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Beetle Juice Manages to Be Imaginative and Boring.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Beetle Juice," the supernatural comedy about a couple that moves into a Victorian home hoping to remodel it only to find it's inhabited by ghosts who abhor their chic urban tastes. It stars Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara and Alec Baldwin.

03:24
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Other segments from the episode on April 14, 1988

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, April 14, 1988: Interview with Tom Wolfe; Review of albums by Howard Hewett, Grandmaster Flash, and John Whitehead; Interview with Eugene Levy; Review of the film "Beetle…
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27:33

Tom Wolfe on His First Novel.

Writer Tom Wolfe, known for his "New Journalism" style of reporting in the 60s and 70s. His books from that period include The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, Radical Chic and Mau Mauing the Flak Catchers and The Right Stuff. His new book, his first novel, is titled The Bonfire of the Vanities. It is the number two book on the New York Times Bestseller list; it has been on the list for 23 weeks. (Rebroadcast. Original broadcast Thursday, October 29, 1987.)

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06:59

The Tradition of the Black Pop Ballad.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews three albums by older black male vocalists who are trying their hand at new genres, or trying to extend the traditions they first performed in. The albums are "Forever and Ever," the second solo album by Howard Hewett, a former singer with the black rhythm and blues group Shalamar, "On the Strength," by the rap group Grandmaster Flash, and "I Need Money Bad," by John Whitehead.

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10:02

The Enigma of Eugene Levy.

Comic actor Eugene Levy. Levy is best known for his many roles - Sid Dithers, the Schmenge Brothers, Bobby Bittman - on the popular SCTV comedy series, which grew out of the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto. Bobby Bittman, is the subject of an upcoming comedy special on Cinemax.

Interview

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Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

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09:55

Film Composer Danny Elfman

Part one of the Fresh Air interview. Elfman is a rock musician who fronts the band Oingo Boingo. When Tim Burton hired him to write score for Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Elfman had to teach himself to read music -- a skill he never needed in the past.

Interview
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09:33

The Best and Worst Movies of 1988

Film critic Stephen Schiff talks with Terry Gross about this years movies. He says 1988 was an unusually good year for American films, though his favorite Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. His least favorite movie was Willow.

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Daughter of Warhol star looks back on a bohemian childhood in the Chelsea Hotel

Alexandra Auder's mother, Viva, was one of Andy Warhol's muses. Growing up in Warhol's orbit meant Auder's childhood was an unusual one. For several years, Viva, Auder and Auder's younger half-sister, Gaby Hoffmann, lived in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. It was was famous for having been home to Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Virgil Thomson, and Bob Dylan, among others.

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This fake 'Jury Duty' really put James Marsden's improv chops on trial

In the series Jury Duty, a solar contractor named Ronald Gladden has agreed to participate in what he believes is a documentary about the experience of being a juror--but what Ronald doesn't know is that the whole thing is fake.

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This Romanian film about immigration and vanishing jobs hits close to home

R.M.N. is based on an actual 2020 event in Ditrău, Romania, where 1,800 villagers voted to expel three Sri Lankans who worked at their local bakery.

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