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Ticking down a checklist of qualifications in 'Mr. Malcolm's List'

Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù plays Mr. Malcolm, the most desirable bachelor in 1818 London. Ross Ferguson/Bleecker Street hide caption

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Ross Ferguson/Bleecker Street

Review

Ticking down a checklist of qualifications in 'Mr. Malcolm's List'

A 19th-century British gentleman's requirements for his bride lead to a scheme with many complications in Mr. Malcolm's List, a Bridgerton-like romance based on Suzanne Allain's 2020 novel.

Ticking down a checklist of qualifications in 'Mr. Malcolm's List'

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Should you pick up 'The Black Phone'?

Ethan Hawke stars in The Black Phone the latest film from Scott Derrickson. Universal Pictures hide caption

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Universal Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Should you pick up 'The Black Phone'?

In the supernatural horror film The Black Phone, Ethan Hawke plays the Grabber, a sinister masked figure who abducts a series of teenage boys in a Colorado suburb. When 13-year-old Finney (Mason Thames) gets grabbed, he's locked in a dank basement, waiting to be murdered, when suddenly a disconnected telephone on the wall starts to ring.

Should you pick up 'The Black Phone'?

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When parents say sorry on-screen
Allyson Riggs/A24

It's Been a Minute

When parents say sorry on-screen

Family conflict is a cinema staple. But recently Hollywood has come out with a slew of stories about parents and children confronting gaps in culture, generation and identity — from animated films like Encanto and Turning Red, to the recent miniseries Ms. Marvel and the indie hit Everything Everywhere All at Once. Vox entertainment critic Emily St. James calls the subgenre the "millennial parent apology fantasy." She shares with guest host B.A. Parker how the form came to be, what its limits are and how it could pave the way for new perspectives about trauma and family.

When parents say sorry on-screen

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Let's get small with 'Marcel The Shell With Shoes On'

Jenny Slate voices Marcel in the new film Marcel The Shell With Shoes On. A24 hide caption

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A24

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Let's get small with 'Marcel The Shell With Shoes On'

The new film Marcel The Shell With Shoes On tells the story of a tiny shell who searches for his long-lost family. He's voiced by Jenny Slate and rendered using stop-motion animation. Based on a series of viral YouTube shorts, the feature-length movie is directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, who also appears on-screen as a filmmaker who discovers and interviews Marcel while living in an Airbnb.

Let's get small with 'Marcel The Shell With Shoes On'

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Gabby Giffords documentary comes as gun debates stay on center stage

Gabby Giffords, center, the subject of the documentary film "Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down," poses with the film's co-directors Julie Cohen, left, and Betsy West, June 21, 2022. Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP hide caption

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Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Gabby Giffords documentary comes as gun debates stay on center stage

The film on the former Arizona congresswoman and her recovery from the 2011 shooting explains how she navigated gun control campaigns and later a Senate campaign.

'Elvis' is a hunk-a hunk-a burnin' excess

Austin Butler stars as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

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Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Elvis' is a hunk-a hunk-a burnin' excess

The legacy of Elvis Presley is often reduced to gaudy iconography and tales of excess: the white jumpsuit, Las Vegas, drugs. So what happens when director Baz Luhrmann takes on the man, the myth, the legend? You get the dizzying biopic Elvis. Austin Butler stars as "the King of Rock and Roll," and Tom Hanks plays Elvis' shady longtime manager Colonel Tom Parker.

'Elvis' is a hunk-a hunk-a burnin' excess

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In 'Cha Cha Real Smooth,' coming of age takes a little while

Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson star in Cha Cha Real Smooth. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Cha Cha Real Smooth,' coming of age takes a little while

In Cha Cha Real Smooth, Andrew (Cooper Raiff), an aimless 22-year-old, finds a new direction when he becomes a party motivator at bar and bat mitzvahs in his hometown. He develops a bond with Domino (Dakota Johnson), who's at her own crossroads in life. The film was a breakout hit at Sundance earlier this year and is now streaming on Apple TV+.

In 'Cha Cha Real Smooth,' coming of age takes a little while

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Oh, what a beautiful archive: Oscar Hammerstein's letters reveal his many sides

Julie Andrews sang "The hills are alive" in the film version of The Sound of Music, but Hammerstein's letters reveal that a much bigger Hollywood star had lobbied hard to play Maria. Alamy Stock Photo hide caption

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Alamy Stock Photo

Books

Oh, what a beautiful archive: Oscar Hammerstein's letters reveal his many sides

A thousand pages of correspondence by Oscar Hammerstein II, the lyricist for such musicals as Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel and The Sound of Music are available to a wide public for the first time.

Oh, what a beautiful archive: Oscar Hammerstein's letters reveal his many sides

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'Crash' director Paul Haggis was arrested on sexual assault charges in Italy

Screenwriter, producer and director of film and television Paul Haggis, pictured in 2017, has been arrested in Italy on sexual assault charges. Andres Iglesias Rodriguez/Getty Images hide caption

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Andres Iglesias Rodriguez/Getty Images

World

'Crash' director Paul Haggis was arrested on sexual assault charges in Italy

Oscar-winning film director and screenwriter Paul Haggis is being detained on sexual assault charges. He has previously been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.

Emma Thompson on her new film — and the idea the female orgasm has to be performative

Daryl McCormack and Emma Thompson star in the film, Good Luck To You, Leo Grande. Nick Wall/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Nick Wall/Searchlight Pictures

Emma Thompson on her new film — and the idea the female orgasm has to be performative

In her new film, Thompson portrays a widow who reckons with her own sexual discovery in an experience she calls "irresistibly delicious."

Emma Thompson on her new film — and the idea the female orgasm has to be performative

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Black baseball players struggled long after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier

St. Louis Cardinals players Curt Flood, Bill White and Bob Gibson, pictured in 1966, 1962 and 1967, respectively. They are the focus of a new History Channel documentary about the Black baseball players who followed Jackie Robinson into the major league. AP hide caption

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AP

Sports

Black baseball players struggled long after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier

After Jackie, a new History Channel documentary, tells the stories of three of the Black baseball players who followed Jackie Robinson into the major leagues.

Black baseball players struggled long after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier

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Age is just a number in Sundance hits 'Leo Grande' and 'Cha Cha Real Smooth'

Daryl McCormack plays a sex worker, and Emma Thompson is a retired schoolteacher in the Hulu film, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Searchlight Pictures

Review

Movie Reviews

Age is just a number in Sundance hits 'Leo Grande' and 'Cha Cha Real Smooth'

Fresh Air

Emma Thompson stars as an older woman who hires a younger sex worker in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Dakota Johnson is a single mother who's wooed by a recent college grad in Cha Cha Real Smooth.

Age is just a number in Sundance hits 'Leo Grande' and 'Cha Cha Real Smooth'

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In the Pixar prequel 'Lightyear,' Buzz gets his own swashbuckling space epic

Sox (voiced by Pete Sohn) and Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) star in the film Lightyear. Pixar hide caption

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Pixar

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In the Pixar prequel 'Lightyear,' Buzz gets his own swashbuckling space epic

If you've seen any of the Toy Story movies, you know about Buzz Lightyear, the heroic space ranger immortalized in a line of action figures. Now, the character is getting a Disney and Pixar prequel — an origin story starring Chris Evans as the space ranger who started it all. (Take our annual survey at npr.org/podcastsurvey)

In the Pixar prequel 'Lightyear,' Buzz gets his own swashbuckling space epic

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Emma Thompson finds herself, and pleasure, in 'Good Luck To You, Leo Grande'

Daryl McCormack and Emma Thompson star in Good Luck To You, Leo Grande. Nick Wall/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Nick Wall/Searchlight Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Emma Thompson finds herself, and pleasure, in 'Good Luck To You, Leo Grande'

In Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Emma Thompson plays a widow yearning to fulfill a desire that's somehow eluded her her entire life: an orgasm. She sets about achieving her goal by hiring a much younger, highly attractive sex worker (Daryl McCormack). But their time spent together turns out to be much more than transactional. Good Luck To You, Leo Grande will stream on Hulu starting June 17th.

Emma Thompson finds herself, and pleasure, in 'Good Luck To You, Leo Grande'

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