Culture In 'Public Places,' Lives of Quiet Desperation Fresh Air April 27, 2007 • French filmmaker Alain Resnais is best known for his nonlinear art films — but 20 years ago he began adapting plays; his latest picture, Private Fears in Public Places, is based on a 2004 dark comedy by the British writer Alan Ayckbourn. In 'Public Places,' Lives of Quiet Desperation Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9879476/9879484" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Culture 'Jindabyne': A Death, and Dark Things Surface April 27, 2007 • Jindabyne is a movie in which friends on a fishing trip find a body, but choose not to report it. It's an Australian film based on a short story by Raymond Carver. 'Jindabyne': A Death, and Dark Things Surface Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9870458/9870461" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Culture Unexpected Adventures 'In the Land of Women' April 25, 2007 • Jonathan Kasdan's debut feature brings a refreshing human touch to what could be clichéd material about looking for love and finding a way through life. Maybe that gift runs in the family: His dad wrote and directed The Big Chill. Unexpected Adventures 'In the Land of Women' Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9823362/9833812" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Culture 'Hot Fuzz': A Bang-Bang Aimed Dead at Hollywood Fresh Air April 20, 2007 • Director Edgar Wright and actor-writer Simon Pegg came to prominence in England with their TV sitcom Spaced, and made a worldwide splash with the zombie comedy of manners Shaun of the Dead. Their latest collaboration, a parody of Hollywood police shoot-em-ups called Hot Fuzz, is set in a buccolic English village where things just aren't the way they seem. 'Hot Fuzz': A Bang-Bang Aimed Dead at Hollywood Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9715928/9715934" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Fresh Air 'Black Book' Takes Verhoeven Back Home Fresh Air April 13, 2007 • Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven's latest is the thriller Black Book, set during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. It's the first film Verhoeven has made in his home country since 1977. 'Black Book' Takes Verhoeven Back Home Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9567383/9567386" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Culture A Deeply Imperfect 'Perfect Stranger' April 13, 2007 • Halle Berry stars as a newspaper reporter in Perfect Stranger, investigating bad guy Bruce Willis. But the facts get fuzzy, and the film may have you asking yourself what's going on — and why it was even made. A Deeply Imperfect 'Perfect Stranger' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9564599/9564603" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Culture Zombies and Hot Rods and Spoofs — Oh, Guys! April 7, 2007 • Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez bring us Grindhouse, a deliberately cheesy homage to the low-rent double feature — and believe it or not, critic Bob Mondello says "What's not to love?" Zombies and Hot Rods and Spoofs — Oh, Guys! Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9444486/9444667" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Zombies and Hot Rods and Spoofs — Oh, Guys! Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9444486/9444667" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Movies 'Grindhouse' Goes for Schlock Value Fresh Air April 6, 2007 • Zombies, car chases, and fake trailers for a string of films that don't exist: Grindhouse is a kind of meta-exploitation double feature from directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. 'Grindhouse' Goes for Schlock Value Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9415577/9415580" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Grindhouse' Goes for Schlock Value Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9415577/9415580" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Movies 'The Hoax' Tells a Real Story About a Fake April 5, 2007 • In the early 1970s, Clifford Irving got a million-dollar advance for what turned out to be a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Irving's fake was discovered, and he went to jail — where he wrote a best-seller about how he nearly got away with it. That entire adventure has been turned into a movie, The Hoax, starring Richard Gere and Alfred Molina. 'The Hoax' Tells a Real Story About a Fake Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9396755/9396756" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Culture Ferrell Carries on with Parody in 'Blades of Glory' Fresh Air March 30, 2007 • In the new film Blades of Glory, comic actor Will Ferrell plays a boorish figure skater forced to team up with another man in a pairs skating competition. The role is Ferrell's latest in a series of characters that have parodied macho men. Ferrell Carries on with Parody in 'Blades of Glory' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9241794/9241797" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Culture The Lived-In World of 'The Lookout' March 30, 2007 • The Lookout, a thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, invests more than the usual amount of effort in developing characters. It marks the directing debut of Scott Frank, known for his writing work. The Lived-In World of 'The Lookout' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9237346/9237353" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
The Lived-In World of 'The Lookout' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9237346/9237353" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Music News A Paul Robeson 'Portrait' on DVD Fresh Air March 26, 2007 • A new Criterion four-DVD box set — Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist features several of Robeson's films and an abundance of documentary material. A Paul Robeson 'Portrait' on DVD Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9137105/9137109" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Culture Iran's Women on the Pitch: 'Offside' March 23, 2007 • Iranian director Jafar Panahi's movie Offside is a comedy about young Iranian women trying against long odds to get into a packed soccer stadium. Iran's Women on the Pitch: 'Offside' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9112134/9112137" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Iran's Women on the Pitch: 'Offside' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9112134/9112137" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Culture Sandler Takes a Serious Turn in 'Reign Over Me' Fresh Air March 23, 2007 • Mike Binder has directed nine feature films. In Reign Over Me, he gives a serious — an extremely serious — part to the comic Adam Sandler, who plays a man whose life is destroyed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Sandler Takes a Serious Turn in 'Reign Over Me' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9101893/9101896" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Culture Wahlberg: One Cool Character in 'Shooter' March 23, 2007 • The heroic loner, battling incredible odds. That's the character Mark Wahlberg inherits in Shooter, a thriller about a former Marine set up as a patsy in a political killing. Wahlberg gives a Steve McQueen-style performance. Wahlberg: One Cool Character in 'Shooter' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9096721/9096724" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Wahlberg: One Cool Character in 'Shooter' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9096721/9096724" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript