Movies

Billy Porter and Tiffany Haddish star in Like a Boss. GLAAD called Porter's character, Barrett, "a good example of casual inclusion, featuring an explicitly LGBTQ character."

Arts

LGBTQ Characters Got More Movie Screen Time In 2020, GLAAD Study Finds

2:15pm July 16, 2021

by Andrew Limbong

The advocacy group just released its annual film survey, which found the percentage of LGBTQ characters of color also increased. But it still cited issues with lack of transgender representation.

The chef-turned-media personality died by suicide in 2018. His voice was recreated in the new documentary Roadrunner by AI technology.

Arts

AI Brought Anthony Bourdain's Voice Back To Life. Should It Have?

1:17pm July 16, 2021

by Andrew Limbong

The director of the new Anthony Bourdain documentary Roadrunner says he used AI to generate Bourdain reading from letters he'd never spoken aloud, triggering a debate about technology and ethics.

Scales — debut feature from filmmaker Shahad Ameen — was Saudi Arabia's official entry for the 2021 Oscars. It's set in a dystopian fishing village and tells the lyrical story of a young woman struggling to find her place.

Arts

'Scales' Is A Saudi Arabian Filmmaker's Feminist Fable Of The Sea

12:29pm July 16, 2021

by Marisa Mazria Katz

Saudi Arabin director Shahad Ameen's debut feature film is set in a dystopian fishing village and tells the lyrical story of a young woman struggling to find her place.

Anthony Bourdain, in Roadrunner, the new documentary about his life.

Arts

I Thought I Knew Anthony Bourdain. 'Roadrunner' Shows Us Who He Really Was

8:47am July 16, 2021

by Jason Sheehan

Chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain died by suicide in 2018. The new documentary Roadrunner gathers people who knew him well to praise and remember him, and also to rage about his death.

In A 'Berserk' Biopic, A 57-Year-Old Plays Celine Dion At Nearly Every Age — Even 12

7:04pm July 15, 2021

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Rachel Handler, features writer for Vulture and New York Magazine, about the unofficial Celine Dione biopic, Aline, which just screened at Cannes Festival.

Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) and Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page) in Bridgerton.

Arts

The Only 'New' Thing About Cross-Cultural Casting Is Who's Getting The Roles

5:04pm July 15, 2021

by Bob Mondello

Dev Patel as a knight of the Round Table, Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn, the mostly nonwhite casts of Bridgerton and Hamilton — all belong to a tradition that has its roots in live theater.

Stillwater centers on an Oklahoma oil worker (Matt Damon), who seeks the help of a French theater actress (Camille Cottin) when his daughter is accused of murder in Marseille, France.

Arts

After Attending Cannes From Afar, Justin Chang Recommends 7 Bold Festival Films

4:55pm July 14, 2021

by Justin Chang

Reviewer Justin Chang didn't travel to the Cannes Film Festival this year, but he managed to see a number of the movies in Los Angeles. His favorites include The Souvenir Part II and Stillwater.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Best Actor Or Actress? Gender-Expansive Performers Are Forced To Choose

4:28pm July 14, 2021

by Melissa Block

There's a growing call for entertainment award categories to no longer be split by gender. Some nonbinary performers say these gendered divisions erase their identity.

The 5th Dimension perform in Harlem's 'Summer of Soul' in Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson's acclaimed new concert film. (Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

Arts

After A Violent Winter, The 'Summer Of Soul' Was A Musical Moment Of Healing

5:00am July 13, 2021

by Carol Cooper

Music writer Carol Cooper reflects on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival documented in the new film Summer of Soul as a necessary catharsis for Black America from the collective losses of the 1960s.

Jean Satterfield plays the revolutionary leader of an underground women's army in the 1983 feminist classic Born in Flames.

Arts

This 1983 Feminist Film Was Set In The Dystopian Future, So Basically Right Now

5:23pm July 11, 2021

by Neda Ulaby

Born in Flames was made by pioneering underground filmmaker Lizzie Borden. She vanished from screens for decades, and now her work is being rediscovered.