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November 20, 2012 Bradley Cooper has been a comedy star — and People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive." In Silver Linings Playbook, he plays an emotionally damaged schoolteacher trying to get his life together after being institutionalized. He speaks with Linda Wertheimer about the film.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 20, 2012 Life of Pi and Cloud Atlas are two complicated, ambitious novels recently adapted for the big screen. NPR's Elizabeth Blair explores what makes some singular narratives workable on film — and what makes some fail.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 19, 2012 In Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln, Sally Field plays Abraham Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd, opposite actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Field lobbied hard for the role of the emotionally tormented, complex first lady and did extensive research to capture the character.

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On Talk of the NationPlaylist

November 19, 2012 Actor Irrfan Khan talks about his role in the new movie Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee and based on the best-selling novel of the same name. Khan also starred in Slumdog Millionaire, The Namesake and A Mighty Heart.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

November 18, 2012 What happens when you take a group of junior high kids from a school with a poverty level of more than 65 percent and teach them how to play chess? Katie Dellamaggiore's documentary, Brooklyn Castle, explores the amazing results.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 18, 2012 In his new documentary, Photographic Memory, Ross McElwee lingers on small moments and (mis)remembered experiences as he turns the camera on his son, Adrian. McElwee hoped to understand his son better through his work on the film, which he describes as a piece of "comic melancholy."

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

November 17, 2012 With films including period pieces like Sense and Sensibility, big-budget action films like Hulk and epic romances like Brokeback Mountain, Lee can't be pigeonholed. So he was up for the challenge when presented with a story that takes place almost entirely on a boat — with a real tiger.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 17, 2012 The award-winning playwright and screenwriter is best known for such works as Arcadia and Shakespeare in Love. He speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the screenplay for Joe Wright's adaptation of Anna Karenina.

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On Weekend Edition SaturdayPlaylist

November 17, 2012 Actor Christopher Plummer has taken his Tony Award-winning performance as actor John Barrymore to film. He speaks with Weekend Edition host Scott Simon about Barrymore as a man and as a role.

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On Weekend Edition SaturdayPlaylist

November 16, 2012 Cinematic adaptations of beloved literary tales are nothing new. Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is no stranger to the adaptation process, and newcomer Silver Linings Playbook enters the romantic comedy game. NPR critic Bob Mondello has his review of both.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 16, 2012 David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley Cooper as a bipolar high school teacher trying to put his life back together. But critic David Edelstein says it's the performance of co-star Jennifer Lawrence that makes the film a hot ticket.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

November 16, 2012 Will Sloan talks to Monty Python veteran Eric Idle about his long career and his new "pseudo-radio play," which features actors like Russell Brand, Eddie Izzard, and Tracey Ullman.

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November 16, 2012 Wright has made four feature-length movies, three of which have been adapted from literature. His newest film, Anna Karenina, tackles Leo Tolstoy's iconic love tragedy. He speaks with NPR's Renee Montagne about making a familiar story his own.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist