Movie Interviews

The iconic Chicago photographer Art Shay took portraits of presidents, prizefighters, prose poets — and in the person of Roger Ebert, at least one Pulitzer-winning critic.

Arts

Roger Ebert In Review: A 'Fresh Air' Survey

1:10pm April 05, 2013

Fresh Air remembers film critic Roger Ebert, who died Thursday, with a roundup of interviews from our archive — one with Ebert alone, one with him and his late partner Gene Siskel, and two in which Ebert interviews iconic directors. Plus, critic-at-large John Powers discusses Ebert's 2011 memoir Life Itself.

Queue Listen Now

Director Cristian Mungiu on the set of his new film, Beyond the Hills. As in his earlier 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, the filmmaker focuses on two young women adrift in the post-Soviet wilderness of Romania.

Arts

Cristian Mungiu: Metaphor Or Not, 'Hills' Has Eyes For Romania's Past

6:28pm March 31, 2013

by Howie Movshovitz

Already the poster child for his country's so-called New Wave of filmmakers, the director takes another realistic dive into the post-Communist Eastern Bloc with Beyond the Hills. Though he hesitates to call it a straight metaphor, the symbolism of the film is uncanny.

Queue Listen Now

In Robot & Frank, a robot cares for an aging ex-burglar who has dementia. Frank Langella, who plays the burglar, says his character "becomes fond of the robot only because it is a tool for his wicked, wicked ways."

Arts

Frank Langella: A Career 'Like A Chekhov Play'

2:03pm March 29, 2013

In the movie Robot & Frank, the actor plays an aging ex-burglar who learns to take advantage of his robot caretaker. Langella, 74, tells Fresh Air why he was drawn to the role, and discusses the ups and downs of his long career.

Queue Listen Now

Pam Thatcher and her family ultimately moved into her mother's two-bedroom apartment because they couldn't make rent.

'American Winter' Families Struggle To Survive Fall From Middle Class

9:57am March 26, 2013

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Diedre Melson, John Cox and Pam Thatcher are college-educated parents who once considered themselves part of the middle class. Then the Great Recession hit. A new HBO documentary shows their families desperately trying to make ends meet.

Queue Listen Now

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in a scene from the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing.

Arts

The Movie Chris O'Dowd Has 'Seen A Million Times'

9:41am March 25, 2013

by Lily Percy

Actor Chris O'Dowd could watch the classic romance Dirty Dancing a million times. "I didn't know what romance was until I saw Dirty Dancing," he says," and nothing has come close since."

Queue Listen Now

Justin Timberlake performs at Myspace Secret Show at SXSW on March 16 in Austin, Texas.

Timberlake On 'N Sync, Acting And Bringing Sexy Back

1:59pm March 22, 2013

Justin Timberlake rocketed to stardom as a teen heartthrob in the band 'N Sync. He has gone on to be a successful solo artist — and expanded his career into both comedic and dramatic roles on-screen. He discusses his long career in showbiz, his SNL digital shorts and his transition to film.

Queue Listen Now

Tina Fey stars as Princeton University admissions counselor Portia Nathan in the new comedy Admission. Fey says the movie's frankly manic depiction of the college application melee appealed to her.

Arts

Tina Fey, Movie Star? Not Quite Yet, She Says

10:55am March 22, 2013

by NPR Staff

The writer, actor and producer has a starring role in the new movie Admission. She speaks with Linda Wertheimer about comedy, being in control and — now that her long-running sitcom, 30 Rock, has ended — why she really means it when she says she's taking a pause to spend more time with her family.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Denzel Washington Remembers 'Malcom X' And 'The Wizard Of Oz'

1:29pm March 18, 2013

In highlights from a 2008 interview, the Oscar-winner talks with Terry Gross about reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which he calls "one of the greatest books I've ever read," and his love for the songs from The Wizard of Oz. He even sings a bar or two of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road."

Queue Listen Now

The noisy film is mostly wordless, with animals and nature filling in the blanks between its strangely stark images.

Arts

'Leviathan': The Fishing Life, From 360 Degrees

7:46am March 16, 2013

by Pat Dowell

Leviathan is a new film that's a documentary, and yet not quite a documentary. The mostly wordless art piece uses tiny cameras and dramatic soundscaping to probe the edges of human-animal interaction off the coast of New England. The filmmakers explain their unusual production process.

Queue Listen Now

Navy veteran Freddie (Phoenix) falls under the influence of cult leader Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in Anderson's film, which critic Ella Taylor describes as "one of the most twisted father-son tales ever told."

Arts

Paul Thomas Anderson, The Man Behind 'The Master'

11:52am March 15, 2013

The director of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood talks to Fresh Air's Terry Gross about The Master, a tense drama with indelible performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams.

Queue Listen Now