Search results for

Michele Norris talks with British actress Emily Mortimer, who stars in the film Dear Frankie. Mortimer plays a single mother who manufactures an invented correspondence with her deaf son as his absentee father.

Melissa Block talks with John Beatty, who teaches a course on Shakespeare's Macbeth at Brooklyn College, about his efforts to rehabilitate the Scottish king's image. Macbeth is portrayed in Shakespeare's play as bloodthirsty, but Beatty says history suggests he was a respected king.

He's reprising his role as Chili Palmer in the new film Be Cool. He first played Chili in the film Get Shorty. Both are based on novels by Elmore Leonard. Travolta's other films include Saturday Night Fever, Pulp Fiction, Basic, Face Off and A Civil Action. This interview originally was broadcast on April 10, 2003.

Slate ad critic Seth Stevenson analyzes the newest spate of ads from Volkswagen, which feature test drive scenarios with a Volkswagen salesman.

Last night's Oscar ceremony drew surprisingly strong ratings, though the evening itself was free of upsets. In a movie season that began amorphously, with no blockbusters in contention and no clear front-runner, Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby took four awards in top categories, including best picture.

Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Eric Matthews makes a long-awaited comeback with his new album Six Kinds of Passion Looking For an Exit. Reviewer Chris Nickson says the album has an intimate, confessional quality.

Lorne Michaels is the creator and long-time executive producer of Saturday Night Live, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Last fall, Michaels was awarded the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The tribute was taped and will be broadcast on Wednesday, March 2, on PBS. It includes comic performances by Dan Aykroyd, Candice Bergin, Darrell Hammond, Tina Fey, Steve Martin, Conan O'Brien and others.

Cicely Tyson starred in movies like The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots, and was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the classic movie Sounder. After a lengthy hiatus she returns to the big screen in two movies: Because of Winn-Dixie and Diary of A Mad Black Woman. In part two of Ed Gordon's interview, he talks to Tyson about her extraordinary film career.

From the comedy Scrubs actor Zach Braff and producer-creator Bill Lawrence. Braff plays medical resident John "J.D." Dorian. Lawrence previously worked on Spin City. Braff made his feature film writing and directing debut with Garden State which opened last fall. It's now out on DVD. (This interview was originally broadcast on Oct. 4, 2004.)

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports that the state of West Virginia has abandoned plans to erect a monument honoring women veterans, because of objections from some female vets that the proposed statue looked too "masculine." Ludden speaks with one of the female vets, former Marine Dottie Alderman, and sculptor P. Joseph Mullins.

As the chaos of Fashion Week in New York City winds down, writer Najwa Moses reviews the style extravaganza that left her impressed with the shows -- but underwhelmed by the clothes.

For more than 20 years, filmmaker Peter Brosnan has been working to unearth and restore the "Lost City" of Cecil B. DeMille: the massive set of his epic The Ten Commandments, which was buried in the California desert in the 1920s.

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews the first full-length feature film of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. He says director Michael Radford's adaptation features stunning performances from Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons.

White House officials announce the designers of the First Family's inaugural gowns. Oscar de la Renta has designed the outfit for First Lady Laura Bush. And a team of designers was called in to make the gowns for the Bush daughters. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Village Voice style writer Lynn Yaeger.

Chris Nickson reviews the debut album by Guinean musician Ba Cissoko and the band that bears his name. It's called Sabolan. The band includes two koras -- harp-like instruments with 21 strings.

What do you get when you combine traditional Jewish music with infectious Afro-Cuban rhythms? The new album by Roberto Juan Rodriguez, Baila! Gitano Baila!, attempts that daring fusion. Tom Moon has a review.

As Donald Trump's The Apprentice begins its third season on NBC, Day to Day television critic Andrew Wallenstein offers advice on how to make the show better.

Day to Day television critic Andrew Wallenstein talks about the Nickelodeon network's new series Zoey 101, starring Jamie Lynn Spears, a younger sister of pop star Britney Spears. Wallenstein says it's sad that so many kids on television seem to need a famous last name to get a break.

Tonight, PBS premieres what a groundbreaking four-part series, Slavery and the Making of America. It follows the course of slavery from its beginnings through the Civil War and Reconstruction. NPR's Allison Keyes examines why the experts who made the series think it will surprise viewers.

Some high-profile black film directors, led by Spike Lee, have come together to create Miracle's Boys, a television series for teens about growing up in New York City's Harlem district. NPR's Ed Gordon speaks with two of the directors, Ernest Dickerson and Bill Duke.

Day to Day television critic Andrew Wallenstein reviews See Arnold Run, a new A&E biopic about bodybuilder, actor and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Filmmaker Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 arrives in U.S. theaters, after winning the top prize at the Cannes film festival and being shelved by the Disney Co., its original backer. The film, which criticizes President Bush's response to the attacks of Sept. 11, is being released independently. NPR's Bob Mondello has a review.

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Zalmai Ahad about his new book Return, Afghanistan, a photography collection of Afghanistan. An exhibition of his work opens Wednesday at the National Geographic Museum.

The bipartisan program — called ERIC — allows states to improve voting access and election security at the same time. But it's currently under attack from the far right.

Latin America is seeing a resurgence of t-shirts and other memorabilia celebrating the legend of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara. The return of Guevara appears to reflect both grassroots anger over U.S. foreign policy and publicity for The Motorcycle Diaries, a new Hollywood movie based on Guevara's writings that portrays the guerrilla as a romantic idealist. NPR's Martin Kaste reports.