Bob Mondello

New 'Trek' Goes 'Into Darkness,' But Not Much Deeper

Bob Mondello — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:14:00 +0000

The opening sequence of J.J. Abram's new entry in the Star Trek universe has all the ingredients of the classic franchise.

There's Kirk and his crew bellowing on the bridge, everyone worrying about the prime directive and our favorite Vulcan trapped in a volcano.

OK, I'm in. I may not be a fanboy anymore, but I sure was in my youth, and having these guys in their youths again is just as cool at the outset as it was last time.

Chris Pine's baby-Shatner is spitting his lines while Zachary Quinto channels his inner Nimoy.

Polley's 'Stories': A Family Saga Strikingly Spun

Bob Mondello — Fri, 10 May 2013 20:47:00 +0000

Sarah Polley grew up the fifth of five children in a Canadian theatrical family. Her father, Michael, is a transplanted British actor; her mother, Diane, was an actress and casting director. No wonder Sarah feels her family's narrative has the stuff of drama.

"I'm interested in the way we tell stories about our lives," she says in the film, "about the fact that the truth about the past is often ephemeral and difficult to pin down."

Prophetic words, those.

But let's start from the film's beginning.

At The Movies, A Swirl Of Style And Substance

Bob Mondello — Thu, 09 May 2013 21:09:00 +0000

Here's a movie pitch: A celebrated millionaire, known for public extravagance, lives right on the water in a fabulous mansion. He's smooth but reckless, drives like a maniac, has a powerful enemy and — despite a rep as a playboy — has only one girlfriend, who barely registers on-screen.

You're the producer, so whaddya think?

In 'Iron Man 3,' A Metalhead Gets The Blues

Bob Mondello — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:14:00 +0000

Y'know, I think this bummed-out superhero thing is catching. Depressed Bat-guy, brooding Spider-dude, even the Man of Steel seems existentially troubled in previews of his most recent incarnation.

And smart-alecky Iron Man? He'd appeared inoculated by Tony Stark's reflexive snark from succumbing to a similar ailment — but even he's having anxiety attacks these days.

On Broadway, One Runt To Rule Them All

Bob Mondello — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:59:00 +0000

Broadway's newest family-friendly musical, Matilda, based on the Roald Dahl novel about a precocious child who proves smarter than all the adults in her life, opened earlier this month to some of the best reviews of the year.

While it's a brand-new show, seeing it jogged my memory — jogged it all the way back to my very first commentary for All Things Considered exactly 29 years ago.

It was April 25, 1984, and the fact that a revival of Oliver! had just begun previews on Broadway gave me an excuse to share one of my pet theories with the world: that the

Digging Into Ricky Jay's 'Deceptive' Card Tricks

Bob Mondello — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:26:00 +0000

When people talk about movie magic, they rarely mean card tricks.

On The Big Screen, The Tax Guy Can Be Your Buddy

Bob Mondello — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:24:00 +0000

It's fair to say that the bakery employees who hooted and jeered "tax maaaaaan" when mild-mannered auditor Will Ferrell showed up in Stranger than Fiction were no fans of the Internal Revenue Service. In that, they're like a lot of us, no?

So it's intriguing that Hollywood generally treats tax inspectors as nice guys. On the big screen, it's typically their IRS bosses who are the bad ones.

"High bracket, low bracket — if Uncle doesn't get his cut we nail your hide to the barnyard door," snarls Tony Randall's boss in the 1959 comedy The Mating Game.

Earnest '42' Buffs Up A Golden Baseball Moment

Bob Mondello — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:03:00 +0000

This Monday, every player in Major League Baseball will wear the same number on his jersey: 42, which was Jackie Robinson's number when, in 1947, he became the first black player in the majors, playing first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Today, baseball celebrates April 15 as Jackie Robinson Day. But 66 years ago, not everyone saw his hiring as cause for celebration — and the earnestly grandiose biopic 42 means to illuminate that history-making moment, in which racial vitriol met its match in a ballplayer who let his talent do the talking.

Not without a struggle, of course.

Home Video Review: 'Badlands'

Bob Mondello — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:03:00 +0000

Time now for a home viewing recommendation from our critic Bob Mondello. This week, Bob is intrigued by the 40th anniversary of the film that put Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek and director Terrence Malick on the map — Badlands.

The plot's based on a notorious duo and a real-life 1950s killing spree, but when boy meets girl on-screen in Badlands, they're adorable.

A Film So Sumptuous, 'Renoir' Himself Might Have Helped Out

Bob Mondello — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:29:00 +0000

The year is 1915. A beautiful young woman bicycling through sun-dappled woods passes under an effigy of a German soldier and seems entirely unfazed. World War I is raging elsewhere in Europe, but here on the French Riviera life is serene.

The cyclist, Andree, is on her way to pose for an elderly Impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet), whom she somewhat startles by claiming to be an artist herself.

"An artist," wonders the great man.

"Actress, dancer, singer," she says, smiling, as he chuckles.

Hollywood's History Of Putting Gay Rights On Trial

Bob Mondello — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 21:23:00 +0000

With the Supreme Court hearing arguments this week on same-sex marriage, I'd like to point out a parallel evolution in what I see as a Hollywood mini-genre: films in which gay characters are either taken to court or seek redress in court for issues involving their sexuality.

Arguably the most famous question ever asked in a courtroom about a line of poetry — "What is the love that dare not speak its name?" — was originally put to playwright Oscar Wilde in 1894 by a British prosecutor.

'The Croods': 3-D Cartoon Cavemen For The Whole Family

Bob Mondello — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:37:00 +0000

The makers of the animated Vikings comedy How to Train Your Dragon have come up with an animated caveman comedy that might as well be titled How to Train Your Father.

'Ginger & Rosa': Life And Times In Cold War London

Bob Mondello — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:18:00 +0000

Two young actresses with substantial Hollywood pedigrees have the title roles in the new film Ginger & Rosa. Ginger is played by Dakota Fanning's sister, Elle, who at 14 already has more than 30 movie credits. Rosa is played by Alice Englert, daughter of Oscar-winning writer-director Jane Campion and star of last month's Beautiful Creatures. Both actresses get a chance to stretch in Ginger & Rosa.

The film starts with an atomic blast — Hiroshima in 1945 — accompanied by shrieks half a world away as two women in a British maternity ward give birth.

From 'Oz,' A Less Than Magical Prequel

Bob Mondello — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 22:00:00 +0000

Oz the Great and Powerful tells the story of how the Wizard came to Oz, answering a question I suspect no one was asking, but with considerable digital wizardry.

The prequel begins in black and white, just the way you hope it will, with old-fashioned theatrical credits dissolving into a square-screened Kansas circa 1905.

Fairy Tales For Grown-Ups? More Are On The Way

Bob Mondello — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:32:00 +0000

Adaptations of fairy tales are everywhere you look. The TV show Once Upon a Time and the police procedural Grimm are in their second seasons. Hansel and his sister Gretel are at the cineplex hunting witches with machine guns. Jack, of beanstalk fame, starts slaying giants today. And those aren't the only bedtime stories that have been redesigned to keep 20-somethings up at night.

Two years ago, the big-fanged critter threatening Amanda Seyfried's Red, in the Red Riding Hood re-conceived by Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, was a werewolf.

Despite Dark Themes, A Big Oscar Bounce

Bob Mondello — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:54:00 +0000

How much is a best-picture Oscar worth? Not the statuette — winners are required to sell that back to the Academy for a buck if they want to get rid of it. No, what's the Oscar worth at the box office?

It's tricky to estimate, obviously, what with some pictures already on DVD when the contenders are nominated, and others just starting their theatrical runs. Still, this is a year where nominations appear to have made a difference, with a surprising number of popular nominees.

Home Video Review: 'On The Waterfront'

Bob Mondello — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 22:12:00 +0000

Time again for a home-viewing recommendation from NPR movie critic Bob Mondello. Today, Bob suggests a tale of moral crisis — On the Waterfront, in a freshly restored Blu-ray version from Criterion.

Mugs and palookas, racketeers and dockworkers, mob boss Lee J. Cobb running the union with an iron fist, Marlon Brando tripping up its control when Eva Marie Saint urges him to go to the feds and rat out the rats.

"I've never met anyone like you," she tells him when he demurs at first.

Say Yes To 'No': Retro Political Thriller Packs A Timely Punch

Bob Mondello — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:08:00 +0000

In 1988, Chile's brutal military dictator, Augusto Pinochet, was facing international pressure to legitimize his regime.

'Identity Thief': Nearly Two Hours, Stolen

Bob Mondello — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:04:00 +0000

The new road-trip comedy Identity Thief — about a guy who confronts a woman who's wrecking his credit rating — is such a catalog of missed opportunities, it probably makes sense just to list them.

The setup: Sandy Patterson, who works in a Denver financial firm (and is not supposed to be mentally challenged), blithely hands over his Social Security number to a stranger on the phone who says his accounts have been compromised, at which point his accounts get compromised.

In Prison And Among Zombies, Shakespeare's Reflection Shines

Bob Mondello — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:17:00 +0000

The Italian art-house film Caesar Must Die and the teen zombie-comedy Warm Bodies do not, at first glance, appear to have much in common. But they share a bit of creative DNA, both being inventive riffs that turn Shakespearean tragedies into something else entirely.

Start with the one that's more or less Shakespeare straight — straight as it can be in Italian, anyway.

Home Video Review: 'Buster Keaton: The Ultimate Collection'

Bob Mondello — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:44:00 +0000

Time now for a home-viewing recommendation from NPR movie critic Bob Mondello. A quiet recommendation — because Bob is touting the Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection, a 14-disc set of classic silent comedies.

Silent film had three great clowns.

Home Video Review: 'Slings And Arrows'

Bob Mondello — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:03:00 +0000

Time now for a home-viewing recommendation from movie critic Bob Mondello. He recently caught an online episode of the Shakespeare-centric comedy Slings and Arrows and says it reminded him how much he liked the whole series.

Even though he's a major character, Oliver, a flamboyant director at the fictional New Burbage Theater Festival (modeled on Canada's Stratford Shakespeare Fest) gets killed by a truck in the first episode of the first season of Slings and Arrows. A truck labeled "Canada's Best Hams," no less — appropriate for a guy who deals with actors.

Home Video Review: 'Looper'

Bob Mondello — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:24:00 +0000

Welcome to a future when time travel has been outlawed, meaning only outlaws like Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, travel through time.

Bob Mondello's Best Movies of 2012

Bob Mondello — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 21:12:00 +0000

A lot of movie box-office records fell in 2012. The comic-book blockbuster The Avengers had the biggest opening weekend in Hollywood history. Skyfall will be the first James Bond film to top $1 billion worldwide. And the box-office year as a whole is easily the movie industry's biggest ever. But what about quality?

Shedding Grim Light On A 'Dark' Story

Bob Mondello — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:58:00 +0000

With the screen pitch-black at the start of Zero Dark Thirty, we hear the confusion and alarm of Sept.

A 'Hobbit,' Off On His Unhurried Journey

Bob Mondello — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:25:00 +0000

The Hobbit's path to the screen may have started out as tortuous as a trek through the deadly Helcaraxe, filled with detours (Guillermo del Toro was initially going to direct), marked by conflict (New Zealand labor disputes) and strewn with seemingly insurmountable obstacles (so many that the filmmakers threatened to move the shoot to Australia).

But with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy having taken in almost $3 billion at the box office, there was never any real doubt that J.R.R.

Hollywood Heights: The Ups, Downs And In-Betweens

Bob Mondello — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:24:00 +0000

Hollywood can make any actor look imposing by shooting from a low angle or building sets with short door frames. But the fact is that we want our heroes big and our villains bigger, and the average male actor is about the same size as the average American male — roughly 5 foot 9 1/2. And some very "big" stars have been a good deal less than that.

Yoda's a special case, obviously, but action-movie heroes often loom larger onscreen than they do in person.

Home Video Review: 'Lawrence Of Arabia' On Blu-Ray

Bob Mondello — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:20:00 +0000

Time now for some home-viewing advice from our movie critic, Bob Mondello. This week, a 50th-anniversary Blu-ray release of the ultimate sand-and-sandals picture: Lawrence of Arabia.

Sand dunes for days, armies astride camels, and 29-year-old newcomer Peter O'Toole as British Army Lt. T.E.

For Pi, A Wonderful 'Life' Finds Its Way To Film

Bob Mondello — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:34:00 +0000

When your dad owns a zoo in India, as Pi's dad does, it's perhaps natural to regard animals as your buddies. Cool if you're talking goats and turtles; less cool if the animal you decide you want to pet is a Bengal tiger.

"He's an animal, not a playmate," his terrified father shouts. "Animals have souls," the boy replies gently. "I have seen it in their eyes."

Fast forward a few years, and Pi will get a chance to test that theory when his family closes the zoo and is accompanying the animals on a sea voyage to their new home in Canada.

'Tis The Season For Oscar-Bait Adaptations

Bob Mondello — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:01:00 +0000

It's the sort of juxtaposition that often arises at this time of year: novel adaptations arriving in droves at movie theaters, hunting for Oscar nominations.

J.R.R.