Movies

L to R: Tom (Jack Colgrave Hirst), Judith (Kathryn Wilder), Will (Kenneth Branagh) and Anne (Judi Dench) smile for the ... portraitist, in All Is True.

Arts

'All Is True' Finds Melancholy And Magic In Shakespeare's Final Years

5:00pm December 20, 2018

by Ella Taylor

An aging Bard of Avon (Kenneth Branagh) returns to his hometown to reconnect to the family he barely knows in this touching film about the disconnect between life and art.

Pawel Pawlikowski's film follows musician Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) and dancer Zola (Joanna Kulig) over the course of 15 tempestuous years.

Arts

Polish Lovers Find Cold Comfort In The Elliptical, Frustrating 'Cold War'

5:00pm December 20, 2018

by Mark Jenkins

Pawel Pawlikowski follows up 2013's Ida with this tale of Polish musicians living under Stalin; it's "an ode to joylessness that feels historically credible but narratively arbitrary."

Arts

Justin Chang's Favorite Movies Of 2018 — In A Series Of 6 Cinematic Pairings

1:39pm December 20, 2018

by Justin Chang

So many of Chang's favorite films this year seemed to be in close conversation with each other that it didn't make sense, in the end, for him to separate them.

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Emily Blunt plays the proper and prim magical au pair in the sequel Mary Poppins Returns.

Arts

'Mary Poppins Returns' Is A Fine And Fresh Take On A Classic

11:12am December 20, 2018

by Linda Holmes

Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda lead a great cast in a sequel that finds Mary Poppins helping the Banks family deal with a whole new set of woes.

In 'Mary Poppins Returns,' The Practically Perfect Nanny Is Back

4:10pm December 19, 2018

by Bob Mondello

In Mary Poppins Returns, Emily Blunt takes on the role of the supercalifragilistic nanny made famous by Julie Andrews in 1964.

In Ben Is Back, Julia Roberts plays a mother whose son, an opioid addict, unexpectedly returns home on Christmas Eve.

Arts

Julia Roberts Has An Unexpected Christmas Guest In 'Ben Is Back'

5:08am December 19, 2018

by Rachel Martin

In a new movie, the actress plays a mother whose son is struggling with drug addiction. Lucas Hedges plays the titular Ben, and Peter Hedges — his father — directs the film.

Marshall speaks at the ceremony honoring her and Williams with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Aug. 12, 2004, in Hollywood, Calif.

Arts

Remembering Penny Marshall, The Director

8:07pm December 18, 2018

by Linda Holmes

After starting out in acting, Marshall directed well-loved and successful films in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Big and A League Of Their Own both have big hearts and real bite.

Jennifer Lopez says women are increasingly realizing: "We have worth, and value, and that we deserve everything that we want." Above, Lopez performs during the 2018 American Music Awards on Oct. 9, 2018, in Los Angeles, Calif.

Arts

How Jennifer Lopez Fought For Her 'Second Act'

4:44pm December 18, 2018

Lopez talks with NPR's Sam Sanders about her decades of superstardom, her work imitating her life, and about being a boundary-breaking Latina woman in the entertainment industry.

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The author's collection of aqua-memorabilia. (Not pictured: The author's many, many Aquaman t-shirts. And the Aquaman tattoo on the authorial left deltoid.)

Arts

Aquaman, From Super Friend To Surfer Dude: The Bro-Ification Of A Hero

4:25pm December 18, 2018

by Glen Weldon

The Sea King has undergone a series of sea changes: once a generic fish-cop, then a widely shared joke, and now, finally, the star of his own blockbuster film, as the ultimate bro.

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Cardi B; Ethan Hawke in First Reformed; Sandra Oh in Killing Eve.

'Fresh Air' Favorites: Our Critics Pick 2018's Best Books, Movies, Music And TV

2:53pm December 18, 2018

Find everything our critics loved this year, all in one place: Maureen Corrigan's book list, movie pairings from Justin Chang, music recommended by Ken Tucker and David Bianculli's must-see TV list.