Movie Interviews

Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in Argo. Affleck also directed the film, which is based on events surrounding the Iran hostage crisis of 1979.

Arts

Affleck On 'Argo' And The 1979 Hostage Crisis

1:11pm January 15, 2013

Fresh off Sunday's Golden Globe Awards, where he won for best director and his film won for best motion picture/drama, the actor and director talks about his approach to the story of six diplomats who managed to escape a hostile Iran — and the CIA operative who helped them do so.

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Barbara shows a quiet, restrained normalcy in the former East Germany.

Arts

In 'Barbara,' A New Look At Life Behind The Wall

5:21pm January 14, 2013

by Bilal Qureshi

Already an awards-season staple, German historical dramas are moving beyond the horrors of the Third Reich and delving into the nuanced past of the former East Germany. Films like Christian Petzold's Barbara, a quiet story about a troubled young doctor, tell a different kind of history.

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Ann Dowd plays Sandra, a hard-nosed Midwestern manager of a fast-food franchise in Compliance. The actress spent $13,000 to try to get an Oscar nomination for the role.

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Ann Dowd's One-Woman Oscar-Nomination Campaign

11:01am January 13, 2013

by NPR Staff

Actress Ann Dowd received huge acclaim for her role in the indie film Compliance. But the studio told her it didn't have money to lobby the Academy for a best supporting actress award for her. So Dowd did something exceedingly rare in Hollywood: She spent $13,000 on her own campaign.

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In Bernie, Jack Black plays a small-town mortician who murders his live-in companion after she won't stop nagging him. The movie is based on a true story.

Jack Black: On Music, Mayhem And Murder

5:44pm January 02, 2013

Actor Jack Black plays a kindly small-town funeral director who murders a millionaire in the film Bernie. Black is also one-half of the comedy folk-rock group Tenacious D. In May, they released an album in the style of heavy metal bands from the 1980s.

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Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), a slave owner, holds Django's wife captive.

Arts

Tarantino On 'Django,' Violence And Catharsis

5:06pm December 28, 2012

by NPR Staff

Quentin Tarantino's new Django Unchained stars Jamie Foxx as a freed slave turned bounty hunter. The writer and director discusses the film's violence with Audie Cornish and explains why he feels American history can withstand an approach that has more in common with Reservoir Dogs than with Roots.

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Doris Day will celebrate her 88th birthday on Tuesday, April 3.

Arts

Doris Day: A Hollywood Legend Reflects On Life

4:23pm December 28, 2012

Day started singing and dancing when she was a teenager, and made her first film at 24. After nearly 40 movies, she walked away from that part of her life in 1968, and started rescuing and caring for animals. Here, she speaks to Terry Gross in a lengthy interview about her career in film and music.

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Music & Culture

Vic Flick's Riff Captures The Sound Of James Bond

4:39pm December 26, 2012

The 007 theme is one of the most famous themes in movie history. The infamous guitar riff that gives the theme its secret agent feel was performed by Vic Flick, who spoke to Morning Edition about the day he played it, 50 years ago. (This piece initially aired on October 03, 2012 on Morning Edition).

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Music & Culture

'White Christmas': A Concert With Rosemary Clooney

4:29pm December 24, 2012

To celebrate Christmas, Fresh Air listens back to a concert given by the late singer and actress on Feb. 11, 1997. Clooney spoke then with Terry Gross about her childhood, being on the road as a young performer with her sister, and working with Bing Crosby and Billy Strayhorn.

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Director David Chase and Executive Producer and Music Supervisor Steve Van Zandt on the set of Not Fade Away.

'Not Fade': Rock 'N' Roll, Here To Stay

12:58pm December 21, 2012

In his new film, Sopranos creator David Chase tells a coming-of-age story about Jersey boys in the 1960s who dream of riding the wave of the British invasion all the way to stardom. Chase teams up with Steven Van Zandt — of the E Street Band and The Sopranos — to make the movie's music rock.

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Barbra Streisand is Joyce Brewster in The Guilt Trip. The multitalented performer has won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony — a feat achieved by fewer than a dozen artists.

Arts

'Guilt Trip': Streisand On Songs, Films And Family

12:27pm December 17, 2012

In her new movie, singer, actor, writer, director and producer Barbra Streisand plays a well-meaning if overbearing Jewish mom. The star says her own mother both encouraged her talents and was jealous of them.

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