Movies

Youn Yuh-jung plays a grandmother in the Oscar-nominated film Minari. She's the first Korean actor to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Arts

'I Feel Like I'm An Olympian': Youn Yuh-jung On Her Historic Oscar Nomination

5:03am April 09, 2021

The celebrated Korean actor plays a loving, mischievous grandma in Minari — a role that has earned her newfound fame in the U.S. She says the character brought back memories of her great-grandmother.

Twyla Tharp, shown above at Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2008, says the pandemic has impacted her body: "In terms of routine, discipline, just ordinary day-to-day activities — the body doesn't know itself at the moment."

Arts

'Dance Can Give Community': Twyla Tharp On Choreographing Through Lockdown

12:33pm April 08, 2021

by Terry Gross

Twyla Moves, a new documentary by PBS American Masters, tells the story of the legendary choreographer, who got her start performing on subway platforms and rooftops in the 1960s.

Arts

'This Is About Lifting Culture,' Says History-Making Producer Charles D. King

6:07am April 07, 2021

by Mandalit del Barco

Judas and the Black Messiah has made Oscar history as the first Best Picture nominee with an all-Black producing team. And it's not the first time producer Charles D. King has made Hollywood history.

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Writer-director Oliver Hermanus created Moffie from an autobiographical novel by André Carl van der Merwe — but he gives the film an air of lived experience.

Basic Training Proves Anything-But-Basic In The Powerful South African Drama 'Moffie'

4:42pm April 06, 2021

by Bob Mondello

The effect of so much institutional hatred within the military of South Africa in the early '80s was to leave a generation traumatized, the film concludes.

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New Documentary Examines Ernest Hemingway's Complicated Life

6:07am April 05, 2021

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to directors Ken Burns and Lynn Novick about their new PBS documentary Hemingway. Actor Jeff Daniels reads from Hemingway's private letters and other writings.

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Sheila Rule and Joe Robinson take the subway to a Riverside Church Prison Ministry meeting in Manhattan on Nov. 20, 2016. Rule and Robinson, married for almost 12 years while Joe was still incarcerated, are here together for the first time since he was re

Arts

Video: When Love Transcends Prison, A Couple Finds Each Other Through Letters

9:00am April 03, 2021

by Julie Winokur

Sheila & Joe is a film about two people separated by incarceration who met, fell in love and committed their lives to one another through hundreds of pages written over thousands of days.

Pop Culture Happy Hour listeners' opinions about the best Muppets are ... deeply felt.

Arts

A Ruthless Ranking Of The 25 Best Muppets, According To Listeners

9:13am April 02, 2021

We asked PCHH listeners to vote for the best Muppet. Nearly 20,000 votes later, here's your top 25, with accompanying commentary by Linda, Stephen, Aisha and Glen.

Sam (Yahya Mahayni) agrees to have his back tattooed with the Schengen Visa, the document that allows free movement between European countries, in The Man Who Sold His Skin.

Arts

An Immigrant Becomes A Human Canvas In This Sly Film About Art And Freedom

1:20pm April 01, 2021

by John Powers

The Man Who Sold His Skin centers on a Syrian man who, desperate to reach Belgium, allows an artist to tattoo a visa on his back. The film has been nominated for the Best International Feature Oscar.

In Godzilla vs. Kong, the Titans meet up and face off.

Arts

In A Long-Awaited Matchup, Godzilla And Kong Stomp Where Marvel Fears To Tread

4:08pm March 30, 2021

by Bob Mondello

After a year spent battling a tiny virus you can't see, audiences may well appreciate a title bout featuring antagonists of a certain size — as Godzilla and Kong finally get their playdate.

A golden arch marks the entrance to Nu Boyana Film Studios, nestled into the side of Vitosha Mountain in Sofia.

As COVID-19 Mostly Halted Filming In The U.S., Movie Magic Forged Ahead In Bulgaria

4:23pm March 29, 2021

by Meghan Collins Sullivan

Frequent COVID testing and other safety measures at Nu Boyana in Sofia has allowed the studio — home to 300: Rise of an Empire and Rambo: Last Blood — to continue filming during the pandemic.