Movie Geeks United

Bobcat Goldthwait

Comedian/actor/writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait discusses his new directorial effort World's Greatest Dad starring Robin Williams and director Doug Pray chats about his new documentary Art & Copy. Both films open in theatres Friday, August 21.

Mychael Danna

Acclaimed film composer Mychael Danna(500 Days of Summer, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus) chats about his stunning career. And we review the latest news and film reviews of the week.

Jeremy Piven

Jeremy Piven, who plays Ari Gold on the hit HBO seres Entourage, discusses his new film, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, which opens Friday, Aug. 14. Plus, we continue our series honoring the classics of cinema with an in-depth exploration of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1973 masterpiece Last Tango in Paris, featuring conversations with Marlon Brando biographer Stefan Kanfer, and critic Doug Pratt.

John Hughes may be gone, but he’ll never be forgotten – at least not as long as kids of every age roam the earth. Shortly after The Breakfast Club director passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 6 at the age of 59, five of his collaborators gathered to share their memories of the wunderkind: Howard Deutch, who directed the John-penned Pretty in Pink (1987), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), and The Great Outdoors (1988); Alisan Porter, who played the title role in Curly Sue (1991), which John wrote and directed; Edie McClurg, who played Grace the secretary in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and a car-rental agent in Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), both of which were written and directed by John; composer Ira Newborn, who scored Weird Science (1985), Ferris Bueller, Planes, Trains and Uncle Buck; and casting director Jackie Burch (Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club).

Armand Assante

Acclaimed actor Armand Assante (The Mambo Kings, Q&A, Gotti) discusses his insights into the craft of acting, his collaborations with directors like Sidney Lumet and Ridley Scott, and his new film The Line, co-starring Ray Liotta and Andy Garcia. PLUS, director Anat Baron talks about her new documentary, Beer Wars.

And we say goodbye to one of the show's great friends, screenwriting guru and the author of the 'Save the Cat' series, Blake Snyder.

Comic Con 2009

Cinematical contributor Todd Gilchrist shares his experiences at this year's San Diego Comic Con, and his impressions of the films showcased at the event, including Avatar and Iron Man 2. Writer/director Brian Hecker chats about his new film Bart Got a Room.

The English Surgeon

Director Geoffrey Smith, director of the stunning new documentary The English Surgeon. Reflections on the 10th year anniversaries of Eyes Wide Shut with co-star Julienne Davis and The Blair Witch Project with directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez and co-star Michael Williams.

Freaks and Geeks’

Samm Levine:

William Shatner Is a Gigantic %&?@$#!

Call it The Revenge of the Geek. For years, Samm Levine – who’s featured in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming WWII Nazi-hunting flick Inglourious Basterds – had been a William Shatner fan. But after coming face-to-face with the original Captain Kirk at a Billy Joel-Elton John concert recently, Samm isn’t exactly singing his praises. The one-time standup comic recounts how his impression of William helped him land the role of geek Neal Schweiber on Freeks. Later in the show, when asked, “Is Shatner aware that he’s responsible for your acting career?” Samm tells how the actor snubbed him repeatedly. Then he says, “There are only two reasonable excuses for that. One: He’s a gigantic a - - - - - -. Or two: He’s clearly just an old man with mad cow disease.”

HUMPDAY

Humpday writer/director Lynn Shelton and actors Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard.

THE LINE

Writer/producer R. Ellis Frazier shares his experiences on his new film The Line, starring Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta, which serves as the closing night film of this year's NY Latino Film Festival.