Movies 101 has little of the fawning attitude of either James Lipton's Inside the Actor's Studio or the Robert Osborne interviews that occasionally grace TCM. The show is helped immensely not only by Brown's encyclopedic knowledge of films in general and the artists he interviews in particular, but also by what appears (at least by Brown's introductions) to be longstanding personal relationships with many of his subjects (e.g., he talks about his 40-year friendship with Martin Scorcese during his introduction of that directing legend). Similarly, there's thankfully little shallow questioning (albeit usually from the audience) that sometimes pops up especially on Lipton's show--you know, silly questions from an adoring fan like, "What's the hardest part of being an actor?"

Instead, Brown tends to follow a formula, though one he uses with some flexibility depending on the interview subject. Brown comes out to his class, spends a few minutes speaking about his subject's contributions to film art, and then calls the interviewee out to be greeted by an unerring standing ovation. Brown then tends to hone in on one of the classic films in his subject's oeuvre, sometimes asking how the project came to that person, at others simply asking for general reminiscences about the project, and then sitting back and letting the star "riff" on the subject. It usually makes for fascinating, deeply personal and sometimes revelatory stuff, as in Scorcese's memories of being an asthmatic child surrounded by street toughs who would later populate many of his films, or Jon Voight's confession of how many chance encounters (and burned bridges) led to his being cast as Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy. Brown then usually tends to skip around the interview subject's career, hand-picking various highlights (in Susan Sarandon's interview, for example, he begins with Rocky Horror and then hits such memorable films as Thelma and Louise and Dead Man Walking). Though the questions are usually centered around specific films, they frequently elicit answers that shed more general light on filmmaking, the actor's and/or director's craft(s), and even what it's like to be a working parent attempting to juggle celebrity and home life. The interviews typically wind up with Brown asking his subject what future projects they're looking forward to, and also if there's anything career-wise they have yet to tackle that they're itching to do.

The show is mercifully free of a lot the phony self-confessional schmaltz that sometimes undermines routine interview shows. Therefore, don't expect any dish on Brangelina from the Voight interview (though, interestingly, when Voight waxes nostalgic about his rapprochement with his own mother as she lay on her deathbed, one can't help but think of his well-publicized feuds with his daughter), or, from the other end of the love triangle, the Jennifer Aniston interview. Brown's questions are unfailingly work-related, though the answers can branch out into some interesting trivia about personal lives, as when Jeff Bridges (looking a bit like Grizzly Adams with an overflowing, untrimmed beard), in talking about his lifestyle in Montana, reveals that his domicile is the old whorehouse set for Heaven's Gate, or when Whoopi Goldberg attests to what she really said vis a vis Bush (and/or bush) during the last Presidential election.

This four disc set is a bountiful collection of subjects both iconic and fairly recent to the film medium, and includes the aforementioned subjects as well as Willem Dafoe, Kevin Kline, George Clooney, Josh Lucas, Daniel Day-Lewis, Dennis Quaid, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jennifer Connelly, Julianne Moore, and Sigourney Weaver.

The DVD

Video:
The enhanced 1.78:1 image is nicely detailed, although there's obviously not a lot to look at. There are no filmclips in this series--simply Brown and his subject sitting on a stage. That said, the multi-camera setup allows for various perspectives, which the director uses to break up the visual monotony that might otherwise set in.

Sound:
The standard stereo soundtrack is certainly perfectly fine for what amounts to two people talking. There are no real separation issues--Brown and his subject both tend to be front and center, since they rarely speak over each other.

Extras:
There's a nice batch of extras on the set, including interviews "expanded" from their original broadcast versions, some extra (short) interviews with Brown himself on varous subjects like how the show was developed and what it takes to conduct a good interview, as well as a nice DVD-ROM internet link that provides access to even more material.

Final Thoughts:
For a lot of classic film buffs like myself, AMC fell seriously by the wayside a few years ago with its change in focus. Movies 101 is about the most compelling recent reason to start watching the network again. Professor Richard Brown's obvious love for the art form, and for his subjects, make this show heads and shoulders above most of its other interview counterparts. Recommended for all film fans and especially film students.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet