Seven Silly Questions for Leonard Maltin

For once, it's not all about Mary Hart's legs. Entertainment Tonight film buff Leonard Maltin is celebrating his 20th anniversary with the syndicated newsmagazine, and what better way to commemorate the occasion than with a bunch of random questions.

TVGO: Did you ever pan a movie that was actually pretty good just because you were having a cranky day?
Maltin: Not that I'm aware of. I've never knowingly done that, let's put it that way.

TVGO: Did you ever have any desire to follow in Roger Ebert's footsteps and make a movie of your own?
Maltin: Long ago, I did. The problem I had then was that all my ideas were on a scale that I couldn't accomplish. Many years ago, a friend of mine convinced me that we should try selling some scripts, and that part was fun, but then trying to deal with the system was very defeating. It gave me new respect for people who do it and who follow their dreams and stick with them. I just decided that I didn't have the stomach for it.

TVGO: Are there any so-so movies that you're ashamed to admit that you like anyway?
Maltin: I can't really defend The Sweetest Thing, but I so enjoy Cameron Diaz that I had a good time watching the movie. But I can't defend it.

TVGO: How bad does it suck not being able to just sit and watch a movie without having to think about what you're going to say about it?
Maltin: I've been doing this for so long that that's never a problem.

TVGO: Which stars have taken your criticism the best? And the worst?
Maltin: Most of them seem to get it, that it's not a personal attack. Burt Reynolds had it in for me for a while. That hatchet has long since been buried. But he was convinced at one time that I was trying to get him, that I was sort of attacking his movies and attacking him. And I wasn't. I was giving bad reviews to some bad movies he had made. I think he finally came to understand that.

TVGO: You don't look like you've aged a day ever. Are you in cahoots with Dick Clark?
Maltin: Obviously you haven't seen the gradual greying of my beard, but I'll take the compliment anyway, thank you.

TVGO: Ever consider updating your look — shaving, getting a perm, anything?
Maltin: No. My wife has never seen me without my beard. I can't throw a jolt into my life like that.

In addition to publishing his annual Movie & Video Guide, Maltin also hosts the weekend movie preview show Hot Ticket.