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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

Wesley Snipes In 'Brooklyn's Finest'

Director Antoine Fuqua reviews a scene with Wesley Snipes on the set of Brooklyn's Finest. In the film, Snipes plays a drug dealer who doesn't know his prison buddy (Don Cheadle) is really an undercover cop. Phillip V. Caruso/SMPS hide caption

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Phillip V. Caruso/SMPS

Movie Interviews

Wesley Snipes In 'Brooklyn's Finest'

Antoine Fuqua's new movie, Brooklyn's Finest, is about cops who work that part of the borough you won't read about in tourist guides. Host Scott Simon talks with Fuqua and actor Wesley Snipes, who plays a drug dealer who works those same mean streets.

Behind Bars, Lessons In Life, Death And Freedom

Dangerous Duo: Tahar Rahim (left) plays an illiterate Arab who is coaxed into killing a fellow inmate by a Corsican gang leader. Niels Arestrup (right) plays his dangerous and violent "mentor." Roger Arpajou/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Roger Arpajou/Sony Pictures Classics

Review

Culture

Behind Bars, Lessons In Life, Death And Freedom

Fresh Air

In A Prophet, a young Corsican Arab must earn his place in the hierarchy of a French prison by murdering a fellow inmate. Director Jacques Audiard neither victimizes nor glorifies his protagonist, says critic David Edelstein. The result is a gripping, realistic prison drama. (Recommended)

Changed By Their Journeys, But Headed Home

Growing Pains: Prodigal Sons tells the story of a renewed relationship between Marc McKerrow (left) and filmmaker Kimberly Reed (born Paul McKerrow, center, with youngest brother Todd at right). In it, Marc McKerrow, who was adopted, goes in search of his biological parents while Reed documents his search. First Run Features hide caption

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First Run Features

Review

Changed By Their Journeys, But Headed Home

Filmmaker Kimberly Reed — born Paul McKerrow — documents her return to the Montana town she grew up in, and the estranged adopted brother she left behind. Prodigal Sons chronicles Reed's reunion with the friends who once knew her as Paul, but the focus is on her effort to reconnect with her brother — and on his own extraordinary transformations.

'Art Of The Steal': Actual Heist Or Conspiracy Theory?

Albert Barnes made a fortune in pharmaceuticals, and spent it acquiring a massive art collection. He specified that his collection — which includes dozens of works by Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse — should stay forever in Lower Merion, just outside Philadelphia. IFC Films hide caption

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IFC Films

Fine Art

'Art Of The Steal': Actual Heist Or Conspiracy Theory?

Depending on whom you ask, The Art of the Steal is either a searing expose about the biggest art heist of the young century, or two hours of half-baked conspiracy theories. The documentary explores controversial plans to move the Barnes Foundation's $25 billion art collection to downtown Philadelphia — against the wishes of its founder.

In 'Kells,' The Secret Pleasures Of A Low-Tech Art

Enchanted Journey: Orphaned in a Viking raid, Brendan (left) now lives in the fortified Abbey of Kells. But his talents and his natural curiosity drive him outdoors, to an enchanted forest where he meets the changeling girl Aisling. GKIDS/Cartoon Saloon hide caption

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GKIDS/Cartoon Saloon

Review

Culture

In 'Kells,' The Secret Pleasures Of A Low-Tech Art

The Oscar-nominated animated feature The Book of Kells harks back to an earlier style of drawing — not pre-digital animation, but illumination, the curlicued borders and ornate lettering that characterized the work of medieval holy books. Critic Bob Mondello says it's a strikingly beautiful exercise in deliberately retro technique. (Recommended)

Kids Hop Trains To Border In 'Which Way Home'

Kevin, 13, and Fito, 14, are both from Honduras. They hope to find work in the U.S. Click the image to watch the trailer for Which Way Home. Rebecca Cammisa hide caption

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Rebecca Cammisa

Oscar's Top Documentaries

Kids Hop Trains To Border In 'Which Way Home'

Rebecca Cammisa has been nominated for an Academy Award for her film, Which Way Home The documentary follows Central American migrants on a dangerous journey, on the top of a freight train, through Mexico to the U.S. border.

William Hurt: In Every Role, A New Life To Inhabit

In The Yellow Handkerchief, William Hurt plays a criminal eager to change his life after having been released from jail. Samuel Goldwyn Films hide caption

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Samuel Goldwyn Films

Movie Interviews

William Hurt: In Every Role, A New Life To Inhabit

Fresh Air

William Hurt has been nominated for four Academy Awards, and won in 1986 for his role in Kiss of the Spider Woman. Hurt prepares for his performances by burying himself deep inside the character — for his role as an ex-con in the film The Yellow Handkerchief, Hurt spent a night in a Louisiana prison.

From Israel, A Humane And Honest Look At Life

Set in the streets of an ethnically and religiously diverse Jaffa neighborhood, Ajami employs nonprofessional actors to depict stories of crime, tragedy and love in a place where enemies live side by side. Kino International hide caption

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Kino International

Review

From Israel, A Humane And Honest Look At Life

Fresh Air

The new Israeli movie Ajami, shortlisted for an Oscar, is filled with the daily collisions of everyday urban life in the the port city of Jaffa. Movie critic John Powers says that the interesting characters and situations that fill Ajami remind him of the HBO series The Wire.

Ewan McGregor: From Obi-Wan To 'Ghost Writer'

In The Ghost Writer, Ewan McGregor plays a ghostwriter who attempts to discover the truth about Britain's former prime minister. Summit Entertainment hide caption

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Summit Entertainment

Ewan McGregor: From Obi-Wan To 'Ghost Writer'

Fresh Air

Ewan McGregor has played a heroin addict in Trainspotting, a young Obi-Wan Kenobi in three Star Wars films, and a poet in Moulin Rouge. In his latest film, Roman Polanski's Ghost Writer, McGregor plays an unnamed writer uncovering a political scandal. He recounts his favorite acting roles — and how he prepared for them.