FilmWeek

KPCC film critics Lael Loewenstein of Variety and Claudia Puig of USA Today discuss the week’s new films, including Eat, Pray, Love; The Expendables, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World; Lebanon and more. Later, critic Peter Rainer shares tales from Ingmar Bergman week on the Swedish island of Faro. And Larry and the critics mark the passing of actress Patricia Neal. Later, do personal journeys translate to film?

KPCC film critics Henry Sheehan and Andy Klein of Brand X review the week’s new film releases including The Other Guys, The Extra Man, Flipped, and Twelve among others. TGI-FilmWeek! Later, with Judge Walker’s suspension of Proposition 8, the question of gay marriage is once again in the headlines. It’s also often on the marquee, most recently with The Kids are All Right starring Annette Bening. Hollywood has struggled for years to realistically portray gay characters. Sometimes they succeed. Sometimes they fail miserably. Which movies get gays right? Which are dead wrong? And which ones are just so campy and fun, you love them regardless?

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Wade Major of boxoffice.com and Andy Klein of Brand X critique the week’s new film releases including Charlie St. Cloud, Dinner For Schmucks, Get Low, and Hugh Hefner: Playboy Activist And Rebel, among others. TGI-FilmWeek! Later, what do you do with these high powered figures in Hollywood? Roman Polanski managed to duck extradition on a rape charge, Oliver Stone’s been accused of anti-Semitism, and Mel Gibson and Lindsay … well, what else can you say about Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan? So here’s a conundrum… when you watch a re-run of Lethal Weapon on late-night TV, can you still enjoy it, or do you find thoughts of Gibson’s bad behavior creeping into your mind? When you watch The Parent Trap, is your brain filled with images of Lohan’s mug shot? Will you change the channel? Will you still go see their movies in a theater? In other words, can you separate the performers from the performance?

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Lael Loewenstein of Variety and Henry Sheehan of henrysheehan.com discuss the films opening this week including Salt, Ramona And Beezus, Farewell, Valhalla Rising, and Mademoiselle Chambon. Later, actor Guillaume Canet discusses his new thriller, Farewell, based on a true story, about the biggest theft of Soviet information in the Cold War. Canet also opens up about his relationship with Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard.

Larry Mantle and critics Andy Klein of Brand X and Henry Sheehan of henrysheehan.com discuss the week’s new film releases including Inception, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Operation Endgame, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead, among others. TGI-FilmWeek! And in light of the opening of Inception, Larry and the critics open up the phones to talk with listeners about highly anticipated film releases. Does all the hype really help? Or does it just hurt? What other manically marketed movies have gotten your hopes up? Did they deliver the goods…or not?

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Claudia Puig of USA Today, Wade Major of boxoffice.com and Charles Solomon, animation critic and historian for amazon.com discuss the week’s new film releases including Despicable Me, Predators, The Kids Are All Right, and The Girl Who Played With Fire, among others. In the movie Love Ranch, Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci play a married Nevada couple running one of the first legalized brothels in the country. But their lives are complicated when the husband enters a business endeavor to revive an Argentinean boxer's career. Directed by Mirren's husband Taylor Hackford, the film is based on the lives of Joe and Sally Conforte and boxer Oscar Bonavena.

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Jean Oppenheimer, Andy Klein of Brand X and Charles Solomon, animation critic and historian for amazon.com discuss several of the week’s new film releases including The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Last Airbender, Love Ranch, and South of the Border among others. Larry will also open up the phones for “Twi-Hards” to sound off about Eclipse. Are you “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob?” Later, Oliver Stone is one of America’s most famous film makers, known for such master works as Platoon, JFK and Wall Street. He’s putting the finishing touches on a sequel to Wall Street, returning to one of his most famous characters, Gorden Gekko. But he’s also a political activist with a keen interest in developments in South America. This weekend his newest film comes out, South of the Border. It’s a documentary comprising interviews with South American leaders, most notably Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. In the film, Stone sets out to show that American media and policy makers unfairly demonize Chavez. Larry caught up with Stone earlier this week.

Guest host David Lazarus and KPCC film critics Jean Oppenheimer and Henry Sheehan of henrysheehan.com discuss the week’s new film releases including Knight and Day, Grown-Ups, The Killer Inside Me, Restrepo, and Let It Rain among others. TGI-FilmWeek! Later, Larry Mantle talks with actress Pam Grier about her candid new memoir detailing her life and career. She shares her thoughts on being a “Blaxploitation” star, (describing herself as “Chekhov in a wet T-shirt!”), working with Roger Corman and Quentin Tarantino, remembers her relationships with Richard Pryor, Freddie Prinze and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and talks openly about her childhood and her battle with cancer.

KPCC critics Lael Loewenstein and Henry Sheehan review the week's releases, including Toy Story 3, Jonah Hex, Cyrus, Anton Chekhov's The Duel, I Am Love, 8: The Mormon Proposition and Stonewall Uprising. Later, Larry talks with the director of Toy Story 3.

Larry Mantle and critics Andy Klein of Brand X and Wade Major of boxoffice.com discuss the week’s new film releases including The A Team, The Karate Kid, Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, and Winter’s Bone, among others. Later, Larry Mantle sits down with Director Debra Granick and actress Jennifer Lawrence to discuss their new film, Winter’s Bone, which portrays the trials and tribulations of a young woman growing up deep in the Ozark mountains. The film was the recipient of the both the Grand Jury Prize and the Screenwriting award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.