‘On Becoming a Guinea’ fowl is a surreal exploration of painful secrecy
You should watch the surreal new movie On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. It opens with a Zambian woman finding her uncle’s body on the road. His death brings the family together from near and far, but also resurfaces old wounds — wounds the elders would much rather ignore. It’s a powerful story about the silence that keeps families from breaking, but only in superficial ways, and with devastating consequences.
5 years ago, movie theaters closed. NPR’s movie critic looks back at COVID-19
The pandemic decimated the box office and the reshaped the moviegoing experience. NPR’s movie critic, Bob Mondello, looks back on how his job changed during the early months of COVID-19.
Gene Hackman died of heart disease, his wife died of hantavirus, authorities say
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, authorities revealed Friday.
Live, die, repeat: Bong Joon Ho offers a farcical vision of the future in ‘Mickey 17’
Robert Pattinson plays a space traveler who’s repeatedly killed and resurrected in the name of scientific research in this otherworldly farce. It’s Bong’s first movie since his Oscar-winning Parasite.
Remembering David Johansen, the New York Dolls co-founder who paved the way for punk
The 1970s band the New York Dolls was hugely influential, despite making only two studio albums. Today we remember Johansen, aka Buster Poindexter, who died Feb. 28. Originally broadcast in 2004.
Secrets and silence haunt a grieving family in this spellbinding melodrama
In On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, filmmaker Rungano Nyoni weaves a surreal drama about defiance in the face of ritual, and the secrets that flourish in silence.
‘Queen of The Ring’ star Emily Bett Rickards on wrestling pioneer Mildred Burke
In Ash Avildsen’s new film Queen of The Ring, Emily Bett Rickards plays the role of Mildred Burke, a single mother who defied the odds in the 1930s to become the first million-dollar female athlete in the male-dominated world of professional wrestling.
‘Mickey 17’ sends Robert Pattinson to the printer, but is the toner low?
Mickey 17 is writer-director Bong Joon Ho’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning film Parasite. In the sharply satirical sci-fi film, Robert Pattinson is a manual laborer on a spaceship who just keeps dying. But then he gets reprinted – his memories get down…
Is Hollywood soft censoring Palestinian art?
Last weekend, the Academy Award for Best Documentary went to a film that still lacks a U.S. distribution deal. ‘No Other Land’ is a powerful look at Palestine’s southern West Bank, and has received widespread acclaim. So what’s holding it back from bei…
‘Last Breath’ tells the terrifying story of a deep-sea diver trapped underwater
In 2012, three deep-sea divers were on a routine operation in the North Sea when one of them became trapped underwater. Liu had to dive in deep, dark water in order to recreate the harrowing rescue.
2025 is a year of on-screen superheroes – but where are they?
With Thunderbolts*, Superman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and more, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of superheroes across film and TV. But Daredevil: Born Again shows a hesitance to embrace the hero in superheroes.
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