Theater

Playwright and novelist Ntzoake Shange, best known for her play For Colored Girls, joins Fresh Air to talk about the diversity of the black experience, her childhood and early education, and the criticism she sometimes gets from black male authors and playwrights. Her new play is called Betsey Brown.

Film critic Stephen Schiff hoped that the age of the teen comedy was over -- but he was impressed by Heathers, which captures the emotional intensity of high school life.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews the Oscar-winning 1943 film, which was credited with galvanizing support for the Allies during World War II. Contrary to some contemporary attitudes toward the movie, critic Ken Tucker says Mrs. Miniver critiques, rather than celebrates, bourgeois life.

Film critic Stephen Schiff says the former Monty Python animator's latest movie, like his others, suffer from a mid-story slump. Yet it's also Gilliam's best to date, and can inspire awe in viewers of all ages.

Film critic David Bianculli says the drama China Beach and a special episode of Nightline deal with the lives of Vietnam veterans in respectful and powerful ways; both are worth watching.

Critic Stuart Klawans reviews the new Mike Leigh film, about working class people and their gentrifying London neighborhood. It's the director's first movie since the 1970s; Klawans says it was worth the wait.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews four home video releases of movies inspired by the antiwar movement. Three of them, about burgeoning romances amid student demonstrations, don't hold up. But Joe, a film that rejects hippy values, is worth watching, if only for star Peter Boyle's excellent performance.

Patinkin had no formal training as a singer, but he's found fame starring in musicals like Evita and Sunday in the Park with George. He's also appeared in the films Yentl, Ragtime, and The Princess Bride, among others. Patinkin has a new self-titled album of songs from the stage and screen.

Stuart Klawans reviews the new movie, which features a trio of shorter films directed by Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Francis Coppola. Klawans says the efforts of the first two directors are fantastic, but viewers can step out into the lobby for Coppola's contribution.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews a new made-for-TV movie about the bombing of Hiroshima, called Day One. He says the scenes of White House discussions regarding whether or not to use nuclear weapons are what make the movie really special -- and really scary.

The 1967 film Point Blank, directed by John Moorman, never found a wide audience in the U.S. Critic Ken Tucker says the crime thriller was a success nonetheless, with a brutal, fast-moving style and a directorial vision never recaptured in Moorman's later work.

The new PBS show dramatized news program Timeline features on-the-ground reporting of historical events in order to give viewers a new way of thinking about the past. TV critic David Bianculli praises the show's accuracy, and it's respect for its audience.

New performers-in-residence, singer Joan Morris and pianist William Bolcom, play two of their favorite Rodgers and Hart songs.

The World War II-themed Christabel airs at the same time as Glory! Glory!, about the relationship between a televangist and a punk rocker. Since the latter will play repeatedly on HBO, TV critic David Bianculli recommends first watching the more substantive Christabel.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews the home video release The Sweet Smell of Success, which he says features gorgeous shots of 1950s New York City, and an unrelenting narrative intensity.

Lawrence of Arabia has recently been remastered, and a new 70mm print has just been released theatrically. Film critic Stephen Schiff says watching the movie as a child inspired him to become a film critic; watching it again as an adult, he's impressed by its enduring, powerful themes.

Television critic David Bianculli says that viewers have lost their taste for westerns and miniseries. But he recommends the star-studded show Lonesome Dove, which is both. The story follows the lives of three sheriffs in the untamed west.

Director Michael Crichton's latest, a cop thriller called Physical Evidence, stars Burt Reynolds and Theresa Russell, who fail to breathe life into the film's clumsy script. Critic Stephen Schiff wonders if Crichton was having an out-of-body experience when he directed the movie.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the actor and playwright's latest performance piece, about growing up and a teenage stint in a juvenile home.

Film critic Stephen Schiff says that the World War II-themed The Dressmaker masterfully follows in the European tradition of what he calls "intimate filmmaking" -- something no American director has yet been able to replicate.