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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.

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'Original Cast Album: Company' provides a glimpse of Sondheim's perfectionism

Fresh Air

In 1970, Stephen Sondheim's comic musical Company broke most of the conventions of American musical theater. Now, a newly restored documentary goes inside the making of the original cast album.

'Original Cast Album: Company' provides a glimpse of Sondheim's perfectionism

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Presenting 'Pop Culture Happy Hour': is 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' stuck in nostalgia?

A view of a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man figurine at the GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE World Premiere on November 15, 2021. Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Sony Pictures hide caption

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Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Sony Pictures

It's Been a Minute

Presenting 'Pop Culture Happy Hour': is 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' stuck in nostalgia?

In this special episode from our friends at Pop Culture Happy Hour, guest host Ayesha Rascoe joins co-hosts Glen Weldon and Stephen Thompson as well as NPR contributor Cyrena Touros to talk about the new movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. They discuss why it's hard to recapture the original Ghostbusters magic and if the latest installment of the franchise added more to its world — or not.

Presenting 'Pop Culture Happy Hour': is 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' stuck in nostalgia?

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'Encanto' is a Disney film filled with charming visuals and lackluster songs

Stephanie Beatriz voices Mirabel in the new Disney film Encanto. Disney hide caption

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Disney

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Encanto' is a Disney film filled with charming visuals and lackluster songs

Encanto is the latest animated Disney musical that tells the story of the Madrigal family, whose members are tucked away in the mountains of Colombia. The film is stuffed with characters who wield magical powers and perform lavish musical numbers written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. But for all its magical realism, it's also a fairly simple story about a family whose bonds need healing.

'Encanto' is a Disney film filled with charming visuals and lackluster songs

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Review: Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' may be the year's best film

Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, stars in Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza, a warmly raucous look at an ambitious teen on the make in 1980s Los Angeles.

Review: Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' may be the year's best film

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A peek at some of the 30 films that are opening this holiday season

More than 30 films are opening between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. Here's a selective peek at all the wanna-be blockbusters and awards contenders that Hollywood has wrapped up for the holidays.

A peek at some of the 30 films that are opening this holiday season

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Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' is an endearing slice of '70s Hollywood

Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim are unlikely friends in Licorice Pizza. MGM hide caption

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MGM

Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' is an endearing slice of '70s Hollywood

Fresh Air

An enterprising teen and a 20-something photographer's assistant become unlikely friends — and then zig-zag from one comic episode to the next — in this altogether wonderful film.

Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' is an endearing slice of '70s Hollywood

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'The Humans,' 'House of Gucci' abound with family squabbling in time for the holidays

Familial squabbles fuel two films opening Thanksgiving weekend: House of Gucci, about a family famous for fashion, and The Humans, a pulitzer-winning look at a clan gathering for the holidays.

'The Humans,' 'House of Gucci' abound with family squabbling in time for the holidays

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House of Gucci is a spicy meatball

Adam Driver, Jared Leto, and Lady Gaga in Ridley Scott's House of Gucci. Fabio Lovino/MGM hide caption

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Fabio Lovino/MGM

Pop Culture Happy Hour

House of Gucci is a spicy meatball

Ridley Scott's House of Gucci is a whole lot of movie. Adam Driver plays the wealthy Mauritzio Gucci, and Lady Gaga plays his wife Patrizia. Al Pacino and Jared Leto play Mauritzio's uncle and cousin, who eventually battle Mauritzio for control of the Gucci empire. It's got fashion, it's got tragedy, and it's got terrible accents.

House of Gucci is a spicy meatball

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King Richard is Will Smith at his Oscar-iest

Aunjanue Ellis, Mikayla Bartholomew, Will Smith, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton and Danielle Lawson in King Richard. Warner Bros. hide caption

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Warner Bros.

Pop Culture Happy Hour

King Richard is Will Smith at his Oscar-iest

King Richard is a sports movie about the early days of superstar tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams. But, as its title suggests, the film focuses on their demanding and ambitious father, Richard Williams. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, the movie stars Will Smith as a man who'll do anything to get his daughters from Compton to Wimbledon.

King Richard is Will Smith at his Oscar-iest

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Rugged masculinity takes a dark turn in 'The Power of the Dog'

Benedict Cumberbatch is the picture of rugged American masculinity in The Power of the Dog. Kirsty Griffin/Netflix hide caption

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Kirsty Griffin/Netflix

Rugged masculinity takes a dark turn in 'The Power of the Dog'

Fresh Air

Jane Campion's Western plays out like a tightly wound psychological thriller, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as one of the scariest characters you're likely to meet this year.

Rugged masculinity takes a dark turn in 'The Power of the Dog'

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Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Who you gonna call? And should you?

Actors Mckenna Grace and Logan Kim in a scene from Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Sony hide caption

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Sony

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Who you gonna call? And should you?

Ghostbusters: Afterlife reconnects with the original timeline of the Ghostbusters films from the 80s while introducing a bunch of new characters. Carrie Coon, Mckenna Grace, and Finn Wolfhard play a family who teams up with Paul Rudd to fight a new supernatural threat. The movie is directed by Jason Reitman — son of Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two Ghostbuster films.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Who you gonna call? And should you?

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Jane Campion's Western 'Power of the Dog' may score her another Oscar nomination

Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons play brothers, and Kirsten Dunst the widow who comes between them in Power of the Dog, a western set in 1920s Montana, directed by Jane Campion.

Jane Campion's Western 'Power of the Dog' may score her another Oscar nomination

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'Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time' remains faithful to the author's spirit

Fresh Air

A new documentary bounces randomly, rather than chronologically, through Vonnegut's life, with music, editing, photography and sequencing that are fully in line with what, and how, Vonnegut wrote.

'Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time' remains faithful to the author's spirit

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Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical 'Belfast' never quite finds its point of view

The family (Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench, Jude Hill and Lewis McAskie) goes to the movies in Belfast. Rob Youngson/Focus Features hide caption

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Rob Youngson/Focus Features

Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical 'Belfast' never quite finds its point of view

Fresh Air

In a rare dive into personal territory, Branagh details growing up amid the Troubles in Northern Ireland. But despite some lovely moments, Belfast feels guarded in its telling.

Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical 'Belfast' never quite finds its point of view

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