Fresh Air: Pop Culture
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Peeling Away The Layers In A 'Portrait Of Jason'
In her classic '60s documentary, Shirley Clarke profiles a loquacious 33-year-old gay hustler who dreams of having a nightclub act. Her subject could hardly be more complex — and in examining him, she raises important questions about the relationship between fact and fiction.
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Hunting For Secrets In 'The Shining's' Room 237
A new documentary looks at obsessive fans of Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. These fanatics look for hidden meanings in the movie, and while some of their theories sound outrageous, it's too simple to call such thinking deranged.
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A Measured Look At Roth As The Writer Turns 80
The celebration of Philip Roth's career reaches its peak in a new documentary — Philip Roth Unmasked — that will screen on PBS next week as part of the American Masters series. There's no doubt that Roth is a master, and not just an American one, but the film tiptoes around the novelist's dark ferocity.
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Voting Pinochet Out Was More Than Just A Yes Or 'No'
In the Chilean film No, which is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, a young ad man devises a campaign to vote the dictator Augusto Pinochet out of office using rainbows and catchy theme songs.
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A Mystery That Explores 'The Rage' Of New Ireland
Reporter-turned-novelist Gene Kerrigan sets his story in Ireland after the 2008 financial crisis. The Rage is a boundlessly readable portrait of a country in which ordinary citizens have been hit the hardest and all the old certainties have vanished.
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Revisiting, Reappraising Cimino's 'Heaven's Gate'
When it was released 32 years ago, Michael Cimino's revisionist Western was considered one of the most colossal flops in Hollywood history. Critic John Powers takes a second look at the film and concludes that it's clearly "the work of one man and ... he wanted you to remember it forever."
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The New British Empire: Pop-Culture Powerhouses
James Bond and The Rolling Stones both turn 50 this year. As critic John Powers points out, both may have been born in response to a dying British Empire, but their evolving legacies have reflected the times through which these brands have lived.
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Portis 'Miscellany' Makes A High-'Velocity' Collection
True Grit author Charles Portis is the cult writer for people who hate cult writers. He hasn't published a book since 1991, and reviewer John Powers says the short pieces collected in Escape Velocity have been treasured for decades, passed around like samizdat by Portis fans.
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Considering Salman Rushdie's 'Joseph Anton'
Critic-at-large John Powers has some thoughts on the British author and the publication of his new memoir, Joseph Anton, a chronicle of his time in hiding.
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Being 'Joseph Anton,' Rediscovering Salman Rushdie
John Powers reviews the author's memoir of his time in hiding — the result of a fatwah calling for his murder after the publication of The Satanic Verses.
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How Brazil Lives Now, In 'Neighboring Sounds'
Brazilian culture is often portrayed as either joyful folk tradition or brutal gang violence. But Kleber Mendonca Filho's Neighboring Sounds penetrates into the daily lives of suburban Brazilians — and critic John Powers says it may be the best Brazilian film since the '70s.
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In China, A Persistent Thorn In The State's Side
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry follows the famous artist around the world as he repeatedly irks Chinese authorities with his art and political critiques. Fresh Air's John Powers says the documentary casts important light on the fight for greater freedom in China.
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The 'Political Animals' Running Washington, D.C.
Greg Berlanti's new series on the USA Network stars Sigourney Weaver as the secretary of state and former first lady. Critic John Powers says he suspects that "even a Martian" would realize Weaver's character is based on Hillary Clinton — and that's not a bad thing.
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'Louie': TV's Most Original Comedy Returns
Fresh Air's critic at large, John Powers, says Louis C.K.'s raunchy FX show is changing the way comedy is done — for the better. "More than any TV comedy ever, it's all about capturing moments of truth and freshness," he says.
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'The Newsroom' Caught Up In A Partisan Divide
Aaron Sorkin's new HBO series follows the inner workings of a cable news show that sets out to challenge our hyperpartisan, 24/7 news culture. But critic John Powers says Sorkin has created a show that replicates much of what it thinks it's opposing.
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Sherlock: A Character Who's More Than Elementary
What can explain the enduring popularity of Sherlock Holmes? Critic John Powers says it's that Sherlock "embodies an archetypal aspect of the human psyche" — and appeals to the part of us that loves a good mystery.
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'Death And The Penguin' Captures Post-Soviet Reality
Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov writes short, surrealistic stories full of dark comedic surprises. His latest is The Case of the General's Thumb, but critic John Powers suggests starting with his 1996 novel, Death and the Penguin. It's a fast-paced, witty read and what Powers calls "an almost perfect novel."
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On DVD: Inside Bill Clinton's Campaign 'War Room'
The 1993 documentary The War Room, which offered a verite look behind the scenes of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, has just been released on Criterion Blu-ray and DVD. Critic-at-large John Powers explains why the film was revelatory — and why it could never be made today.
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After 'Putin's Kiss,' A Young Girl's Change Of Heart
An absorbing new documentary by Danish director Lise Birk Pedersen charts four years in the life of Masha Drokova, who became famous as the girl who publicly kissed Vladimir Putin. Critic John Powers says it "offers a fresh glimpse into how Putin's Russia actually works."
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In 'Miss Bala,' Bullets And Beauty Pageants Collide
Gerardo Naranjo's gripping film about the Mexican drug war is Mexico's submission this year for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Critic John Powers says it deftly illuminates a society plagued with fear.
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'A Separation' Of Hearts, Minds And Ideas In Iran
The Iranian film A Separation won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film on Sunday. Critic John Powers says the remarkable film takes viewers inside a country that is far more complicated and fascinating than news headlines indicate.
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'Tinker, Tailor': The Greatest Spy Story Ever Told
At its core, John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy isn't really about espionage, says critic John Powers. The 1974 novel, adapted for the screen in 1979 by the BBC, is actually about secrets and lies and shifting identities — which is to say, a metaphor for our own daily lives.
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John Wayne: Icon Of America's Booming Confidence
It's been more than 30 years since the rugged film star's death, yet he still looms large in the national psyche. Critic John Powers was surprised to find that the indomitable American fighting man was actually a hard-earned act of self-invention.
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Roger Ebert: A Critic Reflects On 'Life Itself'
Roger Ebert tackles lowbrow and highbrow topics alike in his memoir; critic John Powers says the chronicle is sunny and hopeful — just like Ebert himself.
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'Scarface': Over-The-Top, But Ahead Of Its Time
In 1983, critic John Powers panned the Pacino film, saying it was trashy and shallow. But he recently watched the film again, and says that in retrospect, he can see how the film burned its way into the national psyche.
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The 'Making Of The President' In The 1960s
A new DVD set follows the presidential campaigns of '60, '64 and '68 — and shows just how much times have changed. Critic John Powers says it's hard not to feel a bit nostalgic for the days when running for president was treated as something noble, not grubby.
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Foster Wallace: An Ordinary Guy Who Couldn't Be
David Foster Wallace's unfinished novel, The Pale King, was recently published. But to truly enjoy his work, says critic John Powers, you must read his earlier pieces, which were filled with "a staggering eye for detail" from "a mind that was never predictable."
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The Past, Always Present In The Atacama Dark
In the splendid documentary Nostalgia for the Light, Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzman draws parallels between astronomers searching for stars in the world's driest desert and women searching for the remains of loved ones who were disappeared under the Pinochet regime.
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Elizabeth Taylor's Legacy: AIDS Activist, Movie Star
Fresh Air's critic-at-large John Powers was raised to dislike Elizabeth Taylor. But he soon fell for her charms. He remembers the legendary actress who was a siren on-screen — and a committed supporter of HIV/AIDS research.
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'Sweet Smell Of Success': Gossip With A Cutting Edge
The classic 1957 film about the gossip industry has been remastered and rereleased on DVD and Blu-Ray. Critic John Powers says the movie's Manhattan is a "seamy, deglamorized world in which small men destroy lives to make themselves big."
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Unexpected Excitement In 'Cold Weather' & 'Poetry'
Aaron Katz's mumblecore flick Cold Weather is set in Portland, Ore.; Lee Chang-dong's Poetry is from South Korea. Critic John Powers says both films are wonderful, in part because the stories they tell are so unpredictable. (Recommended)
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'The Mechanic': A Crisp Thriller From Mr. Man-Crush
British actor Jason Statham plays a professional hit man in The Mechanic, based on a 1972 Charles Bronson thriller. Critic John Powers says the film offers a revealing look at Statham's distinctive appeal.
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Must-See Movie Selections For The Giving Season
Critic John Powers has a theory about movies: The best gifts to give aren't necessarily the most recent hits. His 13 picks for the 2010 holiday season include a Charlie Chaplin classic, a Charles Laughton masterpiece and one of the greatest documentaries ever produced.
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'Elia Kazan Collection' A Must-Have For Film Fans
The late director Elia Kazan had a profound influence on American film in the decades after World War II. Critic John Powers says a new box set featuring 15 of his films, including On the Waterfront and Wild River, is a "terrific collection anchored by some of the most mythic performances in film history."
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Carlos And Zuckerberg: The Men, Myths, Movies
In the past few weeks, two films have explored the careers of men who have found a place in the pantheon of popular mythology. Critic John Powers says seeing Carlos and The Social Network side by side made him think about how much social values have changed in recent decades.
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'To The End' A Solemn Exploration Of Israeli Identity
David Grossman began working on his novel To the End of the Land while his son Uri was in the Israeli Army. He hoped it would protect him. It didn't. Uri was killed, and Grossman's fiction explores the fragility of families, nations and life itself.
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A Kafkaesque Spy Thriller Straddles Two Koreas
Young-ha Kim's latest thriller, Your Republic Is Calling You, is about a North Korean spy living covertly in Seoul for two decades -- when he's suddenly called to return to Pyongyang. Critic John Powers says the suspenseful novel offers a gripping look inside modern Korean culture.
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Taking 'Last Train Home' Shows Changes In China
Filmmaker Lixin Fan's Last Train Home documents the journey 130 million migrant workers make back to their rural villages every Chinese New Year. But the movie is not only about families traveling home -- it's about China's modernization. Critic John Powers says the images in the "epic and intimate" movie are "absolutely ravishing."
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Mesrine: A Ruthless Crook, A 'Killer' Film
The French outlaw Jacques Mesrine, who terrorized France and killed 39 people, is the subject of the thrilling Mesrine: Killer Instinct, which stars Vincent Cassell as Mesrine and Gerard Depardieu as a Parisian crime boss. Critic John Powers applauds Cassell's acting, saying it "ranks with the best of DeNiro or Pacino or, more recently, Daniel Day-Lewis."
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'Inferno': A Catastrophic Film Finds Redemption
In 1963, French filmmaker Henri-Georges Clouzot decided to make a movie that would reinvent the movies. It was called Inferno, and the unfinished film was an enormous failure. But a new documentary about the disastrous project is anything but -- critic John Powers says Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno is "cinematically thrilling."
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