Movies: Movie Reviews and Commentary on New and Classic Films : NPR

From Book To Film: Nominees For Adapted Screenplay

January 29, 2012 • What does it take to turn a story told in one medium into a hit film? In the weeks ahead, we're going to explore that question with some of the nominees in this year's Best Adapted Screenplay category of the Academy Awards. Host Rachel Martin speaks to Sasha Stone, founder and editor of AwardsDaily.com.

'Tonight' Show: Playing an alcoholic, unpopular superhero, Will Smith rouses himself from a park bench pass-out to stare down a curious kid in 2008's Hancock — a movie almost titled Tonight, He Comes. Relativity Media/The Kobal Collection hide caption

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Relativity Media/The Kobal Collection

Opinion

Movie Titles That Might Have Been

January 27, 2012 • Star Beast, The Scar, Tribal Rights of the New Saturday Night: If you saw them, you'd know them, but there's a reason you've never heard of these popular movies. Critic Bob Mondello takes a look at movie titles that fell by the wayside.

Woody Allen: Blending Real Life With Fiction

"Making a movie is a great distraction from the real agonies of the world," filmmaker Woody Allen told Fresh Air in 2009. Brian Hamill/MGM/PBS hide caption

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Brian Hamill/MGM/PBS

Movie Interviews

Woody Allen: Blending Real Life With Fiction

Fresh Air

January 27, 2012 • Filmmaker Woody Allen has made more than 40 films in the past five decades. His latest, Midnight in Paris, just received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. In 2009, Allen joined Fresh Air's Terry Gross for a wide-ranging conversation about many of his films.

A 'Man On A Ledge,' With No Room For A Stumble

High wired: Inches away from free-fall, ex-cop Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) calls the shots in a jewel heist in Man On A Ledge. Myles Aronowitz/Summit Entertainment hide caption

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Myles Aronowitz/Summit Entertainment

Review

A 'Man On A Ledge,' With No Room For A Stumble

January 26, 2012 • A convicted ex-cop with a hidden agenda (Sam Worthington) steps out onto a Manhattan high-rise ledge. Critic Andrew Lapin says the film's intriguing premise and daring visuals devolve into generic heist-movie silliness.

British architect Norman Foster and his firm Foster and Partners designed the curved glass skyscraper 30 St Mary Axe, known informally as the Gherkin, that overlooks east London. Oli Scarff/Getty Images hide caption

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Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Review

'Mr. Foster': A Man And His Buildings

January 26, 2012 • Renowned British architect Norman Foster, known for grand modernist structures in international locales, gets the star treatment in a new documentary. Critic Mark Jenkins says a character as controversial as Foster deserves a less reverent look.

It's Man Vs. Beast, With Liam Neeson In The Lead

Cold Blood: John Ottoway (Liam Neeson) and his fellow air-crash survivors take on the arctic elements — and a hungry wolf pack — in The Grey. Kimberley French/Open Road Films hide caption

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Kimberley French/Open Road Films

Review

It's Man Vs. Beast, With Liam Neeson In The Lead

January 26, 2012 • A hardy security expert leads the survivors of a plane crash through the Alaskan wilderness in a running fight against the cold — and wolves. Critic Ian Buckwalter says director Joe Carnahan subverts expectations surprisingly in this stark and occasionally thoughtful action flick.

Young Parents, Unready For The 'War' Ahead

Star-Crossed: Valerie Donzelli and Jeremie Elkaim play Romeo and Juliette, new parents facing daily adversity when their son shows troubling health symptoms. IFC Films hide caption

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IFC Films

Review

Young Parents, Unready For The 'War' Ahead

January 26, 2012 • A carefree French couple confronts helplessness and heartbreak when their newborn son is diagnosed with cancer. Critic Ella Taylor says the film's depiction of the couple's fraying relationship is realistic and arresting.

Oscars 2012: The 84th Academy Awards

Best Actor Oscar Nominee Talks Music

January 26, 2012 • Demian Bichir recently received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of an undocumented immigrant in the drama, "A Better Life." As part of Tell Me More's ongoing series "In Your Ear," Bichir talks about the music that moves him.

In 'Albert Nobbs,' Glenn Close Does More Than Pass

Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close) and Helen (Mia Wasikowska) go on a series of awkward dates in Albert Nobbs, a film based on a 1918 George Moore story. Patrick Redmond/Roadside Attractions hide caption

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Patrick Redmond/Roadside Attractions

Review

In 'Albert Nobbs,' Glenn Close Does More Than Pass

Fresh Air

January 26, 2012 • Both Close and co-star Janet McTeer have received Academy Award nominations for their roles in the period drama. Set in Dublin before World War I, it centers on a woman who finds more freedom by living life as a man.

Best (Not) Original Song? How The Academy Lost Touch With Movie Music

Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia, which used classical compositions to accompany its lush imagery. Magnolia Pictures hide caption

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Magnolia Pictures

Oscars 2012: The 84th Academy Awards

Best (Not) Original Song? How The Academy Lost Touch With Movie Music

January 26, 2012 • Commentator Joe Reid says part of the reason the Best Original Song category at the Oscars has gotten so puny is that what's really interesting in movie music has nothing to do with the pop hits that once defined the race.

'Beasts Of The Southern Wild' Shines At Sundance

January 26, 2012 • The Sundance Film Festival wraps up this weekend in Park City, Utah. Movies, more movies, and finally some snowfall have been on offer at the gathering famously backed by Robert Redford.

What's Hot At The Sundance Film Festival?

January 25, 2012 • The Sundance Film Festival is under way in Park City, Utah, this week. The annual independent film festival has more than a hundred films screening over 10 days. Melissa Block checks in with Los Angeles Times film writer Steven Zeitchik. He says the nation's economic struggles are evident in many of the films on display. And it's not just the documentaries — it's also in the fictional films.

Obituaries

Filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos Dies At 76

January 25, 2012 • Critic David Thomson listed Theo Angelopoulos among a handful of truly great living filmmakers. His movies were epic in length and addressed epic periods in Greek history and mythology. They were among the most visually stunning movies made in the 20th century. He won numerous awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 1995 for Ulysses' Gaze, which starred Harvey Keitel. Angelopoulos died Tuesday after being struck by a motorcycle. He was 76.

At The 'Rampart,' A Centurion's Self-Destruction

Crumbling at the 'Rampart': Veteran L.A. cop Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson, whose last collaboration with director Oren Moverman earned him his second Oscar nomination) is under pressure and not handling it well. Millennium Entertainment hide caption

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Millennium Entertainment

Review

Culture

At The 'Rampart,' A Centurion's Self-Destruction

January 25, 2012 • Director Oren Moverman and Woody Harrelson (The Messenger) team up again for a complex account of a corrupt Los Angeles cop and his a final desperate bid to cash in. (Recommended)

Real Tuskegee Airmen Helped 'Red Tails' Take Flight

David Oyelowo portrays Joe "Lightning" Little in the movie Red Tails. Oyelowo and other actors got guidance on from real Tuskegee Airmen, some of whom are nearly 100 years old. 20th Century Fox/AP hide caption

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20th Century Fox/AP

Movie Interviews

Real Tuskegee Airmen Helped 'Red Tails' Take Flight

January 25, 2012 • George Lucas, the executive producer of the World War II saga, said he wanted the movie to be about heroes. So, he brought them in. Actual Tuskegee Airmen advised actors on everything from how to wear their pants to how to move in a cockpit.