Maltin on Movies

If his face is familiar, that’s because Raphael Sbarge has been working since he was a boy—in theater, television and film. His credits range from Murder, She Wrote and Risky Business to Fear the Walking Dead. More recently he has moved behind the camera, crafting documentaries like Only in Theaters, the story of Los Angeles’ beloved Laemmle Theaters chain. That’s the project that brought him in contact with Leonard and Jessie, who are happy to have him as this week’s guest.

If you enjoy watching classic films you’re probably acquainted with Alan Rode, prolific author, commentator (on numerous DVDs and Blu-rays), and host (with Eddie Muller) of the Noir City Festival, an annual event in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. He also hosts and programs the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival every year in Palm Springs, California. He has several books to his credit, including a biography of character actor Charles McGraw and his magnum opus, Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film. He is a longtime friend of the Maltin family, so Jessie and Leonard had a grand time comparing notes on all aspects of film buffery.

An Oscar winner (for Mask in 1985) and multiple Emmy winner (for various incarnations of Star Trek), Michael Westmore carries a name that is synonymous with makeup in Hollywood. He’s proud of his heritage, which began with his grandfather in the silent-film era and flourished in the 1930s, when his father and uncles ran the makeup departments at virtually every major studio. He studied art history in college, then his uncle Bud took him on as an apprentice at Universal in the early 1960s and he unexpectedly (or inevitably) wound up in the family business. Mike wears his accomplishments lightly and for all he has done he remains delightfully down-to-earth.

After starring in the TV series Royal Pains for eight seasons and appearing in recurring roles in shows ranging from Ally McBeal to The West Wing, Mark Feuerstein is ready to explode his good-guy image in the new MGM+ crime drama Hotel Cocaine. He’s never been so sleazy as this onscreen but as Jessie and Leonard quickly learned, in real life he’s a mensch who is devoted to his family and his craft. They all had fun during this fast-paced encounter, and hope that the feeling is contagious.

Nick Stahl has been working in front of the camera since he was 13 years old and winning young admirers like Jessie because he’s so believable in every part he tackles. Mel Gibson chose him to costar in The Man Without a Face, which put him on a fast track to success. His widely varied credits include The Terminator 3, In the Bedroom, The Thin Red Line, andSin City. After a break he returned to acting and quicky landed guest shots on such series as Fear the Walking Dead and Let the Right One In. He can be seen in the recent VOD release What You Wish For.

This week we introduce you to two more Emmy contenders for their exceptional work. Cian O’Clery directed, executive produced and photographed) the heartfelt documentary seriesLove on the Spectrum, which shows how people with autism search for love just like all of us. Mac Quayle is a busy composer of music for film and television who has become a favorite of the prolific producer Ryan Murphy (Scream Queens, American Crime Story, Feud, et al) who already has an Emmy to his credit for Mr. Robot, for which he scored 45 episodes. His latest effort is The Great Lillian Hall, now playing on HBO.

This week, we’re meeting more fascinating people who are Emmy contenders for their work on high-end television, which nowadays has the production quality of feature films. An Emmy contender in the realm of limited series, All the Light We Cannot See has been adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by the brilliant writer Steven Knight. It draws on the talents of many people, among them our guests, sound man Craig Henighan, cinematographer Tobias Schliessler, and casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockman.

The brilliant writer-director Steven Zaillian (Searching for Bobby Fischer) is a strong Emmy contender for his eight-part adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels, along with the collaborators we spoke to: composer Jeff Russo (an Emmy winner for Fargo), Oscar-nominated production designer David Gropman, and editors David Rogers and Joshua Lee. Even if you haven’t yet watched the series on Netflix it’s fascinating to listen to these creative people talk about what they bring to every film or show they take on. 

Avy Kaufman’s name should be familiar to anyone who reads credits, as we do. She has cast scores of films and television series, from The Ice Storm to Succession, and launched many a career along the way. You can hear the pride in her voice when she recounts how she brought young Haley Joel Osment to meet the star and director of The Sixth Sense. Recent credits include some of the most talked-about television shows of our time: Mare of Easttown, Under the Banner of Heaven, Billions, and Fellow Travelers, which could earn her a fourth Emmy Award. (She has three: one for Damages and two for Succession). Avy wears her passion on her sleeve and that makes for great conversation.

There’s only one Mira Sorvino—Oscar winner for her unforgettable performance in Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite, costar of the enduringly popular Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, Harvard grad (cum laude), mother of four, and daughter of the celebrated actor and singer Paul Sorvino.credentials are pretty amazing; then you talk to her and discover what a quicksilver mind she possesses. To limit our conversation to film, we discussed directors she has worked with, from Spike Lee to Robert Redford, and she had something interesting to say at every juncture. Leonard and Jessie were impressed, to put it mildly.

THE IMAGE OF YOU released In Select Theaters and is available to buy on Digital on May 10th, 2024.