Arts & Life

Arts

Culinary Siblings Give Pasta A Healthy Makeover

10:59am April 18, 2015

In a low-carb world, pasta has issues. But it's poised for a comeback, say Joseph Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali, who talk with NPR's Linda Wertheimer about their cookbook, Healthy Pasta.

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Books
Arts

At 84, Poet Gary Snyder Lives In 'This Present Moment'

10:59am April 18, 2015

Poet Gary Snyder has hung with the Beats, studied Buddhism, worked as a logger and he's still going strong. He talks with NPR's Linda Wertheimer about his new collection, This Present Moment.

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Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) is a pacifist. But NPR film critic Bob Mondello says Tangerines is an "object lesson in the resilience of ancient animosities."

A Tart Take On Bitter Realities In 'Tangerines'

10:05pm April 17, 2015

by Bob Mondello

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews Tangerines, an unconventional war drama that was this year's Estonian nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Monkeys on Castle Rock from Disneynature's Monkey Kingdom.

Arts

'Monkey Kingdom' Is Best When It's All Monkeys All The Time

4:44pm April 17, 2015

by Mark Jenkins

There's some too-cute narration and some suspiciously convenient footage in this sort-of documentary from Disneynature, but when the monkeys are at their best, they're quite charming.

Ethan Hawke and January Jones in Andrew Niccol's Good Kill.

Arts

The Challenges Of War At A Distance

4:32pm April 17, 2015

by Linda Holmes

The new film Good Kill is a little too blunt in its treatment of drone warfare, but strong work from Ethan Hawke as a troubled pilot helps it along.

Tatiana Maslany (center) plays several different clones on the BBC America series Orphan Black.

Arts

Clone Drama 'Orphan Black' Returns, As Complex And Complicated As Ever

3:25pm April 17, 2015

by Eric Deggans

The BBC America series returns for a third season on Saturday. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says the show's dense stories are immensely absorbing, but can make it hard to follow for casual viewers.

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Lauren Lattimore (left), Wi-Moto Nyoka, Edmund Alyn Jones and Courtney Harge rehearse a scene from Blue-Eyed Black Boy, a play about lynching that was written around 1930.

Deaths Of Unarmed Black Men Revive 'Anti-Lynching Plays'

2:06pm April 17, 2015

by Hansi Lo Wang

The recent killings of unarmed black men by police have inspired a Brooklyn theater company to stage new readings of dramas written in the early 1900s about the lynching of African-Americans.

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Arts

In 'True Story,' A Shamed Journalist Interviews A Fugitive Who Stole His Identity

1:17pm April 17, 2015

by David Edelstein

In 2001, Michael Finkel was fired for making up a story. Then he learns that a suspected murderer is posing as him, so he gets to know him. The best word for the drama is "dumb," says David Edelstein.

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A drawing of two clinking martini glasses.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Daredevil' And Credulity

11:28am April 17, 2015

by Stephen Thompson

The gang discusses the new Netflix superhero series, what happens when the audience knows too much and, as always, what's making us happy this week.

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Shelley Henning stars as Blaire in Unfriended.

Arts

The Internet Of Spooky Things Is Alive In 'Unfriended'

10:41am April 17, 2015

by Andrew Lapin

It's a tradition for horror films to find teenagers where they live, so it makes sense that Unfriended would find them saying nasty things to and about each other online.