Movies

Four black war veterans (Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis, Clarke Peters and Delroy Lindo) and one veteran's son (Jonathan Majors) return to Vietnam in Da 5 Bloods.

Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods' Is A Platoon Picture, Heist Thriller And History Lesson

1:39pm June 11, 2020

by Justin Chang

Decades after the war, four black veterans return to Vietnam to recover a stash of buried gold. The timely film is a critique of the U.S.' long, shameful history of devaluing its black soldiers.

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Pete Davidson says playing a fictionalized version of himself in The King of Staten Island helped him come to terms with losing his father in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Arts

For Pete Davidson And Judd Apatow, 'Comedy Is A Beautiful Escape'

11:06am June 11, 2020

by Terry Gross

Davidson plays a fictionalized version of himself in The King of Staten Island, a film about a young man grieving the loss of his firefighter dad. Director Apatow calls the movie a "hopeful story."

Music & Culture

In Jazz-Movie Endings, Some Story Elements Just Keep Bouncing Back

1:23pm June 08, 2020

by Kevin Whitehead

Over 90-some years of movies about jazz, many films have spun a familiar lick, sometimes falling back on stock standards when inspiration fails, and sometimes knowingly quoting from older works.

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This List Of Books, Films And Podcasts About Racism Is A Start, Not A Panacea

10:19am June 06, 2020

by Isabella Rosario

We've compiled a list of places you can go to learn more about systemic racism — acknowledging that, while it's important to have information, this list is not a prescription.

Arts

New Netflix Documentary Details A Romance Kept Secret For Nearly 70 Years

8:01am June 06, 2020

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Pat Henschel about the new film A Secret Love, which documents her 72-year relationship with her late partner Terry Donohue.

Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss) and her long-term houseguest Rose (Odessa Young) form an unusual bond in Shirley. The film mixes fact and fiction to explore the life of the American writer best known for her short story "The Lottery."

Arts

Elisabeth Moss Shines As Writer Shirley Jackson In This Smart, Surprising Film

12:54pm June 05, 2020

by Justin Chang

Shirley mixes fact and fiction as it explores the life of the writer best known for the short story "The Lottery." This unusual film isn't so much a biopic as it is a biographical-literary fantasia.

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John Ridley Finds Inspiration From Young Protesters Demanding To Be Heard

6:27am June 05, 2020

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to screenwriter, show producer and novelist John Ridley about the unrest in America over the killing of George Floyd, a black man in police custody in Minneapolis.

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What It Is Like To Be Back To The Movie Theater

5:31pm June 02, 2020

by Bob Mondello

A movie critic shares his experience of returning back to a movie theater for the first time after two months of the pandemic-forced abstinence.

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Tracee Ellis Ross stars in The High Note as a legendary singer who is running out of ideas. Meanwhile, her personal assistant, played by Dakota Johnson, has too many.

Music & Culture

Tracee Ellis Ross Can Hit The High Notes, Too

2:23pm May 30, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks to Tracee Ellis Ross about starring in The High Note, a movie about an over-40 superstar singer navigating the music industry with her assistant, who has her own music dreams.

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HBO Max Will Stream Content From Japanese Animation House Studio Ghibli

7:26am May 28, 2020

NPR's David Greene talks to film critic Kenneth Turan about the entire film library of Studio Ghibli, the famed Japanese animation house, now being streamed on HBO Max.

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