Arts

After 'Fifty Shades,' Could This Be The Next Big Online Hit?

11:49am February 23, 2015

by Petra Mayer

After is an epic, erotic fan fiction loosely based on the British boy band One Direction. It's being republished by Simon & Schuster, which is hoping the story's online fans will buy it in book form.

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In Birdman, Michael Keaton (a real-life former Batman) plays a former movie superhero who's trying to get a grasp on his career.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Our Oscars Omnibus 2015

10:29am February 23, 2015

by Linda Holmes

On this week's show, all eight Best Picture nominees, strong feelings from all concerned, and the rare feeling that a fistfight might be about to ensue.

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Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu accepts the Academy Award for best picture for Birdman.

Arts

'Birdman' Wins Big On A Soggy Night At The Oscars

9:53am February 23, 2015

by Linda Holmes

Sunday night's Oscars brought expected wins for actors like Julianne Moore and J.K. Simmons, and big awards for the quirky showbiz satire Birdman.

In Birdman, Michael Keaton plays both the actor Riggan Thomson, who is having an identity crisis, and his alter ego, Birdman, who badgers him because he gave up a lucrative Hollywood career for a play in an old Broadway theater.

Arts

From 'Batman' To 'Birdman,' Michael Keaton Knows Suits And Superheroes

8:59am February 23, 2015

Keaton says his 1989 bat suit was downright claustrophobic, but he somehow made it work. In the existential comedy Birdman, Keaton plays a washed-up, insecure actor looking for a second shot at fame.

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Arts

Greensboro Symphony's Masterworks Brings Solo Tenor Andrew Bidlack to Town

8:58am February 23, 2015

by David Ford

Franz Joseph Haydn's oratorio "The Creation" was a hugely famous in 18^th century Vienna where it was performed dozens of times during the composer's lifetime.

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This year's Oscars will be given out at the 87th Academy Awards on Sunday night. At O'Brien's Pub in Santa Monica, Calif., pub trivia regulars — including many former game show champs — had their own competition, answering harder-than-average question

Arts

'I'll Take Insanely Hard Oscar Trivia For 400, Alex'

8:57am February 23, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

Can you name the longest title of a film nominated for best picture? Or most Oscar-nominated family? At O'Brien's Irish Pub in Santa Monica, the trivia night regulars are former game show champions.

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A family of Tibetan nomads — they're real, not actors — poses before an Asian backdrop in a new fictional short film.

Tibetan Villagers Pose Before Backdrops, Earn Oscar Nomination

8:53am February 23, 2015

by Linda Poon

They're photographed in front of Asian scenes, a beach, Disneyland. It's a fictional film called Butter Lamp. And it has a real message.

Books
Arts

A Former Wunderkind Drifts On In 'Some Other Town'

7:03am February 23, 2015

by Carmen Machado

Elizabeth Collison's debut novel follows a young art star who burned out and is now leading a hazily complacent life in her old university town — but that life is upended by an unexpected fling.

Kim Gordon is a founding member of Sonic Youth.

Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon On Marriage, Music And Moving On

7:23pm February 22, 2015

by NPR Staff

Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore were indie rock's power couple — until their marriage, and their band, ended in 2011. Gordon looks back on the experience in a new memoir called Girl in a Band.

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Arts

Mink Is The New Black

12:36pm February 22, 2015

Fur is showing up on supermodels strutting down the runways. Despite previous protests, fashion columnist Robin Givhan tells NPR's Rachel Martin that for some designers, fur is back.

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