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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

Producers Rush Start Of Summer Movie Season

The summer movie season used to start when schools let out in June. Then it moved to Memorial Day. Now it's the beginning of May. And there are reasons to expect calendar-creep to continue.

Producers Rush Start Of Summer Movie Season

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'Please Give': A Fine-Tuned Study Of Envy And Guilt

Rebecca Hall, Ann Guilbert and Amanda Peet stand in the Manhattan apartment that Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt's characters plan to take over — once Guilbert's character passes away. Piotr Redlinski/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Piotr Redlinski/Sony Pictures Classics

Review

Fresh Air

'Please Give': A Fine-Tuned Study Of Envy And Guilt

Fresh Air

Critic David Edelstein reviews Nicole Holofcener's offbeat film about a couple (played by Oliver Platt and Catherine Keener) who are planning to expand their apartment into the one next door — just as soon as their elderly neighbor dies.

'Please Give': A Fine-Tuned Study Of Envy And Guilt

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Thursday

Mad-As-Hell 'Harry': Dirty Deeds, Michael Caine Style

Hardcore Harry: Enraged by the murder of his best friend, an English pensioner (Michael Caine) uses the combat skills he learned fighting the IRA in Ulster to hunt his friend's killer. Samuel Goldwyn Films hide caption

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Samuel Goldwyn Films

Review

Mad-As-Hell 'Harry': Dirty Deeds, Michael Caine Style

When Michael Caine's Harry Brown loses his best friend to drug-dealing thugs, he puts his grief to work — by tracking the killer through the streets of his bleak urban neighborhood.

'Good Heart': They Know Your Name, But Grudgingly

One More Cup Of Coffee For The Road: Just as misanthropic bar owner Jacques (Brian Cox) is beginning to feel the weight of mortality, he meets Lucas (Paul Dano), a young social misfit whom Jacques takes on as his heir and protege. Among the things Jacques teaches Lucas are hostility, arrogance and how to brew the perfect cup of coffee. Magnolia Pictures hide caption

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Magnolia Pictures

Review

'Good Heart': They Know Your Name, But Grudgingly

Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kari's first English feature puts a gloomy twist on the regulars-at-a-pub story when a grumpy old bartender (Brian Cox) takes on a young homeless man (Paul Dano) as his protege.

'Please Give': Real Women, Thrown For Curves

Cheap Shills: Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt play Kate and Alex, two New York antiques dealers with a knack for estate-sale finds that turn a pretty penny — and a marriage that's lost some of its shine. Piotr Redlinski/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Piotr Redlinski/Sony Pictures Classics

Review

'Please Give': Real Women, Thrown For Curves

Nicole Holofcener's off-center comedy tracks a Manhattan antiques dealer whose guilty-liberal anxieties don't keep her from lusting after her elderly neighbor's apartment. Critic Ella Taylor says the film is as tender and sympathetic as it is tough toward all its tortured, even unlikable characters — and it's a nice antidote to the more toxic sort of chick flick favored by Hollywood.

'Furry Vengeance': Skunks Aren't All That Stink

The All-Natural Hotbox: Dan Sanders (Brendan Fraser) endures the wrath of woodland creatures — including a pack of angry skunks in his car — when he agrees to oversee the construction of a housing development on their woodland home. Summit Entertainment hide caption

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Summit Entertainment

Review

'Furry Vengeance': Skunks Aren't All That Stink

Dan Sanders (Brendan Fraser) moves his family to the Oregon wilderness to oversee the construction of a housing development, only to learn that he's messing with the wrong woodland creatures. Raccoons, bear and squirrels alike fight the destruction of their home by terrorizing Sanders with animal poop — and the audience with jokes about it.

Tuesday

Middle East

Islamic Feminists Transforming Middle East

Some Muslims hope to create political, economic and educational opportunities for women, while others condemn women's empowerment as anti-Islamic. A new brand of feminism is taking hold in the Middle East and beyond. It's led, more often than not, by women.

Islamic Feminists Transforming Middle East

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Movie Interviews

Oliver Platt 'Gives' His All On Film, TV And Stage

Fresh Air

The son of a career diplomat, the actor explains how being a theater geek helped him acclimate to new schools every few years — and details how he channeled his father while playing White House Counsel Oliver Babish on Aaron Sorkin's drama The West Wing. Platt currently stars in Nicole Holofcener's film Please Give.

Oliver Platt 'Gives' His All On Film, TV And Stage

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Saturday

Better Known For 'Birds,' Tippi Hedren Prefers Cats

She may be best known for her role as Alfred Hitchcock's heroine in The Birds, but actress Tippi Hedren is also deeply involved in the protection of big cats in the wild and in captivity. Host Scott Simon talks to Hedren, who recently received the Humane Society's Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award for her animal-advocacy work.

Better Known For 'Birds,' Tippi Hedren Prefers Cats

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Friday

Media

YouTube Pulls Hitler 'Downfall' Parodies

Downfall, a German film about Adolf Hitler, has spawned dozens of video parodies on everything from Michael Jackson to the iPad. Users add new subtitles for a scene in the film and then upload the videos to YouTube. The movie's producer is claiming copyright infringement.

YouTube Pulls Hitler 'Downfall' Parodies

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In 'Handsome Harry,' Guilt Plays A Starring Role

Jamey Sheridan shines in the title role as a divorced contractor who exists merely as a "pale shadow" of his former self. Worldview Entertainment hide caption

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Worldview Entertainment

Review

In 'Handsome Harry,' Guilt Plays A Starring Role

Fresh Air

Bette Gordon's drama stars Jamey Sheridan as a broken man trying to make amends for a terrible crime he helped commit 33 years ago. Critic David Edelstein says Sheridan — along with co-stars Steve Buscemi and Aidan Quinn — are beyond praise in this dark and moving revenge story.

In 'Handsome Harry,' Guilt Plays A Starring Role

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Gathering The Past In 'Obselidia'

In this film by writer and director Diane Bell, a movie projectionist and a librarian documenting the obsolete grapple with themes of love and extinction in the shadow of climate change. Bell previews her film, which won the Alfred P. Sloan award at this year's Sundance.

Gathering The Past In 'Obselidia'

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Movie Interviews

'Into Eternity' Examines Nuclear Waste Dilemma

Nevada's Yucca Mountain is no longer an option for long-term storage of nuclear waste. But construction of a similar project is under way in Finland. In his film Into Eternity, director Michael Madsen questions the feasibility of safely storing waste for hundreds of thousands of years.

'Into Eternity' Examines Nuclear Waste Dilemma

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James Cameron's Craft: Blockbuster Special Effects

The official budget of Avatar was $237 million, with an additional $150 million built in for promotional activities. Mark Fellman/20th Century Fox Corp. hide caption

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Mark Fellman/20th Century Fox Corp.

James Cameron's Craft: Blockbuster Special Effects

Fresh Air

You might define the films of James Cameron by listing two characteristics: state-of-the-art special effects and huge box-office receipts. Cameron discusses the special effects in his films Titanic, The Terminator and Avatar — and explains how he came up with his innovative filming techniques.

James Cameron's Craft: Blockbuster Special Effects

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'Persian Cats' Just Want To Rock 'N' Roll ... In Iran

Take It Easy Hospital — the name of the fictionalized band in No One Knows About Persian Cats — performs in Tehran's underground music scene. From left: Pouya Hosseini, Ashkan Koshanejad, Kourosh Mirzaei and Negar Shaghi. Mijfilm hide caption

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Mijfilm

Review

'Persian Cats' Just Want To Rock 'N' Roll ... In Iran

Fresh Air

No One Knows about Persian Cats, which won the Special Jury Prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival, has now opened in theaters across the U.S. Critic John Powers says that Bahman Ghobadi's film — about outlaw musicians in Iran — is a reminder of the liberating potential of rock.

'Persian Cats' Just Want To Rock 'N' Roll ... In Iran

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