‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is a major misfire
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s a new Captain America, played by Anthony Mackie. And with Captain America: Brave New World, he’s finally got his own movie. Cap finds himself battling a literally monstrous president played by Harrison Ford whose rages threaten to destabilize the whole world.
In the run-up to the Oscars, Pop Culture Happy Hour is watching all 10 best picture nominees – and you’re invited to join us! Sign up for the NPR Movie Club newsletter series and tell us what you thought of the movies you watched this week.
This long-buried 1999 film offers a new chance to see James Earl Jones
There are many reasons to seek out Charles Burnett’s long-buried 1999 film, but perhaps primary among them: The rare chance to see Lynn Redgrave, Margot Kidder and James Earl Jones share the screen.
Movie Watch: ‘Marveling’ at the new Captain America, and favorites from Sundance 2025
Wondering what to watch this weekend? Captain America: Brave New World may have what you’re looking for. Plus, two favorites from the Sundance Film Festival.
‘Nickel Boys’ director RaMell Ross says the South ‘makes you question what time is’
Ross’ Oscar-nominated film centers on two young Black men attempting to survive a brutal Florida reformatory school in the 1960s. He says he’s sees the rural South as a “meaning-making space.”
Demi Moore’s ‘The Substance’ will get under your skin
The Substance is a bloody, campy, fiercely feminist body horror film. Demi Moore plays a TV aerobics instructor who learns of a mysterious drug that causes another younger, entirely separate version of herself (Margaret Qualley) to splurt out of her back and assume her consciousness. The movie has earned Moore her first Oscar nomination, and she’s the frontrunner in this year’s best actress race. So we thought it would be the perfect time to revisit our conversation about the movie.
In the run-up to the Oscars, Pop Culture Happy Hour is watching all 10 best picture nominees – and you’re invited to join us! Sign up for the NPR Movie Club newsletter series and tell us what you thought of the movies you watched this week.
Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour
Questlove’s new film probes ‘The Burden of Black Genius’ – starting with Sly Stone
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson says that telling Sly Stone’s story with empathy was a way to open a conversation about Black artists and mental health.
Nickel Boys gives a new point of view to the Civil Rights era
How do you adapt an “unadaptable” book? Today, host Brittany Luse finds out with RaMell Ross, director of the Oscar nominated adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys.The story, set in the Jim Crow South, follows two Black boys doing everything…
‘The truth hurts’: Sebastian Stan reflects on playing Trump in ‘The Apprentice’
Stan’s up for an Oscar for his portrayal of the president early in his career, when Roy Cohn was his lawyer and mentor. Stan says Cohn schooled Trump in “denying reality and reshaping the truth.”
Mike Leigh on ‘Hard Truths,’ James Bond and more
We welcome director Mike Lee back to the show. He talks with us about his recent film Hard Truths and what it was like to reunite with actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste on the project. He also tells us about how he reacted to reading one of the first rave reviews he received as a filmmaker.
Questlove confronts the ‘burden of Black genius’ in a new Sly Stone documentary
In SLY LIVES!, Questlove documents the genius of a funk trailblazer — and the pressure Sly felt as a Black artist. “Sly will be … the first domino in a long list of people that will self-sabotage.”
Karla Sofía Gascón’s posts derailed an Oscars run. In Spain, that raised eyebrows
Before Oscar-nominated movie Emilia Pérez, star Karla Sofía Gascón was relatively unknown in her home country. Now, Spanish news shows are filled with commentary about the actress and the fallout over her tweets.
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