Pop Culture

The 2019 Hollywood Diversity Report from UCLA further supports previous findings that increasingly diverse audiences seek diverse television and movie content.

Arts

Hollywood Diversity Report Finds Progress, But Much Left To Gain

5:23pm February 21, 2019

by Elizabeth Blair

The annual UCLA study tallies box office numbers and ratings alongside diversity both on and off screen. Today's "increasingly diverse audiences prefer diverse film and television content," it finds.

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New Zealand, old tropes: Laura (Erana James) and Carmody Braque (Timothy Spall) look vaguely concerned in the thriller The Changeover.

Arts

Supernatural Thriller 'The Changeover' Doesn't Change Up Its Genre Cliches

5:00pm February 21, 2019

by Scott Tobias

An evocative setting and a chewily fun performance from Timothy Spall as a mysterious and malevolent figure can't keep this New Zealand film from trafficking in tired tropes.

Comedian Mo Amer, seen here in his Netflix special The Vagabond, says that stand-up has been a significant part of his "coping process" with an itinerant childhood.

Arts

'You Get Paid For Doing Therapy': Stand-Up Comedians On Anger

10:50am February 20, 2019

by Elizabeth Blair

For centuries, people have turned to jesters for relief from the miseries of life. As it turns out, some stand-up performers turn pain and rage into their own coping and catharsis.

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Alex Honnold's ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park — without ropes or safety equipment — was the subject of the documentary film Free Solo.

Arts

The Documentary Is In — And Enjoying — An 'Undeniable Golden Age'

10:06pm February 19, 2019

by Mandalit del Barco

With a proliferation of streaming services to distribute their work, and a boom at the box office, budgets and opportunities are rising for documentary filmmakers.

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Burberry Apologizes For Nooselike Knot On Fashion Hoodie

8:30pm February 19, 2019

by Richard Gonzales

A runway model who objected to the impression made by the drawstring says she was initially told to "keep it to yourself."

Red Pill Or Blue Pill? 20 Years Ago The Matrix Built Our Reality-Denying World

6:20pm February 15, 2019

Twenty years after the sci-fi classic The Matrix arrived in theaters, pop culture columnist Mark Harris explains to NPR's Audie Cornish how we're all living in a world the film created.

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Jeremy Comte's live-action short film "Fauve" took home a Special Jury prize at Sundance. It's nominated now for an Oscar at the 91st Academy Awards.

Arts

More 2019 Short Film Oscar Nominees, Reviewed: Live-Action And Documentary

5:01pm February 14, 2019

by Andrew Lapin

Critic Andrew Lapin reviews the 10 short films nominated in the live-action and documentary categories this year, and offers his picks for both what will — and what should -- win.

Alita: Battle Angel leaves the Uncanny Valley behind to map the Uncanny Canyon. Eye-yi-yi.

Arts

Teenage Wasteland: 'Alita: Battle Angel' Doesn't Quite Earn Its Wings

5:01pm February 14, 2019

by Chris Klimek

Despite a surfeit of impressive talent behind and before the camera, and solid set-pieces, Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of a popular manga about a deadly teenage-ish robot feels thin, and dated.

Ki Joo-bong stars in Hotel By The River, the latest from South Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo.

Arts

In A 'Hotel By The River,' Guests Contemplate Love, Death And Art

5:00pm February 14, 2019

by Mark Jenkins

The latest from South Korean director Hong Sang-soo explores his usual theme of existential regret. The film's complex structure leads its characters to simple, if revealing, insights.

Ken Jeong's new Netflix comedy special is called You Complete Me, Ho — after his wife, Tran Ho.

Arts

In His Return To Stand-Up, Ken Jeong Tells His Wife: 'You Complete Me'

1:28pm February 14, 2019

The doctor-turned-actor released a new comedy special on Valentine's Day. It's dedicated to the woman whose sense of humor, especially while facing aggressive breast cancer, made his career possible.

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