‘Didi’ captures the awkwardness of adolescence almost too well
The movie Didi is a vibrant coming-of-age dramedy and was a Sundance film festival favorite. It stars Izaac Wang as a 13-year-old just trying to survive the awkwardness of puberty as a Taiwanese-American kid living in the Bay Area. He’s got a crush to …
Gena Rowlands, a luminous leading lady of independent film, has died
Actress Gina Rowlands has died. She collaborated with husband John Cassavetes on nearly a dozen films.
$#@*! we’re talking profanity in pop culture
We’ve got dirty words on the brain, and we’re chatting about the use and functions of profanity in entertainment. In this encore episode from 2013, we cover everything from Anchorman to South Park to Shakespeare.
Hunter Schafer’s ‘Cuckoo’ serves up Alpine horror
In the new, stylishly odd horror film Cuckoo, Hunter Schafer plays an American teenager who reluctantly moves with her family to a mysterious resort in the German Alps. Her rebellious spirit clashes with the resort’s creepy proprietor, played by Dan Stevens. When weird stuff starts happening, long-buried family secrets come to light and the resort’s true nature stands revealed.
‘Sebastian’ re-writes the sex work movie
Director and writer Mikko Mäkelä says he wasn’t interested in creating yet another sex worker drama focused on trauma. Instead, Sebastian is a knowing but conflicted young man learning about himself.
The trailer for Disney’s live-action ‘Snow White’ remake has some people very Grumpy
The film, set to be released in March 2025, has been mired by a string of controversies on everything from its new “woke” messaging to its depiction of dwarfism.
Joan Chen on her role in coming-of-age film ‘Dìdi’
NPR’s Scott Simon talks to Joan Chen. The actor is getting Oscar buzz for the new film, “Dìdi,” in which Chen plays the mother of a Taiwanese-American skater kid in the Bay Area.
Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are ‘The Instigators’ in a classic heist film throwback
After a heist goes bad, two inept Boston crooks (played by Damon and Affleck) become uneasy partners. The Instigators is a reasonably enjoyable film that reflects an earlier cinematic era.
‘It Ends With Us’ is a melodrama with serious undertones
The 2016 Colleen Hoover novel It Ends With Us was a massive bestseller. And now that book is a movie. Blake Lively stars as Lily Bloom, a woman who falls for a hot neurosurgeon played by Justin Baldoni — who also directs the film. But their relationshi…
‘Sing Sing’ offers a glimpse at life behind bars — and the journey towards redemption
Filmmaker Greg Kwedar and formerly incarcerated actor Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin discuss their new film about the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program founded at Sing Sing prison.
In ‘Good One,’ a family camping trip is full of emotional switchbacks
On its surface, Good One is about a teen on a backpacking trip with her dad and his friend. But the film is so sharp and engrossing you might not notice the deeper story taking shape underneath.
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