Culture Slate's Summary Judgment: 'Munich,' 'The Matador,' 'Match Point' December 30, 2005 • Slate contributor Mark Jordan Legan surveys what film critics are saying about major movie releases this week: Steven Spielberg's controversial film Munich, The Matador with Pierce Brosnan in a comedic turn, and Woody Allen's Match Point.
78th Annual Academy Awards Frontrunners Unclear in Oscar Race December 30, 2005 • Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are starting to receive their ballots for Oscar nominations. Aside from clear support for Brokeback Mountain, the field still seems relatively open.
78th Annual Academy Awards Bob Mondello's Top Films for 2005 December 30, 2005 • Despite penguins, lions and gorillas battling for Hollywood supremacy, 2005 will go down as a box office disappointment. But NPR critic Bob Mondello says the year's films were high on quality.
Culture Actor Gene Wilder: 'Kiss Me Like a Stranger' Fresh Air December 29, 2005 • Gene Wilder made his film debut as a kidnap victim in the 1967 Bonnie and Clyde. He is known for his work with Mel Brooks, in addition to the classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Wilder has written a new memoir, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art.
Review 'Match Point' Explores New, Thrilling Terrain December 28, 2005 • Woody Allen leaves both comedy and New York behind for his new movie, Match Point, a thriller set in England. Bob Mondello reviews the new film staring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Emily Mortimer and Matthew Goode.
George Clooney: The Journey to 'Good Night' Fresh Air December 27, 2005 • Actor, producer, writer, director George Clooney directed and co-wrote the new film Good Night, and Good Luck, about the showdown between legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow and Sen. Joseph McCarthy that took place in 1954.
Oscar-Winning Scorsese Editor Thelma Schoonmaker Fresh Air December 26, 2005 • Thelma Schoonmaker has edited every one of director Martin Scorsese's movies, from Raging Bull to The Aviator. She talks about how film editing has changed over the past 30 years and how she got her first big break editing Scorsese's student film at NYU. This interview originally aired on May 31, 2005.
Culture Summary Judgment: 'Cheaper,' 'Rumor,' 'Fun with Dick and Jane' December 23, 2005 • In this edition of Slate magazine's weekly round up of the latest movie reviews, writer Mark Jordan Legan surveys critical comment on new releases. This week's releases include Cheaper By the Dozen 2, Rumor Has It and Fun with Dick and Jane.
Review 78th Annual Academy Awards 'Munich': Spielberg's Most Provocative Film Yet December 23, 2005 • Set after the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Steven Spielberg's film, Munich, follows a secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and kill the 11 Palestinians suspected of having planned the attack. Critic Kenneth Turan says Spielberg's film is about the "murkiest, most divisive of real world issues."
78th Annual Academy Awards Ang Lee: Breaking Down 'Brokeback Mountain' December 23, 2005 • Director Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain is winning acclaim as a dramatic success, and buzz for a love scene between stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Lee tells Alex Chadwick about the making of the modern Western tale.
Review Exploring Malick's Beautiful 'New World' December 23, 2005 • Reclusive director Terrence Malick's new movie, The New World, tells the story of Captain John Smith and the beginnings of the English presence in the Americas. Critic Bob Mondello says The New World is in some ways a reflection of Malick's career -- languid in pacing, with beauty in every frame.
Race Race and 'King Kong' December 22, 2005 • Film critics and others have long noted the racist overtones of the 1933 and 1976 versions of King Kong. As director Peter Jackson's most recent take on the great ape wraps up its first week in movie theaters, Karen Grigsby Bates examines the racial overtones common to all of the Kong films.
Luke Wilson's 'Family Stone' Holiday Fresh Air December 22, 2005 • Actor Luke Wilson's new film The Family Stone depicts the annual holiday gathering of a New England family. Wilson plays Ben Stone, a film editor living on the West Coast. Wilson made his acting debut in Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket, which also starred his brother, Owen.
Guiding 'The Producers' on Screen and Stage Fresh Air December 22, 2005 • Director and choreographer Susan Stroman makes her screen directing debut with the new film version of The Producers, the screen adaptation of the Broadway hit starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. Stroman also directed the musical on stage.
'New World' Offers New Take on Pocahontas December 21, 2005 • In the film The New World, writer-director Terrence Malick deals with the meeting of John Smith and Pocahontas. Though historians dismiss the idea that the two were romantically linked, the new film, like others before it, sticks with that version of the story.