Silver Screener

Hollywood film critic and historian Leonard Maltin dishes on summer movies from his home perch in Toluca Lake.

What movies are you excited about?

Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love, which I hope is a worthy follow-up to Midnight in Paris; Seth MacFarlane’s Ted, with Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis; the new Pixar feature Brave; and Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. Naturally, I’m curious about Men in Black 3, the reboot of Spider-Man, Prometheus, and the other blockbuster-type movies, but I’ve been burned too many times to get my excitement up just yet.

What do you think this summer’s Bridesmaids will be, i.e., that raunchy, hit comedy?

I enjoyed The Five-Year Engagement, and that’s my nominee … though it’s a serious/funny movie, very different from Bridesmaids. That’s what appealed to me.

All time favorite summer movie?

To me, Jaws will always be the ultimate summer movie. I’m old enough to have seen it the first time around, and it made an indelible impact on me. I also made an indelible impact on my wife’s elbow, from grabbing it so often during the screening.

Have you ever seen a movie that was so bad, you walked out of the theatre?

I never walk out. If I’m there, I’m there till the bitter end.

How about the last time you cried?

When I realized I’d have to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

How often do you and your wife agree on a movie—whether it was good or bad?

My wife and I tend to agree, but we sometimes have different reactions to a movie. I hope the fact that we’re still happily married after 37 years says that we’re mature enough to deal with that situation.

Who is an actor or actress on the verge of exploding?

There are so many terrific young actors and actresses; I don’t know who’s going to explode, but I think Mia Wasikowska, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Carey Mulligan, Chris Evans, Elizabeth Olsen, Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield are all going to have long careers. The challenge for them is finding parts that are worthy of their talent.