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Sculptor John Bisbee has made almost all of his art with an object most people use to hang art with — nails. Recently, after decades of oxidizing, welding, bending and cutting, he realized that he was overlooking the most obvious thing he could do with nails: hammer them.

Presidential candidates — and often presidents themselves — sometimes have trouble living up to the images of heroic commanders-in-chief on the big screen. In honor of Presidents Day, film critics Shawn Edwards and Julio Martinez discuss how fictional characters relate to the true American political experience.

Legendary actress, dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen is directing the new Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' play, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. Allen talks about the challenge of adapting this classic American story for an African-American cast, and about the cultural challenges of show business.

Fresh Air's film critic reviews the sci-fi action-adventure Jumper. The film stars Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels); it's directed by Doug Liman, whose other films include The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Be Kind, Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def, and directed by Michel Gondry.

Fresh Air's TV critic David Bianculli discusses the long-term effects of the four-month-long writers' strike, and--more immediately--when we can expect new episodes of our favorite shows to return to the air.

In 1960, a team of documentary filmmakers descended on the Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary in order to record the campaigning between John F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey. Politically, the results propelled Kennedy to the nomination. Artistically, the documentarians invented a new form.

One of this year's Oscar nominees has a long history with the statuette: Julie Christie won an Academy Award more than four decades ago, and has been nominated twice since. Now she's up for a fourth award — for a film about a four-decade marriage.

With a shadowy past and a dark allure, Catwoman has been a compelling figure, for women and men alike. But she's anything but static. Her character, like her costume, has changed over time, from conflicted villain to damaged but empowered antihero.

Solas Nua is perhaps the only theater group in the country that produces nothing but contemporary Irish plays. Linda Murray, its founder and artistic director, talks with Jacki Lyden about how rapidly Irish identity is changing and how that is reflected in a new "Golden Age" of Irish drama.