Arts

Books
Arts

Herman Wouk Says He's A 'Happy Gent' At 100

5:09pm January 14, 2016

by Lynn Neary

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of beloved blockbusters like The Winds of War is celebrating his milestone with a new memoir, Sailor and Fiddler, that sums up his thoughts on what it means to write.

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John Krasinski plays Jack Silva in a scene from 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.

Arts

'13 Hours' Finds Fodder For Action, But Not Thought, In Recent History

5:00pm January 14, 2016

by Scott Tobias

Director Michael Bay makes no effort to put history in context in dramatizing the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi; he treats it as a setting for rah-rah action.

Stanislas Merhar and Clotilde Courau in a scene from In the Shadow of Women.

Arts

Paris And A Perilous Marriage 'In The Shadow Of Women'

5:00pm January 14, 2016

by Mark Jenkins

Director Phillipe Garrel may seem to be making one of those French films that slowly ponders daily life, but in fact, he's packing the undoing of a marriage into 70 minutes.

Richard Gere in a scene from The Benefator.

Arts

'The Benefactor' Finds A Wealthy Man Emotionally Broke

5:00pm January 14, 2016

by Ella Taylor

Writer-director Andrew Renzi uses the skills of Richard Gere to deftly draw a man whose wealth doesn't fully explain his inability to function with other people.

Ron Perlman and Rupert Grint in a scene from Moonwalkers.

Arts

Faking The Fake Moon Landing Brings Surprisingly Few Laughs

5:00pm January 14, 2016

by Andrew Lapin

The dopey comedy Moonwalkers wastes a potentially amusing premise imagining that a legend about Stanley Kubrick faking the moon landing was true — sort of.

The American South informed much of C.D. Wright's poetry.

Books
Arts

'Elegant And Cruel And True': The Life And Death Of Poet C.D. Wright

5:00pm January 14, 2016

by Craig Morgan Teicher

C.D. Wright was beloved not only for her poetry, but for her personality. Critic Craig Morgan Teicher has this remembrance of a writer who loomed large in his imagination and in his life.

Books
Arts

The Failed Coup That Led To Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'

4:33pm January 14, 2016

Adolf Hitler wrote his famous manifesto while serving time for an attempted coup that started in a German beer hall. Author Peter Ross Range says, "There was an obvious need to get his message out."

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Arts

The Fog Of War Collides With The Fog Of Michael Bay In '13 Hours'

2:56pm January 14, 2016

by David Edelstein

Bay's new film presents the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya from the perspective of military contractors. Critic David Edelstein says 13 Hours is a "ham-handed but ... generally effective portrait."

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British actor Alan Rickman has died at age 69; he had reportedly been suffering from cancer. He's seen here in New York last June.

Arts

Actor Alan Rickman Has Died; Portrayed Snape In Harry Potter Films

2:51pm January 14, 2016

by Bill Chappell

Rickman appeared in many blockbuster films during his prolific career, from 1988's Die Hard with Bruce Willis to 2003's Love Actually and the Harry Potter films.

Books
Arts

Super Bowl Commercial Inspires Maraniss To Write About Detroit's Better Times

2:15pm January 14, 2016

David Greene talks to journalist David Maraniss about a key moment when Detroit seemed to rule the world. Maraniss has written a history of Detroit's commerce and culture called Once in a Great City.

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