Search results for

The executive director and CEO of the Screen Actors Guild, Robert Pisano, has been sued by some members of the union because Pisano is also on the board of directors of the DVD rental company Netflix. Some wonder how he can accurately represent actors who are trying to negotiate DVD residuals when Netflix is so cozy with the studios. Iris Mann reports (6:15)

Rock concert posters produced some of the most iconic art of the '60s. Then came a period of decline. But an explosion of indie bands producing their own CDs has revived the genre. Producer Scott Carrier of the Hearing Voices radio project offers a review of the book Art of Modern Rock.

Writer Jenny Bicks has been busy ever since she began working on Sex and the City in the show's first season. For our series Scenes I Wish I'd Written, Bicks chose to discuss a scene from a Woody Allen classic, Annie Hall. Hear NPR's Susan Stamberg.

NPR's Madeleine Brand speaks with Kenny Juarez, the 11-year-old writer whose radio play Sliced by an Artist is airing on Day to Day. Juarez wrote the play when he was 9 years old. Joining the conversation is Dustin Hoffman, who narrates the play.

James Cameron's new project combines two of his longstanding pursuits: deep-sea diving and alien life. The successful director says the fact that the animals in question live deep in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean doesn't make them any less foreign. Hear Cameron and NPR's Neal Conan.

Moses Asch spent years collecting and compiling the world's sounds. Working through a number of small record labels including Folkways Recordings, Asch explored a world of sound -- not just music, but birds, bugs and machines. Asch died in 1986. But now the Smithsonian has put his entire collection of sounds on the Web.

In the new Showtime series Fat Actress, Kirstie Alley stars and spoofs her real-life issues as an overweight actress. Television critic Andrew Wallenstein has a review.

For the first time, the 120-foot-long scroll manuscript for Jack Kerouac's On the Road has gone on display unrolled. The giant scroll can be seen from end to end at the University of Iowa Museum of Art -- though its ending is missing, reportedly chewed by a dog.

NPR's Alex Chadwick speaks with actor Bruce Willis about his long career and his latest movie, Hostage. The film, in which Willis plays a cop whose family has been taken hostage, opens nationwide in theaters today.

On the breezy hills of San Francisco's Telegraph Hill, a homeless musician named Mark Bittner finds a place with a flock of wild parrots. Their friendship is documented in the film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan says it's definitely a far cry from Hitchcock's The Birds.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the final episode of NYPD Blue and previews Deadwood the HBO Western which begins a second season this weekend. Both shows were created by David Milch.

A six-hour Italian epic with subtitles may not sound like everyone's cup of cafe. But critic Bob Mondello says The Best of Youth's sprawling story of two brothers, and the different paths their lives take over the years, is among the most affecting films you'll see this year.

It's the longest running drama on network television. After more than 300 shows, and 13 years, the "ripped from the headlines" half cop/half law show is still going strong. It's also inspired Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The latest spin off is Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan first saw Best of Youth, which was originally made for Italian television, two years ago at Cannes. He's been waiting to review the movie -- which intertwines one family's story with 40 years of post-war Italian history -- ever since. It was, he says, worth the wait.

Since its opening in 2003, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles has been a big success. But it turns out part of the of the shiny metal building is making its neighbors squint. Workers are busy sanding the metal to dull the gloss.

Tom Terrell has a review of a new boxed set of reggae music that spans 1960-1975. The four CDs include music from top artists such as The Wailers and Jimmy Cliff, and lesser-known singers from reggae's early beginnings.

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews the new movie Phantom of the Opera. He says if you were one of the estimated 52 million people who saw the stage show and liked it, you will like this movie.

All About Eve is a true Hollywood classic, an insider's look at the theater world that won Oscars for best screenplay and best director. And it also has one of screenwriter Paul Attanasio's favorite scenes.

What can you say about a sequel to a movie remake? Sequels sometimes miss the mark. Movie critic Kenneth Turan says Ocean's Twelve lacks key elements that made its predecessor, Ocean's Eleven, memorable.

The new film Hotel Rwanda tells the story of the 1994 Rwandan genocide through one man's attempt to save some of his countrymen and women. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

The Library of Congress adds another 25 films to the National Film Registry, including Ben-Hur, Jailhouse Rock and the 1992 Clint Eastwood western, Unforgiven. The selections are made by the librarian of Congress from nearly 1,000 films nominated by the public, the library staff, and film experts. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne.

For many years, arts advocates have argued for the link between well-funded museums, theaters and other arts outlets and the health of local economies. They tout the impact that the arts can have on cultural tourism and urban revitalization. But a new study from the RAND Corp. questions these assertions.

His Beatles-parody mockumentary The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch comes out on DVD next month. He's also written the book for the Monty Python farce Spamalot on Broadway.

German choreographer Pina Bausch is one of the giant figures of modern dance, and her work gained greater notoriety when director Pedro Almodovar featured one of her works in his film Talk to Her. On Tuesday, the notoriously press-shy choreographer premieres For the Children of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

Franz played the role of Det. Andy Sipowicz for 12 seasons on the show NYPD Blue. The last episode of the show airs March 1. He was also on the TV series Hill Street Blues. This interview was originally broadcast on Oct. 1, 1993.