBO is showing Grant's latest production, "Battered." It's a documentary about the victims, and perpetrators, of domestic violence. "Battered" airs as part of HBO's "America Undercover" series.

Guest Film Critic Peter Rainer, in attendance at this week's Montreal Film Festival, talks with host Terry Gross about some of the films previewed there. Rainer is the film critic for The Los Angeles Herald Examiner.

Film director Herk Harvey and script writer John Clifford. Their 1962 low-budget horror film, "Carnival of Souls," has just been re-released. The film was shown only sporadically at the time of its completion, mostly to drive-ins and as half of a double feature throughout the Southeast. But in the years since, it has attracted a steady and loyal following, largely because of its occasional appearance on late-night TV.

Guest film critic Owen Gleiberman reviews the home video release of "Naked Gun," the police farce produced and directed by the makers of "Airplane." "Naked Gun," which premiered on movie screens early last spring, was based on the six-episode TV program "Police Squad," which recently aired on cable TV.

Guest film critic Peter Rainer reviews The Package, the new suspense thriller starring Gene Hackman.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff review "Casualties of War," the new film by director Brian De Palma and starring Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox.

Screenwriter and producer Lowell Ganz. He co-wrote the script to "Parenthood," the new comedy starring Steve Martin. He also co-wrote the script for "Splash," which introduced Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah. Both films were directed by friend and collaborator Ron Howard. Ganz also was the supervising producer of the popular TV series "Happy Days," starring Henry Winkler as The Fonz.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff reviews "sex, lies, and videotape," the first feature film by 26-year-old director and writer Stephen Soderbergh. The film, made on a budget of $1.2 million, won the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Director James Cameron. Though his career is relatively young, Cameron has established himself as one of the best directors and writers of intense dramas that jump between exhilaration and terror. His best-known work is "Aliens," the sequel to the 1979 sci-fi classic in which Lt. Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, stalks a vicious alien that's invaded her spacecraft and is slaughtering the crew. The film was nominated for seven Oscars and won two.

Writer and critic Patricia McLaughlin looks at the wave of "Batmania" now at full force throughout the country.