Movie Interviews

'Funny Or Die' Creator Adam McKay Takes On The 2008 Economic Crash In 'The Big Short'

3:15pm December 23, 2015

Not only do the characters in McKay's new film warn about the collapse of the global economy — they make money off of it. McKay calls the movie, based on the book by Michael Lewis, a "traumedy."

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Will Smith plays neuropathologist and Nigerian immigrant Bennet Omalu in Concussion. He says the role was exhilarating: "You know, Will Smith with a Nigerian accent could go really, really wrong."

Sports
Arts

Actor (And Football Dad) Will Smith On Playing The 'Concussion' Doctor

12:36pm December 23, 2015

by NPR Staff

The film centers on the man who linked a brain disease to football player deaths. Smith says, "This is probably the farthest role away from me that I've ever played, but it was exhilarating."

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Stop-motion animation is painstaking business. "The process moves so slowly, it can often take weeks or months to animate a single shot," says Anomalisa co-director Duke Johnson.

Arts

Frame-By-Frame, Filmmakers Make The Mundane Miraculous In 'Anomalisa'

3:09pm December 22, 2015

Stop-motion "communicates fragility and humanity and brokenness," says Charlie Kaufman. He and co-director Duke Johnson explain how to make puppets look lifelike, whether walking or having sex.

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'Son Of Saul' Captures The Holocaust Without The Melodrama

6:42pm December 21, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with the lead actor Geza Rohrig from the harrowing new Holocaust film, Son of Saul.

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Jennifer Lawrence stars as Joy Mangano, the creator of the Miracle Mop, in the comic drama Joy.

Arts

Jennifer Lawrence Looks Back On A Career-Changing 'Yes-Or-No Question'

2:38pm December 21, 2015

Lawrence got her big break as Katniss in the Hunger Games series. She says concerns about the price of fame made her hesitate before saying "yes" to the role. She's now starring in the drama Joy.

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Arts

'45 Years' Of Marriage Change With One Letter

8:04am December 19, 2015

In the movie "45 Years," a man gets a piece of news that threatens the quiet life he and his wife have built together. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with one of the film's stars, Charlotte Rampling.

Arts

'Son Of Saul' Brings Viewers To The Heart Of The Nazi Death Machine At Auschwitz

2:54pm December 18, 2015

Director László Nemes and star Géza Röhrig discuss Son of Saul, a film set in a Nazi death camp. The movie won the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Originally broadcast Oct. 7, 2015.

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Paula Pell has "a very toned joke-writing muscle," says comedian Tina Fey. "She can just go and go and go."

Arts

Comedy Writer Paula Pell Says You Don't Have To Go Far For Good Material

1:36pm December 18, 2015

by Elizabeth Blair

The longtime Saturday Night Live writer created the screenplay for the new Tina Fey-Amy Poehler movie Sisters. Pell says she wanted to explore how people carry their teenage identities into adulthood.

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Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is aware that all of her film mentors have been men. "Part of my responsibility is I need to bring other women along," she says.

Arts

Kathleen Kennedy: From Standing In Line For 'Star Wars' To Producing It Herself

1:24pm December 17, 2015

by Mandalit del Barco

The Lucasfilm president was handpicked by George Lucas to take over his company and the franchise. She's aware that all her film mentors have been men; "I need to bring other women along," she says.

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Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling play a married couple forced to reassess their relationship in Andrew Haigh's film, 45 Years.

Arts

A Long-Buried Secret, Once Revealed, Rattles '45 Years' Of Marriage

3:20pm December 16, 2015

Director Andrew Haigh's new film profiles a couple suddenly forced to reassess their decades-long union. "It's always interesting to me how we keep secrets from the ones we love the most," he says.

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