Arts & Life In 2007, 'Top 10' Doesn't Do Hollywood Justice December 31, 2007 • It was a bonanza year for blockbusters — four topped the $300 million mark — but there was a trove of art-house gems, too. Herewith, Bob Mondello's 10 favorite films of 2007, plus an additional baker's dozen that deserve another mention at year's end. In 2007, 'Top 10' Doesn't Do Hollywood Justice Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17681443/17729181" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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'There Will Be Blood' December 26, 2007 • Based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil, about a clash of capitalism and religion at the turn of the last century, this sometimes magnificent, decidedly strange film is a portrait of a terrible, rapacious man.
Arts & Life Oil, Money, Religion and 'Blood' in California December 26, 2007 • There Will Be Blood, a new film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, is a morality play set in the early days of California's oil boom. It involves the unholy trinity of oil, money and religion. Oil, Money, Religion and 'Blood' in California Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17611109/17611043" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Oil, Money, Religion and 'Blood' in California Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17611109/17611043" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Arts & Life 'The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep' December 25, 2007 • The Black Stallion meets Gremlins in this boy-and-his-Loch Ness Monster story. The Brit cast is fine, the digital creature is persuasive enough, and the scenery's certainly pretty — but the story might well prove too alarming for really small kids, and too twee for adults
'Persepolis' December 24, 2007 • A young, naturally rebellious Iranian girl's life is upended by the fall of the Shah and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in this poignant, animated, coming-of-age story based on a bestselling graphic novel. (Recommended)
'The Great Debaters' December 24, 2007 • Denzel Washington directs and stars in a formulaic but well-acted drama about a debate team from a historically black college competing against a white college in 1935. Predictable sports-underdog formula aside, the film has powerful scenes and performances.
Movies 'Charlie Wilson's War' a Satirical Spin on History December 21, 2007 • Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson conspired with a rogue CIA operative to launch an operation to help the Afghan mujahedeen during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. So it may seem surprising that the film about him has been nominated for five Golden Globe awards in the "musical or comedy" categories. 'Charlie Wilson's War' a Satirical Spin on History Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17525023/17525004" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Arts & Life Movie Madness (Some of it Genius) for the Holidays December 21, 2007 • Fresh Air's film critic is feeling a little overwhelmed, as he always does during this week in December. So today's review is a roundup, with notes on I Am Legend, Atonement, The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Sweeney Todd, and more. Movie Madness (Some of it Genius) for the Holidays Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17499750/17502408" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Arts & Life 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' December 20, 2007 • Blood flows freely and imaginatively in this splendid adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical — about a vengeful barber and his pie-baking landlady, who doesn't want the victims to go to waste. Happily, so do melody and feeling. (Recommended)
Arts & Life 'Charlie Wilson's War' December 20, 2007 • A comedy (!) about a congressman, the CIA, and the Afghan mujahedeen, featuring some seriously larger-than-life characters. Director Mike Nichols displays a light satirical touch. (Recommended)
Arts & Life 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' December 20, 2007 • A fair-to-middlin' spoof of Walk the Line-style country-music biopics, Walk Hard has a wayward way with gags; John C. Reilly is goofy fun, though, and the songs are hilarious.
Arts & Life In 'Sweeney Todd,' Blood Will Most Certainly Flow December 20, 2007 • How to begin a musical about a barber who slashes his customers' throats and a baker who grinds up their corpses to fill her meat pies? If you're director Tim Burton, you start by raining blood from the skies. In 'Sweeney Todd,' Blood Will Most Certainly Flow Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17411076/17470975" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Movies 'I Am Legend' a One-Man American Metaphor December 14, 2007 • On the surface, the sci-fi blockbuster is about Will Smith battling an army of light-phobic zombies. But NPR movie critic Bob Mondello says that the film has some serious terrorism subtext that could only be a product of post-Sept. 11 America. 'I Am Legend' a One-Man American Metaphor Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17260869/17271672" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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'I Am Legend' December 13, 2007 • Will Smith races around an eerily vacant New York in this latest adaptation of Richard Matheson's novella. The scares are effective for a good long while, and there's an intriguing terrorism subtext for anyone who wants real-world relevance.
'The Kite Runner' December 13, 2007 • A childhood friendship is torn apart, then finds new resonance two decades later in this novel-based heart-tugger. The film is undeniably affecting, but it's not the spellbinder the book's fans may expect.