Arts & Life

Arts

Action Movies Love That Typing Sound, But Where Does It Come From?

5:06pm October 15, 2015

What's that sound text makes when it appears on screen in action movies? NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with Forrest Wickman of Slate, who investigated where exactly it came from.

Shu Qi in a scene from<em> The Assassin</em>.

Arts

A Most Unusual And Beautiful 'Assassin'

5:03pm October 15, 2015

by Ella Taylor

The latest work from Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien finds a ninth-century woman trained to be an assassin questioning the path that lies ahead.

Jack (Jacob Tremblay) and his Ma (Brie Larson) have been trapped in a windowless room for all of Jack's young life.

Arts

'Room' Finds A Mother And Son In Isolation

5:03pm October 15, 2015

by Andrew Lapin

Emma Donoghue wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of her novel highlighted by a sensitive performance from Brie Larson.

Tom Hanks as lawyer James Donovan in <em>Bridge of Spies</em>.

Arts

Spielberg Takes On The Cold War In 'Bridge Of Spies'

5:03pm October 15, 2015

by Mark Jenkins

The director's frequent collaborator, Tom Hanks, plays an American lawyer enlisted to carry out a complicated swap of one captured man for another.

Arts

Jennifer Lawrence Hits A Nerve With Essay On Hollywood's Gender Pay Gap

4:07pm October 15, 2015

by alexandra starr

The actress berated herself for not pushing for a higher fee for American Hustle after learning male co-stars made more. She says she's "over trying to find the 'adorable' way to state my opinion."

Books
Arts

Join The 'Morning Edition' Book Club As We Read 'Fates And Furies'

2:56pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

Author and screenwriter Richard Russo has selected our third book — a new novel by Lauren Groff. Fates and Furies chronicles a marriage over 24 years. Russo calls it "an incredibly ambitious work."

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Hasan Minhaj performs in his new one-man show "Homecoming King".

Arts

Hasan Minhaj Of 'Daily Show' On Prom, Indian Dads And White Folks At Desi Weddings

2:30pm October 15, 2015

by Elizabeth Blair

Homecoming King is the comedian's absorbing tale about the first-generation American experience and the NBA (New Brown America).

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Books
Arts

Epic 'City On Fire' Burns Almost Too Brightly

1:19pm October 15, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Garth Risk Hallberg's massive debut novel is a headlong rush through New York in the 1970s; critic Jason Sheehan says Hallberg writes "like he's not sure anyone will ever give him a second chance."

Cleese says that compared to the production challenges he faced when working on Fawlty Towers, doing American sit-coms felt like "the Rolls Royce way of making comedy."

Books
Arts

Early On, Comedian John Cleese Says, He Had Good Timing But Little Else

12:23pm October 15, 2015

The co-founder of the Monty Python troupe admits he wasn't "naturally gifted" at physical comedy, and learned a lot by imitation. His new memoir, So, Anyway..., covers his boyhood and early career.

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Staff in the kitchen of The Modern, a restaurant operated by Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group and located in the Museum of Modern Art.

Danny Meyer To Banish Tipping And Raise Prices At His N.Y. Restaurants

12:09pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

Meyer says "something fascinating and completely unfair" plagues the restaurant industry: Waiters' incomes have risen far faster than other staff. To balance salaries out, he'll charge more for food.

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