Movie Reviews : NPR

'Leave No Trace' Follows A Father And Daughter Off The Grid

Fresh Air

June 29, 2018 • Director Debra Granik's new film is based on a true story about a veteran suffering from PTSD who lives secretly in a municipal forest with his teenage daughter.

'Leave No Trace' Follows A Father And Daughter Off The Grid

Listen · 6:52 6:52

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/624649490/624732592" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

In 'The Cakemaker,' Grieving Is Baked In

The Path of Yeast Resistance: In The Cakemaker, Thomas (Tim Kalkhof) involves himself in the life and work of his dead lover's family. Strand Releasing hide caption

toggle caption

Strand Releasing

In 'The Cakemaker,' Grieving Is Baked In

June 28, 2018 • An impassive German baker travels to Jerusalem to work in the restaurant owned by his dead lover's wife. It's complicated.

'Sicario: Day Of The Soldado' Is A Scattershot Sequel

Benicio Del Toro, at least, is back battling drug cartels in Sicario: Day of the Soldado. Sony hide caption

toggle caption

Sony

'Sicario: Day Of The Soldado' Is A Scattershot Sequel

June 28, 2018 • The lackluster sequel to 2015's moody and violent Sicario is missing that film's director (Denis Villeneuve), its stars (Emily Blunt and Daniel Kaluuya) and its artfulness.

'Three Identical Strangers': Nuanced Doc Tells A Gripping Tale — In Triplicate

L to R: Eddy Galland, David Kellman and Bobby Shafran were identical triplets separated at birth; the documentary Three Identical Strangers explores their fascinating story. ... Stories. NEON hide caption

toggle caption

NEON

'Three Identical Strangers': Nuanced Doc Tells A Gripping Tale — In Triplicate

June 28, 2018 • Filmmaker Tim Wardle reveals the fascinating story of three identical triplets who found one another by chance, and shows how the ensuing media circus, and long-buried secrets, took a toll on each.

Grid? Can't Bear It: Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, L) and Will (Ben Foster, R) take to the woods ... and get taken from them, in Leave No Trace. Scott Green/Bleecker Street hide caption

toggle caption

Scott Green/Bleecker Street

'Leave No Trace' Stays With You

June 28, 2018 • Will (Ben Foster) and daughter Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) live off the grid — until the authorities find them — in a grounded, sharply observed film from the director of Winter's Bone.

'Leave No Trace' Stays With You

Listen · 3:13 3:13

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/623984454/624789897" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

'Sicario: Day Of The Soldado' Is A Swaggering Sequel That's Short On Precision

Fresh Air

June 27, 2018 • The war on drugs has gone from bad to worse in this follow-up to the 2015 film. Justin Chang says that though its "bigger and brasher" than the original, the story in this sequel doesn't fully engage.

'Sicario: Day Of The Soldado' Is A Swaggering Sequel That's Short On Precision

Listen · 8:32 8:32

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/623854455/623945477" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Leapin' Lizards! The Dinos Are Loose Again In 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'

June 22, 2018 • It's been 25 years and four movies since T. Rexes, velociraptors and their variously lethal cousins stomped on screen in Jurassic Park. NPR critic Bob Mondello says they're still stomping in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and are, once again, threatened with extinction.

Leapin' Lizards! The Dinos Are Loose Again In 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'

Listen · 3:27 3:27

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/622678774/622678775" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

'The King' Fuses Elvis' Turbulent Life Story With The Soul Of America

Fresh Air

June 22, 2018 • Eugene Jarecki's documentary uses the rise and fall of Elvis Presley to track the ups and downs of America's past century. Critic Justin Chang calls The King a "feverishly analytical" musical essay.

'The King' Fuses Elvis' Turbulent Life Story With The Soul Of America

Listen · 6:41 6:41

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/622516530/622599321" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Dino Vs. The Volcano: 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Generates Intermittent Heat

Sleep Dino More: Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen (Chris Pratt) try not to wake one of Isla Nublar's grumpiest residents in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures hide caption

toggle caption

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Dino Vs. The Volcano: 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Generates Intermittent Heat

June 21, 2018 • In this derivative but fitfully inventive fifth installment of the Jurassic franchise, our heroes try to rescue Isla Nublar's dinosaurs from extinction-by-lava, only to get their ash handed to them.

Dino Vs. The Volcano: 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Generates Intermittent Heat

Listen · 24:51 24:51

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/621060026/622334416" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

'The Catcher Was A Spy': World War II Biopic Barely Singles

On The Down Low And Outside: Estella Huni (Sienna Miller) and Moe Berg (Paul Rudd) dance around the truth in The Catcher Was a Spy. Dusan Martinecek/IFC Films hide caption

toggle caption

Dusan Martinecek/IFC Films

'The Catcher Was A Spy': World War II Biopic Barely Singles

June 21, 2018 • Despite a fascinating subject and an impressive cast, this tale of MLB catcher Moe Berg's stint as an OSS agent simply presents the facts without generating any insights.

Itchy Trigger Figures: Penelope (Mia Wasikowska) and Samuel (Robert Pattinson) in the Zellner Brothers' Western farce Damsel. Magnolia Pictures hide caption

toggle caption

Magnolia Pictures

This 'Damsel' Is In No Distress

June 21, 2018 • In this goofy Wild West farce from the Zellner Brothers, a fop (Robert Pattinson) and his miniature horse (Butterscotch) set out to rescue a young woman (Mia Wasikowska) who needs no rescuing.

Elvis Documentary Comes For 'The King' — And Does Not Miss

In "a mad experiment" that pays off hugely, documentarian Eugene Jarecki examines Elvis Presley's life — including this meeting with Nixon — from the driver's seat of the singer's 1963 Rolls-Royce. Oscillloscope hide caption

toggle caption

Oscillloscope

Elvis Documentary Comes For 'The King' — And Does Not Miss

June 21, 2018 • Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki masterfully explores Presley's life as a metaphor for America as he drives the late singer's 1963 Rolls-Royce across the country, interviewing those he meets along the way.

'Incredibles 2' Will Empower Children And Their Parents

June 15, 2018 • In the much anticipated sequel, Incredibles 2, the supermom heads off to save the world, while superdad stays home with the superkids. Guess who has the tougher job?

'Incredibles 2' Will Empower Children And Their Parents

Listen · 2:04 2:04

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/620471061/620471062" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Wildly Uneven 'Superfly' Strives To Take The Anti- Out Of Its Antihero

Trevor Jackson and Michael K. Williams star in Director X's remake of the '70s blaxploitation film Superfly. Quantrell D. Colbert/Columbia Pictures hide caption

toggle caption

Quantrell D. Colbert/Columbia Pictures

Wildly Uneven 'Superfly' Strives To Take The Anti- Out Of Its Antihero

June 14, 2018 • The revamp of the classic low-budget 1972 flick Super Fly softens that film's main character and careens between tones "like a Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado that's had its brake lines cut."

'Gabriel And The Mountain' Explores How A Young Man Died — And How He Lived

Chasing Waterfalls: Cristina (Caroline Abras) and Gabriel (João Pedro Zappa) check the filter in Gabriel and the Mountain. Strand Releasing hide caption

toggle caption

Strand Releasing

'Gabriel And The Mountain' Explores How A Young Man Died — And How He Lived

June 14, 2018 • In this clear-eyed docudrama, filmmaker Fellipe Barbosa retraces the final days of his mercurial friend who died of exposure on Malawi's Mount Mulanje in 2009.

Movie Reviews

Friday June 29, 2018

'Leave No Trace' Follows A Father And Daughter Off The Grid

Fresh Air

'Leave No Trace' Follows A Father And Daughter Off The Grid

Thursday June 28, 2018

In 'The Cakemaker,' Grieving Is Baked In

'Sicario: Day Of The Soldado' Is A Scattershot Sequel

'Three Identical Strangers': Nuanced Doc Tells A Gripping Tale — In Triplicate

'Leave No Trace' Stays With You

'Leave No Trace' Stays With You

Wednesday June 27, 2018

'Sicario: Day Of The Soldado' Is A Swaggering Sequel That's Short On Precision

Fresh Air

'Sicario: Day Of The Soldado' Is A Swaggering Sequel That's Short On Precision

Friday June 22, 2018

Leapin' Lizards! The Dinos Are Loose Again In 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'

Leapin' Lizards! The Dinos Are Loose Again In 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'

'The King' Fuses Elvis' Turbulent Life Story With The Soul Of America

Fresh Air

'The King' Fuses Elvis' Turbulent Life Story With The Soul Of America

Thursday June 21, 2018

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Dino Vs. The Volcano: 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Generates Intermittent Heat

Dino Vs. The Volcano: 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Generates Intermittent Heat

'The Catcher Was A Spy': World War II Biopic Barely Singles

This 'Damsel' Is In No Distress

Elvis Documentary Comes For 'The King' — And Does Not Miss

Friday June 15, 2018

'Incredibles 2' Will Empower Children And Their Parents

'Incredibles 2' Will Empower Children And Their Parents

Thursday June 14, 2018

Wildly Uneven 'Superfly' Strives To Take The Anti- Out Of Its Antihero

'Gabriel And The Mountain' Explores How A Young Man Died — And How He Lived