Movies

Floyd Norman was Disney's first African-American animator. He's shown above in 1956, working as an "apprentice inbetweener" on Sleeping Beauty.

Arts

At 81, Disney's First African-American Animator Is Still In The Studio

5:04am August 26, 2016

by NPR Staff

First hired in the 1950s, Floyd Norman is still drawing. "Creative people don't hang it up," he says. "We don't walk away, we don't want to sit in a lawn chair. ... We want to continue to work. "

In Southside With You, Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) and Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) embark on a long first date.

Arts

The First First Date Unfolds In 'Southside With You'

5:00pm August 25, 2016

by Andrew Lapin

Based on the real story of Barack and Michelle Obama's first date, Southside With You follows two young idealists through a day together without relying too heavily on winks at their future.

Beatrice Mancini, Stefano Abbati and Margherita Buy in Mia Madre.

Arts

'Mia Madre' Weaves Memory, Fantasy And Film Into A Poignant Rumination On Loss

5:00pm August 25, 2016

by Mark Jenkins

Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti's latest is a charming, heartfelt and slyly satirical meditation on cinema — which exists at the crossroads of fantasy and reality — and the loss of a parent.

Alice (Rachel Weisz) revisits her past in Complete Unknown.

Arts

Opaque Storytelling Leaves Rachel Weisz's Character A 'Complete Unknown'

5:00pm August 25, 2016

by Ella Taylor

Weisz plays a woman who's spent her life creating new identities, but the filmmakers leave her motivations, and her character, frustratingly unmoored and unclear.

Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond) and Roberto Durán (Edgar Ramírez) duke it out in Hands of Stone.

Arts

'Hands Of Stone,' Fists Of Ham: Roberto Durán Biopic Telegraphs Every Punch

5:00pm August 25, 2016

by Scott Tobias

A strong performance by Édgar Ramírez as the Panamanian boxer can't save a film that suffers from a lack of focus and thin characterization.

John Krasinski's character returns to his small hometown when his mother (Margo Martindale) is hospitalized with a brain tumor in The Hollars.

Arts

Actor John Krasinski Takes Stock Of His 'Lottery-Ticket Life'

4:06pm August 24, 2016

Krasinski says he's thankful for his big break "every single day." Three years after the wrap of The Office, he continues to branch out. He's now directing and co-starring in the film The Hollars.

Queue Listen Now

Nate Parker attends the 'The Birth Of A Nation' Premiere during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

Nate Parker's Past, His Present, And The Future of 'Birth Of A Nation': Episode 14

10:52am August 24, 2016

by Gene Demby

News of a 1999 rape case against Nate Parker raises some age-old questions about culture. Can art be separated from its creator? What moral obligations, if any, do the consumers of culture bear?

Hugh Jackman and mutton chops in X-Men: The Last Stand

Arts

Wolverine's Mutton Chops To Hugh Jackman: 'This Ain't Over, Bub'

4:28pm August 23, 2016

by Glen Weldon

The Fire Still (Side)Burns: Jackman recently took to social media to shave off the distinctive facial hair he sported for the role of Wolverine. Those mutton chops are not handling the breakup well.

Arts

With 'Hell Or High Water,' Jeff Bridges Returns To The American West

5:48pm August 21, 2016

The actor discusses his new film, a return to a genre Bridges knows quite well: the Western. He talks with host Farai Chideya.

Arts

Interview With Jonah Hill And Todd Phillips On New Film 'War Dogs'

10:07am August 21, 2016

Jonah Hill and Todd Phillips talk with Rachel Martin about their "War Dogs," which tells the mostly-true story of two pot-smoking 20-year-olds who win a $300 million U.S. government weapons contract.