Culture 'Caramel' January 31, 2008 • Comedy and romantic conflicts abound in a Beirut beauty salon in Caramel, a kind of Lebanese Steel Magnolias. The premise isn't new, but the comedy is warm, observant and generous — so Caramel feels plenty fresh.
Culture 'Untraceable' January 25, 2008 • FBI agents track a serial killer who uses technology as his assassin's hood in Untraceable. The media and a voyeuristic public catch some blame in the gory deaths, but the result is less commentary and more "torture porn,' akin to the Saw films.
Movies '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' of Struggle Fresh Air January 25, 2008 • 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, a new film by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, follows two women trying to arrange an illegal abortion in the repressive days of Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship.
Culture 'U2 3d' January 24, 2008 • The title says it all, but somehow doesn't say enough. A rock concert writ very large — it's playing exclusively in IMAX theaters for now — this 3-D digital extravaganza captures U2 on a South American tour.
Movies 'U2 3D' — Better Than the Real Thing? January 23, 2008 • A new concert film featuring the band U2 was shot in digital 3-D. NPR's Bob Mondello says it's so realistic that he wanted to tell the guy sitting in front of him to stop waving his arms — then realized that the arms were on the screen.
Culture A Little Suspense, a Lot of Jerkiness in 'Cloverfield' January 18, 2008 • Cloverfield, a new monster movie set in New York and filmed almost entirely on hand-held camcorders, is produced by J.J. Abrams, the man behind the hit TV show Lost.
Culture 'Cloverfield' January 18, 2008 • Lady Liberty loses her head in this film's opening moments, and everything from the Chrysler Building to the Brooklyn Bridge comes tumbling down thereafter. Which sounds reasonably exciting, but the Blair Godzilla Project conceit gets annoying fast.
Culture Disaster, Dimly Seen in 'Cloverfield' Fresh Air January 18, 2008 • Fresh Air's film critic reviews Cloverfield, a disaster film featuring a monster that attacks Manhattan; the nightmare is captured by shaky Blair Witch-style camerawork.
Movies 'Taxi to the Dark Side' Examines Torture by U.S. January 18, 2008 • Taxi to the Dark Side is as shocking and disturbing as its title. Its subject matter is torture as a weapon of choice in the war against terror. There are pictures and videos from Abu Ghraib. But most distressing is how readily the U.S. government turned to torture.
Culture 'Taxi to the Dark Side' January 17, 2008 • Certain to inspire both outrage and sorrow, Alex Gibney's harrowing documentary — about the torture and abuse of suspected terrorists in U.S. military prisons — ranks among recent cinema's more excoriating moral indictments. (Recommended)
Culture 'Cassandra's Dream' January 17, 2008 • Woody Allen's unofficial London murder trilogy concludes with an (a)morality tale about a pair of mismatched brothers and the man they kill on their uncle's behalf. Ewan MacGregor and Colin Farrell star.
Culture '27 Dresses' January 17, 2008 • A perennial bridesmaid turns her closet into a shrine to her friends' bad taste, with 27 variously ghastly dresses preserved as a monument to her own self-sacrifice. Director Anne Fletcher thinks this behavior is adorable rather than certifiable.
Culture 'The Orphanage' January 10, 2008 • A young mom and her family move to a dark, brooding country estate and act out a horror-movie version of Peter Pan. Directed by newcomer Juan Antonio Bayona, it's a creepily effective exercise in gothic technique.
Culture 'Steep' January 10, 2008 • Mark Obenhaus' extreme-skiing movie follows a few seemingly insane skiers as they attempt descents — not at ski resorts, but on mountains in the wilds of Iceland, Alaska and other spots not known for having ambulances and medics at hand.
Culture 'Honeydripper' January 10, 2008 • There's an intriguing notion about the roots of rock 'n' roll nestled in this lackadaisical John Sayles opus, though it's pursued with more charm than energy. Smart performances from a strong cast can only go so far to make the slackly paced story sing.