Movies

Lake Bell was born Lake Siegel Bell. Her father is named Harvey Siegel, but she says her mother got the last name in the divorce settlement.

Arts

'In A World ...' Is A Comedy About, You Guessed It, Voice-Over Artists

5:50pm July 25, 2013

by NPR Staff

Actress Lake Bell wrote and directed the film, which mixes laughs with an inspiring story about a female vocal coach who wants to break into the world of movie trailers.

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When Gene Krupa's orchestra was cast in 1941's Ball of Fire, trumpeter Roy Eldridge's presence was not negotiable.

How Musicians Helped Integrate The Silver Screen

12:28pm July 25, 2013

by John McDonough

America's first Freedom Riders may well have been the black musicians who, in the '30s and '40s, broke ground in Hollywood. Those could have been milestone moments, but the industry responded to provincial concerns and allowed Jim Crow markets to cut out integrated scenes.

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Producer, writer and director Orson Welles.

Books
Arts

'My Lunches With Orson' Puts You At The Table With Welles

2:53pm July 24, 2013

by John Powers

For years, there were rumors that filmmaker Henry Jaglom had taped hours of his conversations with Orson Welles but that the tapes had been lost. They weren't. Now the transcripts have been released in a new book, edited and introduced by Peter Biskind.

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Exorcistic, a rock parody inspired by a certain 1971 novel and the William Friedkin film made from it, showcases Merlin as a rapping priest inspired by Max von Sydow's Father Merrin. Above, the show poster for the musical's Los Angeles fringe production.

Arts

For Hannibal & Co., A Horrifying New Stage

2:26pm July 24, 2013

by Beth Accomando

One Los Angeles performer has played Dr. Hill in Re-Animator, Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, and now Father Merrin in The Exorcist. Did we mention he sings opera, too?

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Harold Lloyd (left) is the All-American Boy, a striver who'll brave nearly anything to get to the top and win The Girl. Noah Young is The Law (center) and Bill Strother is The Pal.

Arts

90 Years Later, 'Safety' Still The Last Word With Harold Lloyd

7:16pm July 23, 2013

by Bob Mondello

Arguably the greatest thrill comedy of the silent era, Harold Lloyd's classic Safety Last gets a pristine new release courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

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Cover of Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations

Books
Arts

You'll Want To Hang Up On These 'Secret Conversations'

5:34pm July 20, 2013

by Bob Mondello

Movie star Ava Gardner agreed to write her memoirs with British journalist Peter Evans in 1988. Now, after the deaths of both Gardner and Evans, the results of their abortive collaboration are being published. Reviewer Bob Mondello says the book is dead on arrival.

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European Films In Russia's Heartland

4:48pm July 20, 2013

by Eleanor Beardsley

For the past few years in July, a sleepy Russian provincial town has rolled out the red carpet to host the best in European film.

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Arts

Neorealism Goes Hollywood

4:48pm July 20, 2013

A new video essay compares two 1952 films that resulted from the collaboration of two renowned filmmakers, Vittorio De Sica, a master of Italian neorealism, and David O. Selznick, a Hollywood producer most famous for Gone With The Wind. Guest host Linda Wertheimer talks with filmmaker Ernie Park, who uses a pseudonym, Kogonada.

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Kristen Wiig (with Darren Criss) stars in Girl Most Likely as a hard-luck case who learns how to reboot her disastrous life after she's forced to move back in with her mom.

Arts

Kristen Wiig: That Loud, Strange Lady Isn't Me

6:12pm July 19, 2013

by NPR Staff

The star of Saturday Night Live, Bridesmaids and now Girl Most Likely joins NPR's Melissa Block to talk about lost characters, loud characters, and how shy she is in real life.

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The new documentary Blackfish looks at the practice of keeping orca whales in captivity.

Arts

Two Documentaries Examine Violence, Human And Animal

1:49pm July 19, 2013

by David Edelstein

Two new documentaries are making headlines. Gabriela Cowperthwaite's Blackfish centers on the whale that killed a trainer before an Orlando SeaWorld audience in 2010. The Act of Killing by human rights researcher Josh Oppenheimer, looks at the mass executions of communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.

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