Movies

Arts

'A Wrinkle In Time' Will Delight Target Audience That Doesn't Have Too Many Wrinkles

4:59pm March 08, 2018

by Bob Mondello

NPR's movie critic Bob Mondello discusses the star-studded film adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time, the sci-fi fantasy novel about light and darkness, time and tesseracts.

Arts

Remembering Barry Crimmins, A Comic Who Advocated For Survivors Of Sexual Abuse

2:35pm March 08, 2018

by Terry Gross

Crimmins, who died last week, mentored Bobcat Goldthwait when they were up-and-coming comics in the '80s. The two men spoke to Fresh Air in 2015 about their documentary Call Me Lucky.

Queue Listen Now

Armando Iannucci at the Los Angeles premiere of The Death of Stalin.

Arts

If It's Awkward, 'My Instinct Is To Make Fun Of It,' Says Armando Iannucci

8:14am March 08, 2018

by Mandalit del Barco

The Scottish satirist's new movie, The Death of Stalin, spoofs the way the dictator's lackeys jostled each other after his death — all part of a lifetime of mocking the pompous and powerful.

Queue Listen Now

Storm Reid is Meg Murry in A Wrinkle In Time.

Arts

Oprah In The Sky, With Wisdom: The Earnest, Imaginative 'A Wrinkle In Time'

4:29pm March 07, 2018

by Linda Holmes

Director Ava DuVernay's adaptation of the classic novel is devoid of cynicism, full of beautiful images and deeply moving.

Natalie Portman plays Lena in Alex Garland's Annihilation, a fantasy sci-fi drama based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer.

Science
Arts

Life Hacking Life: The Scary Premise Of 'Annihilation'

12:22pm March 07, 2018

by Marcelo Gleiser

As with Ex Machina, says Marcelo Gleiser, director Alex Garland is sending a warning: We are now hacking life itself and will continue to do so with growing efficiency. Are we creating our own doom?

Maria Contreras-Sweet led a group of investors seeking to acquire Weinstein Co. and install a women-led board of directors.

Deal To Take Over The Weinstein Co. Falls Through

8:45pm March 06, 2018

by Richard Gonzales

The bid to create a women-led film studio collapses upon the discovery that the company carried more debt than previously known.

With A Wrinkle In Time, Ava DuVernay — seen here instructing Storm Reid on set — became the first African-American woman to direct a movie with a budget exceeding $100 million.

Arts

The 'Wrinkle In Time' Movie Began As A Fifth-Grader's Dream

7:30am March 06, 2018

by Mandalit del Barco

For over a half century, one film producer has tried to adapt Madeleine L'Engle's sci-fi classic into a movie. Enter Walt Disney Pictures, director Ava DuVernay and a budget exceeding $100 million.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'Red Sparrow' Author And Ex-CIA Agent Says New Movie Gets Spy Life Right

10:35pm March 05, 2018

by Mary Louise Kelly

Jason Matthews wrote the novel behind a new motion picture where a Russian spy (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is trained in the dual arts of seduction and espionage.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

What's An Inclusion Rider? Here's The Story Behind Frances McDormand's Closing Words

10:34pm March 05, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

"I have two words to leave with you tonight," the actress told the audience after winning her Oscar: "inclusion rider." But she didn't define those words onstage — so, here's a helpful primer.

Queue Listen Now

Sean Young appeared in Blade Runner in 1982. These stills show the actress digitally re-created for Blade Runner 2049.

In The Future Movie Stars May Be Performing Even After They're Dead

4:46pm March 05, 2018

by Laura Sydell

Technology is making many jobs obsolete. But even acting? The technology in the Academy Award-winning Blade Runner 2049 gives a glimpse of a future where digital actors will compete against live ones.