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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

'Ophelia' Sees The World Differently Than Shakespeare's Prince Hamlet

Claire McCarthy's new film Ophelia takes the Bard's advice to "hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature," and finds a fresh angle on the story Shakespeare called Hamlet.

'Ophelia' Sees The World Differently Than Shakespeare's Prince Hamlet

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Music Reviews

'Maiden': Groundbreaking 1989 Sailing Race For All-Female Crew

A new documentary tells the story of the first all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World sailing race in 1989. The crew was led by a 24-year-old and the boat was called Maiden.

'Maiden': Groundbreaking 1989 Sailing Race For All-Female Crew

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'Yesterday' Imagines A World Without The Beatles

Ellie (Lily James) and Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) in Yesterday, the latest film from Danny Boyle. Jonathan Prime/Universal Pictures hide caption

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Jonathan Prime/Universal Pictures

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Yesterday' Imagines A World Without The Beatles

In Yesterday, Himesh Patel plays Jack Malik, an English singer whose career is going nowhere. His parents don't understand him, but he's got the support of his friends — especially Ellie, his manager, played by Lily James. One night, Jack gets hit by a bus at the precise moment of a worldwide power outage. When he wakes up, he learns that he's in a world where the Beatles never existed. So he starts playing their songs — the world soon hears them for the first time, and Jack finds his entire life upended.

'Yesterday' Imagines A World Without The Beatles

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Imagine There's No Beatles: 'Yesterday' Proves Too Clumsy For Its Clever Conceit

Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is an aspiring singer-songwriter who finds himself taking credit for The Beatles' catalog in Yesterday. Jonathan Prime/Universal hide caption

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Jonathan Prime/Universal

Imagine There's No Beatles: 'Yesterday' Proves Too Clumsy For Its Clever Conceit

Fresh Air

The breezy rom-com is set in a world where only one man remembers the fab four. The film so takes our affection for The Beatles for granted that it never bothers to give the music a proper showcase.

Imagine There's No Beatles: 'Yesterday' Proves Too Clumsy For Its Clever Conceit

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We Spoil 'Avengers: Endgame'

Women superheroes unite in Avengers: Endgame. Marvel Studios hide caption

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Marvel Studios

Pop Culture Happy Hour

We Spoil 'Avengers: Endgame'

When Avengers: Endgame came out in late April, it got good reviews and it did huge business. As with everything we talk about, we didn't want to spoil it for you, so some of its biggest developments went un-analyzed. But no more. We thought this one deserved a second look before we bid this chapter of the Marvel Universe farewell. So today, we're discussing and revealing with abandon.

We Spoil 'Avengers: Endgame'

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'Toy Story 4' Reaches For An Even More Resonant Sense Of Closure Than Last Film

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang are back for a new adventure involving Bonnie's newest toy, Forky, a spork, in Pixar's Toy Story 4.

'Toy Story 4' Reaches For An Even More Resonant Sense Of Closure Than Last Film

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The Toys Are Back: A Review Of 'Toy Story 4'

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang are back on an adventure in Toy Story 4. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan about the new film.

The Toys Are Back: A Review Of 'Toy Story 4'

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'Toy Story 4' Mixes Nostalgia And Existential Dread

Woody (Tom Hanks) and Bo Peep (Annie Potts) reunite in Toy Story 4. Pixar/Disney/Pixar hide caption

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Pixar/Disney/Pixar

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Toy Story 4' Mixes Nostalgia And Existential Dread

The Toy Story movies have been skittering around the closets of our hearts for almost 25 years. Anchored by Woody the sheriff, voiced by Tom Hanks, they're central to the story of Pixar. Now we're up to Toy Story 4. This time, Woody has to protect a homemade toy named Forky, voiced by Tony Hale. Forky may just be a spork with a face, but he's special to Bonnie, the little girl Woody lives with.

'Toy Story 4' Mixes Nostalgia And Existential Dread

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'Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am': A Defiant Tour Of A Beloved Author's Life, Work

The work and impact of iconic writer Toni Morrison is surveyed in a new documentary directed by filmmaker and portrait photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders/Magnolia Pictures hide caption

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Timothy Greenfield-Sanders/Magnolia Pictures

'Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am': A Defiant Tour Of A Beloved Author's Life, Work

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' discursive documentary features Morrison addressing the camera and dispensing earned wisdom and zingers by the bushel.

To Infinity And ... Be Done: After 4 Films, Have We Finally Outgrown 'Toy Story'?

In the fourth installment of the Toy Story franchise, Bonnie comes home from kindergarten with Forky, a plastic fork with googly eyes and pipe cleaner hands voiced by Tony Hale. Sheriff Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) has aged into an avuncular figure. Pixar hide caption

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Pixar

To Infinity And ... Be Done: After 4 Films, Have We Finally Outgrown 'Toy Story'?

Fresh Air

Though it's as dazzling as you'd expect from a Pixar animation, Toy Story 4 is also more ungainly than its predecessors, with coarser humor and audacious plot leaps that don't always pay off.

To Infinity And ... Be Done: After 4 Films, Have We Finally Outgrown 'Toy Story'?

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