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Friday, February 01, 2013

Movie Reviews

'Gatekeepers' Let Us Inside Israeli Security

The documentary The Gatekeepers examines Israeli security policy in interviews with six former heads of the secretive  Shin Bet agency.

February 1, 2013 The Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Dror Moreh is not a defense of Israeli security policy, but a critique. The six Shin Bet heads Moreh interviews may believe in the tactics they devised, but it's the overall strategy they think is flawed.

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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Movie Reviews

'Sound City': Music And Memories In An L.A. Landmark

Rock musician Dave Grohl recorded Nirvana's Nevermind at L.A.'s Sound City Studios; now, he's turned his musical memories of the place into a documentary film of the same name.

January 31, 2013 Much of rocker Dave Grohl's Sound City follows a familiar rock-doc formula. But his thoughtful love letter to a legendary Los Angeles studio succeeds, thanks to his jovial presence as the filmmaker-narrator-musician leading the way.

Summary

Movie Reviews

'Koch': One Last Hurrah For Hizzoner

Former three-term New York City Mayor Ed Koch may be long out of Gracie Mansion, but he's still a political force.

January 31, 2013 Ed Koch is almost 25 years removed from his time as New York City's feisty, unforgettable mayor — but as Neil Barsky's new documentary shows, the controversial politician still commands respect in the Big Apple.

Summary

Movie Reviews

'Stand Up Guys' Falls Terminally Flat

Doc (Christopher Walken) and Val (Al Pacino) are old friends and ex-cons who go on one last rampage in the crime comedy Stand Up Guys.

January 31, 2013 An awkward, uneven addition to the "old guys doing stuff" subgenre, Stand Up Guys wastes a veteran cast and a passable premise in one night of ill-calibrated comic hell-raising.

Summary

Movie Reviews

'Bullet To The Head': No-Brainer Bubblegum

Sung Kang plays a D.C. cop at large in New Orleans, where he finds himself in an uneasy alliance with hit man Sylvester Stallone in the blues-rock driven crime drama Bullet to the Head.

January 31, 2013 Adapted from a French graphic novel and outfitted with an ethnically diverse cast, this New Orleans-set crime thriller centers on a hit man (Sylvester Stallone) who finds himself in an uneasy alliance with a detective (Sung Kang).

Summary

Television

Spacey And Fincher Make A 'House Of Cards'

Kevin Spacey is the star and a producer of the new Netflix series House of Cards, on which David Fincher is a co-producer.

January 31, 2013 Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey and Oscar-winning director David Fincher team up for a new Netflix original series that premieres Friday. House of Cards follows a Machiavellian politician as he schemes to take down the president of the United States.

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Television

William H. Macy Is 'Shameless' On Showtime

In Shameless, William H. Macy is the dysfunctional father of six.

January 30, 2013 As the alcoholic paterfamilias Frank Gallagher on the Showtime series Shameless, the actor enjoys portraying a man with a dark side. But he says it's Frank's better qualities that make him sustainable as a character.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Two-Way

Stefan Kudelski, Who Made Sound Recording Portable, Dies

Stefan Kudelski poses with the Ampex-Nagra VPR-5 portable recorder in an undated photograph. The devices were used to record the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

January 29, 2013 Stefan Kudelski, inventor of the first portable professional sound recorder, has died. His Nagra tape recorder, created in 1951, revolutionized film by giving filmmakers the freedom to record scenes at virtually any location.

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Arts & Life

Watch This: Neil Gaiman's Imaginative Favorites

Neil Gaiman is also the author of Coraline, American Gods, Anansi Boys,Stardust and M Is for Magic. He was born in Hampshire, England, and now lives near Minneapolis.

January 28, 2013 From The Muppet Show to The Twilight Zone and a creepy animated version of Alice in Wonderland, author Neil Gaiman shares his film and television favorites for the occasional Morning Edition series Watch This. Gaiman calls the Muppets "one of the comedic glories of the human race."

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Movies I've Seen A Million Times

The Movie Common Has 'Seen A Million Times'

Eddie Murphy in John Landis' comedy Coming to America.

January 27, 2013 Rapper-actor Common could watch the Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America a million times. "No matter how many times I've seen it, I still laugh," he says.

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