Movies

National

When Swinton And Cho Talk Race, The Point's Lost In Translation

3:55pm December 21, 2016

by Gene Demby

Two celebrities had an email exchange about race that seemed polite but was loaded with subtext. When the exchange became public, the conversation about who was wrong looked frustratingly familiar.

YouTuber Cory Williams reacts to the strange sound made by his local frozen lake.

Why Does A Frozen Lake Sound Like A Star Wars Blaster?

11:07am December 21, 2016

by Adam Cole

Visitors to icy lakes are sometimes treated to the sounds of a space age battle. Why? NPR's Skunk Bear takes on the cold case in their latest video.

Shinya Tsukamoto (right) plays Christian convert Mokichi and Andrew Garfield plays Father Rodrigues, a Jesuit priest who has traveled to Japan in search of his mentor.

Arts

The Modern Lessons Of Martin Scorsese's 17th-Century Epic, 'Silence'

6:49pm December 20, 2016

by NPR Staff

The director's new film follows a pair of Portuguese Jesuit priests in Japan. He says he's been trying to make it since the late 1980s.

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Arts

Disney Becomes First Studio To Cross $7 Billion Global Box Office

5:04pm December 20, 2016

by Andrew Limbong

The Disney corporation has sold more than $7 billion worth of tickets to its movies so far this year. NPR takes a look at the movies that did so well and how Disney did it.

Annette Bening and Lucas Jade Zumann play a mother and son in Mike Mills' film, 20th Century Women. Mills says the film was inspired by his own life.

Arts

Mike Mills Grapples With His Mother's 'Tricky Ghost' In '20th Century Women'

5:07pm December 19, 2016

The director's latest film is inspired by his desire to understand his mother. Set in Santa Barbara in 1979, it stars Annette Bening as a woman struggling to raise her teenage son on her own.

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Director Mike Mills' New Film Is '20th Century Women'

1:05pm December 19, 2016

Mike Mills wrote and directed a movie inspired by the life of his father who, at age 75, came out as gay. Morning Edition's Rachel Martin talks to Mills about his new movie, 20th Century Women.

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Arts

Zsa Zsa Gabor, An Icon Of Camp, Glitz And Glam, Dies At 99

11:42pm December 18, 2016

by Neda Ulaby

The screen siren was probably most responsible for the notion of "famous for being famous." NPR's Neda Ulaby looks back at Gabor's contributions to pop culture and to our ideas about celebrity.

Barbershop: Obama's News Conference, Trump And Kanye, And 'Star Wars'

5:02pm December 17, 2016

Political strategist Ron Christie, film producer Tammy Garnes and Danielle Belton of The Root discuss President Obama's last news conference, Donald Trump's outreach efforts and the movie Rogue One.

National

Documentary '13TH' Argues Mass Incarceration Is An Extension Of Slavery

5:02pm December 17, 2016

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay talks about her new documentary, 13TH, which explores the history of race and the criminal justice system in the United States. The film's title refers to the 13th Amendment.

Jackie depicts the former first lady (played by Natalie Portman) in the days after her husband's assassination.

Arts

What Do 'Jackie' And 'Neruda' Have In Common? Chilean Filmmaker Pablo Larraín

6:37pm December 16, 2016

by NPR Staff

One film shows Jackie Kennedy as a new widow; the other follows poet Pablo Neruda into exile. But don't call them biopics; Larraín says, "You can't [capture] someone's life in ... 120 minutes."

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