Arts & Life Card by Card, Stride by Stride, It's an Unthrilling Run March 28, 2008 • Competition fuels both 21, about a college card-counter working Vegas, and Run Fatboy Run, about a shlub who runs a marathon for love's sake. But neither film takes the gold with NPR's critic. Card by Card, Stride by Stride, It's an Unthrilling Run Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89115812/89195056" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Card by Card, Stride by Stride, It's an Unthrilling Run Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89115812/89195056" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Arts & Life In 'Stop Loss,' a Soldier's Rocky Return from War Fresh Air March 28, 2008 • Fresh Air film critic David Edelstein reviews Stop Loss, a film about a decorated Army sergeant (Ryan Phillippe) who resists an order to serve another tour of duty in Iraq on the grounds that he has already fulfiled his contract with the military. In 'Stop Loss,' a Soldier's Rocky Return from War Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89181845/89181843" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
In 'Stop Loss,' a Soldier's Rocky Return from War Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89181845/89181843" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Movies Emotional Intensity Propels 'Stop-Loss' March 28, 2008 • The story of a young soldier home from the war in Iraq is the subject of the movie Stop-Loss. Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan says the movie has a propulsive emotional intensity. Emotional Intensity Propels 'Stop-Loss' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89176764/89176742" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Emotional Intensity Propels 'Stop-Loss' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89176764/89176742" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Arts & Life 'Stop Loss' March 27, 2008 • An Army sergeant returns from Iraq to his Texas hometown, believing he's seen his last tour of duty. But he soon finds the Army wants to send him back. Wrenching, evenhanded, and so packed with incident and issues that it's as exhausting as it is moving.
Arts & Life '21' March 27, 2008 • A brilliant MIT student joins a professor and a group of mathematicians in a Las Vegas card-counting scheme. It's a sort of collegiate Ocean's 16, and it's sharp enough — even if the counting system, as explained (endlessly) in the film, is a bit complex.
Arts & Life 'Flawless' March 27, 2008 • Frustrated by the glass ceiling, an exec (Demi Moore) in the diamond trade decides to help a janitor with a jewel heist. Moore looks the part, and she and co-star Michael Caine are engaging enough, but a cleverer script would make for a better caper.
Arts & Life 'Run Fatboy Run' March 27, 2008 • Vaguely pudgy guy (Simon Pegg) leaves ravishing, pregnant bride-to-be (Thandie Newton) at the altar, hopes to win her back five years later by running a marathon. David Schwimmer directs with an amiable looseness — and a bit more slapstick than necessary.
Arts & Life 'Blindsight' March 21, 2008 • Six Tibetan teenagers trek to the top of the 23,000-foot-high Lhakpa Ri peak, on the north side of Mount Everest — a trek that might well be worthy of documenting even if the climbers weren't blind.
The Impact of War 'Fighting for Life' March 21, 2008 • The work of America's military doctors and nurses in Iraq is recorded in Terry Sanders' documentary; there's no editorializing, admirably, though the sight of 19-year-olds having limbs amputated does raise questions about the politics of war.
Arts & Life 'Romulus, My Father' March 21, 2008 • An Eastern European immigrant struggles with family dramas after he moves to Australia with his wife and son. Richard Roxburgh's pretty but ponderous melodrama boasts fine performances, but its story proves so downbeat and attenuated that it's hard to stay engaged.
Arts & Life 'Under the Same Moon' March 20, 2008 • After his grandmother dies, 9-year-old Carlitos decides to jump the Mexico-U.S. border to find his mother, who is working in Los Angeles. What he doesn't know: She's on her way to find him, too, and many a danger awaits.
Arts & Life 'Drillbit Taylor' March 20, 2008 • Three high-schoolers hire a broke, out-of-work bodyguard to protect them from a bully; punches get thrown, groins kicked, Life Lessons learned. The bottom line? It's generic, and a probable crowd-pleaser.
'Horton Hears a Who' March 14, 2008 • Frenzied and elephantine where it needs to be light as a speck of dust, this exhausting attempt to bring one of Dr. Seuss's best-known children's stories to life is visually imaginative, but otherwise strictly for kids.
Arts & Life Audience is Loser in Haneke's Unfunny 'Games' Fresh Air March 14, 2008 • In Michael Haneke's new film, a wealthy American family opens the door of their secluded vacation home to two strangers — who proceed to torture them in a series of sadistic games. David Edelstein has a review. Audience is Loser in Haneke's Unfunny 'Games' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/88230619/88230618" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Audience is Loser in Haneke's Unfunny 'Games' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/88230619/88230618" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Arts & Life A Thriller of a Documentary: 'The Unforseen' March 14, 2008 • A new documentary tracks a 30-year battle over land use in Austin, Texas. The Unforseen focuses on a real-estate development project threatening a spring-fed swimming area. Robert Redford and Terrence Malick are the film's executive producers. A Thriller of a Documentary: 'The Unforseen' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/88226034/88226020" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
A Thriller of a Documentary: 'The Unforseen' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/88226034/88226020" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript