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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.

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Culture

In a Paris Kitchen, a Comedy that Genuinely Cooks

June 30, 2007 • Critic Bob Mondello says Brad Bird's animated kitchen comedy, about a Paris rat who longs to be a haute-cuisine chef, "isn't just amusing, it's downright mouth-watering" — even as it's "engagingly down-to-earth" and temptingly funny about everything from critics to romantic mishaps.

Documentary Chronicles Gypsy Music

June 29, 2007 • A new documentary, Gypsy Caravan, chronicles the trans-Atlantic music tour of five major gypsy ensembles. Director Jasmine Dellal discusses the film.

Culture

Summary Judgment: New Movies

June 29, 2007 • In this week's roundup of reviews for the week's new movies from the online magazine Slate, we hear about Live Free or Die Hard, Ratatouille and Sicko.

Documentary Digs 'The Real Dirt on Farmer John'

Fresh Air

June 29, 2007 • Illinois farmer John Peterson grew up on the farm, took it over after his father's death, and lost most of it in the '80s, when the bank foreclosed on his loans. Later, during the 90s, he turned the place into a community-supported agriculture venture producing organic food.

Review

Culture

Eeew, Sick: Health Care, a Rat Chef and 'Die Hard'

Fresh Air

June 29, 2007 • David Edelstein says Sicko is Michael Moore's best film yet, Ratatouille towers like an Eiffel among animated comedies and the latest Die Hard doesn't make you want to — quite.

Review

Culture

'Ratatouille:' Nervy, Funny and Thoroughly Tasty

June 29, 2007 • Kenneth Turan says director Brad Bird did something audacious — made a major motion picture with a rat for a star. The comedy they've created is imaginative, good-spirited, funny — and brave enough to let the rats be ratlike, even as they charm the audience.

Review

Culture

'Ratatouille'

June 28, 2007 • A Parisian rat dreams of culinary glory, but how will he work among chefs without setting off screams? You expect kitchen slapstick; you get something that's closer to kitchen ballet, plus a story with both drama and heart. It's Cyrano de Bergerat, and it's (recommended).

Review

Culture

'Evening'

June 28, 2007 • The film version of Susan Minot's novel about two women who hear their mom's deathbed murmurs about a long-lost love — and how she killed a man in her youth. Vanessa Redgrave and Meryl Streep (plus their daughters Natasha Richardson and Mamie Gummer) combat a melodramatic script.

Brad Bird and Patton Oswalt, Telling a Rat's Tale

Ratatouille director Brad Bird (left) with Patton Oswalt, who plays the leading rat. Disney/Pixar hide caption

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Disney/Pixar

Culture

Brad Bird and Patton Oswalt, Telling a Rat's Tale

Fresh Air

June 28, 2007 • Director Brad Bird and actor Patton Oswalt talk about their film Ratatouille. The animated feature tells the story of a foodie rat who becomes a chef in a top Paris kitchen. Bird previously directed and wrote The Incredibles and The Iron Giant. Oswalt is a writer and stand-up comedian.

Preview: 'Ratatouille'

June 27, 2007 • Animation historian Charles Solomon previews Ratatouille, the Disney Pixar film that opens this Friday. He talks with the star rat of the movie, voiced by Patton Oswalt, and director, Brad Bird.

Culture

Michael Moore Trains Eye on Health Care

June 26, 2007 • Michael Moore is known for causing corporations and public officials some discomfort in documentaries such as Roger and Me and Fahrenheit 9/11. In his latest picture, Sicko, he casts a critical look at the U.S. health care system.

Culture

Was 'Blade Runner' Prophetic?

June 25, 2007 • Monday marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the movie Blade Runner. The film's neo-noir production is cited as having influenced building design. Some argue that its dystopic setting of Los Angeles in 2019 is not far removed from life on the streets of downtown Los Angeles today.

Writing vs. Playing a Real Life

June 23, 2007 • A Mighty Heart tells the story of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Pakistan in 2002. Writer and actor Dan Futterman, who plays Daniel Pearl in the film, talks Linda Wertheimer about the difference between portraying a real person as an actor, and writing a script about a one.

Review

Culture

'You Kill Me'

June 22, 2007 • A hit-man tells his A.A. group that he needs their help or he'll never work again; they do try to help, and of such moral gray areas, John Dahl's offbeat comedy makes much laughter. (Recommended)

Review

Culture

'A Mighty Heart'

June 22, 2007 • Michael Winterbottom's movie, based on Mariane Pearl's memoir of her slain journalist husband; knowing how this harrowing story played out in real life doesn't diminish its power in the slightest.

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