Movie Reviews : NPR

'Mosul' Offers A Look At Lives Of Iraqis Who Live On Front Lines Of War With ISIS

November 30, 2020 • Netflix's Mosul is a scripted film centered on the fight by an Iraqi SWAT team against ISIS. It was produced by Anthony and Joe Russo, directors of the last two Avengers movies.

'Mosul' Offers A Look At Lives Of Iraqis Who Live On Front Lines Of War With ISIS

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'Happiest Season' Is A Holiday Family Romcom With A Very Merry Cast

The big family in The Happiest Season includes Burl Moseley, Alison Brie, Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Holland, Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen. (Whew!) Hulu hide caption

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'Happiest Season' Is A Holiday Family Romcom With A Very Merry Cast

November 27, 2020 • Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis play Abby and Harper, a couple headed home to Abby's parents' house for Christmas. Dan Levy, Victor Garber and Aubrey Plaza are among the terrific supporting cast.

Holiday Film Preview: What To Watch Now And What To Expect Next Year

November 26, 2020 • NPR offers an expanded holiday film preview to cover the movies that have had their releases delayed into January and February 2021.

Holiday Film Preview: What To Watch Now And What To Expect Next Year

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'Uncle Frank': A Melodramatic Meal, Undercooked And Over-Seasoned

L to R: Frank (Paul Bettany) Beth (Sophia Lillis) and Walid (Peter Macdissi) pull up to the bumper in Uncle Frank. Brownie Harris/Amazon Studios hide caption

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'Uncle Frank': A Melodramatic Meal, Undercooked And Over-Seasoned

November 25, 2020 • A great cast and good intentions can't overcome Alan Ball's rushed, thin story about a closeted gay man returning to his South Carolina hometown in 1974.

Angela Hsieh/NPR

Twenty Years Later, Is 'The Emperor's New Groove'... A Classic?

November 25, 2020 • The Emperor's New Groove came out 20 years ago, during a time when Disney's animation department was going through an identity crisis. The plot is simple: David Spade is a bratty emperor. Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton turn him into a llama. And John Goodman is the peasant who helps make things right. It was originally gonna be an epic musical, but then it became a comedy, a box-office disappointment, and now, we would argue, a beloved classic.

Twenty Years Later, Is 'The Emperor's New Groove'... A Classic?

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Does 'Hillbilly Elegy' Really Have Something To Say?

Glenn Close and Amy Adams star in the film adaptation of the 2016 book Hillbilly Elegy. Lacey Terrell/Netflix hide caption

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Does 'Hillbilly Elegy' Really Have Something To Say?

November 24, 2020 • The book Hillbilly Elegy was a phenomenon in 2016. Writer J.D. Vance wrote about growing up in Ohio and Kentucky, and about his family's struggles with addiction, abuse and poverty. He tried to both explain and critique the white Appalachian experience, to profoundly mixed reviews. Now, a film adaptation on Netflix sticks mostly to the dramatic elements of Vance's story, from his mother's battles with addiction to his path to law school. It's directed by Ron Howard and stars Glenn Close and Amy Adams.

Does 'Hillbilly Elegy' Really Have Something To Say?

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In 'Sound Of Metal,' A Man Whose Life Revolves Around Music Faces World Of Silence

November 23, 2020 • The movie Sound of Metal, starring actor and rapper Riz Ahmed, tells the story of a drummer whose sudden hearing loss changes more than just his career.

In 'Sound Of Metal,' A Man Whose Life Revolves Around Music Faces World Of Silence

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'Collective' Chronicles The Nightclub Fire — And Corrupt System — That Killed 64

Fresh Air

November 23, 2020 • A new documentary reveals how corporate and government corruption led to the use of diluted disinfectants in Romanian hospitals. Collective is a gripping story that speaks to the present moment.

'Collective' Chronicles The Nightclub Fire — And Corrupt System — That Killed 64

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'Small Axe': A Searing Portrait Of Racism And A Community's Will To Survive

Malachi Kirby (standing) plays activist Darcus Howe in Mangrove, the first film in Steve McQueen's Small Axe anthology. Kieron McCarron/Amazon Prime Video hide caption

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Kieron McCarron/Amazon Prime Video

'Small Axe': A Searing Portrait Of Racism And A Community's Will To Survive

Fresh Air

November 20, 2020 • Steve McQueen's powerful anthology consists of five films, each telling a different story about the experiences of Black men and women in London's West Indian community.

'Small Axe': A Searing Portrait Of Racism And A Community's Will To Survive

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Does 'The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special'...Click?

The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special reunites Finn, Rey, Poe, Rose and Chewie for a joyous feast on Life Day. Disney+ hide caption

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Does 'The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special'...Click?

November 18, 2020 • The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special brings back computer animated, extruded-plastic versions of Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewie, Rose, Lando and the droids. The only actors voicing their original characters are Billy Dee Williams, Kelly Marie Tran, and Anthony Daniels. It's Life Day (a Wookiee holiday of peace and harmony). While the rest of the characters set up for a party on the Millennium Falcon, Rey and BB-8 go off on a journey that brings them in contact with pretty much every major character in the entire Star Wars saga.

Does 'The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special'...Click?

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Movie Review: 'Mank' Is A Love Letter To Classic Hollywood

November 16, 2020 • NPR's David Greene talks to critic Kenneth Turan about David Fincher's film, Mank, which looks at the life of writer Herman Mankiewicz during the time that he wrote Citizen Kane for Orson Welles.

Movie Review: 'Mank' Is A Love Letter To Classic Hollywood

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Story Of The Man Who Wrote 'Citizen Kane': David Fincher's 'Mank' Reviewed

November 13, 2020 • David Fincher's new movie, Mank, is a tale of old Hollywood centering on Herman J. Mankiewicz — played by Gary Oldman — who wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane.

Story Of The Man Who Wrote 'Citizen Kane': David Fincher's 'Mank' Reviewed

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Heartbreaking And Hopeful, 'Ammonite' Is A Wind-Swept Tale Of Forbidden Love

Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan star as Mary Anning and Charlotte Murchison in Ammonite. Neon hide caption

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Heartbreaking And Hopeful, 'Ammonite' Is A Wind-Swept Tale Of Forbidden Love

Fresh Air

November 13, 2020 • Kate Winslet plays Victorian-era fossil hunter Mary Anning, and Saoirse Ronan is her lover, in a film that dares to envision a world in which women are ultimately free to make their own decisions.

Heartbreaking And Hopeful, 'Ammonite' Is A Wind-Swept Tale Of Forbidden Love

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An Action-Packed Doc About Local Government? It's All In Wiseman's 'City Hall'

City Hall tags along as Boston mayor Marty Walsh attends various appointments and public appearances — including this meeting about violent crime. Courtesy of Zipporah Films hide caption

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Courtesy of Zipporah Films

An Action-Packed Doc About Local Government? It's All In Wiseman's 'City Hall'

Fresh Air

October 30, 2020 • Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, now 90, has a gift for making riveting cinema from the minutiae of the everyday. His latest is a four-and-a-half hour documentary starring Boston City Hall, pre-COVID-19.

An Action-Packed Doc About Local Government? It's All In Wiseman's 'City Hall'

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'Borat 2': Giuliani Made Headlines, But Is The Film Any Good?

Borat returns in the pithily titled sequel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Amazon Studios hide caption

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Amazon Studios

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Borat 2': Giuliani Made Headlines, But Is The Film Any Good?

October 29, 2020 • In 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen's movie Borat was an unlikely blockbuster. It starred Cohen as a fictional reporter from Kazakhstan who journeys across the U.S. and interacts with Americans who don't know they're part of a comedy. Borat made hundreds of millions of dollars. It spawned catchphrases, and became a pop-culture phenomenon. Now, 14 years later, that unlikely blockbuster has an equally unlikely sequel. The new movie Borat Subsequent Moviefilm grabbed headlines last week because of a controversial scene involving President Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. But is the film itself any good?

'Borat 2': Giuliani Made Headlines, But Is The Film Any Good?

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