Movies

Throughout the '70s and '80s, the radical African-American MOVE organization had several dramatic encounters with police.

'Let The Fire Burn': A Philadelphia Community Forever Changed

2:05pm June 26, 2013

by NPR Staff

On May 13, 1985, after a long standoff, Philadelphia municipal authorities dropped a bomb on the headquarters of the African-American radical group MOVE. In the documentary Let the Fire Burn, director Jason Osder uses archival footage to chronicle the years of tension that ended in tragedy.

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Jason Holliday, born Aaron Payne, is demanding audiences' attention again in a new theatrical release of Shirley Clarke's Portrait of Jason, restored by Milestone Film and the Academy Film Archive.

Arts

A Revealing '60s 'Portrait,' Opening Eyes In Theaters Again

6:05pm June 25, 2013

by Howie Movshovitz

Shirley Clarke's 1967 film Portrait of Jason has returned to theaters after a meticulous restoration. As a historian and a documentarian tell reporter Howie Movshovitz, it's as remarkable in many ways today as it ever was.

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In Sofia Coppola's film The Bling Ring, about the excesses of Los Angeles materialism, Emma Watson plays narcissistic party girl Nicki.

Arts

'The Bling Ring': Celebrity Culture And Its Little Monsters

2:19pm June 25, 2013

by John Powers

A new film from Sofia Coppola, who made Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette, is based on the real-life story of a group of Southern California teens who, in 2008 and 2009, began breaking into the homes of celebrities and stealing everything from designer clothing to watches and jewelry.

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Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's new film is called I'm So Excited.

World News

'I'm So Excited': Pedro Almodovar's Spanish Metaphor

8:29am June 23, 2013

by Jasmine Garsd

The legendary film director's new film is about a group of passengers stuck on an airplane. It's a comedy: In between panicking, the passengers find time to fall in love, make love — and come out of the closet. It's also a return to the filmmaker's Spanish roots.

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Emma Watson, who shot to global fame as the level-headed, resourceful Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, admits there's a certain irony in her playing a teenager who burgles the homes of celebrities.

Arts

Coppola And Watson On Teens, Fame And 'Bling'

7:30pm June 22, 2013

by NPR Staff

NPR's Scott Simon talks to writer-director Sofia Coppola and actress Emma Watson about their film The Bling Ring, in which a group of celebrity-mad teens rob the homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and others. It's based on a true story.

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Actor Jeff Cohen in a scene from The Goonies.

Arts

The Movie Matthew Morrison Has 'Seen A Million Times'

6:18pm June 22, 2013

by Lily Percy

Actor and singer Matthew Morrison could watch Richard Donner's cult classic The Goonies a million times. "You know, it was kind of that adventure that every kid wants to have," he says.

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Actor James Gandolfini speaks at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards in January 2013. He died on June 19.

Arts

Gandolfini Through The Eyes Of Those He Worked With

2:19pm June 20, 2013

The actor who brought mob boss Tony Soprano to life on the HBO drama The Sopranos died Wednesday at age 51. Fresh Air listens back to interviews with his co-stars Edie Falco and Jeff Daniels and Sopranos director David Chase, to hear their thoughts on Gandolfini's prodigious talent.

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Actor James Gandolfini Dies Suddenly While On Vacation

7:25am June 20, 2013

by Karen Grigsby Bates

The 51-year-old actor died on Wednesday in Rome. Reports attribute his death to a heart attack. Gandolfini had been a character actor for years before he was given a chance to read for Tony Soprano in a new series about a New Jersey mob boss HBO was producing in the late 90s.

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From 'Casablanca' To 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial': Famous Farewells In Film

3:17pm June 17, 2013

As Talk of the Nation enters its final weeks, we go one more round with our favorite film buff Murray Horwitz to discuss famous farewells in film. Some goodbyes are memorable and have created famous lines, like "here's lookin' at you, kid," from Casablanca.

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Fran Kranz stars as Claudio in Joss Whedon's new take on Shakespeare's classic comedy Much Ado About Nothing.

Arts

Whedon's Touch Finds A Match With 'Much Ado'

1:31pm June 14, 2013

by David Edelstein

Sandwiched into Joss Whedon's busy schedule of TV series and big-screen features was an unexpected low-budget adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing — shot in black and white. Film critic David Edelstein says it's a delight. (Recommended)

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