Movies

Arts

'Our Brand Is Crisis' Is A Satire Oddly Toothless About Politics

5:03pm October 29, 2015

by Scott Tobias

Director David Gordon Green's loose adaptation of a documentary about American political consultants meddling in other nations works as a comedic vehicle for Sandra Bullock, but sputters as satire.

Arts

Graphic Doesn't Mean Interesting, Particularly In 'Love'

5:03pm October 29, 2015

by Mark Jenkins

Director Gaspar Noe manages to make his blandest feature to date despite — or as a result of — filling almost half its running time with raw, unsimulated sex.

Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Brian d'Arcy James, Michael Keaton and John Slattery play Boston Globe journalists in the film, Spotlight.

Film Shines A 'Spotlight' On Boston's Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal

5:01pm October 29, 2015

A new movie chronicles the team of journalists who uncovered the clergy sex abuse scandal in Boston. Director Tom McCarthy and former Globe editor Walter Robinson join Fresh Air to discuss Spotlight.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Bruce Campbell

11:28pm October 28, 2015

Bruce Campbell thinks "it's about dog-gone time" that horror is mainstreaming━and so do his fans.

Queue Listen Now

A newspaper advertisement for The Birth of a Race, in its finished form. Much of the initial footage for the film was thrown out; what was finally released was an awkward mishmash of a Bible epic.

Arts

'Birth Of A Race': The Obscure Demise Of A Would-Be Rebuttal To Racism

6:05pm October 25, 2015

by R.H. Greene

The Birth of a Nation, a Ku Klux Klan-glorifying epic, was America's first blockbuster film. It was also the spark for Emmett J. Scott, a black filmmaker who hoped to answer with a vision of his own.

Irish-American actress Maureen O'Hara, seen in 1947 and known as the "Queen of Technicolor," died Saturday at her home in Boise, Idaho. She was 95.

Arts

Maureen O'Hara, Hollywood's 'Queen Of Technicolor,' Dies At 95

3:48pm October 24, 2015

by Jacki Lyden

The Irish-American actress, known for her cascading red hair and sea-green eyes and who often starred opposite John Wayne, passed away at her home in Boise, Idaho, Saturday.

In Rock the Kasbah, Bill Murray plays Richie Lanz, a tough-luck agent who stumbles on an otherworldly talent.

Arts

Bill Murray Talks The 'Kasbah' — And The Merits Of A Life Lived Phoneless

2:23pm October 24, 2015

by NPR Staff

In Rock the Kasbah, he plays a tough-luck talent agent who finds a special voice in Afghanistan. In real life, the agentless Murray found something else after losing a phone: a "vacation from myself."

Queue Listen Now

Dame Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" isn't just the best-known James Bond theme: It's the standard by which all other Bond themes are measured.

From Shirley Bassey To Sam Smith, Bond Songs Remain A Pop Oddity

8:47am October 24, 2015

by NPR Staff

Scott Simon speaks with the authors of a new book about the two dozen theme songs produced by the James Bond films, and what they say about the times in which they were written.

Queue Listen Now

Anne-Marie Duff and Carey Mulligan are laundry workers who join the fight for women's votes in the new movie Suffragette.

Arts

The Bonnets Come Off In 'Suffragette'

7:54pm October 23, 2015

by NPR Staff

Screenwriter Abi Morgan's new movie focuses on the working-class women who fought for votes in the U.K. before World War I. She tells NPR she had no intention of making a polite British costume drama.

Queue Listen Now

Heather Donahue starred in 1999's The Blair Witch Project.

Arts

When Everything's Gory, What's Scary?

7:09pm October 23, 2015

by Linda Holmes

As Halloween approaches, Pop Culture Happy Hour visits All Things Considered for a talk with hosts Ari Shapiro and Audie Cornish about scary things.

Queue Listen Now