Movies

How Trump's Presidency Helped Shape Isabel Sandoval's 'Lingua Franca' Movie

4:26pm September 10, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with filmmaker Isabel Sandoval, who wrote, directed and starred in the new film Lingua Franca, about Filipinx and trans representation in Hollywood during polarizing times.

English actor Diana Rigg became widely known in the U.S. for her role as Emma Peel in the 1960s TV series The Avengers. She died Thursday in her home in London.

Arts

Diana Rigg, 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Avengers' Actor, Has Died At 82

3:48pm September 10, 2020

by Andrew Limbong

The actor died in her London home Thursday morning after being diagnosed with cancer. In addition to her work in television and film, she was also an acclaimed stage actor.

National

Film Academy Announces New Diversity Requirements For Best Picture Nominees

4:14pm September 09, 2020

by Bob Mondello

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has established new diversity and representation rules for films that want to qualify for best picture, beginning in 2024.

Rosine Mbakam (left) and her mother on the set of 'The Two Faces of a Bamiléké Woman,' which represents their intergenerational differences.

Whatever Happened To ... The Filmmaker Focusing On A New Face For African Women?

3:26pm September 08, 2020

by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

Rosine Mbakam was headed from Belgium to Cameroon, her homeland, to make a documentary. Then lockdown struck. So did inspiration for a new topic: How coronavirus is linked to the "virus" of racism.

Sequel To 1976 Horror Movie 'Grizzly' Is Finally Released

6:28am September 08, 2020

In the original, a gigantic bear is on the prowl. After nearly 40 years, Grizzly II is coming to streaming platforms and drive-in theaters. It stars Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen and George Clooney.

What Movies To Expect This Fall

4:27pm September 07, 2020

by Bob Mondello

NPR offers a selective preview of what Hollywood thinks it will be showing in cinemas this fall.

Amy (left), played by Fathia Youssouf, and her mother Mariam, played by Maïmouna Gueye, in a still from the film, Cuties.

Arts

'Cuties' Calls Out The Hypersexualization Of Young Girls - And Gets Criticized

5:04pm September 06, 2020

by Rebecca Rosman

The new French film, Cuties, is about an 11-year old Senegalese Muslim girl growing up in Paris and struggling with the contradictions between her strict upbringing and the demands of social media.

A Lonely Place of Dining: In the 1995 crime thriller Heat, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro famously shared the screen when their characters called a temporary truce.

Arts

Michael Mann's 'Heat' At 25: A Newly Relevant Study In Loneliness

7:00am September 05, 2020

by Marc Rivers

Like many of us, Marc Rivers has watched a lot of movies during self-isolation. But it was a 25-year old crime drama about emotional isolation that offered him the greatest comfort.

'Feels Good Man' Traces Pepe The Frog From Hate Symbol To Democracy Icon

5:28pm September 04, 2020

by Andrew Limbong

Pepe the Frog is one of the most prolific images on the Internet. A new documentary follows the frog's creator, cartoonist Matt Furie, as he fights to regain control over his character.

Queue Listen Now

Snow Way Out: A couple (Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons) takes a long road trip during a snowstorm in I'm Thinking of Ending Things on Netflix.

Arts

In 'I'm Thinking Of Ending Things,' A Couple Gets Stuck In A Dreamlike Limbo

2:06pm September 04, 2020

by Glen Weldon

In writer/director Charlie Kaufman's latest, a couple spouts pat, pseudo-intellectual bromides. But stay with it — because that's a clue to what's really going on in this tense, surprising film.