Movies
Sneak Peek: Bob Mondello's Holiday-Movies Preview
()On the Monkey See pop-culture blog: Our critic explains why he's begun to wonder whether Nine can live up to its trailer — and why some are pointing out what's missing in the marketing for A Single Man.
Movie Reviews
'Me And Orson': Welles, He's Quite A Character()
November 24, 2009 Zac Efron is the nominal draw in Me and Orson Welles, a backstage drama set during the iconic director's 1937 production of Julius Caesar. But while Efron might bring the audiences, it's Christian McKay's turn as Orson Welles that's the real crowd-pleaser.
Movie Reviews
A 'Ninja Assassin,' Out For Blood (And Revenge)()
November 24, 2009 Splattered blood and severed limbs abound, but James McTeigue's new martial-arts extravaganza is more video game than convincingly violent action flick. Hardly realistic, but still a hoot for martial-arts fans, Ninja Assassin makes an entertainingly edgy option among more saccharine seasonal fare.
For Disney's New Princess, Short Courtiers Swarm()
November 24, 2009 Lots of young fans — and many of their moms and dads — are excited about the arrival of Tiana, the heroine of The Princess and the Frog, the latest animated Walt Disney film. It's more than just a new movie to many: Tiana is Disney's first African-American princess, a role model many parents have been waiting for for a long time.
John Hillcoat, Chasing Humanity On A Grim 'Road'()
November 24, 2009 Based on Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Hillcoat's new movie is a dystopian tale of survival in a physically and morally ravaged world. The director talks to NPR's Steve Inskeep about the challenges of visualizing a post-apocalyptic landscape — and why the bleak tale is really a story of human goodness.
Movie Reviews
'Broken Embraces': The Very Picture Of Romance()
November 20, 2009 Brace yourself: Things are about to get meta. Pedro Almodovar's latest picture strings a colorfully knotty love story across layers of dark film-within-a-film intrigue. Complex of plot, deft in its blending of comedy and melodrama, and a treasure trove of golden-age movie references, the film is what you might call a lushly tragic lark — a heartfelt, if not quite heartbreaking, paean to romance and to the romance of cinema. (Recommended)
Movie Interviews
Wes Anderson Covers New Ground With 'Mr. Fox'()
November 23, 2009 Director Wes Anderson has worked on a lot of film projects, but with his latest film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, he ventured into new territory: animation. Anderson says that making a stop-motion picture is the most involved filmmaking he's ever done, but he also says that the process has "a sort of magic."
Television
James Franco Checks In To 'General Hospital'()
November 20, 2009 The star of Milk and Pineapple Express — and a little movie franchise called Spider-Man — will be spending some time in Port Charles over the next couple of months. His guest-starring stint may help "freshen the image of daytime," says the soap opera's executive producer.
