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Movies: Movie Reviews and Commentary on New and Classic Films NPR Movies podcast, movie reviews, and commentary on new and classic films. Interviews with filmmakers, actors, and actresses.

Movies

Friday

Movie Interviews

'Return To Homs' Follows Cycle Of Syrian Demonstrations

A new documentary about the war in Syria follows the transformation of peaceful demonstrators into insurgents. Steve Inskeep talks to Orwa Nyrabia, the producer of the film, about the toll of the Syrian civil war on the besieged city of Homs.

'Return To Homs' Follows Cycle Of Syrian Demonstrations

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Thursday

At Home, With Mom And Her Murderous Beau

Depressed single mother Adele (Kate Winslet) and her son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith), give the wounded and desperate Frank (Josh Brolin) a ride, only to realize that Frank is an escaped convict being hunted by local police. Dale Robinette/Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush hide caption

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Dale Robinette/Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush

Review

Movie Reviews

At Home, With Mom And Her Murderous Beau

Adele (Kate Winslet) and her 12-year-old son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith), end up sharing their home with an escaped felon (Josh Brolin) in Jason Reitman's overcooked melodrama.

At Home, With Mom And Her Murderous Beau

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On Urban Streets, Off-Roaders Stir A Noisy Conversation

The Kickstarter-funded 12 O'Clock Boys, director Lotfy Nathan's first film, examines whether dirt bikes keep kids from joining gangs or if they just invent new problems for urban Baltimore. Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories hide caption

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Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories

Review

Movie Reviews

On Urban Streets, Off-Roaders Stir A Noisy Conversation

A community of dirt-bike enthusiasts in Baltimore is the focus of Lotfy Nathan's feature documentary, a film intrigued by the gray area between "They're a public-safety threat" and "This is a part of our culture."

'Charlie Victor Romeo': In Crisis In The Cockpit

Sam Zuckerman, Noel Dinneen and Nora Woolley play various airplane pilots in Charlie Victor Romeo, a white-knuckle docudrama with dialogue taken from the voice recorders of six planes that crashed between 1985 and 1996. Collective: Unconscious hide caption

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Collective: Unconscious

Review

Movie Reviews

'Charlie Victor Romeo': In Crisis In The Cockpit

Adapted from a theater piece, the film dramatizes recordings from the cockpits of six crashing airplanes. Critic Mark Jenkins says the film's portrayal of mortal struggle makes for a claustrophobic intensity.

On Campus, Two Weary Souls Find A Spark To Kindle

Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga star as two weary strangers who meet — and spark mutual midlife awakenings — while taking their kids on a college tour. Anchor Bay Films hide caption

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Anchor Bay Films

Review

Movie Reviews

On Campus, Two Weary Souls Find A Spark To Kindle

At Middleton is far from the first film to make use of either the brief-encounter or the college-transition dramatic tropes — but sisters Vera and Taissa Farmiga in fine form, the film breathes some new life into the genre.

Small Cinemas Struggle As Film Fades Out Of The Picture

The Roxie Theater in San Francisco still has two 35 millimeter projectors, but the switch to digital is inevitable. Laura Sydell/NPR hide caption

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Laura Sydell/NPR

All Tech Considered

Small Cinemas Struggle As Film Fades Out Of The Picture

Paramount became the first big studio to distribute a major film in the U.S. only in digital, and others will probably follow. Small cinemas are struggling to raise money for the transition. Despite resistance from some major directors, the end of film is almost upon us.

Small Cinemas Struggle As Film Fades Out Of The Picture

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Monday

Review

'Dear White People' A Hit At Sundance

The Sundance Film Festival wrapped up this weekend. Host Michel Martin and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Wesley Morris talk about some of the hits, including the satire Dear White People.

'Dear White People' A Hit At Sundance

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Sunday

Technology

Paramount Cuts Film, Giving The Starring Role To Digital

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Paramount Pictures will stop distributing its movies in film, moving to a completely digital format. It isn't just cinephiles who are reeling; archivists rely on film as a medium that will stand the test of time. NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Jan-Christopher Horak, director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, about the implications of Paramount's move.

Paramount Cuts Film, Giving The Starring Role To Digital

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Take A Ride With Baltimore's Renegade Bikers, The '12 O'Clock Boys'

A new documentary follows The 12 O'Clock Boys, a gang of Baltimore dirt bikers who do dangerous stunts at top speeds on city streets." I think it's a kind of escape for these guys; it's a kind of renegade sport," says filmmaker Lotfy Nathan. Noah Rabinowitz/12 O'Clock Boys hide caption

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Noah Rabinowitz/12 O'Clock Boys

Movie Interviews

Take A Ride With Baltimore's Renegade Bikers, The '12 O'Clock Boys'

A new documentary follows a dirt bike gang doing dangerous stunts at top speeds on city streets." I think it's a kind of escape for these guys; it's a kind of renegade sport," says filmmaker Lotfy Nathan.

Take A Ride With Baltimore's Renegade Bikers, The '12 O'Clock Boys'

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Friday

Review

Movie Reviews

Movie Reviews: Gloria & Stranger By The Lake

Bob Mondello reviews two foreign films about people struggling to make connections: the Chilean drama Gloria, and the French thriller Stranger by the Lake.

Movie Reviews: Gloria & Stranger By The Lake

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Movie Buff Or Not, There's Something 'Beautiful' About Hollywood

Review

This Week's Must Read

Movie Buff Or Not, There's Something 'Beautiful' About Hollywood

Welcome to awards season. Between the Golden Globes, the SAG awards, and the upcoming Oscars, it's enough to make anyone question America's fixation on movies. But author Kevin Roose says that Jess Walter's Beautiful Ruins, a novel with a funny take on the movie industry, shows that there's something important going on behind the glitz.

Movie Buff Or Not, There's Something 'Beautiful' About Hollywood

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Review

Movie Reviews

Middle-Aged And Divorced, 'Gloria' Takes On Life's Uncertainties

Fresh Air

Gloria is a new film from Chile that centers on a late-middle-aged divorced woman whose life is full of ambiguity. She's played by Paulina Garcia, who won the top acting prize — the Silver Bear — at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival, where the movie was a surprise hit. It opens this week in New York and Los Angeles, and wider next month.

Middle-Aged And Divorced, 'Gloria' Takes On Life's Uncertainties

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After A Crisis, A Long, Laborious Quest For A New Normal

Neuropsychologist Ted Fielding (Will Forte) is on hand to observe — but not necessarily to help — as Valentia (Mazine Peake) struggles to hold her family together after her husband's stroke in Run & Jump. IFC hide caption

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IFC

Review

Movie Reviews

After A Crisis, A Long, Laborious Quest For A New Normal

Struggling to hold her family together after her husband suffers a personality-altering stroke, a mother forms a friendship with the doctor documenting her husband's case. Run & Jump is the feature-length debut from Oscar-nominated short-film director Steph Green.