Movies

Lin Manuel Miranda and Disney filmmakers traveled Colombia to prepare for 'Encanto'

5:06pm November 24, 2021

by Mandalit del Barco

Lin Manual Miranda, who wrote songs for the Disney's new movie Encanto, traveled to Colombia with crew members to learn about the country's history. Encanto celebrates the country's culture.

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National

'The Humans,' 'House of Gucci' abound with family squabbling in time for the holidays

5:06pm November 24, 2021

by Bob Mondello

Familial squabbles fuel two films opening Thanksgiving weekend: House of Gucci, about a family famous for fashion, and The Humans, a pulitzer-winning look at a clan gathering for the holidays.

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There's plenty to watch this Thanksgiving holiday weekend

5:58am November 24, 2021

Our Pop Culture Happy Hour team shares their TV and movie recommendations for the Thanksgiving holiday.

National

Encore: Looking back on the legacy of 'Shaft,' 50 years later

4:45pm November 23, 2021

by Marc Rivers

The film Shaft was released 50 years ago this week and heralded what came to be known as Blaxploitation cinema. The genre has a checkered legacy — and inspired Oscar-winning music.

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When Indie directors move on to franchise films, who wins?

6:22am November 22, 2021

Chloe Zhao, a director celebrated for intimate indie films, is in charge of the franchise blockbuster Externals. Who wins in that situation: the franchise, the director or fans?

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Director Maisie Crow on the making of new doc 'At The Ready'

5:06pm November 20, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin talks with Crow about her documentary that follows three Mexican-American high school students in Texas training to become border patrol officers.

Arts

Photographer and director Gordon Parks captured the Black experience

1:58pm November 19, 2021

by Terry Gross

Parks, who died in 2006, worked for Life magazine and later became the first Black director of a Hollywood film. He's the subject of the documentary, A Choice of Weapons. Originally broadcast in 1990.

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Benedict Cumberbatch is the picture of rugged American masculinity in The Power of the Dog.

Arts

Rugged masculinity takes a dark turn in 'The Power of the Dog'

1:58pm November 19, 2021

by Justin Chang

Jane Campion's Western plays out like a tightly wound psychological thriller, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as one of the scariest characters you're likely to meet this year.

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Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson during their performance at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004.

New York Times doc on Janet Jackson's Super Bowl scandal leaves questions unanswered

1:47pm November 19, 2021

by Eric Deggans

A new documentary looks at the "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show in a new light – but doesn't definitively answer some important questions.

Jane Campion's Western 'Power of the Dog' may score her another Oscar nomination

4:44pm November 18, 2021

by Bob Mondello

Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons play brothers, and Kirsten Dunst the widow who comes between them in Power of the Dog, a western set in 1920s Montana, directed by Jane Campion.