Movie Reviews : NPR

Movie Review: A Digitized 'Dumbo' Takes Flight In Tim Burton's Recreation

March 29, 2019 • The circus world of Disney's 1941 animated classic Dumbo, about a flying elephant, has been recreated by Tim Burton in digitally enhanced live-action.

Movie Review: A Digitized 'Dumbo' Takes Flight In Tim Burton's Recreation

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'Downton' Flabby: Period Piece 'The Chaperone' Is A Let-Down

In The Chaperone, Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) seeks a future as a dancer in 1920's New York. Masterpiece hide caption

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Masterpiece

'Downton' Flabby: Period Piece 'The Chaperone' Is A Let-Down

March 28, 2019 • There's plenty of 'Downton Abbey' DNA in this tale of prim Norma (Elizabeth McGovern) who shepherds young Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) to NYC; there's also a leaden script and thin characters.

Like A Rolling Stoner: Burnout Comedy 'The Beach Bum' Is A Balm

Blaze of Glory: Moondog (Matthew McConaughey) is a stoner/poet shambling through South Florida in Harmony Korine's The Beach Bum. Neon hide caption

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Neon

Like A Rolling Stoner: Burnout Comedy 'The Beach Bum' Is A Balm

March 28, 2019 • In writer/director Harmony Korine's latest, Matthew McConaughey plays a South Florida stoner/poet. It's a meandering, ecstatic, and ultimately "brilliant embrace of body, pleasure and art."

'Dumbo': Elephants Never Forget, But Audiences Will

Tim Burton's Dumbo re-imagines the 1942 animated Disney classic. Disney hide caption

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Disney

'Dumbo': Elephants Never Forget, But Audiences Will

March 28, 2019 • Tim Burton's take on the classic Disney animated feature does what it sets out to do in a kid-friendly, safe and unsurprising way devoid of the director's onetime idiosyncratic flair.

In The Bleakly Beautiful 'Diane,' Mary Kay Place Can't Help But Keep Helping

Mary Kay Place is a flinty New Englander with a grown son she can't help but help, in Diane. IFC hide caption

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IFC

In The Bleakly Beautiful 'Diane,' Mary Kay Place Can't Help But Keep Helping

March 28, 2019 • The debut feature of documentary filmmaker Kent Jones paints a loving but clear-eyed portrait of an older woman (Mary Kay Place) enabling her grown, addict son (Jake Lacy).

Movie Review: 'Hotel Mumbai' Looks At 2008 Terrorist Attack That Shook The World

March 22, 2019 • The 2008 terrorist attack on the famed Taj Hotel is recreated in the new film drama, Hotel Mumbai.

Movie Review: 'Hotel Mumbai' Looks At 2008 Terrorist Attack That Shook The World

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Jordan Peele's 'Us' Asks: What If The Evil That Dwells Within Took Human Form?

Fresh Air

March 22, 2019 • Peele mixes horror and hilarity in a new film about a family who runs into terrifying doppelgängers of themselves while on vacation. Critic Justin Chang says star Lupita Nyong'o carries the movie.

Jordan Peele's 'Us' Asks: What If The Evil That Dwells Within Took Human Form?

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Lupita Nyong'o stars in Us, Jordan Peele's latest film. Claudette Barius/Universal hide caption

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Claudette Barius/Universal

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Us'

March 22, 2019 • Us is Jordan Peele's follow up to his 2017 film Get Out. The film stars Lupita Nyong'o as a mother whose whole family is confronted by their own doppelgängers.

'Us'

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'Out Of Blue': Stardust And (Hollywood) Star-Power Fuel This Genre-Bending Whodunit

Patricia Clarkson stars in Out Of Blue, a genre-bending detective flick. The movie is based on the Marin Amis novel Night Train. IFC hide caption

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'Out Of Blue': Stardust And (Hollywood) Star-Power Fuel This Genre-Bending Whodunit

March 21, 2019 • This introspective (and occasionally downright lethargic) existential whodunit starring Patricia Clarkson and a cast of ringers is based on the Martin Amis novel Night Train.

Measure Twice ...: Lupita Nyong'o stars in Us, the latest horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele. Claudette Barius/Universal Pictures hide caption

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Claudette Barius/Universal Pictures

When You Meet The Enemy, And It Is 'Us'

March 21, 2019 • Though less thematically precise than Get Out, Jordan Peele's latest film doubles down on horror — and excels at capturing the mundane, funny moments between the big scares.

On The Eve Of World War I, 'Sunset' Is Gorgeous But Opaque

Sunset stars Juli Jakab as Irisz Leiter, a young woman in Budapest on the eve of World War I. Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Sony Pictures Classics

On The Eve Of World War I, 'Sunset' Is Gorgeous But Opaque

March 21, 2019 • A beautiful, headstrong young woman (Juli Jakab) interrogates her past even as Budapest prepares to crumble; director Laszlo Nemes depicts "the soil in which fascism takes root" with cool dispassion.

In 'Hotel Mumbai,' Grueling Violence, Depicted With Cruel Relish

Nazanin Boniadi, Dev Patel, and Armie Hammer star in Hotel Mumbai, a docudrama about the 2008 attack on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Mark Rogers/Bleeker Street Media hide caption

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Mark Rogers/Bleeker Street Media

In 'Hotel Mumbai,' Grueling Violence, Depicted With Cruel Relish

March 21, 2019 • The film's choice to foreground white characters over the deaths of many Indian victims makes for a cold, distasteful watch.

Movie Review: 'The Mustang'

March 15, 2019 • A convict who seeks redemption finds it in an unusual place in The Mustang, that's based on real-life drama.

Movie Review: 'The Mustang'

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'Ash Is Purest White' Is A Deeply Moving Gangster Romance Spanning 17 Years

Fresh Air

March 15, 2019 • Chinese writer-director Jia Zhangke examines upheaval in modern China in his latest film, a gripping drama of crime and punishment about a woman and her gangster boyfriend.

'Ash Is Purest White' Is A Deeply Moving Gangster Romance Spanning 17 Years

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'Girl' Talk: 2 Critics Break Down The Polarizing New Netflix Movie

Victor Polste, a young cisgender man, plays the role of a transgender woman in Girl. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

'Girl' Talk: 2 Critics Break Down The Polarizing New Netflix Movie

March 14, 2019 • A cis male critic and a trans female critic discuss the controversial Belgian film, coming soon to Netflix, about a young transgender ballet dancer.

Movie Reviews

Friday March 29, 2019

Movie Review: A Digitized 'Dumbo' Takes Flight In Tim Burton's Recreation

Movie Review: A Digitized 'Dumbo' Takes Flight In Tim Burton's Recreation

Thursday March 28, 2019

'Downton' Flabby: Period Piece 'The Chaperone' Is A Let-Down

Like A Rolling Stoner: Burnout Comedy 'The Beach Bum' Is A Balm

'Dumbo': Elephants Never Forget, But Audiences Will

In The Bleakly Beautiful 'Diane,' Mary Kay Place Can't Help But Keep Helping

Friday March 22, 2019

Movie Review: 'Hotel Mumbai' Looks At 2008 Terrorist Attack That Shook The World

Movie Review: 'Hotel Mumbai' Looks At 2008 Terrorist Attack That Shook The World

Jordan Peele's 'Us' Asks: What If The Evil That Dwells Within Took Human Form?

Fresh Air

Jordan Peele's 'Us' Asks: What If The Evil That Dwells Within Took Human Form?

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Us'

'Us'

Thursday March 21, 2019

'Out Of Blue': Stardust And (Hollywood) Star-Power Fuel This Genre-Bending Whodunit

When You Meet The Enemy, And It Is 'Us'

On The Eve Of World War I, 'Sunset' Is Gorgeous But Opaque

In 'Hotel Mumbai,' Grueling Violence, Depicted With Cruel Relish

Friday March 15, 2019

Movie Review: 'The Mustang'

Movie Review: 'The Mustang'

'Ash Is Purest White' Is A Deeply Moving Gangster Romance Spanning 17 Years

Fresh Air

'Ash Is Purest White' Is A Deeply Moving Gangster Romance Spanning 17 Years

Thursday March 14, 2019

'Girl' Talk: 2 Critics Break Down The Polarizing New Netflix Movie