Movies

The Indigo Girls on how their song ended up in 'Barbie,' which is up for 8 Oscars

6:36pm February 28, 2024

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with the Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, about their 1989 hit "Closer to Fine" being featured prominently in the Barbie movie, which is up for eight Oscars.

Queue Listen Now

National

'Dune: Part Two' takes the first film's stunning visuals to a new level

4:44pm February 28, 2024

by Bob Mondello

Dune: Part Two picks up Frank Herbert's epic Dune saga in mid-rebellion, with Timothee Chalamet's Paul Atreides finally getting to ride a giant sandworm and taste the Water of Life.

Rebecca Ferguson is Lady Jessica, mother to Paul Atreides, in Dune: Part Two.

Arts

Storyboarding 'Dune' since he was 13, Denis Villeneuve is 'still pinching' himself

1:49pm February 28, 2024

by Sam Briger

Villeneuve remembers watching the 1984 movie version of Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel Dune and thinking, "Someday, someone else will do it again" — not realizing he would be that filmmaker.

Queue Listen Now

After seeing OpenAI's Sora, Tyler Perry says jobs are going to be lost

5:18am February 28, 2024

The text-to-video model Sora stunned observers with its cinematic video outputs. NPR's Michel Martin talks to Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter about why the entertainment industry is nervous.

Enzo Vogrincic as Numa in Society of the Snow, one of five films nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature.

Arts

Oscars guide: We map out the 5 films nominated for best international feature

4:01pm February 27, 2024

by Glen Weldon

They range in themes, languages and political urgency, but this year's stellar five nominees for the Best International Feature Film Oscar are each deserving of your time for their distinct pleasures.

Busy Philipps attends the Mean Girls premiere in New York City on Jan. 8, 2024.

Arts

She missed out on 'Mean Girls' 20 years ago — but Busy Philipps got a second chance

1:24pm February 27, 2024

by Ann Marie Baldonado

Philipps plays Mrs. George, a "cool mom" seeking the approval of her teen daughter in the new movie musical version of the 2004 film. Philipps got her start as a teen on the series Freaks and Geeks.

Queue Listen Now

Revisiting 'The Holdovers,' which is up for an Oscar along with actor Paul Giamatti

6:29pm February 26, 2024

by Bob Mondello

Paul Giamatti plays a 1970s prep-school teacher reluctantly supervising students with nowhere to go for the Christmas holidays in Alexander Payne's dramedy, The Holdovers.

Queue Listen Now

National

The craft that went into the 13 Oscar nods for 'Oppenheimer'

5:02pm February 26, 2024

Oppenheimer is in the lead when it comes to Oscar nominations. It has 13, and many of them are in the technical categories. So we're taking a look at some of the people behind the scenes of the film.

Queue Listen Now

Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, by Philip Gefter

Books
Arts

Dishy-yet-earnest, 'Cocktails' revisits the making of 'Virginia Woolf'

2:25pm February 26, 2024

by John Powers

Philip Gefter's Cocktails with George and Martha traces the evolution of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? — from Broadway sensation, to Oscar-winning film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Queue Listen Now

'Bob Marley: One Love' took the No. 1 spot at the box office for 2nd straight week

7:25am February 26, 2024

The film, which tells the story of the reggae singer making his 1977 album Exodus and preparing for a tour, has made almost $72 million in the U.S. so far.

Queue Listen Now