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In Birdman, Ed Norton (right) plays a talented but pretentious actor in a Broadway play being directed by an actor he disrespects (Michael Keaton, left) for having starred in a series of Birdman superhero films. Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

Movie Interviews

Ed Norton On 'Birdman,' Wes Anderson And Why $40 Makes Him Proud

October 21, 2014 • Making Birdman "was one of the most creatively satisfying experiences I've had," Norton says. He also talks about why Anderson's films are deep and getting royalties for the music in Death to Smoochy.

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After college, Geena Davis got a job at an Ann Taylor clothing store. Then she noticed an empty chair in a window display, and she decided to sit down and freeze. "I was a live mannequin," she says. Courtesy of Geena Davis hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Geena Davis

My Big Break

From Mannequin To Actor: Geena Davis' 'Ridiculous, Ridiculous' Break

October 19, 2014 • Geena Davis has played unforgettable roles in movies like Beetlejuice and A League of Their Own. But before her acting debut in Tootsie, she worked at a clothing store in window displays.

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Raphael Lemkin is the Polish lawyer and linguist who coined the term "genocide" — and dedicated his life to making genocide recognized as a crime. Copyright by Arthur Leipzig /Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York hide caption

itoggle caption Copyright by Arthur Leipzig /Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

Movie Interviews

The Man Who Coined 'Genocide' Spent His Life Trying To Stop It

October 18, 2014 • Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the word in 1943, as part of his lifelong campaign to make the world acknowledge and prosecute the crime. A new documentary, Watchers of the Sky, tells his story.

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Study Says Parents' Media Exposure Trickles Down To Children

October 20, 2014 • A new study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that the more movie sex and violence they watch, the more parents change their feelings about how much their children should be exposed to it.

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Movie Reviews

Starring In 'Fury': The Horrors That People Are Capable Of In War

October 20, 2014 • The WWII drama Fury is about a U.S. sergeant and his five-man crew on a mission behind enemy lines. Kenneth Turan reviews the film, directed by David Ayer and starring Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf.

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Pop Culture

Here's What Happens When Gandalf Talks To Schoolchildren

October 19, 2014 • Sir Ian McKellen made a special appearance at an English school. What special magical message did he impart? Do your homework!

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Movie Interviews

The Making Of R2D2, Galaxy's Most Beloved Robot

October 19, 2014 • A star is born! We learn how R2D2, the robot in Star Wars, got his name and why he's such a beloved character. This story originally aired May 25 on Weekend Edition Sunday.

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Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris) plays Lionel Higgins in Dear White People Roadside Attractions hide caption

itoggle caption Roadside Attractions

Code Switch

Watching 'Dear White People' At Harvard

October 18, 2014 • Dear White People follows four black students at a prestigious, majority-white college, where racial tensions are threatening to bring chaos to campus. So why not catch a screening at Harvard?

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Movie Interviews

How To Train A Movie Star Insect

October 18, 2014 • How do you get insects to "act" on camera? Entomologist Steven Kutcher tells NPR's Scott Simon about wrangling bugs for Hollywood and using the insects as living paintbrushes.

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Movie Interviews

Fracking Boom Town Wary Of Pastor's 'Overnighters'

October 18, 2014 • Jesse Moss tells NPR's Scott Simon about his documentary, The Overnighters. It follows a pastor in a North Dakota oil boom town whose life is upended when he opens the church to down-and-out workers.

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Brad Pitt plays Wardaddy, an Army sergeant leading a mission in Nazi Germany. Giles Keyte/Columbia Pictures hide caption

itoggle caption Giles Keyte/Columbia Pictures

Movie Reviews

The Brutalities Of War Bring Surprising Angles To 'Fury'

October 17, 2014 • Brad Pitt stars in a war movie that contemplates the horrors of war, but also the horrors that the men who fight it may commit.

Movie Reviews

'Birdman' Follows A Film Actor Frantic To Prove Himself Onstage

October 17, 2014 • The choreography by Alejandro Iñárritu, who directed 21 Grams and Babel, will wow you. But the story about a washed-up actor about to bring off his Broadway debut is an "empty masterwork."

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In Birdman, Michael Keaton (a real-life former Batman) plays a former movie superhero who's trying to get a grasp on his career. Atsushi Nishijima/ Fox Searchlight hide caption

itoggle caption Atsushi Nishijima/ Fox Searchlight

'Birdman' Tracks A Comeback In (Seemingly) One Long Take

October 17, 2014 • NPR film critic Bob Mondello says Birdman is an entertainingly complicated jigsaw puzzle — in both storytelling and technique.

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Josephine de la Baume and Jason Schwartzman in Listen Up Philip. Tribecca Film hide caption

itoggle caption Tribecca Film

Movie Reviews

In 'Listen Up Philip,' Literary Arrogance Stubbornly Refuses To Change

October 17, 2014 • In the new film starring Jonathan Pryce, Jason Schwartzman and Elisabeth Moss, two male writers prove far less clear-minded about their own behavior than the filmmaker is.

Michael Keaton stars in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). It's a dark comedy about an actor who once played a superhero and later stages a vanity production on Broadway. Alison Rosa/Twentieth Century Fox hide caption

itoggle caption Alison Rosa/Twentieth Century Fox

Movie Interviews

Michael Keaton: As An Actor, You Must Lock In And Let Go

October 17, 2014 • "I've got to stay 100 percent present," Keaton says. He is currently starring in Birdman, a dark comedy about an aging movie star who once played a superhero — a role he can't quite get over.

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The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Hatake Jimusho/GNDHDDTK/Gkids hide caption

itoggle caption Hatake Jimusho/GNDHDDTK/Gkids

Movie Reviews

Beauty And Loss In 'The Tale Of Princess Kaguya'

October 16, 2014 • The latest film from the celebrated Studio Ghibli follows a girl far from home who must inevitably return there.

Shaofeng Feng and Wei Tang in The Golden Era. China Lion Film Distribution hide caption

itoggle caption China Lion Film Distribution

Movie Reviews

'The Golden Era' Follows A Path From Northern China To Tokyo

October 16, 2014 • The biographical drama tells the story of a Chinese novelist and poet who spent her brief life in so-called "interesting times."

Tessa Thompson plays Samantha (Sam) White, host of a campus radio show called Dear White People. Roadside Attractions hide caption

itoggle caption Roadside Attractions

Movie Interviews

'Dear White People' Is A Satire Addressed To Everyone

October 16, 2014 • Justin Simien's film is funny, but it pushes viewers to think seriously about race and stereotypes in their own lives. Tongue-in-cheek title aside, he says the film speaks to the "human experience."

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Actress Elizabeth Peña arrives at the Hollywood premiere of Nothing Like the Holidays in 2008. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Overture Films hide caption

itoggle caption Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Overture Films

The Two-Way

Elizabeth Peña Remembered As An Actress With Range

October 16, 2014 • Peña's fans, lamenting her death on Latino social media, expressed frustration that such a talented actress could not break away from stereotypical roles.

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Neil Patrick Harris, seen here hosting the 2013 Emmys, is getting the Oscars job many have long wanted for him. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Kevin Winter/Getty Images