Movies

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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Actor Henry Cavill and director Zack Snyder confer on a shot for an early sequence in Man of Steel. Cavill is the first British actor to wear Superman's iconic red and blue — though not the first to play a D.C. comics superhero.

Arts

Zack Snyder, Making Superman Over For Our Era

11:04am June 14, 2013

by NPR Staff

In Man of Steel, the director behind Watchmen and 300 has had a go at that most quintessentially American superhero. He speaks with NPR's Linda Werthheimer about his reverence for the character's mythology — and why he chose to change some of it up.

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Singer Merry Clayton performs in Hollywood during a celebration of Carole King and her music.

'20 Feet From' The Spotlight, There's Singing Worthy Of One

2:31pm June 12, 2013

A new documentary directed by Morgan Neville profiles backup singers whose voices you know but whose names you probably don't: Lisa Fischer, Darlene Love, Judith Hill and Merry Clayton.

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Mara Wilson, 25, was a child actor who starred in Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire.

Arts

'Matilda' Star Mara Wilson On Why Some Child Actors Lose It

8:50am June 12, 2013

by NPR Staff

After years in movies and TV shows, some child actors end up making headlines for stints in rehab and legal drama later in life. Others leave Hollywood behind and pursue different careers. Mara Wilson, star of Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire, explains the challenges of transitioning to adulthood.

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James Franco (from left), Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and Danny McBride all play versions of themselves in the post-apocalyptic comedy This Is the End, written by Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg.

Arts

Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg: Friends Till 'The End'

5:16pm June 11, 2013

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg met as adolescents on the Vancouver bar mitzvah circuit — and soon after began writing the script for what would become the movie Superbad. Their new project is This Is the End, a disaster-movie spoof in which the Rapture hits home in Hollywood.

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The 1939 film The Wizard Of Oz was rated G. The 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful was rated PG. The difference? Maybe a little violence and a womanizing leading man.

Arts

When 'G' Movies Are For Kids, Do Kids Avoid 'G' Movies?

5:38pm June 10, 2013

by Bob Mondello

Bob Mondello says a G rating used to mean "general audiences." Now it means a movie for kids, and that means kids are less likely to be interested in them than they once were.

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Actors John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in John Ford's The Quiet Man.

Arts

The Movie Nick Offerman Has 'Seen A Million Times'

2:38pm June 09, 2013

by Lily Percy

Actor Nick Offerman could watch the John Wayne film The Quiet Man a million times. "It was my dad's favorite, and it quickly became mine," he says.

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Judy Blume is the author of many books for kids and teens, including Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Blubber. Her 1981 novel, Tiger Eyes, has just been adapted into a movie.

Books
Arts

Judy Blume Hits The Big Screen With 'Tiger Eyes' Adaptation

8:29pm June 07, 2013

by NPR Staff

With the help of her son Lawrence Blume, Judy Blume has adapted her 1981 novel into a film. The widely beloved coming-of-age author speaks with NPR's Audie Cornish about turning the book into a movie, and how the themes in Tiger Eyes echo her own life.

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From 'RoboCop To 'Robot & Frank': Best RoboMovies Of All Time

2:50pm June 06, 2013

Science fiction movies throughout time are populated with robots. But when it comes to films with a tight focus on robots only a handful may come to mind. In advance of Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim, TOTN's favorite film buff Murray Horwitz discusses the best robot movies of all time.

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In The East, Ellen Page (left) and Alexander Skarsgard play members of an anarchist eco-terrorist collective.

Arts

Rediscover Your Inner Anarchist In The Anti-Corporate 'East'

1:29pm May 31, 2013

by David Edelstein

The East is a romantic activist outlaw fantasy in which Brit Marling plays an agent who poses as a radical activist to catch an eco-terrorist group. It's one of those melodramas in which someone on the morally wrong side has a spasm of conscience and maybe crosses over. Maybe.

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