Leonard and Jessie spend quality time with the one and only Mel Brooks, who’s as spry as ever and bursting with great stories. He reveals the name of the funniest comedy he ever saw, talks about Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, and The Producers , and explains how he and his pal Carl Reiner screen movies together almost every night. You don’t want to miss this one.
Two of the world’s foremost authorities on movie music—whom we also count as good friends—join in a buoyant conversation filled with insight and laughter. Jon Burlingame writes for Variety and teaches film scoring at USC; his books include The Music of James Bond . Steven Smith’s latest book is Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential Composer . Together they represent an unbeatable storehouse of knowledge which they are eager to share with all of us....
As the granddaughter of animation pioneer Ub Iwerks and daughter of longtime Imagineer Don Iwerks, Leslie Iwerks automatically earns a niche in film history… but she’s forged a great reputation of her own, with Oscar and Emmy nominations to show for it. Her six-part series The Imagineering Story helped launch Disney+, while her provocative profile of hackers from Macedonia, Selling Lies, earned critical praise this past year. She’s chronicled the history of Pixar and Industrial Light and Magic a...
He’s earned immortality as that guy from Ghostbusters (and you’ll see him in the forthcoming sequel) but Ernie Hudson is everywhere you look: as the star and executive producer of BET’s The Family Business, as Lily Tomlin’s love interest in Netlflix’s Grace and Frankie, and Gary Dourdan’s father in the new movie Redemption Day , opening in theaters today and on VOD next week. He’s been in scores of movies and TV shows, from Oz to The Crow but the nicest thing about this nice (and talented) guy i...
Jessie grew up with such popular movies as Little Giants, Casper, and Now and Then so naturally she’s a fan of their star Devon Sawa. Now in his 40s, he’s the father of two young children and pursuing a career with renewed interest and energy. His latest feature, Hunter Hunter , costarring Nick Stahl, is now playing on demand. Luckily, Devon is aware of his loyal fan base from his years as a child actor and chooses to embrace it. Leonard and Jessie had fun hearing his stories and indulging in a ...
Any actress who would title her book I Don’t Know What You Know Me From: Confessions of a Co-Star is certain to be fun to talk to and Judy Greer is just that: a versatile actress who’s done a little bit of everything in show business but isn’t jaded or disengaged. She loves acting and relishes each new challenge, from voice acting (as a costar of the hit series Archer ) to joining an ensemble of her peers in the new indie drama Uncle Frank. She has an irresistible sense of humor, and Leonard and...
Cathy Moriarty achieved immortality when, as a teenager, she was cast in Raging Bull , directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. She earned an Oscar nomination for this memorable debut and has never looked back. The mother of three grown children and founder of Los Angeles’ Mulberry Street Pizza restaurants, she’s had a colorful life and enjoys talking about it—as well as promoting But I’m a Cheerleader , a 1999 cult favorite which arrives on Apple TV and other digit...
Margo Martindale is worth her weight in gold—to filmmakers and fans like us. Her presence is reason enough to watch any film or TV show. She’s part of the ensemble of the new indie drama Uncle Frank, and shows once more why she is any director’s best friend. Last year she tackled a real-life character, Bella Abzug, in the miniseries Mrs. America and pulled it off as easily as she has the fictional characters she’s played in Justified, The Americans, The Good Wife and many other projects. Leonard...
The new book Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise is the latest in a long line of superior biographies written by Scott Eyman, a lifelong movie buff and friend of the family. Scott shares his experiences getting to “know” people he never met and capturing their essence, from the contentious director John Ford to the epic-making Cecil B. DeMille…along with Mary Pickford, Henry Fonda, James Stewart and John Wayne. He’s also collaborated with Robert Wagner on three popular books. Leonard and Jessie ask...
April Wright has found her calling as a filmmaker. Her first feature-length documentary, Going Attractions: The Definitive History of the American Drive-In was followed by Going Attractions: The Definitive History of the Movie Palace . Now she’s taken a contemporary turn with a terrific new film called Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story, which is now streaming online via Shout! Factory. Leonard and Jessie wondered what inspired her and how she has managed to stay afloat through good times an...
Sydney native Ryan Kwanten learned his craft while working on the popular Australian TV series Home and Away, racking up 223 episodes. He gained further notice on Summerland but broke through to stardom on the red-hot HBO series True Blood. He’s seldom idle for long, having costarred in such recent series as The Oath and Sacred Lies, and while he’s now a California resident he still commutes for work. He can currently be seen with fellow Aussie Kodi Smit-McPhee in the futuristic 2067 on Amazon P...
Leonard and Jessie met the very likable Josh Ruben at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where he was screening his spooky comedy Scare Me , his debut feature which is now playing on Shudder and has been certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. He was hired as a cast member and director by College Humor in 2008 and hasn’t looked back. You’ve seen his work in scores of TV commercials, and you can check out his gift for parody at http://joshsmindhouse.com/...
Leonard and Jessie welcome Jeanine Basinger, perhaps the most influential film teacher of our time. She has shaped the thinking of many of today’s best writers, directors and producers at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Along the way she has written invaluable books like A Woman’s View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960, The Star Machine, and most recently The Movie Musical!, to name just a few. Most important, she has been a devoted friend to the Maltin family. It’s a pleas...
Howard: The Howard Ashman Story is a moving documentary by Don Hahn about the incredible man who set the Disney studio on a new course with The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Now available on Disney+, this documentary inspired us to craft an unusual episode of our podcast. We spoke to producer-director Don Hahn, Howard’s longtime life partner Bill Lauch, his sister Sarah Gillespie, the voice of Belle (Paige O’Hara), director John Musker, and Howard’s musical collaborator Alan ...
Millions of people around the globe have experienced the creativity of Julie Taymor in her groundbreaking stage production of Disney’s The Lion King . Her films include the Beatles homage Ac ross the Universe , Frida , and Titus . Now she’s tackled the life and times of Gloria Steinem in The Glorias . She fell in love with theater as a girl growing up in the suburbs of Boston and traveled the world, soaking up different cultures and theatrical techniques using masks and puppetry, which she’s dra...
Whether you know him best from Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (just reissued in Ultra-High-Definition) or such memorable films as Birdy, Orphans, Short Cuts, or The Dark Knight Rises or if you just discovered him on Stranger Things , Matthew Modine is a talented and versatile actor who’s been working steadily since the 1980s. What’s more, he grew up in the rarefied setting of drive-in movie theaters, which his father managed. Charming, articulate and easy to talk to, Matthew proved to be a ...
Jay Baruchel first caught Jessie’s eye in Almost Famous, which led to him being cast in Judd Apatow’s short-lived but well-loved TV series Undeclared . That put him in the same orbit as Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Evan Goldberg and other young talents he’s worked with ever since. He made an impression in such movies as Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby , which contributed to his ultimate goal: becoming a filmmaker himself. He wrote, directed and stars in Goon: Last of the Enforcers and its seque...
He’s been a familiar face on TV and in movies for decades—Jessie first saw him in Rush Hour —but lately Tzi Ma has come into his own playing fathers in Lulu Wang’s The Farewell , Alan Yang’s Tigertail and Niki Caro’s epic new production of Disney’s Mulan , which debuts today on Disney+. In fact, he grew up on Staten Island and fell in love with the theater, as he tells Leonard and Jessie in a fascinating review of his life and career. This charming man will reach an even bigger audience in the u...
What if you loved classic movies and were given the chance to physically re-create Old Hollywood? That’s what happened when producer Ryan Murphy hired Matthew Flood Ferguson as the production designer of his Netflix miniseries Hollywood… and now he’s an Emmy nominee. Leonard and Jessie learn what kind of challenges and decisions Matthew faced while trying to set the stage for a saga set in the golden age of Tinseltown.
A talented Filipino transgender filmmaker, Isabel Sandoval has already won acclaim in her native country and at festivals around the globe. Her new film, Lingua Franca, will reach an even wider audience as Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing is presenting it on Netflix. As actor, writer, director, and editor she is leading a quiet revolution—yet her movie is not part of a crusade. It’s an honest, persuasive story about a hard-working immigrant set in New York’s Brighton Beach neighborhood. Leonard an...
If you’re an animation buff, you should know Jerry Beck…and it’s probable that you do. He is a valued resource—online at www.cartoonresearch.com and www.animationscoop.com , in classrooms at major universities, and in the content of 15 books, about everything from Looney Tunes to Spongebob Squarepants. He and Leonard met decades ago at Leonard’s animation class in Manhattan and have been close friends ever since. (Jessie has known him her entire life!) Join us for an animated conversation about ...
A likable actor who has built a resumé with and without his brother James’ participation, Dave Franco has now made his debut as a writer-director with The Rental, starring his wife Alison Brie and Dan Stevens. Franco’s career has blossomed steadily over the past decade as he’s appeared in everything from The Lego Movie and Warm Bodies to The Disaster Artist and If Beale Street Could Talk. He’s brimming with enthusiasm and, as you’ll hear, fun to talk to....
Mark Evanier has not only attended every single San Diego Comic-con since its inception, he’s been a vital part of that famous gathering (which is on sabbatical this year)—moderating panels with pals like MAD cartoonist Sergio Aragones, interviewing icons like Ray Bradbury, and more. Mark’s writing career has taken him from comic books to sitcoms and beyond (if you don’t have his book Jack Kirby: King of Comics, you should). Leonard and Jessie are longtime friends and know what a great raconteur...
One of our favorite actresses, Emily Mortimer is currently starring in The Relic , a horror film now playing on VOD and theaters. Add this to a roster of movies and TV shows where she’s always a standout—from Mary Poppins Returns to The Newsroom, Dear Frankie, Lars and the Real Girl, City Island , Lovely & Amazing , her own HBO series Doll and Em , and two for her favorite director, Martin Scorsese: Shutter Island and Hugo . She has stories to share about all of them, as well as her glittery...
You hear his striking, Emmy Award-winning music every time you watch Succession . He’s Nicholas Britell and he’s one of the brightest lights in the world of contemporary film and television scoring. His collaboration with filmmaker Barry Jenkins has yielded two Oscar nominations to date—for Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk . A New Yorker through and through, he remains disarmingly unpretentious and was happy to chat with Leonard and Jessie about the music he provided for Whiplash (which ...
If best-selling author and filmmaker Stephen Chbosky weren’t quarantined he’d be shooting the movie version of the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen —which we can’t wait to see. Meanwhile, his beautiful film Wonder is a Maltin Movie Club recommendation. Leonard and Jessie welcome him back to the podcast to discuss his wide-ranging career, starting with The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and his mentor, screenwriter Stewart Stern, who wrote Rebel Without a Cause and inspired Stephen from the moment...
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Leonard’s book Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, and we’re going to celebrate by doing a multi-episode deep dive into all things animation. In part one, Jessie asks her dad how he got hooked on cartoons in the first place and how he met so many people who helped invent the medium we all love.
In this special episode Jessie interviews her father in honor of Leonard Maltin Day in Los Angeles (April 24). He recalls some of his favorite interviews and experiences and answers questions submitted by listeners: who is his favorite actor, actress, director, and what films does he recommend during the current quarantine. You can also view a video of this conversation on Leonard and Jessie’s YouTube channel.
Will Friedwald is one of the world’s foremost authorities on jazz and pop music. He’s also a quick-witted wordsmith with a fondness for puns. His biography of Nat “King” Cole ( Straighten Up and Fly Right ) is due this summer, and a revised, expanded edition of Sinatra: The Song is You is one of Leonard’s all-time favorite books on music. What’s more, he and Will have known each other for decades. Jessie says that when they get going, it’s like being at the United Nations without a translator—bu...
Actor, comedian, writer, producer and podcaster extraordinaire, Paul Scheer is definitely on a roll. Showtime’s Black Monday is offering him the meatiest acting role he’s ever tackled, alongside his fine work on Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Fresh off the Boat. And he’s still watching and talking about movies on his Unspooled podcast with Amy Nicholson. Whether you know him best from The League, Human Giant, or NTSF:SD:SUV::, you’ll enjoy hearing him tell Leonard and Jessie about his career in ...
