Brad Pitt's Jackie Cogan is a midlevel mob enforcer in Killing Them Softly, adapted by Andrew Dominik from the 1974 novel Cogan's Trade.
Brad Pitt, 'Killing Them Softly' (And With Style)
()As a wiseguy charged with enforcing the rules after a couple of two-bit hoods knock over a mob-run card game, the actor wears his character's back story on the inside — which is where it belongs.
Movie Reviews
A Sturdy 'Collection' Of Horror's Goriest Tropes()
The Collection, a sequel to 2009's The Collector, dives back into the world of a serial killer and his growing body count. Critic Ian Buckwalter says it's self-aware of the genre's indulgences — and unlike in most horror franchises, the open ending is its strongest feature.
Best Books Of 2012
A Wintry Mix: Alan Cheuse Selects The Season's Best()
Critic Alan Cheuse maps out a winter wonderland of fiction and poetry — from ancient Greece to the near-future visions of Walter Mosley, a selection of the best books to give and receive this holiday season. Cheuse says these five books strike the perfect balance between lyricism and narrative.
Movie Reviews
A Rocker's 'Solo' Slide, Intimately Chronicled()
Robert Carlyle (Heroes, Once Upon a Time) plays a past-his-prime guitarist whose dissolution deepens when a DUI arrest raises the possibility of deportation. Critic Ella Taylor says it's a modest but satisfying story of self-destruction and redemption.
Movie Interviews
'Flight' Takes On Questions Of Accountability()
In the Robert Zemeckis film starring Denzel Washington, a pilot with a secret substance-abuse problem successfully crash-lands an airplane while high on drugs and alcohol. He must then ask himself some tough questions about whether his act of heroism is undermined by his addiction.
Movie Reviews
From A Rom-Com Director, A Subtle Kung Fu Flick()
Director Peter Ho-Sun Chan is better known for romantic comedies than for action movies. Critic Mark Jenkins says his film Dragon reflects multiple influences — from classic kung fu to Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes — that come together to create an eye-catching mood piece.
Movie Interviews
Marion Cotillard, Diving Deep In 'Rust And Bone'()
November 28, 2012 French actress Marion Cotillard won the 2008 Academy Award for best actress for her role in La Vie en Rose. NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with Cotillard about her new film, Rust and Bone, in which she plays an amputee.
Kitchen Window
Baking Without Flour For The Holidays()
November 28, 2012 Think outside the bag of white flour that's ubiquitous in the kitchen this time of year. These delights are naturally flour-free yet still utterly delicious.
Monkey See
Top Ten Things I Am Not Going To Do During This 'Les Miserables' Screening()
November 28, 2012 It's time for the press screenings of Les Miserables. They're embargoed after they happen, but we can share what we won't be doing.
Movie Interviews
Peter Ramsey Makes Directorial Rise With 'Guardians' ()
November 28, 2012 You might envision Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy as cute and cuddly. But they're tough characters united to fight the boogeyman in Rise of the Guardians. NPR's Michel Martin talks with director Peter Ramsey about the movie — and becoming the first African-American director of a big-budget CG-animation film.
Monkey See
Running A Comedy Machine: How Chuck Lorre Makes Hits()
November 27, 2012 On Morning Edition, Neda Ulaby looks at television's most powerful comedy hitmaker.
Monkey See
Is That A Budweiser In Your Hand?: Product Placement, Booze, And Denzel Washington()
November 27, 2012 Priska Neely peeks inside the fully stocked minibar of Denzel Washington's Flight to find out how all those brand-name bottles get on screen — and what happens when nobody gets permission.
Author Interviews
'The Last Refuge': Yemen, Al-Qaida And The U.S.()
November 27, 2012 In his new book, journalist Gregory Johnsen charts the rise of Yemen as a haven for al-Qaida and explores the recent history of radical Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. The death of Osama bin Laden, he says, had more of an effect on the U.S. psyche than it did on people in Yemen.
New In Paperback
Portraits Of An Artist, A Correspondent, 'Gossip,' And The 'Piano'()
November 27, 2012 In fiction, Paula McLain explores Hemingway's first marriage, while Anita Desai re-examines modern India. In nonfiction, Joseph Epstein defends gossip, Rosamond Bernier remembers midcentury Paris, and Stuart Isacoff lauds the piano.
Best Books Of 2012
Librarian Nancy Pearl's Picks For The Omnivorous Reader()
November 27, 2012 The only thing that these books have in common is that NPR's go-to librarian likes them a lot. Nancy Pearl's self-described "higgledy-piggledy" list includes a book of cartoons, a Civil War history, a coming-of-age story, a spy novel and more.
The Salt
Sandwich Monday: The Butter & Sugar Burger()
November 26, 2012 For this week's Sandwich Monday, we make our own version of a special from Asia's Freshness Burger chain: The Butter And Sugar Burger. Spoiler alert: It has two ingredients, and they are butter and sugar. And it's on a bun.
Author Interviews
Mantel Takes Up Betrayal, Beheadings In 'Bodies'()
November 26, 2012 Hilary Mantel is the first woman to win the Man Booker Prize twice, first for her 2009 novel, Wolf Hall, and now for that book's 2012 sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. The novels are part of a historical fiction trilogy about Tudor England and the events surrounding the reign of King Henry VIII.
