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Writer and critic Luc Sante has edited a true-crime series of books. The Library of Larceny has republished the stories of bank robber Willie Sutton (Where the Money Was, pool room hustler Danny McGoorty (McGoorty) and pyramid schemer Charles Ponzi (Ponzi). Sante speaks with NPR's Linda Wertheimer.

Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan first saw Best of Youth, which was originally made for Italian television, two years ago at Cannes. He's been waiting to review the movie -- which intertwines one family's story with 40 years of post-war Italian history -- ever since. It was, he says, worth the wait.

He is the creator, executive producer and head writer of the HBO series Deadwood, a Western drama set in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Deadwood began its second season this week.

An enormous work of art opens Saturday in New York's Central Park. The Gates Project is the brainchild of artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The husband-and-wife team's work consists of 7,500 squared arches topped with orange flags.

Last night's Oscar ceremony drew surprisingly strong ratings, though the evening itself was free of upsets. In a movie season that began amorphously, with no blockbusters in contention and no clear front-runner, Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby took four awards in top categories, including best picture.

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan says Lost Embrace, an Argentinean film that is just now debuting in the States, is a charming and original story about ordinary life set in a Jewish neighborhood in Buenos Aires.

From the comedy Scrubs actor Zach Braff and producer-creator Bill Lawrence. Braff plays medical resident John "J.D." Dorian. Lawrence previously worked on Spin City. Braff made his feature film writing and directing debut with Garden State which opened last fall. It's now out on DVD. (This interview was originally broadcast on Oct. 4, 2004.)

Actress Carol Channing is back on the road in The First 80 Years Are The Hardest. The octogenarian is touring in a one-woman show.

Melissa Block talks with John Beatty, who teaches a course on Shakespeare's Macbeth at Brooklyn College, about his efforts to rehabilitate the Scottish king's image. Macbeth is portrayed in Shakespeare's play as bloodthirsty, but Beatty says history suggests he was a respected king.

In the new film, The Woodsman, Kevin Bacon plays a sex offender just released from prison. Bacon was first recognized in the 1982 film Diner, and went on to roles in Mystic River, A Few Good Men, Flatliners, and Footloose. He's made over 50 films and inspired the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, in which players try to link another actor with Bacon in as few steps as possible. He is married to the actress Kyra Sedgwick, who also co-stars in The Woodsman.