Movies

Highway to Hell (and Environs): Joan (Emma Roberts) hitches a fateful ride in The Blackcoat's Daughter.

Arts

Young Women Bedeviled By Darkness In Moody 'The Blackcoat's Daughter'

5:00pm March 30, 2017

by Scott Tobias

This impressive debut from director Osgood Perkins, about schoolgirls left at a Catholic school over winter break, "feels like a throat-clearing exercise for a horror prodigy," says our critic.

Despite Historic Mix-Up, PricewaterhouseCoopers Will Keep Its Oscars Job

3:38pm March 30, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says there'll be a few new safeguards following the Best Picture flub, including not allowing electronic devices backstage.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin speaks during a press conference at the G 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Baden-Baden, southern Germany, on March 18.

National

Senator: Treasury Secretary's Plug For 'Lego Batman' May Be Ethical Violation

1:46pm March 28, 2017

by Camila Domonoske

Last week, Stephen Mnuchin told a crowd he couldn't legally promote movies he helped fund, then recommended one. His audience laughed. The ranking senator on the Senate Finance Committee isn't amused.

The Palestinian-Israeli movie Bar Bahar has won acclaim for its intimate portrayal of three Palestinian women living in Tel Aviv.

World News

New Film Spotlights Palestinian Women Navigating Life 'In Between' Cultures

8:20pm March 26, 2017

by Joanna Kakissis

Maysaloun Hamoud's In Between highlights the challenges young Palestinian women face in Israel as they try to live amid contradictory expectations. Hamoud has received death threats since its release.

Books

Jay Chandrasekhar Of 'Super Troopers' On His Memoir 'Mustache Shenanigans'

8:14am March 26, 2017

Jay Chandrasekhar of Super Troopers fame talks to NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about his new memoir about how he made it in Hollywood. The book is called Mustache Shenanigans.

Arts

A Middle-Aged Misanthrope Reconnects With His Long Lost Daughter In 'Wilson'

3:46pm March 24, 2017

by David Edelstein

Daniel Clowes' angst-ridden graphic novel is the basis for a new film starring Woody Harrelson and Laura Dern. Critic David Edelstein says Wilson's abrasive protagonist is worth getting to know.

Queue Listen Now

Emma Watson plays Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, a live-action remake of the 1991 animated film.

'Beauty And The Beast,' Music, And More From South By Southwest

11:14am March 24, 2017

by Linda Holmes

This week, we visit the new Disney live-action adaptation of Beauty And The Beast, and we all report back from Austin about the happenings at South By Southwest.

Maysoon Zayid: Should Humor Make Us Uncomfortable?

9:10am March 24, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

Maysoon Zayid teases herself for all the ways she's different: she has cerebral palsy, she's Muslim, she's Palestinian. By making us laugh at it, she gets us to think about acceptance.

Queue Listen Now

Negin Farsad on the TED stage at TED2016 in Vancouver, Canada.

Negin Farsad: Can Humor Fight Prejudice?

9:10am March 24, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

Comedian Negin Farsad traveled all over the U.S. to clear up misconceptions about Islam while making people laugh. She calls this form of activism "social justice comedy."

Queue Listen Now

Estrangement on a Train: Wilson (Woody Harrelson), Claire (Isabella Amana) and Pippi (Laura Dern) in Wilson.

Arts

A Curmudgeonly Know-It-All Meets The Daughter He Doesn't: 'Wilson'

5:00pm March 23, 2017

by Mark Jenkins

Director Craig Johnson's film, based on the Daniel Clowes graphic novel, wants us to invest in a misanthrope's grumbling attempts to reconnect to humanity. Yet its uneven tone keeps us at a distance.