Movie Reviews : NPR

'The Other Side Of Hope': Finding Haven — And Hamachi — in Helsinki

Sherwan Haji as Khaled, a young Syrian refugee in Helsinki. /Janus Films hide caption

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/Janus Films

'The Other Side Of Hope': Finding Haven — And Hamachi — in Helsinki

November 30, 2017 • Finnish writer/director Ali Kaurismaki follows up his 2011 film The Havre with a darker, but still comic, variation on a similar theme — a character fleeing bloody conflict gets taken in by a group of outcasts.

Woodyland In Bad Decline: 'Wonder Wheel'

Kate Winslet as Ginny, a 1950s waitress on the verge of spinning out, in Wonder Wheel. Jessica Miglio/Amazon Studios hide caption

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Jessica Miglio/Amazon Studios

Woodyland In Bad Decline: 'Wonder Wheel'

November 30, 2017 • Woody Allen's film about an unhappily married woman in 1950s Coney Island strains to evoke Eugene O'Neill. Critic Andrew Lapin says Wonder Wheel "isn't merely a bad movie but a laughable one."

'The Disaster Artist' Is 'The Room' Where It Happened

Nothing's Gonna Tear Them Apart, Lisa: Greg (Dave Franco) and Tommy (James Franco) wait for the lights to go down in The Disaster Artist. Justina Mintz/courtesy of A24 hide caption

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Justina Mintz/courtesy of A24

'The Disaster Artist' Is 'The Room' Where It Happened

November 30, 2017 • Director/star James Franco fondly — and hilariously — chronicles the making of the cult-movie fiasco The Room, evincing a deep understanding of the unhinged ambition at its core. (Go figure.)

Gorgeous And Lyrical 'Shape of Water' Doesn't Quite Hit Its Mark

Fresh Air

November 29, 2017 • Director Guillermo del Toro's new film is both a stylized vision of Cold War paranoia and an old-school monster movie. Reviewer Justin Chang says he wanted to love The Shape of Water more than he did.

Gorgeous And Lyrical 'Shape of Water' Doesn't Quite Hit Its Mark

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Movies You Missed: 'Planes, Trains And Automobiles'

November 25, 2017 • Olivia Roth takes a circuitous route home to Cleveland for every school holiday. She'd never seen Planes, Trains and Automobiles, so she watched it and discussed it with NPR's Scott Simon.

Movies You Missed: 'Planes, Trains And Automobiles'

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Review: 'Call Me By Your Name'

November 24, 2017 • NPR's Noel King talks with April Wolfe, lead film critic for LA Weekly, about the film Call Me by Your Name. It stars Armie Hammer and is directed by Luca Guadagnino.

Review: 'Call Me By Your Name'

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'Darkest Hour' Is A Grand, Ham-Fisted Showpiece For Gary Oldman's Churchill

Fresh Air

November 23, 2017 • Set during the early days of World War II, Darkest Hour chronicles the tense and tumultuous days following Winston Churchill's appointment as prime minister of England.

'Darkest Hour' Is A Grand, Ham-Fisted Showpiece For Gary Oldman's Churchill

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Pop Culture Happy Hour: The Glorious And Moving 'Lady Bird'

Saoirse Ronan stars as 'Lady Bird' in Lady Bird. A24 hide caption

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A24

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour: The Glorious And Moving 'Lady Bird'

November 22, 2017 • The PCHH panel is joined by Slate's Aisha Harris and music journalist Katie Presley to talk about Greta Gerwig's directorial debut (which she also wrote), the splendid coming-of-age film Lady Bird.

'Darkest Hour': In A World At War, A War Of Words

Gary Oldman stars as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. Jack English/Focus Features hide caption

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Jack English/Focus Features

'Darkest Hour': In A World At War, A War Of Words

November 22, 2017 • Gary Oldman (and a pair of latex jowls) star as Winston Churchill reckoning with the lonely decisions that imperil thousands of soldiers' lives.

Timothée Chalamet stars as Elio in Call Me By Your Name. Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Sony Pictures Classics

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Call Me By Your Name': Love, Their Way

November 22, 2017 • Luca Guadagnino's lush adaptation of Andre Aciman's novel about a teenage prodigy's first love affair with a visiting grad student is raw and real and profoundly, indelibly moving.

'The Man Who Invented Christmas' Is Half History, Half Humbug

Dan Stevens stars as Charles Dickens in The Man Who Invented Christmas. Bleeker Street Media hide caption

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Bleeker Street Media

'The Man Who Invented Christmas' Is Half History, Half Humbug

November 22, 2017 • The film "doesn't reinvent much of anything, but its jumble of biography, fantasy, and backstage melodrama" is at least better than yet another version of A Christmas Carol.

In 'Coco,' Pixar Finds Joyous Life — In Death

Anthony Gonzalez voices Miguel in Coco. Pixar hide caption

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Pixar

In 'Coco,' Pixar Finds Joyous Life — In Death

November 22, 2017 • A young Mexican boy who longs for music finds himself in the afterlife. Critic Bob Mondello says Coco will inspire joyous tears — and plenty of long-distance calls to grandmothers.

In 'Coco,' Pixar Finds Joyous Life — In Death

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A Summer In Italy Simmers With Sexual Longing In 'Call Me By Your Name'

Fresh Air

November 21, 2017 • A teenage boy falls for an older man in a sensual new film by Italian director Luca Guadagnino. Critic David Edelstein says Call Me By Your Name is nothing short of a masterpiece.

A Summer In Italy Simmers With Sexual Longing In 'Call Me By Your Name'

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Ingrained Prejudices Collide With Wartime Trauma In 'Mudbound'

Fresh Air

November 17, 2017 • Dee Rees' sweeping epic follows two families in the Mississippi Delta during the 1940s. Reviewer Justin Chang says Mudbound is "easily one of the year's most ambitious American movies."

Ingrained Prejudices Collide With Wartime Trauma In 'Mudbound'

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A Superteam Assembles To Talk 'Justice League'

Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) in Justice League. Warner Bros. hide caption

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Warner Bros.

Pop Culture Happy Hour

A Superteam Assembles To Talk 'Justice League'

November 17, 2017 • The Pop Culture Happy Hour gang discusses DC Comics' latest movie, featuring Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, The Flash and more. That, plus What's Making Us Happy this week.