archive

December 16, 2012 The new movie Zero Dark Thirty focuses on a female intelligence officer's quest to find Osama bin Laden, but the story of how the terrorist mastermind was found wasn't quite so simple.

Transcript

On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

December 15, 2012 Tom Hooper's cinematic adaptation of the musical Les Miserables, which was based on Victor Hugo's famous novel, opens this Christmas. It's earned huge buzz for its stars, including Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, who speak with Scott Simon about their experience with the film.

Transcript

On Weekend Edition SaturdayPlaylist

December 14, 2012 In Hyde Park on Hudson, Laura Linney plays the introverted Daisy Suckley, a distant cousin and love interest to Bill Murray's Franklin Roosevelt. She tells NPR's David Greene that the real Daisy was "very self-contained" — and someone she came to admire deeply.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

December 8, 2012 Musician and composer Gustavo Santaolalla, best known for his Oscar-winning scores for The Motorcycle Diaries and Brokeback Mountain, could watch Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life a million times. "It gives me hope," he says.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

December 8, 2012 The Oscar-winning epic Lawrence of Arabia was first released in theaters 50 years ago this month. NPR's Scott Simon talks with Omar Sharif about playing Sherif Ali in the film.

Transcript

On Weekend Edition SaturdayPlaylist

December 6, 2012 Judd Apatow draws on his own experiences as a husband and father in a new comedy that explores the ups and downs of family life. The film stays close to home, literally and figuratively. It stars his wife, Leslie Mann, as well as their two daughters, and was filmed a few doors down from his house.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

November 29, 2012 In the Robert Zemeckis film starring Denzel Washington, a pilot with a secret substance-abuse problem successfully crash-lands an airplane while high on drugs and alcohol. He must then ask himself some tough questions about whether his act of heroism is undermined by his addiction.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

November 29, 2012 In 1951, Leslie Caron arrived in California a malnourished and anemic ballerina. After spending the war in occupied Paris, Tinseltown was a revelation, and she soon took it by storm, appearing with the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in more than 40 films.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 28, 2012 French actress Marion Cotillard won the 2008 Academy Award for best actress for her role in La Vie en Rose. NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with Cotillard about her new film, Rust and Bone, in which she plays an amputee.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 28, 2012 You might envision Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy as cute and cuddly. But they're tough characters united to fight the boogeyman in Rise of the Guardians. NPR's Michel Martin talks with director Peter Ramsey about the movie — and becoming the first African-American director of a big-budget CG-animation film.

Transcript

On Tell Me MorePlaylist

November 26, 2012 How did Suraj Sharma end up starring in Oscar-winning director Ang Lee's new film Life of Pi? All he needed to do was learn to act, learn to swim, and learn to understand tigers.

Transcript

On Tell Me MorePlaylist

November 24, 2012 Actor-writer-director Ed Burns could watch the Oscar-nominated drama Tender Mercies a million times. "I love films that are not plot-driven," he says. "I like small character studies."

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 22, 2012 Lincoln biographer Ronald White critiques the accuracy of Stephen Spielberg's new film about the Great Emancipator. White says that while not every detail of the film is true, "the delicate balance or blend between history and dramatic art comes off quite well."

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist