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Movies

Friday

Prince on the custom motorcycle featured in Purple Rain.

Prince on the custom motorcycle featured in Purple Rain. Cinematic/Alamy hide caption

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Cinematic/Alamy

40 years after 'Purple Rain,' Prince’s band remembers how the movie came together

Before social media, the film Purple Rain gave audiences a peek into Prince’s musical life. Band members say the true genesis of the title song was much less combative than the version presented in the film.

Prince's band The Revolution talks about the legacy of 'Purple Rain' after 40 years

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Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool and Hugh Jackman is Wolverine.

Ryan Reynolds stars as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in an odd-couple action hero pairing. Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios hide caption

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Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios

Review

Movie Reviews

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a self-cannibalizing slog

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have good, thorny chemistry in this odd-couple action hero flick. But brand extension disguised as a satire of brand extension is still just ... brand extension.

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a self-cannibalizing slog

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Denzel Washington plays Macrinus in Gladiator II.

There's been a lot of online chatter about Denzel Washington and his accent in the upcoming movie Gladiator II. There are longstanding conventions around using a posh-sounding British accent for ancient characters ... but why? Nobody spoke English in Rome. Cuba Scott/Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Cuba Scott/Paramount Pictures

Culture

So how do you 'accurately' speak English in ancient Rome?

Many studios and viewers cling to longstanding conventions around using a posh-sounding British accent for ancient characters — even though this defies logic. Absolutely no one spoke English in Rome.

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Marvel's Deadpool & Wolverine. Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/Marvel hide caption

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Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/Marvel

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

In the highly meta Deadpool & Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman finally meet up for their own big movie. Deadpool is still smarmy, Wolverine is still tragic, and they have to get together to save the world. Along the way, Deadpool continues his usual routine of endless wisecracking. The movie is jam-packed with fan service and Easter eggs. But how will casual Marvel fans like the movie?

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

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Wednesday

Jon M. Chu directs Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on the set of Wicked.

Jon M. Chu directs Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on the set of Wicked. Universal
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Universal

Movie Interviews

'Wicked' director Jon M. Chu says creativity isn't magic — it's hard work

Chu takes his inspiration from his dad, a Chinese immigrant who worked both the front room and the kitchen of their family-run restaurant: "The guy that in the back of the kitchen, that was my hero."

'Wicked' director Jon M. Chu says creativity isn't magic — it's hard work

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Monday

The Fall Guy features a film-within-a-film, which requires stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) to film while hanging from a crane.

Ryan Gosling plays a stuntman in the action movie The Fall Guy. Universal Studios hide caption

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Universal Studios

Movie Interviews

Stunt performer turned director walks away mostly unscathed from fights, flipped cars

Filmmaker David Leitch says it's easier to do stunts himself than direct his stunt performer friends. "You are responsible for their safety," he explains. "Your heart goes through your chest."

David Leitch

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Visitors watch Jesus VR: The Story of Christ during the 73rd Venice Film Festival in 2016.

Visitors watch Jesus VR: The Story of Christ during the 73rd Venice Film Festival in 2016. Andreas Rentz/Getty Images hide caption

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Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

This could be the way we watch movies in the future

Watching a movie is all about kicking back in a comfy chair with a bucket of popcorn and letting the story unfold. But that might change thanks to virtual reality.

IMPACT OF VR ON TV AND FILM

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Sunday

'Twister,' 'Twisters' and the actual practice of storm chasing

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate in the new movie Twisters. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures hide caption

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Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

Consider This from NPR

'Twister,' 'Twisters' and the actual practice of storm chasing

A plucky meteorology heroine; a male rival with no shortage of hubris; and some very, very big storms: that's the basic formula behind the new disaster action movie Twisters, which follows storm chasers around Oklahoma amid a tornado outbreak.

'Twister,' 'Twisters' and the actual practice of storm chasing

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Friday

Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones play rival storm chasers in Twisters.

Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones play rival storm chasers in Twisters. Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment hide caption

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Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment

Review

Movie Reviews

'Twisters' swirls an old-fashioned rom-com into an effects-happy action movie

This follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster Twister updates the original by making its heroine — not its hero — the center of gravity, but alas, the script doesn’t let her be a whole lot of fun.

'Twisters' swirls an old-fashioned rom-com into an effects-happy action movie

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The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops?

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles in Bad Boys: Ride or Die - a return to their star-solidifying roles as Miami cops. Sony Pictures hide caption

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Sony Pictures

It's Been a Minute

The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops?

Last Saturday, former president Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania when a gunman shot at him – killing one spectator and clipping Trump in the ear. The response? Outrage, condemnations, and prayers on all sides... but there's been less chatter about the gun that shot at him. And this gun has a lot of symbolism: The AR-15. Host Brittany Luse is joined by The Wall Street Journal's Zusha Elinson, co-author of the book American Gun, and Jennifer Mascia, senior news writer and founding staffer at The Trace, a nonpartisan nonprofit newsroom that covers guns. Together, they discuss how the AR-15 style rifle went from an outcast in the gun world to the one of the biggest pro-gun symbols and why that actually reflects bigger cultural shifts.

The rise of the AR-15; plus, why do comedians play so many cops?

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'Twisters' has us spiraling

Glen Powell in Twisters. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal hide caption

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Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Twisters' has us spiraling

Twister was one of the biggest disaster movies of the '90s. Now, it's finally got a sequel — one with an all-new cast, state-of-the-art effects, and a whole lot of tornadoes. The new film stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as rival storm-chasers who have a habit of running into tornadoes while everyone else is fleeing. Twisters was directed by Lee Isaac Chung, who also directed the Oscar-nominated Minari.

'Twisters' has us spiraling

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Thursday

Longlegs

Lauren Acala plays a girl who encounters the satanic serial killer known as "Longlegs." Neon hide caption

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Neon

Review

Movie Reviews

'Longlegs' is a terrifying serial killer — who never touches his victims

Nicolas Cage plays a satanic murderer, and Maika Monroe is the clairvoyant FBI agent on his trail, in this tense and frightening horror movie.

'Longlegs' is a terrifying serial killer -- who never touches his victims

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Monday

'Longlegs' is a (satanic) panic

Maika Monroe in a scene from Longlegs. Neon hide caption

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Neon

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Longlegs' is a (satanic) panic

They're calling it the scariest movie of the year. The new horror film Longlegs follows FBI special agent Lee Harker (Mika Monroe) tracking a serial killer in the 1990s. If that sounds like familiar ground, consider this – the clues she follows hint at the involvement of the occult in general and Satanism in particular. And the killer in question: Nicolas Cage, uncaged.

'Longlegs' is a (satanic) panic

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Saturday