TAATM #56: The Sheltering Sky vs. Ishtar

Heather and Paul review two films about naive Americans who travel to northern Africa in search of enlightenment, and wind up lost in the desert instead. First: THE SHELTERING SKY, Bernardo Bertolucci's 1990 film version of Paul Bowles' novel starring John Malkovich and Debra Winger as a married couple who succumb to existential despair during a sojourn in Tangier; then, ISHTAR, Elaine May's notorious 1987 flop comedy starring Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty as a pair of deeply untalented singer/songwriters who get caught between the CIA and a band of left-wing freedom fighters during a gig at a Moroccan nightclub. John Malkovich losing his passport, or Dustin Hoffman losing his passport: which will prevail?

Plus: remembrances of Roger Ebert, and mini-reviews of FREE RADICALS and PHIL SPECTOR.