Accessibility links
Movie Reviews Reviews of new movies, classic and art films, foreign films, and popular movies. Featuring Bob Mondello, Kenneth Turan, David Edelstein, and Mark Jenkins.

Movie Reviews

Monday

Movies

Screens and Stars Glow at Sundance

Fresh Air

This year's Sundance Film Festival has been a haven for stars -- and those who would like to be stars. Critic-at-large John Powers discusses the festival's scene -- and its movies. Among the standouts: Wrist Cutters: A Love Story and Old Joy.

Screens and Stars Glow at Sundance

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5178512/5178513" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

Culture

Tricky Comedy from 'Tristram Shandy'

Michael Winterbottom's latest comedy is Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. It's based on an experimental comic novel from the 18th century. The movie is as tricky as its source material.

Tricky Comedy from 'Tristram Shandy'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5175335/5175336" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Culture

'Looking for Comedy' in a Culture Gap

Fresh Air

Actor and director Albert Brooks trolls for laughs in Asia and the Middle East in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. Playing a version of himself, Brooks is recruited by the U.S. government to help foster a deeper understanding of the region. A comedy tour ensues.

'Looking for Comedy' in a Culture Gap

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5164931/5164932" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Culture

Into Africa with 'The Boys of Baraka'

The documentary follows three African-American students who get the opportunity to attend an academically rigorous school in Kenya designed to give them a path out of the violence and poverty of inner-city Baltimore.

Into Africa with 'The Boys of Baraka'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5164578/5164579" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Culture

'Tristan and Isolde': A Pleasantly Old-School Epic

Love stories come and go, but few have the durablity of Tristan & Isolde. People have been fascinated by this Dark Ages tale of star-crossed passion and devotion that would not die. Director Kevin Reynolds has turned out a satisfactory version of this story of manly men and fervent women.

'Tristan and Isolde': A Pleasantly Old-School Epic

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5155873/5155874" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Culture

Classic Black Films Stand as History, Art

Film critic Bob Mondello reviews the DVD release of three classic black films: Hallelujah, Green Pastures and Cabin in the Sky. He says they are interesting, both as history and as works of art.

Classic Black Films Stand as History, Art

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5157040/5157041" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Culture

Slate's Summary Judgment: 'Last Holiday,' 'Hoodwinked,' 'Glory Road'

Slate contributor Mark Jordan Legan offers a roundup of what movie critics are saying about the weekend's major new film releases: Last Holiday, Hoodwinked and Glory Road.

Slate's Summary Judgment: 'Last Holiday,' 'Hoodwinked,' 'Glory Road'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5156434/5156435" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Movies

A Threat, Hidden in Plain Sight

Fresh Air

Imagine what would go through your mind if your mailbox suddenly became a stream of video, secretly filmed movies that feature you and your family -- and possibly presage a deadly threat. That's the predicament of Cache, starring Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche.

A Threat, Hidden in Plain Sight

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5156201/5156202" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

Culture

Slate's Summary Judgment: 'Hostel,' 'Casanova,' 'Bloodrayne'

Slate contributor Mark Jordan Legan reviews what movie critics are saying about this week's new film releases: Hostel, Casanova and Bloodrayne.

Slate's Summary Judgment: 'Hostel,' 'Casanova,' 'Bloodrayne'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5132827/5132828" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Movies

'Match Point' Explores New, Thrilling Terrain

Woody Allen leaves both comedy and New York behind for his new movie, Match Point, a thriller set in England. Bob Mondello reviews the new film staring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Emily Mortimer and Matthew Goode.

'Match Point' Explores New, Thrilling Terrain

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5072696/5072697" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

78th Annual Academy Awards

'Munich': Spielberg's Most Provocative Film Yet

Set after the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Steven Spielberg's film, Munich, follows a secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and kill the 11 Palestinians suspected of having planned the attack. Critic Kenneth Turan says Spielberg's film is about the "murkiest, most divisive of real world issues."

'Munich': Spielberg's Most Provocative Film Yet

Audio will be available later today.

Movies

Exploring Malick's Beautiful 'New World'

Reclusive director Terrence Malick's new movie, The New World, tells the story of Captain John Smith and the beginnings of the English presence in the Americas. Critic Bob Mondello says The New World is in some ways a reflection of Malick's career -- languid in pacing, with beauty in every frame.

Exploring Malick's Beautiful 'New World'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5068193/5068194" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Movies

'White Countess': Fitting Merchant-Ivory Finale

The White Goddess is the last film made by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory before Merchant's death. Set in Shanghai on the eve of World War II, the film stars Ralph Fiennes as a blind, former diplomat and Natasha Richardson as a White Russian refugee.

'White Countess': Fitting Merchant-Ivory Finale

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5065083/5065084" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday