Bob Mondello

Bob Mondello appears in the following:

Meryl Streep's Singer Has Delusions Of Adequacy In 'Florence Foster Jenkins'

Friday, August 12, 2016

In her latest role, Streep plays a real-life laughingstock who fancied herself an opera singer.

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'Little Men' Puzzle Out Mysteries Of Friendship And Growth

Friday, August 05, 2016

The film follows two 13-year-olds who bond as their family's begin to clash.

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Remembering Zelda Fichandler, Matriarch Of American Regional Theater

Thursday, August 04, 2016

When the co-founder of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., made her theater a nonprofit, hundreds of small regional stages followed suit. Fichandler died July 29 at the age of 91.

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From HAL 9000 To Harley Quinn, Screen Villains Sow Chaos Because They Can

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Movie heroes are fine. But let's be real — it's usually the bad guys we find most compelling.

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'Don't Think Twice' Scripts Improv With Ease

Friday, July 22, 2016

Sad sacks and stage hogs chase stardom in Don't Think Twice. But rest assured writer/director Mike Birbiglia keeps it funny.

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Hollywood And The Middle Class: Selling Dreams Of 'Somewhere That's Green'

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

We don't call Hollywood a "Dream Factory" for nothing. If you have a vision of the sort of place you'd like to live, Tinseltown can bring it to life.

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What Do Contested Conventions Look Like? Ask Hollywood And Sinclair Lewis

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Thanks to movies, novels and TV, Bob Mondello knows what a contested convention would be like: raucous crowd, oppressive din and (if movies are any guide) Angela Lansbury scheming in the corner.

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What's Worth Watching In Movie Theaters This Summer?

Sunday, July 03, 2016

New installments in the X-Men, Ghostbusters, Star Trek and Captain America franchises are hitting the big screen this summer. NPR film critic Bob Mondello talks about what to see.

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100 Years Of Olivia De Havilland Handling Sexism, Her Sister, And Scarlett O'Hara

Friday, July 01, 2016

An appreciation of Olivia de Havilland — Gone With the Wind's last surviving cast member — on her 100th birthday.

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Spielberg's 'The BFG' Parallels Another Friendly Outcast

Thursday, June 30, 2016

The BFG is the new Steven Spielberg movie based off the Roald Dahl book. It's about a girl and a friendly giant triumphing over bullies and adversity. And it's got something familiar about it, too.

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'Swiss Army Man' Leaps From Realism To Fantasy

Friday, June 24, 2016

Swiss Army Man is an absurdist movie comedy in which a shipwrecked Paul Dano befriends a surprisingly talkative corpse, played by Daniel Radcliffe.

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'Genius' Is, As The Saying Has It, 10% Inspiration, 90% Perspiration

Friday, June 10, 2016

The editor Maxwell Perkins discovered and nurtured authors like Hemingway and Fitzgerald. The new movie Genius has him wrangling thousands of pages from the writer Thomas Wolfe.

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'From Afar' Draws You In By Holding You At Arm's Length

Wednesday, June 08, 2016

A relationship drama with societal implications marks a striking debut for first-time writer director Lorenzo Vigas. Like the film's leading man, he'll draw you in by holding you at a slight remove.

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British Playwright Peter Shaffer, Who Wrote 'Equus,' Dies At 90

Monday, June 06, 2016

Playwright Peter Shaffer has died. He was best known for Equus and Amadeus, both of which became movies.

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'Art Bastard': A Rebel With A Canvas

Friday, June 03, 2016

Robert Cenedella established himself in the 1960s as the anti-Warhol. A new documentary goes through his years fighting against the New York art establishment by being, well, what the title says.

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From Sequels To Reboots, Familiar Faces Return To The Multiplex This Summer

Monday, May 30, 2016

NPR's Bob Mondello has a selective preview of summer movies from superhero blockbusters to music documentaries and everything in between.

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Dear Hollywood, This Is How You Make A Movie With African Characters

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Sean Penn's new movie set in Africa got booed at Cannes. Critics said its African characters were "bleeding wallpaper." Here are 4 films that give African characters (and actors) their due.

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'Weiner' Is An Intriguingly Nuanced Look At An Easy Punch Line

Monday, May 23, 2016

Two years after he was caught texting crotch shots, former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner was back in the spotlight, running for mayor. A new documentary chronicles his scandal-plagued campaign.

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'The Lobster': A Rom-Com With Satirical Claws

Friday, May 13, 2016

The Lobster is a comedy in which single people are given 45 days to fall in love before being turned into an animal of their choice.

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'Viva': Seeking A Spot In Havana's Spotlight

Monday, May 02, 2016

Viva is a father-son drama from Havana — one of the first from Cuba to be commercially released in the U.S. in decades.

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