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Thursday, February 07, 2013

Movie Reviews

Warning: 'Side Effects' May Include Eye-Rolling

In Steven Soderbergh's medical thriller Side Effects, Emily (Rooney Mara) goes through an emotional crisis — and then a psychopharmacological one — after her husband Martin (Channing Tatum) is released from prison.

February 7, 2013 Steven Soderbergh has said Side Effects will be his final film. But the talented director has turned in a stylish but silly thriller — a sad closing chapter for a notable career.

Summary

Movie Reviews

Sheen's 'Swan' Is One Ugly Duckling

Charles (Charlie Sheen) is a none-too-likeable ladies's man in A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III.

February 7, 2013 Notorious playboy Charlie Sheen plays a less extreme — but still essentially disagreeable — version of himself in Roman Coppola's A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III.

Summary

Movie Reviews

A '70s 'Playroom,' Without Much Room For Fun

Donna (Molly Parker) is the drunk, distracted matriarch to Maggie (Olivia Harris) and her nervous siblings in The Playroom.

February 7, 2013 In the swinging suburbs, a husband and wife nurse their drinks and neglect their kids as their marriage implodes. Critic Scott Tobias says Julia Dyer's film is solidly performed but stultifyingly obvious with its metaphors.

Summary

Movie Reviews

'Lore': After Hitler, An Awakening For The Reich's Children

A band of virtually orphaned children (Nele Trebs, Mika Seidel, Andre Frid and Saskia Rosendahl) trek through southern Germany seeking shelter —  and answers — at the end of World War II.

February 7, 2013 The Holocaust film is increasingly common, but films and novels telling the stories of German World War II survivors are still relatively rare — making Lore a welcome addition to the cinematic canon of postwar German narratives. (Recommended)

Summary

Movie Reviews

A Sorcerer, A White Snake, And Lots Of CGI Magic

The demon snake sisters (Charlene Choi and Eva Huang) disguise themselves as beautiful women in The Sorcerer and the White Snake.

February 7, 2013 Short on thrills but chock full of dazzling CGI wizardry, the mythical Sorcerer and the White Snake is a centuries-old Chinese story of demon-human love gone wrong.

Summary

Movie Interviews

'Warm Bodies' Director: Teen Romance, Undying

Nicholas Hoult, Rob Corddry and Teresa Palmer lurch through a scene in Levine's zombie romantic comedy.

February 7, 2013 Director Jonathan Levine joins NPR's Audie Cornish to explore the ins and outs of young (zombie) love — the subject of his new romantic comedy, which topped the box office in its first week.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Asia

Move Over James Bond, China Has An Unlikely Box-Office Champ

The surprise hit Lost in Thailand, a road comedy that cost less than $5 million to make, has become China's highest-grossing domestic film.

February 7, 2013 Hollywood blockbusters usually do well in China. But last year, Lost in Thailand, a scrappy, slapstick comedy that cost less than $5 million to make, raked in $200 million in just seven weeks. It's now the highest-grossing Chinese film ever. It begins a limited run in the U.S. on Friday.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Oscars 2013: The 85th Annual Academy Awards

The Story Of A West Bank Village Told With '5 Broken Cameras'

Co-director Emad Burnat examines his five broken cameras.

February 7, 2013 In 5 Broken Cameras, co-directors Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi tell the story of a Palestinian village that is protesting the establishment of an Israeli security wall that cuts villagers off from parts of their land.

Transcript

On Talk of the NationPlaylist

Movie Interviews

Bradley Cooper Finds 'Silver Linings' Everywhere

Bradley Cooper has been nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the film Silver Linings Playbook.

February 7, 2013 The actor, nominated for an Academy Award for his role in David O. Russell's film, talks about watching movies with his father as a kid in Philadelphia, his childhood fascination with soldiers and being up against Daniel Day Lewis for an Oscar.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

Monkey See

Remembering Central Park Birder Starr Saphir: 'Time Has A Different Meaning'

Starr Saphir, seen here at an HBO event in 2012, died on Tuesday.

February 7, 2013 Birder Starr Saphir, who died on Tuesday, was at the center of a 2012 documentary about the unique world of Central Park birding.

Summary

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Movie Interviews

Michael Apted, Aging With The '7 Up' Crew

Jackie, Lynn and Sue — pictured here at age 7 — are three of the children featured in the landmark 1964 documentary 7 Up. The series returns this year with 56 Up, checking in with a group of 14 men and women whose lives have been documented since they were kids.

February 5, 2013 Every seven years since 1964, the director has caught us up on the lives of 14 everyday people in his acclaimed 7 Up series. Apted was 22 when the series began, and the subjects were 7. In the latest episode — 56 Up — the subjects are well into middle age.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

Sunday, February 03, 2013

Movies I've Seen A Million Times

The Movie Jonathan Levine Has 'Seen A Million Times'

Jon Voight and Jane Fonda in a scene from the Hal Ashby film Coming Home.

February 3, 2013 Writer-director Jonathan Levine could watch Hal Ashby's Coming Home a million times. "I think that the distinctive thing about Coming Home is the love story," he says.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Friday, February 01, 2013

The Salt

An Oscar-Nominated Guacamole: Your Friday Visual Feast

Fresh Guacamole, an Oscar-nominated short film by PES

February 1, 2013 Guacamole Fresh is up for an Academy Award later this month. The extremely short animated film is a charming stop-motion take on the beloved Mexican dish. The twist? See the ingredients.

Summary

Movie Reviews

In Prison And Among Zombies, Shakespeare's Reflection Shines

Brutus (Salvatore Striano) delivers the final blow to the dying Caesar (Giovanni Arcuri) during a performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in the film Caesar Must Die.

February 1, 2013 William Shakespeare gets two modern takes with the Italian art film Caesar Must Die and the romantic zombie comedy Warm Bodies. The quirky, curious reinventions show how the words of the Bard can brighten up any story.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

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