Movie Interviews

Emma Watson and Dan Stevens star in Disney's new live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

Composer Alan Menken On His Disney Tunes: 'I Prefer Them To Be Hum-able'

10:28am March 16, 2017

by Susan Stamberg

Menken scored The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas and many other Disney classics. He recently wrote three new songs for the live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

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Chris sits down for tea with Rose's parents in Get Out. (From left, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Allison Williams, Betty Gabriel and Daniel Kaluuya).

Arts

'Get Out' Sprang From An Effort To Master Fear, Says Director Jordan Peele

4:07pm March 15, 2017

As a kid, Peele was terrified of "the demons that lurked in the dark." Then he realized that by making a horror-thriller, he "would be wielding this power, as opposed to being a victim to it."

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World News

'Cries From Syria' Documentary Lays Bare The Conflict's Gruesome Realities

5:59pm March 12, 2017

by Lakshmi Singh

Director Evgeny Afineevsky and Syrian subject Kholoud Helmi talk about the new film, which chronicles the country's descent into civil war after initially hopeful demonstrations of the Arab Spring.

National

'Eyes On The Prize' Producer On Making A Civil Rights Documentary Before Its Time

5:59pm March 12, 2017

by Lakshmi Singh

The 14-part PBS series covered 30 years of the civil rights movement, winning two Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards. Producer and cinematographer Jon Else says only primary sources were on screen.

Arts

'Time: The Kalief Browder Story' Depicts Issues With Solitary Confinement

6:55pm March 04, 2017

by Michel Martin

Director Jenner Furst talks about his new documentary miniseries, Time: The Kalief Browder Story, on Spike TV. Browder served three years in Riker's Island jail after being accused of stealing.

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Will (left) and Brooke Blair composed the music for I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore, the directorial debut of their older brother Macon.

After 'Green Room' and 'Blue Ruin,' The Brothers Blair Keep Film Music In The Family

7:41am March 04, 2017

by Tim Greiving

Composers Brooke and Will Blair got some notice last year for their music for the cult hit Green Room, starring their brother Macon. Now they're scoring his directorial debut.

Arts

In Shirley MacLaine's New Movie, She Has 'The Last Word'

4:33pm March 03, 2017

Shirley MacLaine agrees that she's played a lot of sharp-tongued, difficult-to-be-around women, and that's true of her latest role in the movie, The Last Word. In her latest role, she's a woman obsessed with designing her own obituary. MacLaine talks about how she approaches acting and dodges what she wants written in her own obituary.

Encore: Mahershala Ali Plays An Unlikely Father Figure In 'Moonlight'

4:38pm February 27, 2017

NPR's Kelly McEvers spoke to Ali in October about his experience working on the film, which won the Oscar for best picture.

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Arts

Remembering Actor Bill Paxton, Of 'A Simple Plan' And 'Twister' Fame

2:20pm February 27, 2017

Paxton, who died Saturday due to complications with surgery, appeared in the TV series Big Love, as well as in blockbuster films like Titanic, Aliens and Apollo 13. Originally broadcast in 2002.

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Jazz pianist Bill Evans (seen here as he appears on the cover of the 2016 legacy release Some Other Time) is the subject of a new documentary called Bill Evans: Time Remembered.

Music & Culture

A New Documentary Explores The Troubled, Brilliant Life Of Pianist Bill Evans

8:28am February 25, 2017

by NPR Staff

Filmmaker Bruce Spiegel speaks with Weekend Edition about the eight-year process behind Bill Evans: Time Remembered.