Movie Reviews : NPR

'Suspiria': A Cult-Horror Remake Dances To A Confusing Beat

Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria, a remake of the Dario Argento cult classic, features a demonic dance troupe. Alessio Bolzoni/Amazon Studios hide caption

toggle caption

Alessio Bolzoni/Amazon Studios

'Suspiria': A Cult-Horror Remake Dances To A Confusing Beat

October 26, 2018 • Director Luca Guadagnino follows up last year's Call Me By Your Name with a "punishing" and "confounding" remake of Dario Argento's beloved horror film about a dance troupe of witches.

Documentary Unearths America's Rural Roots: 'Monrovia, Indiana'

Monrovia, Indiana Zipporah Films hide caption

toggle caption

Zipporah Films

Documentary Unearths America's Rural Roots: 'Monrovia, Indiana'

October 25, 2018 • Documentarian Frederick Wiseman aims his camera at the daily rhythms of life in and around a small town — and holds his focus long enough to find something beyond media stereotypes.

Swedish Film Cleverly Blurs The 'Border' Between Reality And Folklore

Trolling In The Deep: Vore (Eero Milonoff) and Tina (Eva Melander) unwind in the Swedish film Border. MoviePass Films hide caption

toggle caption

MoviePass Films

Swedish Film Cleverly Blurs The 'Border' Between Reality And Folklore

October 25, 2018 • Tina (Eva Melander), a Swedish customs official, can smell when someone's lying. When she meets a stranger (Eero Milonoff) who knows more about her than he's saying, she sets out to find answers.

In Lee Chang-dong's Dreamlike 'Burning,' Dread Is A Fire That Burns Slow And Cold

Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) goes for a run in Burning. Well Go USA hide caption

toggle caption

Well Go USA

In Lee Chang-dong's Dreamlike 'Burning,' Dread Is A Fire That Burns Slow And Cold

October 25, 2018 • Director/co-writer Lee Chang-dong adapts a haunting Murakami short story about a young man drawn into the lives of a woman, her cat and a handsome, mysterious stranger.

In The Documentary-Like 'Life & Nothing More,' A Family Struggles To Get By

Andrew (Andrew Beechington) is forced to grow up too fast in Life & Nothing More. CFI Releasing hide caption

toggle caption

CFI Releasing

In The Documentary-Like 'Life & Nothing More,' A Family Struggles To Get By

October 25, 2018 • Director Antonio Mendez Esparza brings a static, theatrical approach to this story of a black single mother and the teenage son who attempts to shoulder his absent father's responsibilities.

New, Magnificently Obsessive 'Suspiria' Is More Rebirth Than Remake

Fresh Air

October 25, 2018 • Luca Guadagnino's version of Dario Argento's 1977 horror classic departs from the original in every way imaginable. Critic Justin Chang says the 2018 Suspiria showcases an "astounding level of craft."

New, Magnificently Obsessive 'Suspiria' Is More Rebirth Than Remake

Listen · 7:26 7:26

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/660509969/660602062" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Actor Paul Dano Steps Behind The Camera In 'Wildlife'

October 22, 2018 • Actor Paul Dano will make his directorial debut with Wildlife, a drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan, about the shredding of a marriage as seen through the eyes of the couple's son.

Actor Paul Dano Steps Behind The Camera In 'Wildlife'

Listen · 3:32 3:32

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/659611120/659611121" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Review: 'My Dinner With Hervé'

October 20, 2018 • In the movie My Dinner with Hervé, Peter Dinklage plays "the world's most famous knife-wielding French dwarf actor," one part of an unlikely friendship that develops over a wild night in LA.

Review: 'My Dinner With Hervé'

Listen · 3:41 3:41

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/659122530/659122531" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' Is A Rare Gem: A Sweet Film About A Mean Person

Fresh Air

October 19, 2018 • A new film features Melissa McCarthy as a misanthropic con artist who forges letters from famous authors. Critic Justin Chang feels like McCarthy's entire career has been working toward this role.

'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' Is A Rare Gem: A Sweet Film About A Mean Person

Listen · 6:46 6:46

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/658805396/658882289" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

In 'Wildlife,' Carey Mulligan's Performance Blazes Bright

Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan in Wildlife (IFC Films). Scott Garfield/IFC Films hide caption

toggle caption

Scott Garfield/IFC Films

In 'Wildlife,' Carey Mulligan's Performance Blazes Bright

October 18, 2018 • Paul Dano movingly adapts Richard Ford's 1990 novel about a couple (Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan) whose marriage crumbles as their son (Ed Oxenbould) watches.

In 'Mid90s' Jonah Hill Looks At Skater Culture Through A Lens, Blankly

She said see you later boy: Stevie (Sunny Suljic) stars in Jonah Hill's Mid90s. Tobin Yelland/A24 Films hide caption

toggle caption

Tobin Yelland/A24 Films

In 'Mid90s' Jonah Hill Looks At Skater Culture Through A Lens, Blankly

October 18, 2018 • Jonah Hill writes and directs this semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale about a boy who embraces skater culture; the film faithfully documents the era, but offers no point of view.

'Halloween': This Time, Laurie Strode Is Locked And Loaded

"I ... am! Your singing tel-a-gram!": Michael Myers (Nick Castle) pays a visit to Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in David Gordon Green's Halloween. Ryan Green/Universal Pictures hide caption

toggle caption

Ryan Green/Universal Pictures

'Halloween': This Time, Laurie Strode Is Locked And Loaded

October 18, 2018 • Critic Monica Castillo says this Halloween sequel takes as its true subject the lingering effects of the trauma Jamie Lee Curtis' character experienced in the 1978 original. (Also there's stabbing.)

Melissa McCarthy's New Signature Role: 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?'

Forging Ahead: Melissa McCarthy is Lee Israel in Can You Ever Forgive Me? Mary Cybulski/Twentieth Century Fox hide caption

toggle caption

Mary Cybulski/Twentieth Century Fox

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Melissa McCarthy's New Signature Role: 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?'

October 18, 2018 • Melissa McCarthy plays a real-life literary forger left behind by the publishing industry in a new and thoughtful comedy.

A Family In Quiet Crisis Gathers To Assess 'What They Had' — And What They've Still Got

Ruth (Blythe Danner) and Bridget (Hilary Swank) share a moment in writer/director Elizabeth Chomko's intimate family drama, What They Had. Bleeker Street hide caption

toggle caption

Bleeker Street

A Family In Quiet Crisis Gathers To Assess 'What They Had' — And What They've Still Got

October 18, 2018 • In her debut feature, writer/director Elizabeth Chomko brings fresh insight — and a stellar cast — to the "dysfunctional family" subgenre; the result is "funny and sad, but never mawkish."

'Bad Times At The El Royale' Is A Twisty, Neon-Lit Neo-Noir

More like "AB Times at the El Royale," am I right?: Chris Hemsworth stars in writer/director Drew Goddard's Bad Times at the El Royale. John P. Johnson/Twentieth Century Fox hide caption

toggle caption

John P. Johnson/Twentieth Century Fox

'Bad Times At The El Royale' Is A Twisty, Neon-Lit Neo-Noir

October 15, 2018 • In writer/director Drew Goddard's film, several strangers converge at a casino-motel filled with dark passageways and two-way mirrors — a lot like the film's satisfyingly pulpy, B-movie plot.