Movies: Movie Reviews and Commentary on New and Classic Films : NPR

'I Do ... Until I Don't' Doesn't Quite Work ... Until It Does

Ed Helms and Lake Bell play documentary subjects Noah and Alice, whose marriage may be headed for a seven-year ditch, in the comedy I Do ... Until I Don't. The Film Arcade hide caption

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The Film Arcade

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Movie Reviews

'I Do ... Until I Don't' Doesn't Quite Work ... Until It Does

August 31, 2017 • Lake Bell's follow-up to 2013's In a World ... lacks that film's focus and drive but finds itself in the final act, once its pacing grows "agreeably manic."

'Viceroy's House': A Warm-Hearted Look At The Sunset Of The British Empire

Lord Louis Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville), Mahatma Gandhi (Neeraj Kabi) and Lady Edwina Mountbatten (Gillian Anderson) smile politely in The Viceroy's House. Kerry Monteen/IFC Films hide caption

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Kerry Monteen/IFC Films

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Movie Reviews

'Viceroy's House': A Warm-Hearted Look At The Sunset Of The British Empire

August 31, 2017 • Directed and co-written by Gurinder Chadha (who also directed and co-wrote Bend it Like Beckham) this crowd-pleasing, gently revisionist period drama examines the last days of British colonial rule.

Hollywood Suffers Worst Summer Box Office In A Decade

August 30, 2017 • The Hollywood box office is off by a lot this year. Bad sequels, big bombs and fewer films contributed to the weak bottom line.

Hollywood Suffers Worst Summer Box Office In A Decade

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Movie Interviews

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Remembering Horror Film Director Tobe Hooper

Fresh Air

August 30, 2017 • Hooper, who died Saturday, wrote and directed the 1974 cult classic film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which helped inspire a wave of slasher films that followed. Originally broadcast in 1988.

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Remembering Horror Film Director Tobe Hooper

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Movie Interviews

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Writer/Director Paul Schrader

Fresh Air

August 30, 2017 • Schrader wrote the screenplays for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ, and wrote and directed Blue Collar. He spoke in 1988 about his religious upbringing and his work in film.

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Writer/Director Paul Schrader

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Movie Interviews

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Filmmaker And Theater Legend Elia Kazan

Fresh Air

August 28, 2017 • Kazan, whose film credits include Streetcar Named Desire and On The Waterfront, spoke in 1988 about directing Marlon Brando and his 1952 testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Filmmaker And Theater Legend Elia Kazan

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Movie Interviews

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Prolific Filmmaker Sidney Lumet

Fresh Air

August 28, 2017 • The Dog Day Afternoon director spoke to Terry Gross in 1988 about his career, which spanned more than five decades and included credits for acting, directing, screenwriting and producing.

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Prolific Filmmaker Sidney Lumet

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Movie Interviews

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': The Kirk Douglas Interview

Fresh Air

August 28, 2017 • One of Hollywood's biggest stars of the 1950s and '60s, Douglas went on to run his own production company. His film credits include Spartacus and Lust for Life. Originally broadcast in 1988.

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': The Kirk Douglas Interview

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Tobe Hooper, Director Of 'Chain Saw Massacre,' Dies At 74

Tobe Hooper arrives at the premiere of New Line's Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Beginning at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 2006 in Los Angeles, Calif. Michael Buckner/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Buckner/Getty Images

The Two-Way

Tobe Hooper, Director Of 'Chain Saw Massacre,' Dies At 74

August 27, 2017 • Hooper's disturbing horror film, which was made on a shoestring budget, had a lasting influence on the genre.

Movie Interviews

A Young Man Struggles With His Sexuality In 'Beach Rats'

August 27, 2017 • A Martinez talks to director Eliza Hittman about her new movie Beach Rats and its protagonist's struggle with his sexual identity.

A Young Man Struggles With His Sexuality In 'Beach Rats'

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Why Don't We Have Princess Leia Holograms Yet?

Researchers at the University of Rochester unveiled a system that uses laser projection to generate 3-D holograms. University of Rochester hide caption

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University of Rochester

All Tech Considered

Why Don't We Have Princess Leia Holograms Yet?

August 26, 2017 • Researchers continue to chase down the sci-fi holy grail of genuine free-standing holograms — and they're getting pretty close. One obstacle: Current computing systems just aren't up to it.

Review

Movie Reviews

A Closeted Teen Struggles To Maintain His Double Life In 'Beach Rats'

August 25, 2017 • NPR movie critic Bob Mondello reviews Beach Rats, which follows a teenager in Brooklyn who is having a lousy summer. The film won the best directing prize at Sundance earlier this year.

A Closeted Teen Struggles To Maintain His Double Life In 'Beach Rats'

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Television

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Oscar-Winning Actress Patty Duke

Fresh Air

August 25, 2017 • Duke grew up in the public eye, playing Helen Keller in the stage and screen versions of The Miracle Worker. Later she starred in her own TV sitcom, The Patty Duke Show. Originally broadcast in 1988.

Celebrating 30 Years Of 'Fresh Air': Oscar-Winning Actress Patty Duke

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A Dancer Spins From Classical Ballet To Modern Dance In 'Polina'

It Takes Tutu To Tango: Karl (Jeremie Belingard) and Polina (Anastasia Shevtsova) in Polina. Oscilloscope hide caption

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Oscilloscope

Review

Movie Reviews

A Dancer Spins From Classical Ballet To Modern Dance In 'Polina'

August 24, 2017 • Once it trades rote ballerina-training cliches for ecstatically shot sequences of hip-hop choreography, this French film, like its main character, comes alive.