Movie Reviews : NPR

'Novitiate' Captures A Watershed Moment In The Life Of The Catholic Church

Fresh Air

October 27, 2017 • Margaret Betts' debut film centers on a young woman entering the convent at the beginning of the Vatican II reforms. Critic David Edelstein says Novitiate is a "terrific start" to Betts' career.

'Novitiate' Captures A Watershed Moment In The Life Of The Catholic Church

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'Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold' Plays It As It Lays

Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne and their daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, are the subject of the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. Julian Wasser/Netflix hide caption

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Julian Wasser/Netflix

'Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold' Plays It As It Lays

October 26, 2017 • The documentary, directed by Didion's nephew, the actor Griffin Dunne, isn't particularly revelatory, but it captures the writer's dazzling life and persona — and her struggles with grief.

Distressed Swede: In the mordantly satirical The Square, Christian (Claes Bang) curates a contemporary art museum in Sweden. Magnolia Pictures hide caption

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Magnolia Pictures

'The Square' Is Edgy

October 26, 2017 • Swedish writer-director Ruben Östlund ruthlessly roasts the art community in this loose, leisurely paced series of deadpan vignettes.

Pent-Up Passions Go Free Range In 'God's Own Country'

Shantay, Ewe Stay: John (Josh O'Connor) and Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu) look sheepish in God's Own Country. Samuel Goldwyn Pictures hide caption

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Samuel Goldwyn Pictures

Pent-Up Passions Go Free Range In 'God's Own Country'

October 26, 2017 • Two male farmhands in Yorkshire find each other in this "full-throttle, grand love story and ... coming-of-age parable" from first-time writer-director Francis Lee.

'Suburbicon': Two Storylines, Separate But Unequal

Wreck Room: Margaret (Julianne Moore) and Gardner (Matt Damon) experience an Eisenhower-era home invasion in Suburbicon. Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Paramount Pictures

'Suburbicon': Two Storylines, Separate But Unequal

October 26, 2017 • This film, directed and co-written by George Clooney, "is a solid 95-minute noir caper artlessly bolted to a 10-minute social drama, and a shockingly tone-deaf one at that."

'The Square' Skillfully Skewers The Pretensions Of The Modern Art World

Fresh Air

October 26, 2017 • Ruben Östlund's latest film is a satire set at a contemporary art museum in Stockholm. Reviewer Justin Chang says The Square invites viewers to laugh, empathize and recoil — sometimes all at once.

'The Square' Skillfully Skewers The Pretensions Of The Modern Art World

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'BPM,' A Pulse-Quickening, Personalized Drama About Aids Activists

October 22, 2017 • A review of Beats Per Minute, a film drama set in Paris during the early years of AIDS activism.

'BPM,' A Pulse-Quickening, Personalized Drama About Aids Activists

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Myth-ed Connections: 'The Killing Of A Sacred Deer'

Not Your Usual Stag Film: Anna (Nicole Kidman) has a good reason to look pensive in The Killing of a Sacred Deer. A24 hide caption

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A24

Myth-ed Connections: 'The Killing Of A Sacred Deer'

October 20, 2017 • Yorgos Lanthimos' deadpan film explores the friendship between a cardiologist (Colin Farrell) and an odd young man (Barry Keoghan) with mysterious intentions.

'Killing of a Sacred Deer' Is A Twisted Indictment Of White Male Privilege

Fresh Air

October 20, 2017 • A heart surgeon develops a strange relationship with a teenage boy in Yorgos Lanthimos' new film. Reviewer Justin Chang says The Killing of a Sacred Deer is an "unnervingly strange" horror movie.

'Killing of a Sacred Deer' Is A Twisted Indictment Of White Male Privilege

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In The Searing 'BPM (Beats Per Minute)' ACT UP Acts Up

Nahuel Pérez Biscayart stars as Sean Dalmazo, an HIV-positive activist in BPM (Beats Per Minute). The Orchard hide caption

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The Orchard

In The Searing 'BPM (Beats Per Minute)' ACT UP Acts Up

October 19, 2017 • This French drama about the Paris chapter of ACT UP in the '80s and '90s feels urgent and chillingly relevant — a call to arms against silence and complacency.

'Wonderstruck': A Lifeless Diorama About Lifeless Dioramas

Jamie (Jaden Michael) and Ben (Oakes Fegley) meet ... a woman played Julianne Moore (no spoilers!) in Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck. Mary Cybulski/Roadside Attractions hide caption

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Mary Cybulski/Roadside Attractions

'Wonderstruck': A Lifeless Diorama About Lifeless Dioramas

October 19, 2017 • Todd Haynes follows up Carol with this New York fable set in different time periods, but "there's little room left for insight and emotion in this overstuffed cabinet of curiosities."

Do You Want To Skip 'The Snowman?' (You Should)

"Hole. Harry Hole." Michael Fassbender chases a serial killer in the frosty, hilariously dour The Snowman. Universal Pictures hide caption

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Universal Pictures

Do You Want To Skip 'The Snowman?' (You Should)

October 19, 2017 • Director Tomas Alfredson buries a pulpy serial-killer yarn under an avalanche of portentous, boring, art-house fussiness.

Director Agnes Varda And French Artist JR Team Up In Road Picture 'Faces Places'

Fresh Air

October 16, 2017 • The odd couple travels around France in the new documentary, photographing strangers and making murals out of their portraits. Critic David Edelstein calls it an "entirely down to earth" art film.

Director Agnes Varda And French Artist JR Team Up In Road Picture 'Faces Places'

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Movies

Hollywood's Biopic Fever: 5 Fact-Based Films Released This Week

October 13, 2017 • It's a big week for movie biographies. Opening today: Fact-based films about a Supreme Court justice, two semi-famous authors, an infamous artist and a man who refused to let polio defeat him.

Hollywood's Biopic Fever: 5 Fact-Based Films Released This Week

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'The Meyerowitz Stories' Is A Squirm-Inducing Comedy About Family Dysfunction

Fresh Air

October 13, 2017 • Writer-director Noah Baumbach's new film is a collection of loosely connected episodes that offer a revealing glimpse into the heart of a lively and fractious New York Jewish family.

'The Meyerowitz Stories' Is A Squirm-Inducing Comedy About Family Dysfunction

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