Movie Interviews

Arts

Benedict Cumberbatch digs into toxic masculinity in 'The Power of the Dog'

1:33pm March 04, 2022

by Terry Gross

The British actor is nominated for an Oscar for his role as a taciturn cowboy in The Power of the Dog. He prepared for the role by spending time with real ranchers. Originally broadcast Jan. 19, 2022.

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World News

'President' captures the thwarted fight for change in Zimbabwe

4:41pm March 02, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Camilla Nielsson about her new documentary President. It follows the underdog opposition candidate throughout Zimbabwe's first election after the ouster of Robert Mugabe.

Historian talks new doc series 'One Thousand Years of Slavery'

5:19pm February 20, 2022

NPR's Michel Martin discusses the new documentary series One Thousand Years of Slavery with one of the experts featured in it, historian Spencer Crew.

Arts

Penélope Cruz says just reading the script for 'Parallel Mothers' left her in tears

1:17pm February 18, 2022

by Terry Gross

Cruz has been nominated for an Oscar for her role as a 40-something woman who becomes pregnant unintentionally and meets a teen who is unhappy about having a baby. Originally broadcast Dec. 22, 2021.

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Arts

Javier Bardem likes playing characters who are full of contradictions

1:17pm February 18, 2022

by Dave Davies

Bardem didn't set out to become an actor; instead he wanted to be a painter. He's now up for for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos. Originally broadcast in 2011.

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National

Proud Valley girl Alana Haim talks about her first acting role in 'Licorice Pizza'

4:28pm February 10, 2022

by Mandalit del Barco

Alana Haim — of the band Haim — stars in Licorice Pizza, a coming of age love story written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film has received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

National

How Black activists used lynching souvenirs to expose American violence

12:04pm February 08, 2022

NPR's Adrian Florido talks with Christine Turner, the filmmaker behind the short documentary, Lynching Postcards: 'Token of A Great Day,' about her film and its present-day resonance.

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Composer Jonny Greenwood arrives for the Academy Awards on March 4, 2018, in Hollywood, Calif. Greenwood was nominated for an Oscar his work on Phantom Thread.

For Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, there are no rules to composing for film

1:24pm February 07, 2022

by Terry Gross

Greenwood says writing the music for The Power of the Dog allowed him to experiment by mixing a banjo and a string quartet. He also recently scored Spencer and Licorice Pizza.

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World News

'The Worst Person in the World' is the Valentine's Day movie of the year

4:52pm February 04, 2022

by Bob Mondello

A millennial writer, an R. Crumb-style cartoonist and a coffee-shop barista form the romantic triangle in the Danish coming-of-age drama The Worst Person In The World.

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, shown here in 2018, has been fascinated with monsters since he was a child.

Arts

Guillermo del Toro says his future was set the first time he saw 'Frankenstein'

11:50am February 01, 2022

by Terry Gross

The Mexican filmmaker says seeing the 1931 Frankenstein as a child was like being "struck by a lightning bolt." Del Toro's latest film, Nightmare Alley, stars Bradley Cooper as a carnival grifter.

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