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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

Tracee Ellis Ross Can Hit The High Notes, Too

Tracee Ellis Ross stars in The High Note as a legendary singer who is running out of ideas. Meanwhile, her personal assistant, played by Dakota Johnson, has too many. Maarten de Boer/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Maarten de Boer/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Tracee Ellis Ross Can Hit The High Notes, Too

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks to Tracee Ellis Ross about starring in The High Note, a movie about an over-40 superstar singer navigating the music industry with her assistant, who has her own music dreams.

Tracee Ellis Ross Can Hit The High Notes, Too

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In Tune With 'The High Note'

Dakota Johnson stars as Maggie Sherwood, Ice Cube as Jack Robertson and Tracee Ellis Ross as Grace Davis in The High Note. Glen WIlson/Focus Features hide caption

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Glen WIlson/Focus Features

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In Tune With 'The High Note'

There have been countless movies about real and fictional musicians. And in the new movie The High Note, Tracee Ellis Ross plays the fictional legendary singer Grace Davis. Dakota Johnson plays Maggie, an aspiring record producer and Grace's personal assistant. The two women have to figure out everything from whether Maggie has a future in the music industry to whether Grace should take a residency in Vegas.

In Tune With 'The High Note'

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Thursday

HBO Max Will Stream Content From Japanese Animation House Studio Ghibli

NPR's David Greene talks to film critic Kenneth Turan about the entire film library of Studio Ghibli, the famed Japanese animation house, now being streamed on HBO Max.

HBO Max Will Stream Content From Japanese Animation House Studio Ghibli

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Wednesday

Why You Should Stream 'Booksmart'

Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, star in the 2019 comedy Booksmart. Courtesy of Annapurna Pictures hide caption

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Courtesy of Annapurna Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Why You Should Stream 'Booksmart'

Last year we talked about the movie Booksmart, and we really, really liked it. It's about two young women about to graduate from high school who spend one last night trying to catch up on everything they missed. Starring Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, it's the directing debut of actress Olivia Wilde. The comedy came out last summer — and it's currently streaming on Hulu and available to rent on demand. And because so many students are wrapping up their school year and graduating, we thought, what better time to look back at this terrific movie? (This episode originally aired on May 31, 2019.)

Why You Should Stream 'Booksmart'

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Monday

Review

Movie Reviews

What Movies Hollywood Prepared For The Reopening Of Theaters

Memorial Day usually means the start of Hollywood's blockbuster season — except this summer is different. But if movie theaters do reopen soon, Hollywood has few premiers to revive the industry.

What Movies Hollywood Prepared For The Reopening Of Theaters

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Sunday

Review

Movie Reviews

Movie Review: 'On The Record' With Russell Simmons' Accusers

A new documentary looks at allegations that the hip-hop mogul sexually assaulted several women, and places his case against the larger question of how black women are treated by the #MeToo movement.

Movie Review: 'On The Record' With Russell Simmons' Accusers

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Saturday

'The Power Of A Group' Moves Sharon Horgan, Kristin Scott Thomas In 'Military Wives'

Sharon Horgan (left) and Kristin Scott Thomas play the spouses of soldiers who lead a choir group of women to success, in the new based-on-a-true story film, Military Wives. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images hide caption

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Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

'The Power Of A Group' Moves Sharon Horgan, Kristin Scott Thomas In 'Military Wives'

The film follows women who form a choir to cope with their spouses' deployments to Afghanistan. "It's a story that speaks to a huge number of partners, spouses and wives of the military," Horgan says.

'The Power Of A Group' Moves Sharon Horgan, Kristin Scott Thomas In 'Military Wives'

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Friday

Movie Interviews

New FX Documentary Explores Life Of The Woman Behind Roe v. Wade Decision

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with film director Nick Sweeney about his new documentary AKA Jane Roe, which is available on FX starting Friday.

New FX Documentary Explores Life Of The Woman Behind Roe v. Wade Decision

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Movie Interviews

Remembering Fred Willard, Emmy-Winning Comedy Actor And Improviser

Fresh Air

Willard, who died May 15, was known for his scene-stealing roles in the Christopher Guest films Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman, and later the series Modern Family. Originally broadcast in 1997.

Remembering Fred Willard, Emmy-Winning Comedy Actor And Improviser

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With 'Trip To Greece,' Coogan And Brydon's Odyssey Reaches A Poignant End

Actor-comedians Steve Coogan (left) and Rob Brydon (right) play coyly fictionalized versions of themselves in The Trip to Greece. IFC Films hide caption

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IFC Films

Review

Movie Reviews

With 'Trip To Greece,' Coogan And Brydon's Odyssey Reaches A Poignant End

Fresh Air

After journeying through England, Italy and Spain, comic duo Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take one final trip, playing fictionalized versions of themselves as they retrace Odysseus' famed voyage.

With 'Trip To Greece,' Coogan And Brydon's Odyssey Reaches A Poignant End

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Maya Erskine Takes The Lead In 'Plus One' And 'PEN15'

Maya Erskine (left) is co-creator and co-star of Hulu's PEN15 with Anna Konkle. Hulu hide caption

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Hulu

It's Been a Minute

Maya Erskine Takes The Lead In 'Plus One' And 'PEN15'

Maya Erskine has come a long way from the NYU experimental theater department where she met her PEN15 co-creator Anna Konkle. In this encore episode, Erskine talks to Sam about her starring role in the genre-bending romantic comedy Plus One and how she wrote her own life experiences into the character she plays on Hulu's PEN15.

Maya Erskine Takes The Lead In 'Plus One' And 'PEN15'

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Great Recent Movies We Missed

Lakeith Stanfield and Issa Rae star in The Photograph, written and directed by Stella Meghie. Emily Aragones/Universal Pictures hide caption

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Emily Aragones/Universal Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Great Recent Movies We Missed

This is not a normal summer movie season. Theaters are closed, big projects are delayed, and we're missing the flood of new films that would usually have already started. But you don't have to go without movies. That's because even if you see a lot, you miss even more. We do too, and that's what we're talking about today: some recent films we missed that are well worth your time. Plus, we remember the lives and work of Fred Willard and Lynn Shelton.

Great Recent Movies We Missed

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Thursday

Review

Movie Reviews

Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden Follow Homer's 'Odyssey' In Their New Film

In The Trip to Greece, Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden undertake their fourth comic and culinary journey — this one actually modeled after Homer's Odyssey.

Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden Follow Homer's 'Odyssey' In Their New Film

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Movie Interviews

'Fresh Air' Remembers Screenwriter And Director Lynn Shelton

Fresh Air

Shelton, who died May 15, directed the films Humpday and Your Sister's Sister, as well as episodes of the TV shows Mad Men and Little Fires Everywhere. Originally broadcast in 2012.

'Fresh Air' Remembers Screenwriter And Director Lynn Shelton

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Science Movie Club: 'Contact'

Much of the movie 'Contact' was filmed at the Very Large Array in New Mexico. Erin Slonaker/Moment Editorial/Getty Images hide caption

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Erin Slonaker/Moment Editorial/Getty Images

Short Wave

Science Movie Club: 'Contact'

Yes, there actually are astronomers looking for intelligent life in space. The 1997 film adaptation of Carl Sagan's 'Contact' got a lot of things right ... and a few things wrong. Radio astronomer Summer Ash, an education specialist with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, breaks down the science in the film.

Science Movie Club: 'Contact'

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