In 'Belle,' A Complex Life Tangled In Class And Commerce
Bob Mondello reviews Belle, based on a true story about a child of an admiral and a Caribbean slave, raised as an aristocrat in 18th century England.
Movies
'Fresh Air' Remembers British Actor Bob Hoskins
Hoskins, who played a human detective in a world of cartoon characters in the acclaimed movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, died this week after contracting pneumonia. He was 71 years old.
'Ida': A Coming-Of-Age Story With An Eerie Luster
Polish-born director Pawel Pawlikowski's new film centers on an orphan who learns the secret of her past when she's on the brink of becoming a nun.
The Making Of 'Godzilla,' Japan's Favorite 'Mon-Star'
Steve Ryfle is the author of a book about the making of the film and its many sequels. He spoke to Fresh Air in 2004, on the film's 50th anniversary.
'Ida': A Young Woman's Search For Identity In 1962 Poland
Ida is a Polish film about a young woman who was raised as an orphan in a convent. She's planning to take her vows as a nun when she discovers she's Jewish and her parents were killed by the Nazis.
Netflix Built Its Microgenres By Staring Into The American Soul
Fresh Air tech contributor Alexis Madrigal counted 76,897 microgenres on the online streaming and DVD rental service, many of which are bizarrely personalized (Violent Action Thrillers Starring Bruce Willis, Tearjerkers From The 1970s). He says the company "knows you."
The Man Who Would Own All The World's 'Speed' — But Only On VHS
Ryan Beitz has a goal: Collect every VHS copy of the movie Speed known to man. He has over 500 of them now, he says. But the man pushes on, scouring the earth for more.
'Say Anything,' Still Full Of Guileless Affection
A look back at the seminal teen flick reveals a surprisingly deep and romantic story. This story originally aired on All Things Considered on April 13, 2014.
'Transcendence': Latest Sci-Fi Movie About Artificial Intelligence
Transcendence is an ambitious and provocative film about the perils and pleasures of artificial intelligence that is intriguingly balanced between being a warning and a celebration.
Undead Hipsters And An Abstract Alien Star In Two Arty Horror Pics
Every so often an arthouse director dips a toe into the horror genre and you realize vampires and space aliens are subjects too rich to be the property of schlockmeisters, says critic David Edelstein.