In Bringing 'Goosebumps' To The Big Screen, Jack Black Gets His Creepy On
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Black about playing R.L. Stine, the beloved children's horror author, in the new Goosebumps movie.
Arts
When John Williams Can't Go, Whom Does Spielberg Call? Thomas Newman
It's been decades since Steven Spielberg directed a film without Williams' help. With the composer unable to do his latest, Bridge of Spies, Spielberg kept it in the "extended family," tapping Newman.
The Real Magic Of This Big 'City' — And The New Voice Behind It
Before City on Fire's release, Garth Risk Hallberg's debut novel was best known for the big advance it earned. But that paycheck is dwarfed by the book itself: a vast love letter to mid-'70s New York.
O Romeo, Romeo, What The Heck Are You Saying?
Wherefore art "thou"? Why not "you" instead? The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is making an ambitious — and controversial — attempt to rewrite the Bard's plays into modern-day English.
After Decades On Stage, Arthur Miller's Works Defy The Final Curtain
The great American playwright was born a century ago Saturday. An activist as much as he was a writer, Miller challenged social ills in playscripts — and set a new standard for the citizen-artist.
Frederick Forsyth, Thrilling In Real Life
The author of classic thrillers like The Day of the Jackal has just written a memoir, The Outsider, that proves his life as a foreign correspondent-turned-writer is almost as exciting as his fiction.
'Pop Sonnets' Finds Hidden Shakespeare In Top 40 Tunes
Originally a popular Tumblr, Pop Sonnets makes iambic hay out of modern artists like Kesha and Eminem. Critic Tasha Robinson explains why Sonnets isn't your average impulse-buy humor book.
'Bridge Of Spies': Solid Storytelling And Atmospherics
Director Steven Spielberg — with some help from script polishers Joel and Ethan Coen — brings echoes of our own modern day to the Cold War.
A 'Story' Of Much More Than Cancer
Jennifer Hayden's graphic novel is, on the surface, the story of losing her breasts to cancer. But she sets that narrative within a host of other life experiences, making room for joy, hope and humor.
'The Knick' Redefines Oscar-Winning Director's Role In Television
The Knick returns for its second season on Cinemax Friday night. And with it, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh seems to be making good on his vow to turn his back on the film world and work exclusively in TV. He also has a new show on Amazon called Red Oaks, a comedy set in the 1980s. NPR reviews both and says Soderbergh's success is enabling him to shift power in the TV business from writer/producers to director/producers, and that power shift has a lot of repercussions.