Movie Reviews : NPR

When Islamists Impose Their Will In 'Timbuktu,' One Family Resists

Mehdi A.G. Mohamed (left) plays Issan, the orphaned boy who lives with a family outside Timbuktu. The family decides not to leave when radical Islamists come to impose Sharia, or Islamic law. Courtesy of Cohen Media Group hide caption

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Courtesy of Cohen Media Group

When Islamists Impose Their Will In 'Timbuktu,' One Family Resists

Fresh Air

January 30, 2015 • The movie, one of five Academy Award nominees for best foreign language film this year, is about radical Islamists occupying the city in Mali. Remarkably, it's often on the verge of being a comedy.

When Islamists Impose Their Will In 'Timbuktu,' One Family Resists

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To See Visual Dazzle In Oscar-Nominated Films, Go Short

A standout line from Torill Kove's Me and My Moulton: "Ten thousand men in our town, one single mustache. And it has to be on my dad." Shorts HD hide caption

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Shorts HD

To See Visual Dazzle In Oscar-Nominated Films, Go Short

January 30, 2015 • Oscar-nominated features tend to emphasize narrative over pure visual style. The nominated short films, however, are inventive and varied in their approach to cinema.

'Timbuktu': Stories From A City Held, Then Freed

Toulou Kiki, Ibrahim Ahmed, Layla Walet Mohamed in Timbuktu. Cohen Media Group hide caption

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Cohen Media Group

'Timbuktu': Stories From A City Held, Then Freed

January 29, 2015 • Director Abderrahmane Sissako sets several vignettes in the Mali city seized by Islamic militants in 2012, but held for less than a year.

Sex, Death, And Terrible Dialogue Climb Up To 'The Loft'

Wentworth Miller, Eric Stonestreet, Karl Urban, Matthias Schoenaerts, and James Marsden. Sofie Silbermann/Open Road Films hide caption

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Sofie Silbermann/Open Road Films

Sex, Death, And Terrible Dialogue Climb Up To 'The Loft'

January 29, 2015 • The American remake of a hugely successful European thriller could have been a lot of fun if anyone had realized how silly it was.

A Parisian Finds Her Place In A Rarely Seen Part Of 'Girlhood'

Karidja Toure in Girlhood. Strand Releasing hide caption

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Strand Releasing

A Parisian Finds Her Place In A Rarely Seen Part Of 'Girlhood'

January 29, 2015 • The coming-of-age drama about a black teenager in a poor Paris suburb takes some unexpected turns, but struggles to define why they progress as they do.

Full Of Complexity And Ambivalence, 'American Sniper' Shows The Cost Of War

Bradley Cooper (right) plays Chris Kyle in American Sniper. The film has become a cultural phenomenon and has spawned knee-jerk squabbling. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

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Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Full Of Complexity And Ambivalence, 'American Sniper' Shows The Cost Of War

Fresh Air

January 28, 2015 • The film about a Navy SEAL whose service in Iraq made him a mythic figure has become a cultural lightning rod. But the squabbles are too simple for a low-key movie striking in its lack of stridency.

Full Of Complexity And Ambivalence, 'American Sniper' Shows The Cost Of War

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'Red Army' Profiles How Cold War Played Out On Ice

January 23, 2015 • The new documentary is not a film about Soviet-era military machines. It is the story of the legendary Soviet hockey team of the 1970s and 80s — one of the greatest dynasties in all of sports.

'Red Army' Profiles How Cold War Played Out On Ice

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'Mommy' Tells The Story Of A Troubled, Transfixing Bond

Anne Dorval and Antoine Olivier Pilon in Mommy. Shayne Laverdière/Roadside Attractions hide caption

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Shayne Laverdière/Roadside Attractions

'Mommy' Tells The Story Of A Troubled, Transfixing Bond

January 22, 2015 • Xavier Dolan's tale of a troubled relationship between mother and son was Canada's Oscar submission for Best Foreign Film, and it pulses with energy despite its close calls with single-mother cliches.

The Tale Of The Hockey Players For Whom 1980 Was No Miracle On Ice

Red Army Slava Fetisov/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Slava Fetisov/Sony Pictures Classics

The Tale Of The Hockey Players For Whom 1980 Was No Miracle On Ice

January 22, 2015 • Gabe Polsky's documentary about the Soviet hockey team of the 1980s has a lot to say about sports, international competition, and perhaps even governments.

Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Evelyn (Chiara D'Anna) in The Duke of Burgundy IFC Midnight hide caption

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IFC Midnight

Love, Sex And Power In A World Of Women

January 22, 2015 • The drama The Duke of Burgundy follows two women in a complex tale of love and power, taking place in a town mysteriously without men.

'Leviathan' And 'Red Army' Deliver A Peek Inside Russia, Now And Then

January 21, 2015 • Leviathan follows a man who fights back after a corrupt mayor uses eminent domain to claim his house, and Red Army recounts the story of the Soviet Union's famous hockey team.

'Leviathan' And 'Red Army' Deliver A Peek Inside Russia, Now And Then

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'Still Alice' Is A Triumph For Julianne Moore, But The Rest Of Film Is Thin

January 16, 2015 • The movie is based on neuroscientist Lisa Genova's novel about a linguistics professor with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. While Moore is fascinating, the rest of the characters are half-formed.

'Still Alice' Is A Triumph For Julianne Moore, But The Rest Of Film Is Thin

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'Blackhat' Offers Fictionalized Version Of Cyberterrorism

January 16, 2015 • Michael Mann's new cybercrime thriller stars Chris Hemsworth. Mann's skill as a director holds the audience's attention as the team follows lines of electronic breadcrumbs in pursuit of the evil one.

'Blackhat' Offers Fictionalized Version Of Cyberterrorism

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A Lead Performance Keeps 'Still Alice' Grounded

Julianne Moore plays Alice Howland, a linguistics professor diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Linda Kallerus/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Linda Kallerus/Sony Pictures Classics

A Lead Performance Keeps 'Still Alice' Grounded

January 15, 2015 • Julianne Moore — now an Oscar nominee — is the steady presence keeping the emotional weight in a drama about the devastation of Alzheimer's disease, even when the film hits other notes too hard.

A Good Show For A Wandering Bear In 'Paddington'

Based on the popular children's book character, Paddington follows the misadventures of a bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) who travels to London in search of a home. The Weinstein Co. hide caption

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The Weinstein Co.

A Good Show For A Wandering Bear In 'Paddington'

January 15, 2015 • Perhaps surprisingly, this adaptation about the great little immigrating bear of literature gets a solid treatment around the edges of some typical kid-movie shtick.