Movies 'Taken' Lightly: An Unintentionally Funny Abduction January 30, 2009 • When kidnappers steal his teenage daughter from a Paris hotel, an ex-spy takes matters into his own hands and plunges into the underworld of human trafficking. 'Taken' Lightly: An Unintentionally Funny Abduction Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99904618/100049753" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
'Taken' Lightly: An Unintentionally Funny Abduction Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99904618/100049753" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Movies A City Girl And A Townie, In A Slushy Romance January 30, 2009 • Renee Zellweger jumps out of the corporate frying pan and into the snow in New in Town, a fish-out-of-water farce set in Minnesota. Harry Connick Jr. keeps her company, but hardly turns up the heat.
Movies A Family's Affairs, In A Venue Full Of Surprises January 29, 2009 • Melodrama takes center stage in Serbis, Brillante Mendoza's gritty but warm portrait of a struggling Filipino family. Their adult-movie house might be sinking, but their lives are overflowing.
Movies Terence Davies, In Search Of Lost Liverpool January 29, 2009 • A montage of sound, music and memory, Of Time and the City goes beyond the Beatles in a memorial to Liverpool's past. Director Terence Davies guides his audience through the streets of his native city.
Movies In 'Match,' A Story of Resistance Is Illuminated January 29, 2009 • Director Roberta Grossman sketches a portrait of Hannah Senesh, a Hungarian-born woman living in Palestine who trained as a paratrooper and returned to her homeland to organize resistance to the Nazis.
Movies 'Inkheart': Some Tales Lose Spark In The Telling January 22, 2009 • A father wreaks havoc when he brings characters from his daughter's books to life. Iain Softley's film (based on the best-selling kids' book by German author Cornelia Funke) stars Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren and Eliza Hope Bennett.
Movies In 'California Dreamin',' A Nation's Hopes Deferred January 22, 2009 • Director Cristian Nemescu's smart, funny film looks at America's influence worldwide through the lens of the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo. (Recommended)
Culture 'Notorious': Hip-Hop History, Sweetened A Bit Fresh Air January 16, 2009 • Director George Tillman Jr.'s Notorious, which follows the life and death of the rapper Biggie Smalls, opens in theaters this weekend. David Edelstein has a review. 'Notorious': Hip-Hop History, Sweetened A Bit Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/99457587/99457586" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Movies 'Chandni Chowk': Across Asia, Lightheartedly January 15, 2009 • A Delhi doofus is summoned to protect a Chinese village in the Bollywood kung-fu comedy Chandni Chowk to China. With nods to everything from Jackie Chan to James Bond, the movie is a cultural mashup of epic proportions.
Movies 'Bride Wars': Bridezillas On The Loose In New York January 8, 2009 • The perfect day becomes a perfect nightmare when best friends schedule their weddings for the same date. Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson star in a lukewarm battle of the bridezillas.
Movies In 'The Unborn,' A Series Of Unblessed Events January 8, 2009 • Sibling rivalry goes beyond the grave in David S. Goyer's supernatural thriller. Spiked with traces of Kabbalah and Nazi curses, The Unborn comes with a creep factor only demon children can deliver.
Movies Tale Of 'Defiance' Among The Third Reich's Targets December 31, 2008 • Two brothers kept 1,200 Jews alive in the forests of Belarus during World War II. Edward Zwick's drama retells their story — and the film is best when it's honest about their tense relationship. Tale Of 'Defiance' Among The Third Reich's Targets Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/98849255/98861520" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Tale Of 'Defiance' Among The Third Reich's Targets Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/98849255/98861520" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Movies Third Reich Returns: 'Valkyrie,' 'Defiance' and 'Good' December 25, 2008 • Despite all the chest-thumping warriors in the new Nazi-themed releases, there isn't much inner conflict in Valkyrie or Defiance. If you want WWII drama, Bob Mondello recommends the new film adaptation of C.P. Taylor's play Good. Third Reich Returns: 'Valkyrie,' 'Defiance' and 'Good' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/98699832/98759525" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Third Reich Returns: 'Valkyrie,' 'Defiance' and 'Good' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/98699832/98759525" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Movies On 'Revolutionary Road,' A Dream Gone Off Course December 25, 2008 • A decade ago, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio played a couple falling in love on the Titanic. They've reunited to play starry-eyed lovers whose marriage goes titanically wrong. On 'Revolutionary Road,' A Dream Gone Off Course Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/98659285/98742069" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Movies In 'Benjamin Button,' A Curiously Chilly Passion December 25, 2008 • David Fincher's romance — based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald — ages Brad Pitt backward until he's the right age to love Cate Blanchett. Kenneth Turan says the peculiar tale is an odd fit for the director's talents. In 'Benjamin Button,' A Curiously Chilly Passion Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/98618345/98706006" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
In 'Benjamin Button,' A Curiously Chilly Passion Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/98618345/98706006" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript