Pop Culture

All dolled up: Mark (Steve Carell) photographs the plastic stand-ins of his backyard miniature town in Welcome to Marwen.

Arts

'Welcome To Marwen,' By Way Of Hollywood Cliches And False Uplift

5:00pm December 20, 2018

by Andrew Lapin

Robert Zemeckis adapts a gripping documentary about one trauma survivor's low-fi art project; the result is a "bloated and lifeless" drama that trivializes his experience.

Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) and Bumblebee (as himself) are more than meets the eye in Bumblebee.

Arts

Flight Of The 'Bumblebee': Transformers Flick Soars Over (Low) Franchise Expectations

5:00pm December 20, 2018

by Scott Tobias

Director Travis Knight takes over from Michael Bay, and sets about getting viewers to care about characters instead of assaulting our senses. The result is surprisingly watchable.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Queue Listen Now

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.

Angela Ponce, Miss Spain (center), is the first transgender contestant to compete for Miss Universe. She and other contestants are seen visiting the Government House in Bangkok last week.

World News

Miss Universe Has Its First Trans Contestant — While Miss USA Stirs Criticism

5:32pm December 17, 2018

by Laurel Wamsley

"I'm showing that trans women can be whatever they want to be: a teacher, a mother, a doctor, a politician and even Miss Universe," Miss Spain, Angela Ponce, said recently.

Queer Eye, Homecoming, Killing Eve, Vida, The Good Place and Big Mouth all made NPR's top list.

Arts

NPR's Favorite TV Shows Of 2018

5:29am December 17, 2018

This year we say goodbye to The Americans, but we also celebrate new gems like Queer Eye, Killing Eve and Homecoming.