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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

Holiday Movie Preview: What's Coming To Theaters Before The End Of The Year

There's one month left of 2019 and another 40 or so would-be blockbusters and awards contenders that Hollywood will be unwrapping during the holiday season.

Holiday Movie Preview: What's Coming To Theaters Before The End Of The Year

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Play Your Cardigans Right And See 'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood'

Tom Hanks stars as Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood. Lacey Terrell/Sony Pictures hide caption

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Lacey Terrell/Sony Pictures

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Play Your Cardigans Right And See 'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood'

Who can possibly play Fred Rogers? That's a question that the new film A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood tries to answer with a performance from Tom Hanks as the beloved TV host. In the movie a journalist played by Matthew Rhys has a transformative experience with Rogers that reshapes his relationship with his troubled father. A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood is directed by Marielle Heller, who most recently made the Melissa McCarthy film Can You Ever Forgive Me? It uses unconventional techniques to place the journalist's story within Rogers' land of make believe.

Play Your Cardigans Right And See 'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood'

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Get A Clue, Go See 'Knives Out'

Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera and Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Knives Out Claire Folger/Lions Gate Films hide caption

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Claire Folger/Lions Gate Films

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Get A Clue, Go See 'Knives Out'

Whodunit? Was it Jamie Lee Curtis? Chris Evans? Michael Shannon? Don Johnson? Toni Collette? This is the question at the center of the marvelous new comedy Knives Out. The film is directed and written by Rian Johnson, of films like Looper and Brick as well as Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The stellar cast goes on and on to include Ana de Armas, Daniel Craig, LaKeith Stanfield, and, playing the man in the whodunit to whom it was done, Christopher Plummer.

Get A Clue, Go See 'Knives Out'

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Killer Thriller 'Knives Out' Is Surprisingly Subversive — And Comfortingly Familiar

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Writer-director Rian Johnson's deliriously entertaining comic detective story brings together an all-star cast and an ingeniously plotted crime story whose every twist catches you by surprise.

Killer Thriller 'Knives Out' Is Surprisingly Subversive — And Comfortingly Familiar

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'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood' Showcases The Profound Effect Of Mister Rogers

Fresh Air

Director Marielle Heller's new film, starring Tom Hanks, casts a spell with the lightest of touches. Drop your skepticism; this film feels like an encounter with Fred Rogers himself.

'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood' Showcases The Profound Effect Of Mister Rogers

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'Frozen 2': The Snow Must Go On

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Sven in Frozen 2 Walt Disney Studios hide caption

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Walt Disney Studios

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Frozen 2': The Snow Must Go On

1.3 billion dollars will buy a lot of ice. That's how much Frozen made after its release in 2013. The film also gave Disney princess fans two new favorites in sisters Anna and Elsa, and it made a star of Olaf the talking snowman. Now the band is back together for Frozen 2, which finds Anna and Elsa on yet another adventure.

'Frozen 2': The Snow Must Go On

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Movie Review: 'Frozen 2' And 'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood'

The simultaneous openings of Frozen 2 and the Mr. Rogers bio-pic A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood offer a chance to talk about the changing nature of children's entertainment.

Movie Review: 'Frozen 2' And 'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood'

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A Florida Family Saga, Told In 'Waves' Of Healing And Heartache

Sterling K. Brown plays the patriarch of a family in crisis in Waves. Courtesy of A24 hide caption

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Courtesy of A24

A Florida Family Saga, Told In 'Waves' Of Healing And Heartache

Fresh Air

Life doesn't go according to plan for the family at the center of this wrenching drama. But while Waves doesn't peddle easy redemption, it does offer what feels like a state of grace.

A Florida Family Saga, Told In 'Waves' Of Healing And Heartache

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