Movies

Eddie Redmayne stars as Lili Elbe in Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl.

Arts

Eddie Redmayne: Reading 'Danish Girl' Script Was Like Getting 'Sucker-Punched'

5:32pm December 24, 2015

by NPR Staff

The film centers on Lili Elbe, one of the first people known to have had gender reassignment surgery. Redmayne says it's "about love not being defined by gender ... but really being about souls."

Arts

A Marriage Upended In '45 Years'

5:00pm December 24, 2015

by Ella Taylor

Charlotte Rampling takes the lead in the story of a couple whose long and stable union is thrown off-balance by news that dredges up the past.

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in a scene from Joy.

Arts

A Sagging 'Joy' That Doesn't Live Up To Its Inspiration

5:00pm December 24, 2015

by Mark Jenkins

David O. Russell re-teams with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in a film based on the story of a real-life inventor. Unfortunately, the story is neither believable nor particularly interesting.

Samuel L. Jackson plays Major Marquis Warren in The Hateful Eight.

Arts

Tarantino Holes Up A Few Outlaws In 'The Hateful Eight'

5:00pm December 24, 2015

by Scott Tobias

Quentin Tarantino makes a three-hour Western pastiche with help from Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and a cast of other old and new associates.

Filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu's latest is called The Revenant — a tale of endurance, survival, love and revenge. The film was shot using only natural sunlight and firelight in remote areas of Canada and Argentina. "Every molecule of this film

Arts

Iñárritu Delivers A '360-Degree Emotional Experience' In 'The Revenant'

1:59pm December 24, 2015

by Mandalit del Barco

The Revenant is a brutal Western, set in 1823. Filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu shot the film chronologically, using only natural sunlight and firelight in remote areas of Canada and Argentina.

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Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling are a long-married couple unsettled by a revelation from his past in 45 Years.

Arts

An Icy Chill From The Past Threatens A Steady Flame In '45 Years'

5:43pm December 23, 2015

by Bob Mondello

NPR film critic Bob Mondello reviews the harrowing film 45 Years in which a happy decades-long marriage is upended by an unexpected revelation.

'Funny Or Die' Creator Adam McKay Takes On The 2008 Economic Crash In 'The Big Short'

3:15pm December 23, 2015

Not only do the characters in McKay's new film warn about the collapse of the global economy — they make money off of it. McKay calls the movie, based on the book by Michael Lewis, a "traumedy."

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Will Smith plays neuropathologist and Nigerian immigrant Bennet Omalu in Concussion. He says the role was exhilarating: "You know, Will Smith with a Nigerian accent could go really, really wrong."

Sports
Arts

Actor (And Football Dad) Will Smith On Playing The 'Concussion' Doctor

12:36pm December 23, 2015

by NPR Staff

The film centers on the man who linked a brain disease to football player deaths. Smith says, "This is probably the farthest role away from me that I've ever played, but it was exhilarating."

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Leonard DiCaprio stares down a treacherous winter wasteland in the new film The Revenant, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu.

Music & Culture

In 'The Revenant,' A Return From Death's Door — Onscreen And Off

6:09pm December 22, 2015

by Tim Greiving

Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu's last film, Birdman, sparked Oscar controversy with its spare music. The Revenant features a swirl of sounds, anchored by the work of Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.

John Boyega and Oscar Isaac in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour Small Batch: The Very Spoilery 'Star Wars'

3:18pm December 22, 2015

by Linda Holmes

Glen Weldon joins host Linda Holmes for a chat about a few spoilery aspects of the newly crowned owner of many box-office records.

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