Arts & Life

Aja (Hayley Kiyoko, from left), Jem (Aubrey Peeples) and Kimber (Stefanie Scott) in a scene from Jem and the Holograms.

Arts

Something Is Happening On The Internet, And 'Jem' Is Not Really On It

6:43pm October 22, 2015

by Scott Tobias

The live-action adaptation of Christy Marx's '80s cartoon staple wants desperately to appeal to teenagers who live online, but it has neither the energy nor the knowledge of the landscape to do it.

Sesame Street Reveals New Character, A Girl With Autism

6:02pm October 22, 2015

by Cory Turner

Sesame Street unveiled a new character, Julia, who has autism. The online-only narrative is part of a new initiative to help children understand the condition and to be more tolerant of it.

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Richie Lanz (Bill Murray) is a passe rock manager who, while stranded in Kabul, discovers Salima Khan (Leem Lubany), a Pashtun teenager with a beautiful voice.

Arts

Bill Murray Can't Bring The Rhythm To 'Rock The Kasbah'

5:36pm October 22, 2015

by Mark Jenkins

There could be some subversion in a comedy about a music manager trying to get a singer on the American Idol counterpart, Afghan Star, but in the end, there isn't.

Arts

New Film Follows Talent Agent From L.A. To Kabul

5:17pm October 22, 2015

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with director Barry Levinson about making his movie Rock the Kasbah. It's set mostly in Afghanistan, and stars Bill Murray as a hapless music manager who stumbles upon a Pashtun woman with a golden voice.

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Vin Diesel as Kaulder in a scene from The Last Witch Hunter.

Arts

There's Goofy Fun To Be Had In 'The Last Witch Hunter'

5:03pm October 22, 2015

by Andrew Lapin

If you can't appreciate Vin Diesel removing an evil bug from the face of Michael Caine, what do you have left to be happy about?

Julia is described by the Sesame Workshop as "a preschool girl with autism who does things a little differently when playing with her friends."

'Sesame Street' Introduces A New Muppet Character With Autism

5:03pm October 22, 2015

by Elizabeth Blair

Little Julia stars in the digital storybook called "We're Amazing, 1,2,3."

Sarah Silverman plays a profoundly depressed woman who has gone off her medication in the film I Smile Back.

Sarah Silverman Opens Up About Depression, Comedy And Troublemaking

2:38pm October 22, 2015

Throughout her life, comedian Sarah Silverman has experienced varying degrees of depression, which she likens to a "chemical change." She plays a profoundly depressed woman in the film I Smile Back.

Books
Arts

'The Mark And The Void' Is Good Fun — Until It Isn't

12:13pm October 22, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Paul Murray's absurdist tale of banking, art theft and failed schemes might be the funniest book about the European financial crisis you'll read all year — but it's bloated by too many subplots.

Books
Arts

All Hail The Glow Cloud: 'Night Vale' Welcomes Readers

10:03am October 22, 2015

by Amal El-Mohtar

The creators of the popular podcast Welcome to Night Vale are now telling their tales of a strange desert town in novel form, in a new book reviewer Amal El-Mohtar calls "splendid, weird, moving."

Arts

Grand Theft Vino: Higher Wine Prices Are Attracting More Thieves

7:05pm October 21, 2015

by Jackie Northam

Wine theft is on the upswing — particularly of very high-end, irreplaceable bottles. Some restaurants and wineries have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of wine in a single heist.

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