Bond Is Back And Living Up To His Reputation
Istanbul: Somebody's stolen a hard drive with info sensitive enough that ... oh, who cares? Bond is giving chase, and that's all that matters — cars careening through bazaars, motorcycles flying across...
View Article'Tis The Season For Oscar-Bait Adaptations
It's the sort of juxtaposition that often arises at this time of year: novel adaptations arriving in droves at movie theaters, hunting for Oscar nominations.J.R.R.
View ArticleFor Pi, A Wonderful 'Life' Finds Its Way To Film
When your dad owns a zoo in India, as Pi's dad does, it's perhaps natural to regard animals as your buddies. Cool if you're talking goats and turtles; less cool if the animal you decide you want to pet...
View ArticleHollywood Heights: The Ups, Downs And In-Betweens
Hollywood can make any actor look imposing by shooting from a low angle or building sets with short door frames. But the fact is that we want our heroes big and our villains bigger, and the average...
View ArticleA 'Hobbit,' Off On His Unhurried Journey
The Hobbit's path to the screen may have started out as tortuous as a trek through the deadly Helcaraxe, filled with detours (Guillermo del Toro was initially going to direct), marked by conflict (New...
View ArticleBob Mondello's Best Movies of 2012
A lot of movie box-office records fell in 2012. The comic-book blockbuster The Avengers had the biggest opening weekend in Hollywood history. Skyfall will be the first James Bond film to top $1 billion...
View ArticleHome Video Review: 'Buster Keaton: The Ultimate Collection'
Time now for a home-viewing recommendation from NPR movie critic Bob Mondello. A quiet recommendation — because Bob is touting the Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection, a 14-disc set of classic silent...
View ArticleSay Yes To 'No': Retro Political Thriller Packs A Timely Punch
In 1988, Chile's brutal military dictator, Augusto Pinochet, was facing international pressure to legitimize his regime.
View ArticleDespite Dark Themes, A Big Oscar Bounce
How much is a best-picture Oscar worth? Not the statuette — winners are required to sell that back to the Academy for a buck if they want to get rid of it. No, what's the Oscar worth at the box...
View ArticleFairy Tales For Grown-Ups? More Are On The Way
Adaptations of fairy tales are everywhere you look. The TV show Once Upon a Time and the police procedural Grimm are in their second seasons. Hansel and his sister Gretel are at the cineplex hunting...
View ArticleHollywood's History Of Putting Gay Rights On Trial
With the Supreme Court hearing arguments this week on same-sex marriage, I'd like to point out a parallel evolution in what I see as a Hollywood mini-genre: films in which gay characters are either...
View ArticleA Film So Sumptuous, 'Renoir' Himself Might Have Helped Out
The year is 1915. A beautiful young woman bicycling through sun-dappled woods passes under an effigy of a German soldier and seems entirely unfazed. World War I is raging elsewhere in Europe, but here...
View ArticleDigging Into Ricky Jay's 'Deceptive' Card Tricks
When people talk about movie magic, they rarely mean card tricks.
View ArticleIn 'Iron Man 3,' A Metalhead Gets The Blues
Y'know, I think this bummed-out superhero thing is catching. Depressed Bat-guy, brooding Spider-dude, even the Man of Steel seems existentially troubled in previews of his most recent incarnation.And...
View ArticleAt The Movies, A Swirl Of Style And Substance
Here's a movie pitch: A celebrated millionaire, known for public extravagance, lives right on the water in a fabulous mansion. He's smooth but reckless, drives like a maniac, has a powerful enemy and —...
View ArticlePolley's 'Stories': A Family Saga Strikingly Spun
Sarah Polley grew up the fifth of five children in a Canadian theatrical family. Her father, Michael, is a transplanted British actor; her mother, Diane, was an actress and casting director. No wonder...
View ArticleNew 'Trek' Goes 'Into Darkness,' But Not Much Deeper
The opening sequence of J.J. Abram's new entry in the Star Trek universe has all the ingredients of the classic franchise.There's Kirk and his crew bellowing on the bridge, everyone worrying about the...
View ArticleMore Time Together, Though 'Midnight' Looms
Celine and Jesse are sporting a few physical wrinkles — and working through some unsettling relational ones — in Before Midnight, but that just makes this third installment of their once-dewy romance...
View ArticleSummer Movie Preview: Kids, Theft, The Apocalypse, And Joss Whedon
Trending, trending. M Night Shyamalan sees dead people. I see trends.This will be a summer of Adolescents Triumphant, with kids overcoming parental units specifically to tame a hostile environment, be...
View ArticleMovie Reviews: What 'After Earth' And 'Kings' Have In Common
Transcript ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: And I'm Melissa Block. Two movies open today that at first glance have little in...
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