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Movie Reviews Reviews of new movies, classic and art films, foreign films, and popular movies. Featuring Bob Mondello, Kenneth Turan, David Edelstein, and Mark Jenkins.

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'Don't Look Up' is an environmental satire that squanders its resources

Cate Blanchett, Tyler Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jennifer Lawrence in Don't Look Up. Niko Tavernise/Netlfix hide caption

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Niko Tavernise/Netlfix

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Don't Look Up' is an environmental satire that squanders its resources

The new Netflix film Don't Look Up has a crazy Academy Awards pedigree. Writer-director Adam McKay won an Oscar for The Big Short and the Oscar-studded cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as scientists who discover that a massive comet is hurtling toward Earth. The only problem: They can't get the media's attention (represented here by Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry) or get the president (played by Meryl Streep) to care. But with all these stars in the mix, did Don't Look Up miss the mark?

'Don't Look Up' is an environmental satire that squanders its resources

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This 'Macbeth' adaptation distills Shakespeare's tragedy to its furious essence

Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand play Shakespeare's famously murderous couple in The Tragedy of Macbeth. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

This 'Macbeth' adaptation distills Shakespeare's tragedy to its furious essence

Fresh Air

Director Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth is a bewitching piece of craftsmanship, featuring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand as the murderous power couple.

This 'Macbeth' adaptation distills Shakespeare's tragedy to its furious essence

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Should you enter 'The Matrix Resurrections'?

Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves return as Trinity and Neo in The Matrix Resurrections. Warner Bros. hide caption

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Warner Bros.

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Should you enter 'The Matrix Resurrections'?

When The Matrix opened in 1999, it thrilled audiences with its strangely cerebral mix of stylized violence, existential crisis, and tight, black leather. The new movie The Matrix: Resurrections continues the story. Directed by Lana Wachowski, the film takes us back inside the simulation that the machines are using to keep humanity docile as they harvest our energy. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss return as Neo and Trinity, who, alongside an array of new characters, attempt to, once again, lead an uprising to let us all live authentic lives.

Should you enter 'The Matrix Resurrections'?

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Bradley Cooper is Guillermo del Toro's monster in 'Nightmare Alley'

Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley. Kerry Hayes/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Kerry Hayes/Searchlight Pictures

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Bradley Cooper is Guillermo del Toro's monster in 'Nightmare Alley'

Nightmare Alley is a stylish neo-noir that's as seedy as its title sounds. The film is directed by Guillermo del Toro and is inspired by the book and 1947 movie adaptation of the same name. It stars Bradley Cooper as Stan, an ambitious 1940s drifter who joins a traveling carnival and learns to develop his own mentalist act. An encounter with a mysterious psychologist, played by Cate Blanchett, leads to a fateful and destructive turn of events.

Bradley Cooper is Guillermo del Toro's monster in 'Nightmare Alley'

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Justin Chang pairs the 10 best movies of 2021 — plus 1 film that stands alone

(Clockwise from upper left) Passing, The Souvenir Part II, Drive My Car, Parallel Mothers, Memoria and The Green Knight are among Justin Chang's favorite films of 2021. NPR hide caption

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NPR

Justin Chang pairs the 10 best movies of 2021 — plus 1 film that stands alone

Fresh Air

Drive My Car tops Chang's list of the year's best movies, but plenty of other films made the return to theaters extra special.

Justin Chang pairs the 10 best movies of 2021 — plus 1 film that stands alone

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'Spider-Man: No Way Home' mixes fun and fan service

MJ (Zendaya) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Matt Kennedy/Sony/Columbia Pictures hide caption

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Matt Kennedy/Sony/Columbia Pictures

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Spider-Man: No Way Home' mixes fun and fan service

In Spider-Man: No Way Home, we spend time with some familiar characters. The film stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker and Zendaya as MJ, and, this time, also brings in Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), plus an array of villains who'll already be familiar to fans of the franchise. But the film is more complicated than that, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe delves deeper into the mysteries of the Multiverse.

'Spider-Man: No Way Home' mixes fun and fan service

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Cloy to the world: 'It's A Wonderful Life' revisited

James Stewart, Donna Reed and Thomas Mitchell appear in the 1946 film It's A Wonderful Life. ASSOCIATED PRESS hide caption

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Cloy to the world: 'It's A Wonderful Life' revisited

For many, It's A Wonderful Life is the quintessential Christmas movie. George Bailey's story is filled with life lessons, the importance of community, and a little kid playing carols on the piano. While it wasn't a box office hit when it first debuted 75 years ago, It's A Wonderful Life has somehow persisted and become a staple of holiday viewing.

Cloy to the world: 'It's A Wonderful Life' revisited

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From Steph Curry to 'Squid Game,' this year-end list will surprise and delight you

Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors reacts after the Phoenix Suns missed a basket during a game Dec. 3. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images hide caption

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Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Pop Culture

From Steph Curry to 'Squid Game,' this year-end list will surprise and delight you

Fresh Air

As the year draws to a close, critic John Powers singles out seven revelatory people or things that made 2021 a little brighter. At the top of his list? Basketball star Steph Curry.

From Steph Curry to 'Squid Game,' this year-end list will surprise and delight you

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Steven Spielberg's 'West Side Story' will make you believe in movies again

Ariana DeBose (center) is Anita in West Side Story. 20th Century Studios hide caption

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20th Century Studios

Steven Spielberg's 'West Side Story' will make you believe in movies again

Fresh Air

This is the first musical Spielberg's ever made, but he proves a natural: Few other American filmmakers have a more instinctive sense of rhythm and visual flow, or more direct access to your emotions.

Steven Spielberg's 'West Side Story' will make you believe in movies again

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'The Beatles: Get Back' is a long-form love letter to creativity

Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison perform their famous rooftop concert in The Beatles: Get Back. Apple Corps Ltd./Disney+ hide caption

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Apple Corps Ltd./Disney+

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Beatles: Get Back' is a long-form love letter to creativity

The Beatles: Get Back captures the tumultuous process of writing and recording some of their best-known songs. Directed by Peter Jackson, the mammoth three-part docuseries shows the day-to-day boredom and grind and thrill of life in the studio — plus, lots of goofing around and never-before-seen footage of The Beatles. If you didn't have opinions about Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, you surely will after watching The Beatles: Get Back, which is now streaming on Disney Plus.

'The Beatles: Get Back' is a long-form love letter to creativity

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'Drive My Car' may be the most absorbing ride you take all year

Misaki (Tôko Miura) is the personal driver to a grieving actor (Hidetoshi Nishijima) in Drive My Car. Festival de Cannes hide caption

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Festival de Cannes

'Drive My Car' may be the most absorbing ride you take all year

Fresh Air

After his wife's death, a middle-aged stage actor forms an unlikely bond with the 20-something woman sent to be his chauffeur. Drive My Car is an intricately structured drama about love and loss.

'Drive My Car' may be the most absorbing ride you take all year

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The theatre kid energy is strong with 'tick, tick...Boom!'

Andrew Garfield as Jonathan Larson in tick, tick...BOOM! Macall Polay /Netflix hide caption

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Macall Polay /Netflix

Pop Culture Happy Hour

The theatre kid energy is strong with 'tick, tick...Boom!'

The Netflix movie tick, tick...BOOM! is the story of composer Jonathan Larson and the musical he wrote a few years before he wrote Rent. The film marks the directorial debut of Lin-Manuel Miranda, and stars Andrew Garfield as Jonathan. It's set in 1990 and takes place over a few days leading up to Jonathan's 30th birthday.

The theatre kid energy is strong with 'tick, tick...Boom!'

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Presenting 'Pop Culture Happy Hour': is 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' stuck in nostalgia?

A view of a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man figurine at the GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE World Premiere on November 15, 2021. Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Sony Pictures hide caption

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Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Sony Pictures

It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Presenting 'Pop Culture Happy Hour': is 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' stuck in nostalgia?

In this special episode from our friends at Pop Culture Happy Hour, guest host Ayesha Rascoe joins co-hosts Glen Weldon and Stephen Thompson as well as NPR contributor Cyrena Touros to talk about the new movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. They discuss why it's hard to recapture the original Ghostbusters magic and if the latest installment of the franchise added more to its world — or not.

Presenting 'Pop Culture Happy Hour': is 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' stuck in nostalgia?

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'Encanto' is a Disney film filled with charming visuals and lackluster songs

Stephanie Beatriz voices Mirabel in the new Disney film Encanto. Disney hide caption

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Disney

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Encanto' is a Disney film filled with charming visuals and lackluster songs

Encanto is the latest animated Disney musical that tells the story of the Madrigal family, whose members are tucked away in the mountains of Colombia. The film is stuffed with characters who wield magical powers and perform lavish musical numbers written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. But for all its magical realism, it's also a fairly simple story about a family whose bonds need healing.

'Encanto' is a Disney film filled with charming visuals and lackluster songs

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Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' is an endearing slice of '70s Hollywood

Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim are unlikely friends in Licorice Pizza. MGM hide caption

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MGM

Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' is an endearing slice of '70s Hollywood

Fresh Air

An enterprising teen and a 20-something photographer's assistant become unlikely friends — and then zig-zag from one comic episode to the next — in this altogether wonderful film.

Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza' is an endearing slice of '70s Hollywood

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House of Gucci is a spicy meatball

Adam Driver, Jared Leto, and Lady Gaga in Ridley Scott's House of Gucci. Fabio Lovino/MGM hide caption

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Fabio Lovino/MGM

Pop Culture Happy Hour

House of Gucci is a spicy meatball

Ridley Scott's House of Gucci is a whole lot of movie. Adam Driver plays the wealthy Mauritzio Gucci, and Lady Gaga plays his wife Patrizia. Al Pacino and Jared Leto play Mauritzio's uncle and cousin, who eventually battle Mauritzio for control of the Gucci empire. It's got fashion, it's got tragedy, and it's got terrible accents.

House of Gucci is a spicy meatball

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