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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Kung Fu Panda 4\u003c/em> finds our trusty, rotund hero Po at a career crossroads and he’s nervous. “Change doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” he is told. \u003cem>Kung Fu Panda 4\u003c/em> also finds the franchise at an inflection point, but there’s no reason for us to be nervous. DreamWorks knows what it’s doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The series’ first new installment in eight years is a reliably funny, sweet and wonderfully realized passing of the torch, with a paw in the past and another into the future — an elegant goodbye and a hello. Many other filmmakers — ahem, Marvel and DC — might learn a thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952301']When we meet him, Po — voiced as always by a lively Jack Black — is being asked to give up his dream role as Dragon Warrior and pick a successor. He’s being kicked upstairs to be Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. (This is basically the Peter Principle illustrated in animation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Except Po doesn’t want to go into management. He loves smashing skulls and still has that lovable imposter syndrome he’s had since the franchise began. He tries to short-circuit any succession plans, change being too frightening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new enemy threatening an existential crisis offers a reprieve — The Chameleon — a wicked, powerful sorceress voiced by Viola Davis — looks like the lizard from the GEICO commercials who spent too much time at Graceland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Po teams up with a new character — a Corsac fox named Zhen voiced by Awkwafina — who is an orphan-turned-thief and teaches the too-trusting panda to trust no one. The movie then becomes a buddy road movie as these two hunt The Chameleon and a chance to bundle their home and auto insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wait a minute, you might be asking: Where are The Furious Five — Tigress, Viper, Monkey, Crane and Mantis — who have been in each \u003cem>Kung Fu Panda\u003c/em> iteration so far? They’re not really in \u003cem>Kung Fu Panda 4\u003c/em>, but the film reaches back to the first installment to bring back the snow leopard, Tai Lung, voiced by the sonorous Ian McShane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bryan Cranston is also back to voice Po’s goofy biological father and James Hong returns as his spirited adoptive goose dad, while Dustin Hoffman reprises his role as eye-rolling master Shifu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_inKs4eeHiI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a good balance of new and old characters but a masterstroke is coming: The Chameleon finds a way of accessing the spirit realm and bringing back every villain Po has ever faced. That results in a greatest hits-like fight scene that may be hard to top if there’s a \u003cem>Kung Fu Panda 5\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The third installment’s writers, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, are also back this time, joined by Darren Lemke. The film is helmed by \u003cem>The Lego Movie 2\u003c/em> director Mike Mitchell and co-directed by Stephanie Ma Stine, who worked on \u003cem>Raya and the Last Dragon\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last three movies have largely stuck to the rural Valley of Peace, so the filmmakers change it up this time and take Po and Zhen to an urban environment, Juniper City, packed with busy animals, rickshaws, and bulls as police officers (watch for a hilarious bull-in-a-jade-shop joke).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952668']As always, it’s the animators who are the real heroes here. From the thick fur on the pandas, to clay tiles smashing on roofs to rain splashing on stones, barroom brawls and petals wafting from cherry trees, this is a visual delight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creating The Chameleon — and her scary Komodo dragon guards — gives the animators a chance to show a tiny lizard metamorphosize into an elephant in a few seconds and they relish it. They also sometimes dip into different animation styles, giving a viewer a visual break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are some missteps, like a pelican character controlled by a fish in its mouth and three cute bunnies who appear adorable and yet are deeply psychotic. (“Violence makes my tummy tingle,” one says.) Plus, the teaming up again of Po’s dads, while welcome, is also sort of pointless here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, as Po would say, “Skadoosh!” The filmmakers have managed a very tricky assignment: Pave the way for a new franchise direction, find new ways to entertain us, remind us of lessons like “It’s never too late to do the right thing” and end the whole thing with the Black-led cover by Tenacious D of “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears. Embrace the change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ is released nationwide on March 8, 2024. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As always, it’s the animators who are the real heroes here. From the thick fur on the pandas, to clay tiles smashing on roofs to rain splashing on stones, barroom brawls and petals wafting from cherry trees, this is a visual delight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creating The Chameleon — and her scary Komodo dragon guards — gives the animators a chance to show a tiny lizard metamorphosize into an elephant in a few seconds and they relish it. They also sometimes dip into different animation styles, giving a viewer a visual break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are some missteps, like a pelican character controlled by a fish in its mouth and three cute bunnies who appear adorable and yet are deeply psychotic. (“Violence makes my tummy tingle,” one says.) Plus, the teaming up again of Po’s dads, while welcome, is also sort of pointless here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, as Po would say, “Skadoosh!” The filmmakers have managed a very tricky assignment: Pave the way for a new franchise direction, find new ways to entertain us, remind us of lessons like “It’s never too late to do the right thing” and end the whole thing with the Black-led cover by Tenacious D of “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears. Embrace the change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ is released nationwide on March 8, 2024. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The 2024 Oscars’ Best Original Song Nominees, Cruelly Ranked",
"headTitle": "The 2024 Oscars’ Best Original Song Nominees, Cruelly Ranked | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Given the commercial and awards dominance of \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em>‘s soundtrack — which was, if you remember, the most-nominated album at this year’s Grammys — you’d be forgiven for thinking that this year’s race for the best original song Oscar boils down to Fun Barbie (Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken”) vs. Pensive Barbie (Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”). But the field has even more going for it than that, from a lovely Jon Batiste ballad to a moving piece by the Osage Tribal Singers to … well, the umpteenth nomination for songwriter Diane Warren, and even \u003cem>that\u003c/em> song isn’t terrible!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the sixth year I’ve ranked the nominated songs for NPR — here’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/06/1155451988/the-2023-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2023\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07/1083945317/the-2022-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2022\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/21/987253460/the-2021-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2021\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/02/07/803636380/the-2020-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2020\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/02/23/697103948/the-2019-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2019\u003c/a> — and this is one of the better fields all around. So let’s tee ’em up, in ascending order of quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. “The Fire Inside,” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Flamin’ Hot\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Becky G (Diane Warren, songwriter)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to devise new ways to say that a Diane Warren composition gets nominated in this category every single year, invariably at the expense of superior songs. She’s locked into an eternal paradox: enough institutional support for a seventh consecutive nomination (!!), never enough juice to win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13953424']So here we are, yet again, pondering Doomed Nomination No. 15 and thanking our lucky stars that “The Fire Inside” is actually … decent, as recent-vintage Diane Warren songs go. Lyrically, it’s just another slice of quasi-inspirational, nominally defiant boilerplate, dragged down by couplets that would cause a generative AI program to resign in embarrassment (“They will think they can stop you / But there’s no stopping you”). Rise, stand, fight, you got this, they can’t hold you back, blah blah blah, seriously, \u003cem>have ChatGPT and Diane Warren ever been seen in the same room together?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musically, “The Fire Inside” is an effervescent and thoroughly inoffensive trifle, brought home by a charismatic vocal from Becky G. As a whole, this is probably Warren’s best Oscar-nominated song since 2015’s “Til It Happens to You” (a Lady Gaga collaboration that should have beaten Sam Smith’s “Writing’s on the Wall”), which is at least saying something. Just, you know, not \u003cem>much\u003c/em>. Had \u003cem>Flamin’ Hot\u003c/em> never existed — and how sad it would have been for the world to be denied Eva Longoria’s sub-featherweight brand-fluffing biopic! — Warren would have just gotten nominated for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58BzTRqQt4Y\">Gonna Be You\u003c/a>” from \u003cem>80 for Brady\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COXSy3rp6Vc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Killers of the Flower Moon\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Osage Tribal Singers (Scott George, songwriter)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe I’m riding high on the thrill of not having to write about Diane Warren for another 12 months, but this is a strong field! Next up is “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” which closes Martin Scorsese’s epic \u003cem>Killers of the Flower Moon\u003c/em> — and pointedly gives the Osage Nation the last word. An unconventional entry in a field typically reserved for English-language songs by well-known artists, “Wahzhazhe” had an unusual number of hurdles to clear in order to get nominated, starting with the fact that it had \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/oscar-2024-nominations-music-best-original-song-score-1235604053/\">never been written down\u003c/a> prior to submission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first Native American nominated for best original song, songwriter Scott George crafted a rousing work that transcends its place in a movie’s closing credits: It’s a work of celebration that suits its moment in the film while speaking to the Osage Nation’s resilience in the face of systemic discrimination and murder. And it’ll surely sound terrific when performed on Oscar night, which is just one more reason among many to cheer its inclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyWCr1ly4oc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. “It Never Went Away,” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>American Symphony\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Jon Batiste (Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson, songwriters)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>American Symphony\u003c/em> documents 2021 Oscar winner Jon Batiste’s efforts to write a symphony while his wife, bestselling author Suleika Jaouad, battled leukemia. As documentaries go, it’s moving without being terribly revealing — which can also be said for the Oscar-nominated ballad that plays over the film’s closing credits. But the gorgeous piano line that propels “It Never Went Away” sure does hit hard, as Batiste serenades his wife in a lullaby of devotion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike so many Oscar-nominated closing-credits songs before it, “It Never Went Away” feels richly connected to the themes of the movie preceding it. The words Batiste sings aren’t exactly novel — “Thought I was a wise lad / When you plan, God laughs” — but the song as a whole beautifully captures the experience of love as an accumulation of hard-won moments, forged in shared sacrifice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27jnCQYRXLc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. “I’m Just Ken,” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Barbie\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Ryan Gosling (Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, songwriters)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s virtually impossible to choose which eligible \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em> song most deserves this year’s Oscar: You could make a strong case for both nominated songs, as well as Dua Lipa’s effervescent “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiC1rgCPmUQ\">Dance the Night\u003c/a>,” which was shortlisted but missed the cut. (These days, Oscar rules stipulate that no more than two songs can be nominated from a single film.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13931753']So, seriously, think of Ryan Gosling’s wild, joke-dense “I’m Just Ken” as No. 1a more than No. 2 — though it does seem fitting that poor Ken would be relegated to second place yet again. Part inspirational battle anthem, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953424/film-critics-oscars-alternative-awards-best-movie-dog-stunt-cameo-song\">part dream ballet\u003c/a>, part ’80s power-ballad pastiche, “I’m Just Ken” soundtracks one of \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em>‘s many key scenes, advancing the plot even as it dispenses catchphrases (“Can you feel the Kenergy?”) and asks the questions so many of us have asked of ourselves (“Am I not hot when I’m in my feelings?”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though “What Was I Made For?” remains this year’s likely winner, it wouldn’t be a massive shock if “I’m Just Ken” were to rise up and snatch the Oscar from its more somber \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em> counterpart. The song pulls off a genuinely awesome feat: a grand and clever piece of comedic spectacle that is, among other superlatives, great at doing stuff. And, if you’re not grateful for “I’m Just Ken” now, just wait until it shows up to enliven a three-and-a-half-hour Oscars telecast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwux9KiBMjE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. “What Was I Made For?,” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Barbie\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Billie Eilish (Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m never going to fault anyone for choosing jokes over feelings, so you’re more than forgiven if you prefer “I’m Just Ken” to “What Was I Made For?” But, \u003cem>man\u003c/em>, this is a gorgeous song: melodically rich, a radiant vocal performance from Billie Eilish, a compelling way to magnify the pathos in \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em>‘s story of self-awakening, and an actual chart hit to boot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13931981']It’s worth noting once again how often the Oscars’ best original song field gets dominated by songs that roll harmlessly over closing credits — and, more to the point, that fail to convey or reflect on what their films were trying to say. This season, only the Diane Warren song really falls short in that regard; though they play over their respective credits, “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” could only come from \u003cem>Killers of the Flower Moon\u003c/em> and “It Never Went Away” could only come from \u003cem>American Symphony\u003c/em>. That’s a big step up from most years, which says nothing of how integral “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” are to \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year’s Oscar field produced one of the best and most satisfying winners this category has ever produced in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsU0CGZoV8E\">Naatu Naatu\u003c/a>” from \u003cem>RRR\u003c/em>. As long as Barbie gets its due this time around, we’re in for another all-timer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML0zd8UAuq8\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+2024+Oscars%27+best+original+song+nominees%2C+cruelly+ranked&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Given the commercial and awards dominance of \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em>‘s soundtrack — which was, if you remember, the most-nominated album at this year’s Grammys — you’d be forgiven for thinking that this year’s race for the best original song Oscar boils down to Fun Barbie (Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken”) vs. Pensive Barbie (Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”). But the field has even more going for it than that, from a lovely Jon Batiste ballad to a moving piece by the Osage Tribal Singers to … well, the umpteenth nomination for songwriter Diane Warren, and even \u003cem>that\u003c/em> song isn’t terrible!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the sixth year I’ve ranked the nominated songs for NPR — here’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/06/1155451988/the-2023-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2023\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07/1083945317/the-2022-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2022\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/21/987253460/the-2021-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2021\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/02/07/803636380/the-2020-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2020\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/02/23/697103948/the-2019-oscars-best-original-song-nominees-cruelly-ranked\">2019\u003c/a> — and this is one of the better fields all around. So let’s tee ’em up, in ascending order of quality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. “The Fire Inside,” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Flamin’ Hot\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Becky G (Diane Warren, songwriter)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to devise new ways to say that a Diane Warren composition gets nominated in this category every single year, invariably at the expense of superior songs. She’s locked into an eternal paradox: enough institutional support for a seventh consecutive nomination (!!), never enough juice to win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So here we are, yet again, pondering Doomed Nomination No. 15 and thanking our lucky stars that “The Fire Inside” is actually … decent, as recent-vintage Diane Warren songs go. Lyrically, it’s just another slice of quasi-inspirational, nominally defiant boilerplate, dragged down by couplets that would cause a generative AI program to resign in embarrassment (“They will think they can stop you / But there’s no stopping you”). Rise, stand, fight, you got this, they can’t hold you back, blah blah blah, seriously, \u003cem>have ChatGPT and Diane Warren ever been seen in the same room together?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musically, “The Fire Inside” is an effervescent and thoroughly inoffensive trifle, brought home by a charismatic vocal from Becky G. As a whole, this is probably Warren’s best Oscar-nominated song since 2015’s “Til It Happens to You” (a Lady Gaga collaboration that should have beaten Sam Smith’s “Writing’s on the Wall”), which is at least saying something. Just, you know, not \u003cem>much\u003c/em>. Had \u003cem>Flamin’ Hot\u003c/em> never existed — and how sad it would have been for the world to be denied Eva Longoria’s sub-featherweight brand-fluffing biopic! — Warren would have just gotten nominated for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58BzTRqQt4Y\">Gonna Be You\u003c/a>” from \u003cem>80 for Brady\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/COXSy3rp6Vc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/COXSy3rp6Vc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Killers of the Flower Moon\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Osage Tribal Singers (Scott George, songwriter)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe I’m riding high on the thrill of not having to write about Diane Warren for another 12 months, but this is a strong field! Next up is “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” which closes Martin Scorsese’s epic \u003cem>Killers of the Flower Moon\u003c/em> — and pointedly gives the Osage Nation the last word. An unconventional entry in a field typically reserved for English-language songs by well-known artists, “Wahzhazhe” had an unusual number of hurdles to clear in order to get nominated, starting with the fact that it had \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/oscar-2024-nominations-music-best-original-song-score-1235604053/\">never been written down\u003c/a> prior to submission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first Native American nominated for best original song, songwriter Scott George crafted a rousing work that transcends its place in a movie’s closing credits: It’s a work of celebration that suits its moment in the film while speaking to the Osage Nation’s resilience in the face of systemic discrimination and murder. And it’ll surely sound terrific when performed on Oscar night, which is just one more reason among many to cheer its inclusion.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/nyWCr1ly4oc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/nyWCr1ly4oc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. “It Never Went Away,” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>American Symphony\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Jon Batiste (Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson, songwriters)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>American Symphony\u003c/em> documents 2021 Oscar winner Jon Batiste’s efforts to write a symphony while his wife, bestselling author Suleika Jaouad, battled leukemia. As documentaries go, it’s moving without being terribly revealing — which can also be said for the Oscar-nominated ballad that plays over the film’s closing credits. But the gorgeous piano line that propels “It Never Went Away” sure does hit hard, as Batiste serenades his wife in a lullaby of devotion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike so many Oscar-nominated closing-credits songs before it, “It Never Went Away” feels richly connected to the themes of the movie preceding it. The words Batiste sings aren’t exactly novel — “Thought I was a wise lad / When you plan, God laughs” — but the song as a whole beautifully captures the experience of love as an accumulation of hard-won moments, forged in shared sacrifice.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/27jnCQYRXLc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/27jnCQYRXLc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. “I’m Just Ken,” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Barbie\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Ryan Gosling (Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, songwriters)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s virtually impossible to choose which eligible \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em> song most deserves this year’s Oscar: You could make a strong case for both nominated songs, as well as Dua Lipa’s effervescent “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiC1rgCPmUQ\">Dance the Night\u003c/a>,” which was shortlisted but missed the cut. (These days, Oscar rules stipulate that no more than two songs can be nominated from a single film.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So, seriously, think of Ryan Gosling’s wild, joke-dense “I’m Just Ken” as No. 1a more than No. 2 — though it does seem fitting that poor Ken would be relegated to second place yet again. Part inspirational battle anthem, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953424/film-critics-oscars-alternative-awards-best-movie-dog-stunt-cameo-song\">part dream ballet\u003c/a>, part ’80s power-ballad pastiche, “I’m Just Ken” soundtracks one of \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em>‘s many key scenes, advancing the plot even as it dispenses catchphrases (“Can you feel the Kenergy?”) and asks the questions so many of us have asked of ourselves (“Am I not hot when I’m in my feelings?”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though “What Was I Made For?” remains this year’s likely winner, it wouldn’t be a massive shock if “I’m Just Ken” were to rise up and snatch the Oscar from its more somber \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em> counterpart. The song pulls off a genuinely awesome feat: a grand and clever piece of comedic spectacle that is, among other superlatives, great at doing stuff. And, if you’re not grateful for “I’m Just Ken” now, just wait until it shows up to enliven a three-and-a-half-hour Oscars telecast.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/wwux9KiBMjE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/wwux9KiBMjE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. “What Was I Made For?,” \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Barbie\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>, performed by Billie Eilish (Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m never going to fault anyone for choosing jokes over feelings, so you’re more than forgiven if you prefer “I’m Just Ken” to “What Was I Made For?” But, \u003cem>man\u003c/em>, this is a gorgeous song: melodically rich, a radiant vocal performance from Billie Eilish, a compelling way to magnify the pathos in \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em>‘s story of self-awakening, and an actual chart hit to boot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s worth noting once again how often the Oscars’ best original song field gets dominated by songs that roll harmlessly over closing credits — and, more to the point, that fail to convey or reflect on what their films were trying to say. This season, only the Diane Warren song really falls short in that regard; though they play over their respective credits, “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” could only come from \u003cem>Killers of the Flower Moon\u003c/em> and “It Never Went Away” could only come from \u003cem>American Symphony\u003c/em>. That’s a big step up from most years, which says nothing of how integral “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” are to \u003cem>Barbie\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year’s Oscar field produced one of the best and most satisfying winners this category has ever produced in “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsU0CGZoV8E\">Naatu Naatu\u003c/a>” from \u003cem>RRR\u003c/em>. As long as Barbie gets its due this time around, we’re in for another all-timer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Best Dog? Best Hat? Ahead of the Oscars, Film Critics Hand Out Their Own Awards",
"headTitle": "Best Dog? Best Hat? Ahead of the Oscars, Film Critics Hand Out Their Own Awards | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The Academy Awards honor many things in movies but not some of the most important. Ahead of Sunday’s Oscars, Associated Press film writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle make selections for their own awards — some more offbeat than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Best Actually Supporting Performance: Cory Michael Smith, ‘May December’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the best truly supporting performances are the ones that will never, ever get the “awards push,” like the brilliant Cory Michael Smith as Georgie Atherton in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938143/may-december-movie-review-netflix-mary-kay-letourneau-julianne-moore\">\u003cem>May December\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. With his subtly manic energy, sad smile and that awful bleached hair, his is that kind of undeniable presence who steals both scenes he’s in and also completely upends everything we’ve come to understand so far. But this is how awards season works and something that only our awards strategist friends can justify. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953431\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1276px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953431\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM.png\" alt=\"A nervous looking woman sits on a bench, hands clasped in her lap, next to a younger man who is sitting casually with his legs crossed.\" width=\"1276\" height=\"892\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM.png 1276w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM-800x559.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM-1020x713.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM-160x112.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM-768x537.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1276px) 100vw, 1276px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Natalie Portman and Cory Michael Smith in a scene from ‘May December.’ \u003ccite>(François Duhamel/ Netflix via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Hairstyle: Gwen’s upside-down ponytail, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are, no doubt, more elegantly styled heads of hair among this year’s Oscar nominees. But no ‘do could match the gravity-assisted beauty of the ponytail that hangs suspended in the air when Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Miles (Shameik Moore) sit together, clung to the underside of cornice, gazing out at an upturned New York in \u003cem>Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse\u003c/em>. For a topsy-turvy, canon-breaking film series, Gwen’s upside-down ponytail points the way. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1168px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of two small figures sitting on a bench. In the distance, a city skyline can be seen upside down.\" width=\"1168\" height=\"704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM.png 1168w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM-800x482.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM-1020x615.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM-768x463.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1168px) 100vw, 1168px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miles Morales as Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’ \u003ccite>(Sony Pictures Animation via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Duo Act: Jeffrey Wright and John Ortiz, ‘American Fiction’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As great as the whole ensemble is in Cord Jefferson’s incisive drama, the movie is never better than when Wright and Ortiz are matched together. When Wright’s frustrated novelist Monk Ellison meets with his agent Arthur (Ortiz), \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938160/american-fiction-based-on-erasure-jeffrey-wright-cord-jefferson-ross\">\u003cem>American Fiction\u003c/em>\u003c/a> sparkles with the comic interplay of two character-actor greats. Give these guys a sitcom and I’d watch six seasons. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953433\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1206px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953433\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM.png\" alt=\"A Black man in a polo shirt and a Latino man in a shirt and tie both peer down at a desk looking concerned.\" width=\"1206\" height=\"786\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM.png 1206w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM-800x521.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM-1020x665.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM-160x104.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM-768x501.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1206px) 100vw, 1206px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeffrey Wright and John Ortiz in a scene from ‘American Fiction.’ \u003ccite>(MGM via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Cameo: Margot Robbie, ‘Asteroid City’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wes Anderson’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930502/asteroid-city-review-wes-anderson-scarlet-johansson-jason-schwartzman\">\u003cem>Asteroid City\u003c/em>\u003c/a> got a raw deal this year with zero nominations (maybe he’ll win his first Oscar for his Henry Sugar short). One performance in a sea of great ones that really made an impact was a true cameo that’s saved for the very end: Margot Robbie as the actor whose scene as Jason Schwartzman’s dead wife was cut for time. She gets only a few minutes, to remind her would’ve-been co-star of their would’ve-been lines, dressed in Elizabethan garb a balcony away. It is an emotional gut punch of the best kind, brief and perfect. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Best Face: Willem Dafoe, ‘Poor Things’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Willem Dafoe’s face is already a work of art, but\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938158/poor-things-movie-review-emma-stone-bella-baxter-mark-ruffalo-willem-dafoe\">\u003cem> Poor Things\u003c/em>\u003c/a> turns it into a Munch-esque masterpiece. His scarred Dr. Godwin Baxter, whose deformities come from experiments performed on him, is like a fusion of mad scientist and wounded victim. He’s Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s monster, in one. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953434\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1270px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953434\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM.png\" alt=\"A disfigured man sits at a dining table next to a contraption made of glass bottles and tubes.\" width=\"1270\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM.png 1270w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM-800x491.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM-1020x626.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM-160x98.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM-768x472.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1270px) 100vw, 1270px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Willem Dafoe in a scene from ‘Poor Things.’ \u003ccite>(Atsushi Nishijima/ Searchlight Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Stunts: ‘Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning — Part One’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It remains wild that the film academy still doesn’t recognize stunts, but we can here. \u003cem>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning\u003c/em> isn’t the underdog in this category but that doesn’t make what they did any less impressive. The obvious “best” is the cliff jump, which most of us know by now that Tom Cruise did himself. But I’m also partial to the Rome car chase in which Cruise and Hayley Atwell try to escape capture in a creaky, vintage Fiat 500 while handcuffed together. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953435\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1138px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953435\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM.png\" alt=\"A man flies through the air in a horizontal position, a motorbike if falling vertically underneath him.\" width=\"1138\" height=\"756\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM.png 1138w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM-800x531.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM-1020x678.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM-768x510.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1138px) 100vw, 1138px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Cruise in a scene from ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One.’ \u003ccite>(Paramount Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Use of Earth Wind and Fire’s ‘September’: ‘Robot Dreams’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“September” has probably been heard in a hundred movies and at a billion weddings, but the best animated feature nominee \u003cem>Robot Dreams\u003c/em> uses the disco classic to perfection. In a movie that is strikingly grown-up about a relationship between a dog and robot, all of the joy and nostalgia of “September” has never been more moving. It sends you out of the theater humming “The bell was ringin’, oh, oh / Our souls were singin’.” — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 956px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM.png\" alt=\"A robot and a dog stand in front of a hotdog cart at a park, holding hot dogs.\" width=\"956\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM.png 956w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM-800x571.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM-160x114.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM-768x548.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 956px) 100vw, 956px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from ‘Robot Dreams.’ \u003ccite>(Neon via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Most Stylish: ‘Priscilla’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is perhaps a silly superlative to give to a movie that was easily one of the strongest adaptations of the year, taking what was essentially a young woman’s diary entries and making something evocative and profound without the use of first-person narration. The thoughtful style of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936970/priscilla-movie-review-sofia-coppola-jacob-elordi-cailee-spaeny\">Sofia Coppola’s film\u003c/a> helps make this point, transporting audiences into this intoxicating and dreamlike wonderland of the most beautiful clothes and glamorous settings with the biggest star of the time, and guiding us along with Pricilla to the realization that it is also a nightmare. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953437\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1262px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM.png\" alt=\"A 1960s bride and groom stand before a tiered wedding cake in front of an arch made of white roses. \" width=\"1262\" height=\"846\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM.png 1262w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM-800x536.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM-1020x684.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM-768x515.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1262px) 100vw, 1262px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi in a scene from ‘Priscilla.’ \u003ccite>(Philippe Le Sourd/ A24 via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Scene: The Trinity Test, ‘Oppenheimer’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I don’t love everything about Christopher Nolan’s epic but I think the Trinity Test scene is a sequence that will be taught to film students for generations. It’s not just the explosion itself, which was accomplished with old-school moviemaking techniques like forced perspective (doing something small but making it seem big). It’s the rumbling tremors of the moments that follow, when Oppenheimer, after hearing that the bomb has been dropped on Hiroshima, is greeted by a flag-waving gymnasium audience. Oppenheimer’s face is horrified, reckoning with what he’s wrought. The crowd turns grotesque and ashen. A girl (played by Nolan’s daughter) shrieks. Here is the real thunder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932204/oppenheimer-japanese-erasure\">\u003cem>Oppenheimer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953438\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1278px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM.png\" alt=\"A white man sits, wearing goggles in front of a small window. His face is lit up in bright light.\" width=\"1278\" height=\"890\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM.png 1278w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM-800x557.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM-1020x710.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM-160x111.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM-768x535.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1278px) 100vw, 1278px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cillian Murphy in a scene from ‘Oppenheimer.’ \u003ccite>(Universal Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Dream Ballet: ‘Barbie’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last year had so much great dancing, from the sweaty club scenes in \u003cem>Passages\u003c/em>, to the wedding line dance in \u003cem>The Iron Claw\u003c/em>, Jeff’s silly moves in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933589/behind-bottoms-a-wild-queer-and-bloody-high-school-sex-comedy\">\u003cem>Bottoms\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Bella Baxter’s broken doll euphoria in \u003cem>Poor Things\u003c/em>, \u003cem>M3GAN\u003c/em>’s boogie and, of course, the end of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938358/saltburn-review-emerald-fennell-shocking-scenes-jacob-elordi\">\u003cem>Saltburn\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. But the trophy goes to Greta Gerwig’s euphoric “I’m Just Ken” dream ballet, a sequence she fought to keep in that is also the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931753/allan-doll-michael-cera-greta-gerwig-barbie-movie-review\">best in the film\u003c/a>. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDCnJHyMuyU\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Best Fight: Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies, ‘You Hurt My Feelings’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sure, you could pick more violent encounters. But is there possibly anything more ferociously rock ’em-sock ’em than an author overhearing her husband say he doesn’t like her latest book? In Nicole Holofcener’s \u003cem>You Hurt My Feelings\u003c/em>, it’s the opening salvo in a painfully, hysterically acute examination of honesty in relationships. Not, I repeat not, a date movie. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953440\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1198px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM.png\" alt=\"A white man and a white woman stand in a living room, facing forward and looking stunned.\" width=\"1198\" height=\"748\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM.png 1198w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM-800x499.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM-1020x637.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM-160x100.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1198px) 100vw, 1198px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tobias Menzies and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in a scene from ‘You Hurt My Feelings.’ \u003ccite>(Jeong Park/ A24 via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Use of a Preexisting Song: ‘Silver Joy’ by Damien Jurado, ‘The Holdovers’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I think the original song category needs an overhaul. For years, movies have helped introduce me to songs that exist that I might have missed, that become immediate favorites because of the emotional association with a movie. Selecting the right existing song is such an art and one last year stood out over all the rest: Damien Jurado’s “Silver Joy” in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937046/alexander-payne-keeps-real-emotion-at-bay-in-the-coyly-comic-holdovers\">\u003cem>The Holdovers\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Best Hat: Michael Fassbender’s bucket hat, ‘The Killer’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Meticulous movie hitmen have long worn stylish hats. Think of the fedora of the protagonist of \u003cem>Le Samouraï.\u003c/em> The assassin of David Fincher’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937708/the-killer-movie-review-david-fincher-trent-reznor-michael-fassbender\">\u003cem>The Killer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, though, wears a bucket hat. It’s just as much a silhouette, but he looks more like a dopey tourist than a stone-cold killer. That’s much the point for a movie about murder in increasingly anonymous times. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937722\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM.png\" alt=\"A white man wearing leisure wear including white pants and a beige sun hat sits on a bench, looking relaxed.\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1136\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM.png 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-800x574.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-1020x732.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-160x115.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-768x551.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-1536x1102.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Fassbender stars in ‘The Killer.’ \u003ccite>(Netflix via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best One-Scene Performance: Audra McDonald, ‘Origin’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Ava DuVernay’s too-overlooked \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13950482/ava-duvernay-origin-caste-our-discontents-isabel-wilkerson\">\u003cem>Origin\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, much of the film’s sense of humanity comes from the rich presences of the actors who float in and out of the movie. Not just the stellar lead, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, but a number of performers — including Jon Bernthal, Emily Yancy and Nick Offerman — add to the nuance of \u003cem>Origin\u003c/em>. That’s especially true of Audra McDonald, who turns up for just one scene that may be the most potent of the film. McDonald plays a woman named Miss Hale, and her story of how she got that name is a delicate powerhouse. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Most Romantic: ‘The Taste of Things’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are not many truly romantic films made for big audiences these days. Sure there’s the odd rom-com here and there, but sweeping, luscious, capital R romances are few and far between and rarely celebrated at awards season (yes, I’m still thinking about Joe Wright’s \u003cem>Cyrano\u003c/em>). This season, that title went to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951896/the-taste-of-things-juliette-binoche-food-movie-review\">\u003cem>The Taste of Things\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which doesn’t have an ounce of cynicism, just pure love. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953441\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1274px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953441\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM.png\" alt=\"A woman and man stand close together next to a stove pouring one pan into another.\" width=\"1274\" height=\"846\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM.png 1274w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM-800x531.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM-1020x677.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM-768x510.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1274px) 100vw, 1274px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel in a scene from ‘The Taste of Things.’ \u003ccite>(Stéphanie Branchu/ IFC Films via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best NFL Player Performance: Marshawn Lynch, ‘Bottoms’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With exactly zero apologies to \u003cem>80 for Brady\u003c/em> (Jets fan here), no former footballer made more of a big-screen impression than Marshawn Lynch, the former elite running back known as “Beast Mode.” In Emma Seligman’s raunchy lesbian teen comedy \u003cem>Bottoms\u003c/em>, Lynch turns up as a high school teacher and is quite funny acting opposite Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri. The role also has poignance. Lynch has said he did it to help make up for how he handled his sister, Marreesha Sapp-Lynch, coming out in high school. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Best Dog Not Named Snoop: Chaplin, ‘Fallen Leaves’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Snoop, the all-seeing dog in the best picture nominee \u003cem>Anatomy of a Fall\u003c/em>, has really hogged the pooch spotlight. Messi, the dog who plays Snoop, has been all over the place, including the film academy luncheon. But it’s time his reign of terror came to end. In Aki Kaurismäki’s \u003cem>Fallen Leaves\u003c/em>, my favorite film of 2023, a pair of loners find nourishing points of connection in a cruel and grim world: the movies, karaoke and a dog named Chaplin. The dog, named Alma in real life, is Kaurismäki’s own mutt, and deserves a few bones thrown her way, too. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953442\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1266px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953442\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM.png\" alt=\"A woman sits in a waiting room with one arm around a small dog.\" width=\"1266\" height=\"862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM.png 1266w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM-800x545.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM-1020x695.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM-160x109.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM-768x523.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1266px) 100vw, 1266px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alma Pöysti and Alma the dog in a scene from ‘Fallen Leaves.’ \u003ccite>(MUBI via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The 96th Academy Awards will take place on March 10, starting at 4 p.m. and will air live on ABC.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Associated Press writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle pick the best movie cameo, face, stunts and more.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Academy Awards honor many things in movies but not some of the most important. Ahead of Sunday’s Oscars, Associated Press film writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle make selections for their own awards — some more offbeat than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Best Actually Supporting Performance: Cory Michael Smith, ‘May December’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the best truly supporting performances are the ones that will never, ever get the “awards push,” like the brilliant Cory Michael Smith as Georgie Atherton in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938143/may-december-movie-review-netflix-mary-kay-letourneau-julianne-moore\">\u003cem>May December\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. With his subtly manic energy, sad smile and that awful bleached hair, his is that kind of undeniable presence who steals both scenes he’s in and also completely upends everything we’ve come to understand so far. But this is how awards season works and something that only our awards strategist friends can justify. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953431\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1276px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953431\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM.png\" alt=\"A nervous looking woman sits on a bench, hands clasped in her lap, next to a younger man who is sitting casually with his legs crossed.\" width=\"1276\" height=\"892\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM.png 1276w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM-800x559.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM-1020x713.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM-160x112.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.44.37-PM-768x537.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1276px) 100vw, 1276px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Natalie Portman and Cory Michael Smith in a scene from ‘May December.’ \u003ccite>(François Duhamel/ Netflix via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Hairstyle: Gwen’s upside-down ponytail, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are, no doubt, more elegantly styled heads of hair among this year’s Oscar nominees. But no ‘do could match the gravity-assisted beauty of the ponytail that hangs suspended in the air when Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Miles (Shameik Moore) sit together, clung to the underside of cornice, gazing out at an upturned New York in \u003cem>Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse\u003c/em>. For a topsy-turvy, canon-breaking film series, Gwen’s upside-down ponytail points the way. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1168px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of two small figures sitting on a bench. In the distance, a city skyline can be seen upside down.\" width=\"1168\" height=\"704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM.png 1168w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM-800x482.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM-1020x615.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.46.49-PM-768x463.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1168px) 100vw, 1168px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miles Morales as Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’ \u003ccite>(Sony Pictures Animation via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Duo Act: Jeffrey Wright and John Ortiz, ‘American Fiction’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As great as the whole ensemble is in Cord Jefferson’s incisive drama, the movie is never better than when Wright and Ortiz are matched together. When Wright’s frustrated novelist Monk Ellison meets with his agent Arthur (Ortiz), \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938160/american-fiction-based-on-erasure-jeffrey-wright-cord-jefferson-ross\">\u003cem>American Fiction\u003c/em>\u003c/a> sparkles with the comic interplay of two character-actor greats. Give these guys a sitcom and I’d watch six seasons. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953433\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1206px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953433\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM.png\" alt=\"A Black man in a polo shirt and a Latino man in a shirt and tie both peer down at a desk looking concerned.\" width=\"1206\" height=\"786\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM.png 1206w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM-800x521.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM-1020x665.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM-160x104.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.48.52-PM-768x501.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1206px) 100vw, 1206px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeffrey Wright and John Ortiz in a scene from ‘American Fiction.’ \u003ccite>(MGM via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Cameo: Margot Robbie, ‘Asteroid City’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wes Anderson’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930502/asteroid-city-review-wes-anderson-scarlet-johansson-jason-schwartzman\">\u003cem>Asteroid City\u003c/em>\u003c/a> got a raw deal this year with zero nominations (maybe he’ll win his first Oscar for his Henry Sugar short). One performance in a sea of great ones that really made an impact was a true cameo that’s saved for the very end: Margot Robbie as the actor whose scene as Jason Schwartzman’s dead wife was cut for time. She gets only a few minutes, to remind her would’ve-been co-star of their would’ve-been lines, dressed in Elizabethan garb a balcony away. It is an emotional gut punch of the best kind, brief and perfect. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Best Face: Willem Dafoe, ‘Poor Things’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Willem Dafoe’s face is already a work of art, but\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938158/poor-things-movie-review-emma-stone-bella-baxter-mark-ruffalo-willem-dafoe\">\u003cem> Poor Things\u003c/em>\u003c/a> turns it into a Munch-esque masterpiece. His scarred Dr. Godwin Baxter, whose deformities come from experiments performed on him, is like a fusion of mad scientist and wounded victim. He’s Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s monster, in one. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953434\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1270px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953434\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM.png\" alt=\"A disfigured man sits at a dining table next to a contraption made of glass bottles and tubes.\" width=\"1270\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM.png 1270w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM-800x491.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM-1020x626.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM-160x98.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.50.45-PM-768x472.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1270px) 100vw, 1270px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Willem Dafoe in a scene from ‘Poor Things.’ \u003ccite>(Atsushi Nishijima/ Searchlight Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Stunts: ‘Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning — Part One’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It remains wild that the film academy still doesn’t recognize stunts, but we can here. \u003cem>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning\u003c/em> isn’t the underdog in this category but that doesn’t make what they did any less impressive. The obvious “best” is the cliff jump, which most of us know by now that Tom Cruise did himself. But I’m also partial to the Rome car chase in which Cruise and Hayley Atwell try to escape capture in a creaky, vintage Fiat 500 while handcuffed together. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953435\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1138px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953435\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM.png\" alt=\"A man flies through the air in a horizontal position, a motorbike if falling vertically underneath him.\" width=\"1138\" height=\"756\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM.png 1138w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM-800x531.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM-1020x678.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.52.26-PM-768x510.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1138px) 100vw, 1138px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Cruise in a scene from ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One.’ \u003ccite>(Paramount Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Use of Earth Wind and Fire’s ‘September’: ‘Robot Dreams’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“September” has probably been heard in a hundred movies and at a billion weddings, but the best animated feature nominee \u003cem>Robot Dreams\u003c/em> uses the disco classic to perfection. In a movie that is strikingly grown-up about a relationship between a dog and robot, all of the joy and nostalgia of “September” has never been more moving. It sends you out of the theater humming “The bell was ringin’, oh, oh / Our souls were singin’.” — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 956px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM.png\" alt=\"A robot and a dog stand in front of a hotdog cart at a park, holding hot dogs.\" width=\"956\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM.png 956w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM-800x571.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM-160x114.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.54.27-PM-768x548.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 956px) 100vw, 956px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from ‘Robot Dreams.’ \u003ccite>(Neon via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Most Stylish: ‘Priscilla’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is perhaps a silly superlative to give to a movie that was easily one of the strongest adaptations of the year, taking what was essentially a young woman’s diary entries and making something evocative and profound without the use of first-person narration. The thoughtful style of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936970/priscilla-movie-review-sofia-coppola-jacob-elordi-cailee-spaeny\">Sofia Coppola’s film\u003c/a> helps make this point, transporting audiences into this intoxicating and dreamlike wonderland of the most beautiful clothes and glamorous settings with the biggest star of the time, and guiding us along with Pricilla to the realization that it is also a nightmare. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953437\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1262px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM.png\" alt=\"A 1960s bride and groom stand before a tiered wedding cake in front of an arch made of white roses. \" width=\"1262\" height=\"846\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM.png 1262w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM-800x536.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM-1020x684.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.55.55-PM-768x515.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1262px) 100vw, 1262px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi in a scene from ‘Priscilla.’ \u003ccite>(Philippe Le Sourd/ A24 via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Scene: The Trinity Test, ‘Oppenheimer’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I don’t love everything about Christopher Nolan’s epic but I think the Trinity Test scene is a sequence that will be taught to film students for generations. It’s not just the explosion itself, which was accomplished with old-school moviemaking techniques like forced perspective (doing something small but making it seem big). It’s the rumbling tremors of the moments that follow, when Oppenheimer, after hearing that the bomb has been dropped on Hiroshima, is greeted by a flag-waving gymnasium audience. Oppenheimer’s face is horrified, reckoning with what he’s wrought. The crowd turns grotesque and ashen. A girl (played by Nolan’s daughter) shrieks. Here is the real thunder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932204/oppenheimer-japanese-erasure\">\u003cem>Oppenheimer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953438\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1278px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM.png\" alt=\"A white man sits, wearing goggles in front of a small window. His face is lit up in bright light.\" width=\"1278\" height=\"890\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM.png 1278w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM-800x557.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM-1020x710.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM-160x111.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-3.57.52-PM-768x535.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1278px) 100vw, 1278px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cillian Murphy in a scene from ‘Oppenheimer.’ \u003ccite>(Universal Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Dream Ballet: ‘Barbie’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last year had so much great dancing, from the sweaty club scenes in \u003cem>Passages\u003c/em>, to the wedding line dance in \u003cem>The Iron Claw\u003c/em>, Jeff’s silly moves in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933589/behind-bottoms-a-wild-queer-and-bloody-high-school-sex-comedy\">\u003cem>Bottoms\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Bella Baxter’s broken doll euphoria in \u003cem>Poor Things\u003c/em>, \u003cem>M3GAN\u003c/em>’s boogie and, of course, the end of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938358/saltburn-review-emerald-fennell-shocking-scenes-jacob-elordi\">\u003cem>Saltburn\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. But the trophy goes to Greta Gerwig’s euphoric “I’m Just Ken” dream ballet, a sequence she fought to keep in that is also the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931753/allan-doll-michael-cera-greta-gerwig-barbie-movie-review\">best in the film\u003c/a>. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/VDCnJHyMuyU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/VDCnJHyMuyU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch2>Best Fight: Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies, ‘You Hurt My Feelings’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sure, you could pick more violent encounters. But is there possibly anything more ferociously rock ’em-sock ’em than an author overhearing her husband say he doesn’t like her latest book? In Nicole Holofcener’s \u003cem>You Hurt My Feelings\u003c/em>, it’s the opening salvo in a painfully, hysterically acute examination of honesty in relationships. Not, I repeat not, a date movie. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953440\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1198px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM.png\" alt=\"A white man and a white woman stand in a living room, facing forward and looking stunned.\" width=\"1198\" height=\"748\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM.png 1198w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM-800x499.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM-1020x637.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM-160x100.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.01.56-PM-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1198px) 100vw, 1198px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tobias Menzies and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in a scene from ‘You Hurt My Feelings.’ \u003ccite>(Jeong Park/ A24 via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best Use of a Preexisting Song: ‘Silver Joy’ by Damien Jurado, ‘The Holdovers’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>I think the original song category needs an overhaul. For years, movies have helped introduce me to songs that exist that I might have missed, that become immediate favorites because of the emotional association with a movie. Selecting the right existing song is such an art and one last year stood out over all the rest: Damien Jurado’s “Silver Joy” in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937046/alexander-payne-keeps-real-emotion-at-bay-in-the-coyly-comic-holdovers\">\u003cem>The Holdovers\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Best Hat: Michael Fassbender’s bucket hat, ‘The Killer’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Meticulous movie hitmen have long worn stylish hats. Think of the fedora of the protagonist of \u003cem>Le Samouraï.\u003c/em> The assassin of David Fincher’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937708/the-killer-movie-review-david-fincher-trent-reznor-michael-fassbender\">\u003cem>The Killer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, though, wears a bucket hat. It’s just as much a silhouette, but he looks more like a dopey tourist than a stone-cold killer. That’s much the point for a movie about murder in increasingly anonymous times. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937722\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM.png\" alt=\"A white man wearing leisure wear including white pants and a beige sun hat sits on a bench, looking relaxed.\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1136\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM.png 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-800x574.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-1020x732.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-160x115.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-768x551.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-07-at-11.06.08-AM-1536x1102.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Fassbender stars in ‘The Killer.’ \u003ccite>(Netflix via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best One-Scene Performance: Audra McDonald, ‘Origin’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Ava DuVernay’s too-overlooked \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13950482/ava-duvernay-origin-caste-our-discontents-isabel-wilkerson\">\u003cem>Origin\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, much of the film’s sense of humanity comes from the rich presences of the actors who float in and out of the movie. Not just the stellar lead, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, but a number of performers — including Jon Bernthal, Emily Yancy and Nick Offerman — add to the nuance of \u003cem>Origin\u003c/em>. That’s especially true of Audra McDonald, who turns up for just one scene that may be the most potent of the film. McDonald plays a woman named Miss Hale, and her story of how she got that name is a delicate powerhouse. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Most Romantic: ‘The Taste of Things’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are not many truly romantic films made for big audiences these days. Sure there’s the odd rom-com here and there, but sweeping, luscious, capital R romances are few and far between and rarely celebrated at awards season (yes, I’m still thinking about Joe Wright’s \u003cem>Cyrano\u003c/em>). This season, that title went to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951896/the-taste-of-things-juliette-binoche-food-movie-review\">\u003cem>The Taste of Things\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which doesn’t have an ounce of cynicism, just pure love. — L.B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953441\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1274px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953441\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM.png\" alt=\"A woman and man stand close together next to a stove pouring one pan into another.\" width=\"1274\" height=\"846\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM.png 1274w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM-800x531.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM-1020x677.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.08.33-PM-768x510.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1274px) 100vw, 1274px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel in a scene from ‘The Taste of Things.’ \u003ccite>(Stéphanie Branchu/ IFC Films via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Best NFL Player Performance: Marshawn Lynch, ‘Bottoms’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With exactly zero apologies to \u003cem>80 for Brady\u003c/em> (Jets fan here), no former footballer made more of a big-screen impression than Marshawn Lynch, the former elite running back known as “Beast Mode.” In Emma Seligman’s raunchy lesbian teen comedy \u003cem>Bottoms\u003c/em>, Lynch turns up as a high school teacher and is quite funny acting opposite Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri. The role also has poignance. Lynch has said he did it to help make up for how he handled his sister, Marreesha Sapp-Lynch, coming out in high school. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Best Dog Not Named Snoop: Chaplin, ‘Fallen Leaves’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Snoop, the all-seeing dog in the best picture nominee \u003cem>Anatomy of a Fall\u003c/em>, has really hogged the pooch spotlight. Messi, the dog who plays Snoop, has been all over the place, including the film academy luncheon. But it’s time his reign of terror came to end. In Aki Kaurismäki’s \u003cem>Fallen Leaves\u003c/em>, my favorite film of 2023, a pair of loners find nourishing points of connection in a cruel and grim world: the movies, karaoke and a dog named Chaplin. The dog, named Alma in real life, is Kaurismäki’s own mutt, and deserves a few bones thrown her way, too. — J.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953442\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1266px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953442\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM.png\" alt=\"A woman sits in a waiting room with one arm around a small dog.\" width=\"1266\" height=\"862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM.png 1266w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM-800x545.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM-1020x695.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM-160x109.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-05-at-4.10.18-PM-768x523.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1266px) 100vw, 1266px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alma Pöysti and Alma the dog in a scene from ‘Fallen Leaves.’ \u003ccite>(MUBI via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "50 Years Ago, ‘Blazing Saddles’ Broke Wind — and Box Office Expectations",
"headTitle": "50 Years Ago, ‘Blazing Saddles’ Broke Wind — and Box Office Expectations | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Fifty years ago, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/07/1061836388/mel-brooks-all-about-me\">Mel Brooks\u003c/a> released \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> to gales of laughter and a mighty roar of flatulence jokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also to mixed reviews from harrumphing critics. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/08/archives/screen-blazing-saddles-a-western-in-burlesque.html\">Typical \u003c/a>was Vincent Canby, whose New York Times review lamented the film’s “desperate, bone crushing efforts to be funny.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The critics eventually came around, though it took a while. By the film’s 30th anniversary, NBC’s \u003cem>Today Show \u003c/em>was \u003ca href=\"https://www.today.com/popculture/blazing-saddles-still-has-big-laughs-wbna5263487\">acknowledging \u003c/a>that its laughs were in the service of a plot that “skewers just about every aspect of racial prejudice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13939927']And in 2006, when NPR’s Linda Wertheimer reported that \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> was being added to the National Film Registry, she was clearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2006/12/30/6700144/blazing-saddles-makes-national-film-registry\">feigning incredulity\u003c/a>. “Who could have imagined a film featuring a bunch of cowboys sitting around the campfire, eating beans and breaking wind, to be enshrined in the Library of Congress?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By then, of course, \u003cem>everyone\u003c/em> could imagine. Brooks had subsequently made a slew of genre-spoof classics (\u003cem>Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights\u003c/em>) and even riffed on history itself (\u003cem>History of the World: Part I\u003c/em>), not to mention the 2000 Year Old Man routines he created with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/30/510434234/carl-reiner-actor-director-writer-producer-and-mensch-dies-at-98\">Carl Reiner\u003c/a>. The man was a legend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in 1974, he was significantly less well-known, having made a couple of mildly successful comedies (\u003cem>The Twelve Chairs\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Producers\u003c/em>) and worked in\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/07/10/200755247/sid-caesar-who-got-laughs-without-politics-or-putdowns-dies-at-91\"> Sid Caesar\u003c/a>‘s joke-writer stable for TV. So what he was doing in this western parody got, in the words of another of that era’s funnymen, “no respect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKayG1TrfuE\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Upending Hollywood’s version of the Old West\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> starts out like many a Western before it: Big Sky country, a wide open prairie in the 1870s being tamed by a railroad. The foreman is white, his workers mostly African American, and he expects them to be singing as they sweat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you were slaves you sang like birds,” he smirks. “How about a good ol’ n***** work song.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brooks worried about using the racial epithet I’ve just elided. But his co-screenwriter \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2014/12/11/369641000/richard-pryor-a-comedy-pioneer-who-was-always-whittling-on-dynamite\">Richard Pryor\u003c/a> insisted he use it — and use it often — consciously putting it the mouths of evil or unthinking characters, so that star Cleavon Little could comically mock or demolish them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which he does. Repeatedly. And hilariously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13907576']So, \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> is not really “like many a Western before it.” Brooks was upending Hollywood’s version of the Old West, much as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2006/11/21/6520822/film-world-mourns-director-robert-altman\">Robert Altman\u003c/a>‘s dark, land-grab drama \u003cem>McCabe & Mrs. Miller\u003c/em> had, three years earlier. He just took a different tack. To set his comedy in motion, he had \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2008/05/30/90981454/comedic-actor-harvey-korman-dies-at-81\">Harvey Korman\u003c/a>‘s scheming politician come up with the idea of hiring a Black sheriff to scare the townsfolk of Rock Ridge away from their town, so he can buy it on the cheap before any of them learns the rail line will soon be coming through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His ploy works. When Cleavon Little’s Sheriff Bart rides into view, they are indeed less than welcoming. But they are also less than bright — foiled in their plan to shoot their new sheriff, for instance, when he points his gun at his own head and takes \u003cem>himself\u003c/em> hostage.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘He’s like wet sauerkraut in my hands’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Bart then teams up with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2016/08/30/491944275/in-this-2005-interview-gene-wilder-explains-how-he-learned-to-get-laughs\">Gene Wilder\u003c/a>‘s Waco Kid, a hung-over gunslinger, at which point the film adopts the rhythms of a black/white buddy comedy. Until, that is, it turns into a spoof of \u003cem>The Blue Angel\u003c/em>, as Madeline Kahn’s seductress-for-hire Lili Von Shtupp croons a gloriously off-pitch “I’m Tired” and sets about seducing Sheriff Bart. “He’s like wet sauerkraut in my hands,” she purrs in an accent that suggests she got vocal coaching from both Marlene Dietrich and Elmer Fudd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To satirize 1970s racial prejudice using 1870s characters, Brooks opted to become an equal-opportunity shredder of genres and conventions. A horse gets punched, as does an old lady. Even Busby Berkeley musicals come in for a brief ribbing when a brawl literally breaks the fourth wall and the cast crashes into a dance number on a nearby soundstage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And of course, there’s that campfire scene: cowboys consuming pots of coffee and platefuls of baked beans, with predictable — though unusual for film — results.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Bury it.’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When studio executives first saw \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em>, they were \u003cem>not\u003c/em> amused. One distributor \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv7L6Hrlj58&t=99s\">suggested \u003c/a>they “bury it.” Others wanted rewrites. But Brooks’ \u003ca href=\"https://ew.com/article/2014/05/01/blazing-saddles-mel-brooks/\">contract gave him final cut\u003c/a>, and he flat-out refused to make changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So on Feb. 7, 1974, the studio opened the film as a test in three cities — NYC, LA, Chicago — considered the most likely to get Brooks’ Borscht Belt sense of humor. Critics were dismissive, but even the most negative reviews conceded that audiences were howling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_107664']And word got around. By the time the weather had warmed, \u003cem>Blazing Saddles \u003c/em>was playing to long lines in suburban cinemas across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It ended up the biggest box-office hit of 1974, seen by some 63 million moviegoers in North America (more than would, decades later, see \u003cem>any\u003c/em> of the \u003cem>Lord of the Rings\u003c/em> movies in U.S. theaters).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> became, in short, a pop culture touchstone. And 50 years later, that’s what it remains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=50+years+ago%2C+%27Blazing+Saddles%27+broke+wind+%E2%80%94+and+box+office+expectations&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fifty years ago, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/07/1061836388/mel-brooks-all-about-me\">Mel Brooks\u003c/a> released \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> to gales of laughter and a mighty roar of flatulence jokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also to mixed reviews from harrumphing critics. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/08/archives/screen-blazing-saddles-a-western-in-burlesque.html\">Typical \u003c/a>was Vincent Canby, whose New York Times review lamented the film’s “desperate, bone crushing efforts to be funny.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The critics eventually came around, though it took a while. By the film’s 30th anniversary, NBC’s \u003cem>Today Show \u003c/em>was \u003ca href=\"https://www.today.com/popculture/blazing-saddles-still-has-big-laughs-wbna5263487\">acknowledging \u003c/a>that its laughs were in the service of a plot that “skewers just about every aspect of racial prejudice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>And in 2006, when NPR’s Linda Wertheimer reported that \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> was being added to the National Film Registry, she was clearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2006/12/30/6700144/blazing-saddles-makes-national-film-registry\">feigning incredulity\u003c/a>. “Who could have imagined a film featuring a bunch of cowboys sitting around the campfire, eating beans and breaking wind, to be enshrined in the Library of Congress?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By then, of course, \u003cem>everyone\u003c/em> could imagine. Brooks had subsequently made a slew of genre-spoof classics (\u003cem>Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights\u003c/em>) and even riffed on history itself (\u003cem>History of the World: Part I\u003c/em>), not to mention the 2000 Year Old Man routines he created with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/30/510434234/carl-reiner-actor-director-writer-producer-and-mensch-dies-at-98\">Carl Reiner\u003c/a>. The man was a legend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in 1974, he was significantly less well-known, having made a couple of mildly successful comedies (\u003cem>The Twelve Chairs\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Producers\u003c/em>) and worked in\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/07/10/200755247/sid-caesar-who-got-laughs-without-politics-or-putdowns-dies-at-91\"> Sid Caesar\u003c/a>‘s joke-writer stable for TV. So what he was doing in this western parody got, in the words of another of that era’s funnymen, “no respect.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/VKayG1TrfuE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/VKayG1TrfuE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch3>Upending Hollywood’s version of the Old West\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> starts out like many a Western before it: Big Sky country, a wide open prairie in the 1870s being tamed by a railroad. The foreman is white, his workers mostly African American, and he expects them to be singing as they sweat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you were slaves you sang like birds,” he smirks. “How about a good ol’ n***** work song.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brooks worried about using the racial epithet I’ve just elided. But his co-screenwriter \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2014/12/11/369641000/richard-pryor-a-comedy-pioneer-who-was-always-whittling-on-dynamite\">Richard Pryor\u003c/a> insisted he use it — and use it often — consciously putting it the mouths of evil or unthinking characters, so that star Cleavon Little could comically mock or demolish them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which he does. Repeatedly. And hilariously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So, \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> is not really “like many a Western before it.” Brooks was upending Hollywood’s version of the Old West, much as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2006/11/21/6520822/film-world-mourns-director-robert-altman\">Robert Altman\u003c/a>‘s dark, land-grab drama \u003cem>McCabe & Mrs. Miller\u003c/em> had, three years earlier. He just took a different tack. To set his comedy in motion, he had \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2008/05/30/90981454/comedic-actor-harvey-korman-dies-at-81\">Harvey Korman\u003c/a>‘s scheming politician come up with the idea of hiring a Black sheriff to scare the townsfolk of Rock Ridge away from their town, so he can buy it on the cheap before any of them learns the rail line will soon be coming through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His ploy works. When Cleavon Little’s Sheriff Bart rides into view, they are indeed less than welcoming. But they are also less than bright — foiled in their plan to shoot their new sheriff, for instance, when he points his gun at his own head and takes \u003cem>himself\u003c/em> hostage.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘He’s like wet sauerkraut in my hands’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Bart then teams up with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2016/08/30/491944275/in-this-2005-interview-gene-wilder-explains-how-he-learned-to-get-laughs\">Gene Wilder\u003c/a>‘s Waco Kid, a hung-over gunslinger, at which point the film adopts the rhythms of a black/white buddy comedy. Until, that is, it turns into a spoof of \u003cem>The Blue Angel\u003c/em>, as Madeline Kahn’s seductress-for-hire Lili Von Shtupp croons a gloriously off-pitch “I’m Tired” and sets about seducing Sheriff Bart. “He’s like wet sauerkraut in my hands,” she purrs in an accent that suggests she got vocal coaching from both Marlene Dietrich and Elmer Fudd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To satirize 1970s racial prejudice using 1870s characters, Brooks opted to become an equal-opportunity shredder of genres and conventions. A horse gets punched, as does an old lady. Even Busby Berkeley musicals come in for a brief ribbing when a brawl literally breaks the fourth wall and the cast crashes into a dance number on a nearby soundstage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And of course, there’s that campfire scene: cowboys consuming pots of coffee and platefuls of baked beans, with predictable — though unusual for film — results.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Bury it.’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When studio executives first saw \u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em>, they were \u003cem>not\u003c/em> amused. One distributor \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv7L6Hrlj58&t=99s\">suggested \u003c/a>they “bury it.” Others wanted rewrites. But Brooks’ \u003ca href=\"https://ew.com/article/2014/05/01/blazing-saddles-mel-brooks/\">contract gave him final cut\u003c/a>, and he flat-out refused to make changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So on Feb. 7, 1974, the studio opened the film as a test in three cities — NYC, LA, Chicago — considered the most likely to get Brooks’ Borscht Belt sense of humor. Critics were dismissive, but even the most negative reviews conceded that audiences were howling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>And word got around. By the time the weather had warmed, \u003cem>Blazing Saddles \u003c/em>was playing to long lines in suburban cinemas across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It ended up the biggest box-office hit of 1974, seen by some 63 million moviegoers in North America (more than would, decades later, see \u003cem>any\u003c/em> of the \u003cem>Lord of the Rings\u003c/em> movies in U.S. theaters).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Blazing Saddles\u003c/em> became, in short, a pop culture touchstone. And 50 years later, that’s what it remains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=50+years+ago%2C+%27Blazing+Saddles%27+broke+wind+%E2%80%94+and+box+office+expectations&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>There is a scene in \u003cem>Problemista\u003c/em> where Craigslist becomes an actual physical entity. The listings website is personified by a large flamboyant man floating in space. Wrapped in junk and tech garbage, he whispers intensely about sex work in one breath and Ikea Billy bookcases the next. Strange though this may sound, this entity is acutely (and hilariously) familiar to any human that has ever casually browsed that website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This kind of surrealist vision is not unusual in \u003cem>Problemista\u003c/em> even though the movie is grounded, at its core, in harsh realities. In the film, Alejandro (Julio Torres, who also wrote and directed it) is an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador who takes an unpaid job with Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton) after losing his U.S. visa. Alejandro is childlike, moves through the world in tiny hops like a cartoon, and is full of dark whimsy. (He wants all of the toys he designs to have “tension and intrigue.” Like Cabbage Patch Dolls contending with bitchy text messages, and snakes that leap out of cans with signs attached to them that read: “I’m sorry, I was trapped in this can and scaring you was the only way out.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952779']In contrast to Alejandro, Elizabeth is harsh, entitled and tightly wound in a way that’s unbearable for almost everyone in her vicinity. Still, the two strike a deal: If Alejandro helps Elizabeth put together an art show of her deceased husband’s work, she will sponsor his immigration application. All of which might make for a bleak story were it not for Torres’ penchant for embracing weirdness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, the quagmire of immigration law becomes a series of floating diagonal boxes that must be navigated via trapdoors and vents — a little bit like an un-winnable game of shoots and ladders. These small moments of surreality don’t just serve as an engaging way to tell \u003cem>Problemista’\u003c/em>s story, they make the circumstances of the main character more viscerally relatable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbsk4okRUds\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the mind-bending scenery,\u003cem> Problemista\u003c/em> is elevated by an exceptionally funny script. Many of the best lines are served up by Swinton leaning full force into her character’s casual indifference to other people’s hardships. (Her utterance of the line “There is an underbelly of closeted fishermen” is, in particular, a masterpiece of dry comedic acting, but her tone stays on point throughout.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once upon a time many years ago, I — like Alejandro — worked as a personal assistant in New York City. Like Elizabeth, my boss was an eccentric, blunt, supremely demanding woman who owned a variety of homes in expensive places. At the time, I was a broke freelancer with a variety of immigration issues, hustling to make ends meet and living, like Alejandro, in Bushwick. To say I related to this movie would be a gross understatement. By this story’s unpredictable — and surprisingly heartwarming — end, however, I realized that the themes of \u003cem>Problemista \u003c/em>are actually very universal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13953095']\u003cem>Problemista\u003c/em> is a story about the hardships that come with chasing your dreams — any dreams at all. It’s about the inhumanity of gratuitous bureaucracy and needlessly complicated technology. (FileMaker Pro is a running joke throughout). It’s about how, so often, wanting to work in an artistic profession makes one’s life more difficult, but also infinitely more joyful. Ultimately, \u003cem>Problemista \u003c/em>is about finding lessons and friendship in unusual places, slaying personal dragons and the importance of standing up for yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it’s not already obvious, this movie contains multitudes. (I haven’t even covered Isabella Rossellini’s delightful narration or the side storyline about cryogenesis…) And presented through Torres’ eyes, Alejandro’s difficult but dreamlike little world becomes a joy to visit — even when it’s being partially operated by Craigslist demons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Problemista’ screens at select San Francisco theaters on March 8, and nationwide on March 22, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the mind-bending scenery,\u003cem> Problemista\u003c/em> is elevated by an exceptionally funny script. Many of the best lines are served up by Swinton leaning full force into her character’s casual indifference to other people’s hardships. (Her utterance of the line “There is an underbelly of closeted fishermen” is, in particular, a masterpiece of dry comedic acting, but her tone stays on point throughout.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once upon a time many years ago, I — like Alejandro — worked as a personal assistant in New York City. Like Elizabeth, my boss was an eccentric, blunt, supremely demanding woman who owned a variety of homes in expensive places. At the time, I was a broke freelancer with a variety of immigration issues, hustling to make ends meet and living, like Alejandro, in Bushwick. To say I related to this movie would be a gross understatement. By this story’s unpredictable — and surprisingly heartwarming — end, however, I realized that the themes of \u003cem>Problemista \u003c/em>are actually very universal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cem>Problemista\u003c/em> is a story about the hardships that come with chasing your dreams — any dreams at all. It’s about the inhumanity of gratuitous bureaucracy and needlessly complicated technology. (FileMaker Pro is a running joke throughout). It’s about how, so often, wanting to work in an artistic profession makes one’s life more difficult, but also infinitely more joyful. Ultimately, \u003cem>Problemista \u003c/em>is about finding lessons and friendship in unusual places, slaying personal dragons and the importance of standing up for yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it’s not already obvious, this movie contains multitudes. (I haven’t even covered Isabella Rossellini’s delightful narration or the side storyline about cryogenesis…) And presented through Torres’ eyes, Alejandro’s difficult but dreamlike little world becomes a joy to visit — even when it’s being partially operated by Craigslist demons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Problemista’ screens at select San Francisco theaters on March 8, and nationwide on March 22, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco resident and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2007/07/21/john-waters-the-sultan-of-sleaze-speaks\">sultan of sleaze\u003c/a> John Waters is \u003ca href=\"https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2024/2/26/aubrey-plaza-set-to-star-in-john-waters-liarmouth\">reported\u003c/a> to soon begin production on his first feature film in 20 years — with Aubrey Plaza in the lead role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Liarmouth\u003c/em>, based on Waters’ 2022 “feel-bad romance” novel of the same name, follows a duplicitous scammer, Marsha Sprinkle, who alienates her boyfriend and immediate family through awful, criminal behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plaza told \u003cem>Dazed\u003c/em> in 2022 that she was \u003ca href=\"https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/57276/1/aubrey-plaza-emily-the-criminal-interview\">throwing herself at Waters’ feet to play Marsha\u003c/a>: “I emailed him immediately and said, ‘You better let me audition for you. I even look like the girl on the cover,’” she said. “I’ll do anything to get the part. And I mean \u003cem>anything\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13951325']Filming for \u003cem>Liarmouth\u003c/em> will begin later this year in Waters’ hometown of Baltimore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Waters, a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/10/07/thee-stork-club-new-bar-opening-oakland/\">spiritual godfather to Thee Stork Club\u003c/a> and annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915779/mosswood-meltdown-2022-bikini-kill-kim-gordon\">emcee at the Mosswood Meltdown music festival\u003c/a> in Oakland, had planned to begin filming in 2022 before the Hollywood strikes by actors and screenwriters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Known for films like \u003cem>Pink Flamingos\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Polyester\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Crybaby\u003c/em>, Waters last directed a film, the Tracey Ullman-starring \u003cem>A Dirty Shame\u003c/em>, in 2004.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Filming for \u003cem>Liarmouth\u003c/em> will begin later this year in Waters’ hometown of Baltimore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Waters, a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/10/07/thee-stork-club-new-bar-opening-oakland/\">spiritual godfather to Thee Stork Club\u003c/a> and annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915779/mosswood-meltdown-2022-bikini-kill-kim-gordon\">emcee at the Mosswood Meltdown music festival\u003c/a> in Oakland, had planned to begin filming in 2022 before the Hollywood strikes by actors and screenwriters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Known for films like \u003cem>Pink Flamingos\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Polyester\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Crybaby\u003c/em>, Waters last directed a film, the Tracey Ullman-starring \u003cem>A Dirty Shame\u003c/em>, in 2004.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Seeking Adventure, African Teens Find Transcendence in ‘Io Capitano’",
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"content": "\u003cp>Seydou and Moussa, the easygoing cousins at the center of Italian director Matteo Garrone’s eye-opening drama \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em>, are not typical refugees. The teenagers aren’t compelled to leave their Senegal homes because of political unrest, violence or poverty. They aren’t starving. They don’t need to support their families, not just yet. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they dream, naively, of writing and recording songs and becoming such big stars that “white people will ask for our autographs.” And that dream, they have convinced themselves, can only be attained in Europe. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nominated for the Academy Award for International Feature Film, \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> (opening Friday, Feb. 23 in San Francisco, and in outlying Bay Area cities throughout March) arrives with the stamp of a social-issue film. To be sure, most stories about people leaving their native land in search of better opportunities derive from an underlying problem or injustice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952869\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from ‘Io Capitano.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Cohen Media Group)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Seydou and Moussa’s arduous endeavor is one of choice, not desperation. And because the filmmakers opt not to show the worst brutalities that the young men and other refugees endure on their journey from Dakar through Senegal, Mali, Niger and Libya to the port of Tripoli, \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> plays more like a high-stakes adventure story than a message movie. Ultimately, and most satisfyingly, \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> reveals itself as a coming-of-age tale marked by a loss of innocence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Put another way, I am pleased to report that \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> is not a depressing slog through the sand and mud. The youth and strength of the protagonists, along with their implicit potential, infuses the film with optimism, regardless of their situation. While danger and misfortune hover all around — opportunistic fake-passport dealers, corrupt border guards, predatory human smugglers, the unforgiving Sahara Desert itself — we sense that Seydou (played by Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) will make it through their unanticipated ordeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garrone (\u003cem>Gomorrah\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Pinocchio\u003c/em>) and his co-writers based the script on the real-life accounts of three Africans who traversed the continent to start anew in Europe. To avoid the sense that we’re getting Seydou and Moussa’s experience filtered through a Western lens, the camera sticks close to them except for occasional establishing shots (of the Sahara Desert, for example).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952870\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952870\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from ‘Io Capitano.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Cohen Media Group)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the guys are separated by thieving soldiers, the film stays focused on Seydou. From a narrative standpoint, the unknown status of the off-screen character generates uncertainty and tension. More importantly, Seydou’s vulnerability now that’s he’s on his own becomes more palpable and his plight more acute. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days before, hallucinating in the desert, he had adopted a struggling stranger as a mother figure. At this dark juncture, he is literally saved by another refugee — who volunteers Seydou and himself for construction work, it turns out, on a wealthy Libyan’s remote compound — who becomes a father figure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13952786']\u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> presents a sprawling landscape of both ruthless cruelty and unsolicited kindness. Surprisingly, and profoundly, the film spotlights the moral choice between survival and humanity. There is no blame or shame in the former, but to have empathy for those in worse straits, and to go even further and put their well-being on your shoulders, is a genuine feat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> leaves dry land for Seydou’s final test, which he passes beyond his doubts and dreams. He has discovered what taking responsibility means, and not just for his own choices and his own life. Yes, truly, he is now the \u003cem>capitano\u003c/em> of his fate. But in assuming responsibility for other people, he has become a mature member of society. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is a transformational moment in Seydou’s life, and it is also the point where the film’s political message is clearest. Seydou is the kind of immigrant that any country should welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Io Capitano’ opens Friday, Feb. 23 at the Metreon 16 and Opera Plaza Cinema in San Francisco; Friday, March 1 at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael and the Summerfield Cinemas in Santa Rosa; Friday, March 8 at the Orinda Theater; and Friday, March 15 at the Jarvis Conservatory in Napa.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Seydou and Moussa, the easygoing cousins at the center of Italian director Matteo Garrone’s eye-opening drama \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em>, are not typical refugees. The teenagers aren’t compelled to leave their Senegal homes because of political unrest, violence or poverty. They aren’t starving. They don’t need to support their families, not just yet. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they dream, naively, of writing and recording songs and becoming such big stars that “white people will ask for our autographs.” And that dream, they have convinced themselves, can only be attained in Europe. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nominated for the Academy Award for International Feature Film, \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> (opening Friday, Feb. 23 in San Francisco, and in outlying Bay Area cities throughout March) arrives with the stamp of a social-issue film. To be sure, most stories about people leaving their native land in search of better opportunities derive from an underlying problem or injustice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952869\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-capitano-featured-image-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from ‘Io Capitano.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Cohen Media Group)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Seydou and Moussa’s arduous endeavor is one of choice, not desperation. And because the filmmakers opt not to show the worst brutalities that the young men and other refugees endure on their journey from Dakar through Senegal, Mali, Niger and Libya to the port of Tripoli, \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> plays more like a high-stakes adventure story than a message movie. Ultimately, and most satisfyingly, \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> reveals itself as a coming-of-age tale marked by a loss of innocence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Put another way, I am pleased to report that \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> is not a depressing slog through the sand and mud. The youth and strength of the protagonists, along with their implicit potential, infuses the film with optimism, regardless of their situation. While danger and misfortune hover all around — opportunistic fake-passport dealers, corrupt border guards, predatory human smugglers, the unforgiving Sahara Desert itself — we sense that Seydou (played by Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) will make it through their unanticipated ordeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garrone (\u003cem>Gomorrah\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Pinocchio\u003c/em>) and his co-writers based the script on the real-life accounts of three Africans who traversed the continent to start anew in Europe. To avoid the sense that we’re getting Seydou and Moussa’s experience filtered through a Western lens, the camera sticks close to them except for occasional establishing shots (of the Sahara Desert, for example).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952870\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952870\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Io-Capitano_Still-3_Courtesy-of-Cohen-Media-Group-scaled-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from ‘Io Capitano.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Cohen Media Group)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the guys are separated by thieving soldiers, the film stays focused on Seydou. From a narrative standpoint, the unknown status of the off-screen character generates uncertainty and tension. More importantly, Seydou’s vulnerability now that’s he’s on his own becomes more palpable and his plight more acute. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days before, hallucinating in the desert, he had adopted a struggling stranger as a mother figure. At this dark juncture, he is literally saved by another refugee — who volunteers Seydou and himself for construction work, it turns out, on a wealthy Libyan’s remote compound — who becomes a father figure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> presents a sprawling landscape of both ruthless cruelty and unsolicited kindness. Surprisingly, and profoundly, the film spotlights the moral choice between survival and humanity. There is no blame or shame in the former, but to have empathy for those in worse straits, and to go even further and put their well-being on your shoulders, is a genuine feat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, \u003cem>Io Capitano\u003c/em> leaves dry land for Seydou’s final test, which he passes beyond his doubts and dreams. He has discovered what taking responsibility means, and not just for his own choices and his own life. Yes, truly, he is now the \u003cem>capitano\u003c/em> of his fate. But in assuming responsibility for other people, he has become a mature member of society. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is a transformational moment in Seydou’s life, and it is also the point where the film’s political message is clearest. Seydou is the kind of immigrant that any country should welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Io Capitano’ opens Friday, Feb. 23 at the Metreon 16 and Opera Plaza Cinema in San Francisco; Friday, March 1 at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael and the Summerfield Cinemas in Santa Rosa; Friday, March 8 at the Orinda Theater; and Friday, March 15 at the Jarvis Conservatory in Napa.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Hilary Swank Gives Inspirational ‘Ordinary Angels’ Both the Heart and Heft it Needs",
"headTitle": "Hilary Swank Gives Inspirational ‘Ordinary Angels’ Both the Heart and Heft it Needs | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>At the end of \u003cem>Ordinary Angels\u003c/em>, we’re given one of those now-see-how-it-really-happened moments with real footage mirroring the climax of the film. That’s a really good thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because otherwise, one might be tempted to think the filmmakers had dreamed up a story too sappy and inspirational to be true. But no, this tale of how one determined woman rallied her community to help save a dying young girl took place largely as it’s presented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952488']Despite the compelling source material, \u003cem>Ordinary Angels\u003c/em> is one of those movies where you can predict developments with certainty. You know in your bones when the phone’s about to ring with a fateful call. You know when a character is finally going to lose patience, telegraphing the obligatory Moment of Conflict. And you know when an alcoholic is going to relapse, even before the shot of the beers in the fridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such predictability can be fatal for a film, but \u003cem>Ordinary Angels\u003c/em>, directed by Jon Gunn, has something crucial going for it — Hilary Swank. Not for nothing, we soon recall, has Swank won two Oscars. With her innate groundedness — even in big hair, fringed jacket, sparkly dress and pink heels — she can lend truth to most any scenario. She gives what could have been merely a pass-the -Kleenex weepie its heart, yes, but more importantly its heft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1vn8kPgCYA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, though, we meet Ed, a Kentucky roofer (Alan Ritchson, solid and appealing). In flashback, Ed welcomes his second daughter at the hospital with his wife, and the loving couple name her Michelle. Flash forward five years, though, and Ed’s wife is dying of a congenital disease. A devastated Ed promises to take care of the girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now we meet Sharon (Swank), a single hairdresser with an estranged son. She’s also what they call hard-living, which means we meet her at — where else? — a bar, where she dances on the counter and does shots and falls down and ends up a mascara-stained mess. Her wise friend Rose — there’s always a wise friend — forces her to an AA meeting, but Sharon still won’t call herself an alcoholic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she does hear some good advice at the meeting, where a man describes learning to “find a reason to be here that’s bigger than you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952409']Like clockwork, Sharon sees an article in the local paper about a 5-year-old girl — Ed’s daughter Michelle — whose mother has just died and who now needs a liver transplant. Sharon shows up at the funeral unannounced, then tells Rose back at the salon that she thinks her destiny is to find the money for the transplant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But meanwhile, there are huge hospital bills, and Ed can’t afford them. Without asking, Sharon holds a fundraiser and shows up at the house with several thousand dollars in cash. Ed is, understandably, perplexed at this woman who is soon eating dinner with the family. But his mother, Barbara, welcomes Sharon with open arms. “Mom, she’s a mess,” Ed says. “Perfect, she’ll fit right in here,” Barbara replies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certainly they need money. For one hospital stay, Ed, who has no health insurance, is charged more than $6,000 (the scene is an advertisement for socialized medicine). Soon Sharon is sitting down with Ed and going through all his bills, making piles of “urgent” and “very urgent.” (“Daddy’s in over his head,” says older daughter Ashley.) Sharon also helps Ed market his roofing skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Sharon is struggling in her own life. Her estranged son, embittered by her alcoholism during his childhood, rejects her efforts to reconcile. Sharon’s words to him, even uttered by the always-authentic Swank, are trite: “I know I let you down,” she says. “Being a single mom ain’t easy.” The by-the-numbers script also leaves us wondering when, a full hour into the movie, Ed asks Sharon about her past: “Married? Kids?” You’d think that would have come up many moons ago, but OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952301']Things go back and forth between Ed and Sharon, who may be an angel but lacks boundaries. She pretends to be his sister to call and find out what he owes the hospital. But later, she convinces a group of hospital executives to erase hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Ed is moved to tears, but then Sharon goes too far, angering him when she calls a news crew to the home without permission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharon suffers a predictable relapse with alcohol, but then the stakes are raised dramatically for the denouement of the story. A new liver for Michelle is in reach, but the family needs a private plane to get there — during the famous Kentucky Blizzard of 1994, the worst in state history. Sharon needs more miracles and the whole town needs to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Again, this would all seem made up if it didn’t actually happen. We won’t spoil the ending, but this is an inspirational tale, so you can count on being inspired. Luckily Swank is on hand, almost singlehandedly raising the material to a level that keeps you wanting to watch. And sometimes, for a good cry at the movies, that’s really all you need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Ordinary Angels’ is released nationwide on Feb. 22, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At the end of \u003cem>Ordinary Angels\u003c/em>, we’re given one of those now-see-how-it-really-happened moments with real footage mirroring the climax of the film. That’s a really good thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because otherwise, one might be tempted to think the filmmakers had dreamed up a story too sappy and inspirational to be true. But no, this tale of how one determined woman rallied her community to help save a dying young girl took place largely as it’s presented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Despite the compelling source material, \u003cem>Ordinary Angels\u003c/em> is one of those movies where you can predict developments with certainty. You know in your bones when the phone’s about to ring with a fateful call. You know when a character is finally going to lose patience, telegraphing the obligatory Moment of Conflict. And you know when an alcoholic is going to relapse, even before the shot of the beers in the fridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such predictability can be fatal for a film, but \u003cem>Ordinary Angels\u003c/em>, directed by Jon Gunn, has something crucial going for it — Hilary Swank. Not for nothing, we soon recall, has Swank won two Oscars. With her innate groundedness — even in big hair, fringed jacket, sparkly dress and pink heels — she can lend truth to most any scenario. She gives what could have been merely a pass-the -Kleenex weepie its heart, yes, but more importantly its heft.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/R1vn8kPgCYA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/R1vn8kPgCYA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, though, we meet Ed, a Kentucky roofer (Alan Ritchson, solid and appealing). In flashback, Ed welcomes his second daughter at the hospital with his wife, and the loving couple name her Michelle. Flash forward five years, though, and Ed’s wife is dying of a congenital disease. A devastated Ed promises to take care of the girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now we meet Sharon (Swank), a single hairdresser with an estranged son. She’s also what they call hard-living, which means we meet her at — where else? — a bar, where she dances on the counter and does shots and falls down and ends up a mascara-stained mess. Her wise friend Rose — there’s always a wise friend — forces her to an AA meeting, but Sharon still won’t call herself an alcoholic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she does hear some good advice at the meeting, where a man describes learning to “find a reason to be here that’s bigger than you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Like clockwork, Sharon sees an article in the local paper about a 5-year-old girl — Ed’s daughter Michelle — whose mother has just died and who now needs a liver transplant. Sharon shows up at the funeral unannounced, then tells Rose back at the salon that she thinks her destiny is to find the money for the transplant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But meanwhile, there are huge hospital bills, and Ed can’t afford them. Without asking, Sharon holds a fundraiser and shows up at the house with several thousand dollars in cash. Ed is, understandably, perplexed at this woman who is soon eating dinner with the family. But his mother, Barbara, welcomes Sharon with open arms. “Mom, she’s a mess,” Ed says. “Perfect, she’ll fit right in here,” Barbara replies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certainly they need money. For one hospital stay, Ed, who has no health insurance, is charged more than $6,000 (the scene is an advertisement for socialized medicine). Soon Sharon is sitting down with Ed and going through all his bills, making piles of “urgent” and “very urgent.” (“Daddy’s in over his head,” says older daughter Ashley.) Sharon also helps Ed market his roofing skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Sharon is struggling in her own life. Her estranged son, embittered by her alcoholism during his childhood, rejects her efforts to reconcile. Sharon’s words to him, even uttered by the always-authentic Swank, are trite: “I know I let you down,” she says. “Being a single mom ain’t easy.” The by-the-numbers script also leaves us wondering when, a full hour into the movie, Ed asks Sharon about her past: “Married? Kids?” You’d think that would have come up many moons ago, but OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Things go back and forth between Ed and Sharon, who may be an angel but lacks boundaries. She pretends to be his sister to call and find out what he owes the hospital. But later, she convinces a group of hospital executives to erase hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Ed is moved to tears, but then Sharon goes too far, angering him when she calls a news crew to the home without permission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharon suffers a predictable relapse with alcohol, but then the stakes are raised dramatically for the denouement of the story. A new liver for Michelle is in reach, but the family needs a private plane to get there — during the famous Kentucky Blizzard of 1994, the worst in state history. Sharon needs more miracles and the whole town needs to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Again, this would all seem made up if it didn’t actually happen. We won’t spoil the ending, but this is an inspirational tale, so you can count on being inspired. Luckily Swank is on hand, almost singlehandedly raising the material to a level that keeps you wanting to watch. And sometimes, for a good cry at the movies, that’s really all you need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Ordinary Angels’ is released nationwide on Feb. 22, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Drive-Away Dolls\u003c/em> is, technically speaking, made up of old parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its script was written two decades ago, when references to Ralph Nader and Chelsea Clinton’s security detail were current. Its homages are even more vintage, with trippy transitions harkening back to the acid-soaked B-movies of the 1960s. There’s a mysterious, sought-after briefcase, odd couple thugs on the hunt for it and some innocents who find themselves unwittingly entangled in the drama. It is all very familiar, and yet, in the hands of Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke (who co-wrote), this 83-minute road trip caper feels like one of the freshest theatrical offerings of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952306']Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan star as Jamie and Marian, best friends and total opposites who are looking to escape their surroundings for a bit. The free-spirited, no-filter Jamie has been caught cheating on her cop girlfriend, Suki (Beanie Feldstein), and is looking for an adventure. The uptight Marian just wants a change and has decided that a better life awaits in Tallahassee, Florida. Both women are kind of cliches in the way that only works in the movies. Are they recognizable as people we know in real life? Not really. Do they make sense as friends? Also no. But they make for fun characters to play off of one another — especially Qualley as Jamie who mines every inch of her wonderfully expressive face to embody this shameless Texas lesbian with a fondness for dive bars, a ravenous sex drive and a heart of gold. She just wants to get her friend laid on their little road trip down south.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unbeknownst to them, the drive-away car they rented for the trip (a run-down Dodge Aries that you can practically smell through the screen) contains a briefcase that some violent, dangerous people are after. Coen directed the film, his first solo narrative feature without his brother Joel Coen. The comedy and sensibilities we know so well from their shared films is still very present here, with a funny and violent start introducing the pesky silver briefcase and its owner, Santos, a short-lived but memorable Pedro Pascal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vy_7UGICJU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The world of \u003cem>Drive-Away Dolls\u003c/em> is full of rich smaller parts. The great Bill Camp is Curlie, the stone-faced proprietor of the junky drive-away shop who is responsible for the epic mix up. He probably has less than 20 lines of dialogue, and yet every one is a keeper. The goons are Joey Slotnick and C.J. Wilson, another mismatched pair who bicker about their different ways of dealing with people of interest, while trying to track down the girls for their boss: A smooth-talking Colman Domingo. Miley Cyrus and Matt Damon, an ever-reliable comedic cameo who does not disappoint here, also factor into the mix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952409']Its recent past setting is interesting: A time capsule that is a little clunky at times but also kind of charming — when was the last time you heard a Ralph Nader joke? It’s understandable why they kept their original period for a concept that might have evaporated with smartphones and dating apps mixed in. Their commitment to the bit is admirable, but it also might be one that needs a few more decades to settle into itself. It also makes you wonder about the Allison Anders version that never was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Drive-Away Dolls\u003c/em> isn’t perfect — it has a bit of a main character problem in which its heroines are regularly outshone by the razor-sharp supporting players. This is perhaps a good problem to have, all things considered. But it can also lead to an unfair impatience with the leads who are still very good but perhaps a little less fun to spend time with than the others. And even with its economical runtime, it drags a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it’s also one of those movies that you can imagine yourself watching (and enjoying) again, if at the very least to memorize some of its terrifically funny and quotable lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Drive-Away Dolls’ is released nationwide on Feb. 23, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Its recent past setting is interesting: A time capsule that is a little clunky at times but also kind of charming — when was the last time you heard a Ralph Nader joke? It’s understandable why they kept their original period for a concept that might have evaporated with smartphones and dating apps mixed in. Their commitment to the bit is admirable, but it also might be one that needs a few more decades to settle into itself. It also makes you wonder about the Allison Anders version that never was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Drive-Away Dolls\u003c/em> isn’t perfect — it has a bit of a main character problem in which its heroines are regularly outshone by the razor-sharp supporting players. This is perhaps a good problem to have, all things considered. But it can also lead to an unfair impatience with the leads who are still very good but perhaps a little less fun to spend time with than the others. And even with its economical runtime, it drags a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it’s also one of those movies that you can imagine yourself watching (and enjoying) again, if at the very least to memorize some of its terrifically funny and quotable lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Drive-Away Dolls’ is released nationwide on Feb. 23, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Celebrate Black History, Cinema and Music With Kingmakers of Oakland",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kingmakersofoakland.org/\">Kingmakers of Oakland\u003c/a> (KOO) is an East Bay nonprofit best known for working with educators and kids to improve educational outcomes for young Black men. That the organization works hard to make that process as engaging, inventive and dope as possible gets less attention — but it’s a huge reason for KOO’s success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 23, KOO will finally let its ingeniously creative side shine bright — so bright, in fact, that it needs a big screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952570']Held at Oakland’s New Parkway Theater, the KOO Film Festival will honor Black History Month with 18 short films by people involved with the organization’s programs. With a mixture of music videos, behind-the-scenes making-of summaries, and profiles of educators and students who’ve and made a difference in their communities, the evening celebrates Black animators, musicians, creators and everyone who’s made Kingmakers of Oakland what it is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One film in the program is the music video for “I’m a King,” an empowering three-minute anthem featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/basi.sts/\">Basi\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/amc_510\">Amari\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://music.apple.com/us/artist/42k-lil/1426737083\">42k Lil\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/antihero510\">Anti Hero 510\u003c/a>. The accompanying visuals juxtapose historical figures like Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X with thriving young men working together and finding their power today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sefV3bBMk4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The track and video perfectly encapsulate the work that KOO does; certain lyrics even explain the importance of the organization’s mission. Sample: “I read this book on Marcus Garvey and I loved it / But the crazy thing about all them schools being public / Is that my teachers made it seem like all that Black lit was radical.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a King” and the animated video “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8_ZVmtzsTQ\">Glisten\u003c/a>” — which also screens at the festival — are both taken from \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/1Ekg7wQkF21Kkr3CPt818t\">Full Royalty\u003c/a>, \u003c/em>a 14-track album by Kingmakers of Oakland that’s available to stream and download now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The KOO Film Festival takes place Friday, Feb. 23, at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.thenewparkway.com/\">New Parkway Theater\u003c/a> (474 24th Street, Oakland) at 5 p.m. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/koo-film-festival-black-history-celebration-tickets-804078740157\">Tickets and more details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kingmakersofoakland.org/\">Kingmakers of Oakland\u003c/a> (KOO) is an East Bay nonprofit best known for working with educators and kids to improve educational outcomes for young Black men. That the organization works hard to make that process as engaging, inventive and dope as possible gets less attention — but it’s a huge reason for KOO’s success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 23, KOO will finally let its ingeniously creative side shine bright — so bright, in fact, that it needs a big screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Held at Oakland’s New Parkway Theater, the KOO Film Festival will honor Black History Month with 18 short films by people involved with the organization’s programs. With a mixture of music videos, behind-the-scenes making-of summaries, and profiles of educators and students who’ve and made a difference in their communities, the evening celebrates Black animators, musicians, creators and everyone who’s made Kingmakers of Oakland what it is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One film in the program is the music video for “I’m a King,” an empowering three-minute anthem featuring \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/basi.sts/\">Basi\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/amc_510\">Amari\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://music.apple.com/us/artist/42k-lil/1426737083\">42k Lil\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/antihero510\">Anti Hero 510\u003c/a>. The accompanying visuals juxtapose historical figures like Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X with thriving young men working together and finding their power today.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/8sefV3bBMk4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/8sefV3bBMk4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The track and video perfectly encapsulate the work that KOO does; certain lyrics even explain the importance of the organization’s mission. Sample: “I read this book on Marcus Garvey and I loved it / But the crazy thing about all them schools being public / Is that my teachers made it seem like all that Black lit was radical.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a King” and the animated video “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8_ZVmtzsTQ\">Glisten\u003c/a>” — which also screens at the festival — are both taken from \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/album/1Ekg7wQkF21Kkr3CPt818t\">Full Royalty\u003c/a>, \u003c/em>a 14-track album by Kingmakers of Oakland that’s available to stream and download now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The KOO Film Festival takes place Friday, Feb. 23, at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.thenewparkway.com/\">New Parkway Theater\u003c/a> (474 24th Street, Oakland) at 5 p.m. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/koo-film-festival-black-history-celebration-tickets-804078740157\">Tickets and more details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Dune: Part Two’ Sustains the Dystopian Dream of ‘Part One’",
"headTitle": "‘Dune: Part Two’ Sustains the Dystopian Dream of ‘Part One’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Three firm thumps into the Arrakis sand is all you need to summon a sandworm in Denis Villeneuve’s \u003cem>Dune: Part Two\u003c/em>. It’s almost as easy as hailing a cab or calling for the check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big buggers can’t resist the sound, which is a little like how I feel taking in all the vibrations of Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science-fiction novel. Whispers, incantations and guttural sounds buzz throughout \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em>, a hissing hulk of a sequel that fluctuates between ominous silences and thunderous booms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952488']The first \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>, released in 2021 when movie theaters were still humbled by the pandemic, tackled just the first half of Herbert’s opus, saving the second half for the sequel. That split can be owed in part to the enormous amount of plot contained in the novel, but it can also be attributed to the operatic rhythms of Villeneuve’s solemn spectacle. Sober as they are, \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em> parts one and two are almost drunk on their own sense of atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with good reason. Like its predecessor, Dune: Part Two thrums with an intoxicating big-screen expressionism of monoliths and mosquitos, fevered visions and messianic fervor — more dystopian dream, or nightmare, than a straightforward narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That filmmaking prowess sometimes comes at the expense of other things. Humor, for one, is in shorter supply on Arrakis than water. Javier Bardem, returning as the Fremen leader Stilgar, alone seems to want to breathe a little laughter into all the fiery red sands and mammoth machinery of \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kI6nXntYN8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em> primarily follows the rise of Paul Atreides ( Timothée Chalamet ), who, after seeing his father killed and House Atreides routed from the Arrakis capital by House Harkonnen and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (a monstrously good Stellan Skarsgård), is now living among the Fremen, the desert-dwelling peoples of Arrakis, with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13951896']The myth of Paul is already growing among the Fremen, who call him Muad’Dib. (A great feature of these movies, like Hebert’s books, is the exquisite names.) Is he the chosen one or a false prophet? Doubts are gradually erased by his accomplishments (leading strikes against Harkonnen spice harvesters; quickly learning the ways of the Fremen); the cunning maneuvering of Lady Jessica; and the worshipful zeal of Stilgar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Fremen warrior Chani ( Zendaya ), though skeptical of the hype, believes, with some reluctance, in Paul. \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em> is significantly propped up by their dynamic and budding romance, a relationship that gives a deserving wide-screen canvas to two of the most exciting young movie stars of their generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a while it’s fun and games in the desert, blowing up stuff and learning how to ride sand worms. Oh, there’s the matter of the “holy poison” forced on Lady Jessica, a neon-blue liquid extracted from sand worms that looks like it would produce a fine Slush Puppie, but, if it doesn’t kill you, confers a frightful clairvoyance of the universe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952686\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1946px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952686\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM.png\" alt=\"A woman glares into the distance with thinly veiled anger. She is wearing dirty utilitarian clothes and is surrounded by men dressed similarly.\" width=\"1946\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM.png 1946w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-800x525.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-1020x670.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-160x105.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-768x504.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-1536x1009.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-1920x1261.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1946px) 100vw, 1946px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zendaya in ‘Dune: Part Two.’ \u003ccite>(Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Blue is an important color in the otherwise darker shaded \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>. It lights up in Lady Jessica’s eyes and, later, Paul’s too. If you thought Peter O’Toole’s eyes blazed in \u003cem>Lawrence of Arabia\u003c/em>, Paul’s look like they’ve been pumped through with windshield-wiper fluid. As his following swells, Paul grows increasingly aware, and fearful, of his god-like power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Dune: Part Two\u003c/em> spends much of its energy with Paul wrestling with this supposed messianic destiny. Like \u003cem>Lawrence of Arabia\u003c/em>, he’s a white protagonist from the West (or, here, the “Outer World”) on a Middle Eastern-like desert, leading the revolution of a dark-skinned population against oppressors whom he, himself, has deep ties to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13951772']Herbert’s metaphor-rife book has sometimes been interpreted — or misinterpreted, scholars would say — by the alt-right for its racial politics. Villeneuve’s film, scripted by the director and Jon Spaihts, appears highly conscious of this legacy as well as that of the white-savior trope. And often — as in so much of these two films — the movie expresses itself most through imagery and movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Harkonnens, universally white, bald and violent, are served up as the symbol of colonist rule. In the middle of \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em>, the film introduces the Harkonnen prince Feyd-Rautha (a hairless Austin Butler, looking a bit too much like the albino protagonist of 1995’s \u003cem>Powder\u003c/em>) who is a kind of opposite to Paul. He, too, could take command of Arrakis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952687\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1954px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952687\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM.png\" alt=\"A pale young white man with a bald head and no eyebrows gazes at an attractive blonde woman wearing a blue hooded velvet dress. Their faces are close together.\" width=\"1954\" height=\"1174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM.png 1954w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-800x481.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-1020x613.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-768x461.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-1536x923.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-1920x1154.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1954px) 100vw, 1954px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Austin Butler and Lea Seydoux in ‘Dune: Part Two.’ \u003ccite>(Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Villeneuve temporarily switches to Feyd-Rautha’s story and away from Paul and Chani, the film’s richly orchestrated sense of momentum falters. But the comparison is illuminating. In a massive colosseum, Feyd-Rautha ruthlessly battles a trio of Atreides survivors in a scene, bleached in monochrome, that looks like \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025913/\">Triumph of the Will\u003c/a>, supersized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13939927']There’s an earnest reckoning here in the power dynamics of the source material and previous Hollywood tales of first-and-third world confrontations. There’s plenty of doubt to go around for all involved, too. The movie’s perspective ultimately resides in the drained, shrouded face of Charlotte Rampling, who plays the matriarch of the Bene Gesserit (again, the names!), a mystic order that pulls the strings behind the galactic politics of \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>. For her, it’s a game of raw calculation and “no sides.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em> brings all parties together for the final act, it begins to lose steam. The Emperor (Christopher Walken) and his daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), seen sporadically from afar debating the events on Arrakis, turn up. But while Walken’s company is always welcome, he might be too warm a presence for \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em> — too much of the Earth despite so often seeming on a planet of his own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the limpness of the finale, despite all of the expert build-up of Hans Zimmer’s score and Mark Mangini and Theo Green’s sound design, goes to something deeper. Villeneuve’s great talent lies, I think, in invocation. He may be less perfect when it comes to conclusions but he’s brilliant at summoning — a sense of doom, a suddenly appeared spacecraft, a sandworm. Even better than those serpentine sand creatures (the runaway stars of \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em>) is that thump, thump, thump that precedes them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Dune: Part Two’ is released nationwide on March 1, but will play in Bay Area IMAX theaters from Feb. 25, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Three firm thumps into the Arrakis sand is all you need to summon a sandworm in Denis Villeneuve’s \u003cem>Dune: Part Two\u003c/em>. It’s almost as easy as hailing a cab or calling for the check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big buggers can’t resist the sound, which is a little like how I feel taking in all the vibrations of Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science-fiction novel. Whispers, incantations and guttural sounds buzz throughout \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em>, a hissing hulk of a sequel that fluctuates between ominous silences and thunderous booms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The first \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>, released in 2021 when movie theaters were still humbled by the pandemic, tackled just the first half of Herbert’s opus, saving the second half for the sequel. That split can be owed in part to the enormous amount of plot contained in the novel, but it can also be attributed to the operatic rhythms of Villeneuve’s solemn spectacle. Sober as they are, \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em> parts one and two are almost drunk on their own sense of atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with good reason. Like its predecessor, Dune: Part Two thrums with an intoxicating big-screen expressionism of monoliths and mosquitos, fevered visions and messianic fervor — more dystopian dream, or nightmare, than a straightforward narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That filmmaking prowess sometimes comes at the expense of other things. Humor, for one, is in shorter supply on Arrakis than water. Javier Bardem, returning as the Fremen leader Stilgar, alone seems to want to breathe a little laughter into all the fiery red sands and mammoth machinery of \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/1kI6nXntYN8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/1kI6nXntYN8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em> primarily follows the rise of Paul Atreides ( Timothée Chalamet ), who, after seeing his father killed and House Atreides routed from the Arrakis capital by House Harkonnen and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (a monstrously good Stellan Skarsgård), is now living among the Fremen, the desert-dwelling peoples of Arrakis, with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The myth of Paul is already growing among the Fremen, who call him Muad’Dib. (A great feature of these movies, like Hebert’s books, is the exquisite names.) Is he the chosen one or a false prophet? Doubts are gradually erased by his accomplishments (leading strikes against Harkonnen spice harvesters; quickly learning the ways of the Fremen); the cunning maneuvering of Lady Jessica; and the worshipful zeal of Stilgar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Fremen warrior Chani ( Zendaya ), though skeptical of the hype, believes, with some reluctance, in Paul. \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em> is significantly propped up by their dynamic and budding romance, a relationship that gives a deserving wide-screen canvas to two of the most exciting young movie stars of their generation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a while it’s fun and games in the desert, blowing up stuff and learning how to ride sand worms. Oh, there’s the matter of the “holy poison” forced on Lady Jessica, a neon-blue liquid extracted from sand worms that looks like it would produce a fine Slush Puppie, but, if it doesn’t kill you, confers a frightful clairvoyance of the universe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952686\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1946px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952686\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM.png\" alt=\"A woman glares into the distance with thinly veiled anger. She is wearing dirty utilitarian clothes and is surrounded by men dressed similarly.\" width=\"1946\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM.png 1946w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-800x525.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-1020x670.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-160x105.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-768x504.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-1536x1009.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.26.31-AM-1920x1261.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1946px) 100vw, 1946px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zendaya in ‘Dune: Part Two.’ \u003ccite>(Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Blue is an important color in the otherwise darker shaded \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>. It lights up in Lady Jessica’s eyes and, later, Paul’s too. If you thought Peter O’Toole’s eyes blazed in \u003cem>Lawrence of Arabia\u003c/em>, Paul’s look like they’ve been pumped through with windshield-wiper fluid. As his following swells, Paul grows increasingly aware, and fearful, of his god-like power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Dune: Part Two\u003c/em> spends much of its energy with Paul wrestling with this supposed messianic destiny. Like \u003cem>Lawrence of Arabia\u003c/em>, he’s a white protagonist from the West (or, here, the “Outer World”) on a Middle Eastern-like desert, leading the revolution of a dark-skinned population against oppressors whom he, himself, has deep ties to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Herbert’s metaphor-rife book has sometimes been interpreted — or misinterpreted, scholars would say — by the alt-right for its racial politics. Villeneuve’s film, scripted by the director and Jon Spaihts, appears highly conscious of this legacy as well as that of the white-savior trope. And often — as in so much of these two films — the movie expresses itself most through imagery and movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Harkonnens, universally white, bald and violent, are served up as the symbol of colonist rule. In the middle of \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em>, the film introduces the Harkonnen prince Feyd-Rautha (a hairless Austin Butler, looking a bit too much like the albino protagonist of 1995’s \u003cem>Powder\u003c/em>) who is a kind of opposite to Paul. He, too, could take command of Arrakis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952687\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1954px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952687\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM.png\" alt=\"A pale young white man with a bald head and no eyebrows gazes at an attractive blonde woman wearing a blue hooded velvet dress. Their faces are close together.\" width=\"1954\" height=\"1174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM.png 1954w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-800x481.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-1020x613.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-768x461.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-1536x923.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-21-at-10.32.39-AM-1920x1154.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1954px) 100vw, 1954px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Austin Butler and Lea Seydoux in ‘Dune: Part Two.’ \u003ccite>(Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Villeneuve temporarily switches to Feyd-Rautha’s story and away from Paul and Chani, the film’s richly orchestrated sense of momentum falters. But the comparison is illuminating. In a massive colosseum, Feyd-Rautha ruthlessly battles a trio of Atreides survivors in a scene, bleached in monochrome, that looks like \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025913/\">Triumph of the Will\u003c/a>, supersized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There’s an earnest reckoning here in the power dynamics of the source material and previous Hollywood tales of first-and-third world confrontations. There’s plenty of doubt to go around for all involved, too. The movie’s perspective ultimately resides in the drained, shrouded face of Charlotte Rampling, who plays the matriarch of the Bene Gesserit (again, the names!), a mystic order that pulls the strings behind the galactic politics of \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em>. For her, it’s a game of raw calculation and “no sides.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em> brings all parties together for the final act, it begins to lose steam. The Emperor (Christopher Walken) and his daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), seen sporadically from afar debating the events on Arrakis, turn up. But while Walken’s company is always welcome, he might be too warm a presence for \u003cem>Dune\u003c/em> — too much of the Earth despite so often seeming on a planet of his own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the limpness of the finale, despite all of the expert build-up of Hans Zimmer’s score and Mark Mangini and Theo Green’s sound design, goes to something deeper. Villeneuve’s great talent lies, I think, in invocation. He may be less perfect when it comes to conclusions but he’s brilliant at summoning — a sense of doom, a suddenly appeared spacecraft, a sandworm. Even better than those serpentine sand creatures (the runaway stars of \u003cem>Part Two\u003c/em>) is that thump, thump, thump that precedes them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Dune: Part Two’ is released nationwide on March 1, but will play in Bay Area IMAX theaters from Feb. 25, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Bhutan Villagers Learn About Democracy (and Teach Us Too) in ‘The Monk and the Gun’",
"headTitle": "Bhutan Villagers Learn About Democracy (and Teach Us Too) in ‘The Monk and the Gun’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>“Why are you teaching us to be so rude?” the elderly village woman asks a Bhutanese election official in \u003cem>The Monk and the Gun\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a question both poignant and biting, because the “teaching” this woman is resisting is something much of the outside world considers a basic human right: the right to vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952306']For a piercing refresher lesson on democracy, one wouldn’t necessarily think of rural Bhutan as the first place to look. For one thing, democratic elections only came to the tiny, long-isolated Himalayan kingdom in April 2007, when the country held its first mock vote, leading to the real thing late that year and then the first constitution in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Writer-director Pawo Choyning Dorji, whose debut feature, \u003cem>Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom\u003c/em>, went all the way to an Oscar nomination, centers his delightful, moving and clever new satire on a moment in 2006 when officials first fan out into the countryside to introduce this concept called “election.” TV and internet access are less than a decade old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It does not go smoothly. “Is that a new pig disease?” asks one villager. Others arrive to register, only to discover they need to know their birthdate. Some do not. They’re told they need to leave and go find out. But really, many don’t see the point. They have a king. They like him. Why go to all this trouble?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003cem>The Monk and the Gun\u003c/em>, as you may have surmised, is not just about democracy. It’s also about guns, and their role in society, a particularly fertile theme for Dorji’s brand of wry satire and pointed comparisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We begin with a young monk, Tashi, attendant to a lama, or spiritual leader, traversing a peaceful field to a mountain village, Ura. He’s on his way to hear an unusual request: The lama needs a gun. Or two. Before the full moon comes in a few days. “Things need to be made right,” he says, cryptically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What could the lama mean? Guns are not a normal part of this society. If there’s a gun lying around, it’s a big deal. Which leads us to Ron Coleman, an American (Harry Einhorn), and his visit to Bhutan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tell people you’re here to see Buddhist temples,” Ron’s host and fixer Benji (Tandin Sonam) tells him when he arrives. But Ron is there to procure, for a collector, a prized 19th-century American gun that somehow resides with a Bhutanese farmer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13951641']Dorji toggles between these two storylines: politics and guns, with the clock ticking to both the full moon and the mock election. It’s a tumultuous time, with news reports suggesting the transition to democracy is unpopular. As one man says, “What’s the use? We already have His Majesty.” Another wonders why they’d want to be like countries where politicians throw chairs at each other. The chief organizer has to remind people — including a mother whose daughter is being bullied at school — that in some countries, people die fighting for the right to vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back to gun dealer Ron (his name is a little nod to cinema buffs who may recall the actor Ron Colman in 1937’s \u003cem>Lost Horizon\u003c/em>), who’s so eager to acquire the historic weapon, he offers the owner $75,000. That is not acceptable to the farmer — it’s too much! So a deal is struck for much less. But while Ron is off collecting the cash, the monk shows up, seeking a gun for his lama.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who’ll get the gun? The rest of the plot is best left unspoiled, but you can be sure Dorji finds a way to tie his threads together in a way both comic and biting, both entertaining and provocative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF0JChMz8Uc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A perfect example is that scene where election organizers are trying to educate the masses. With villagers gathered, they explain that different colors stand for different parties. But when they try to generate some obligatory back-and-forth — maybe just a little yelling — the effort falls flat. “Show some passion! You’re supposed to despise each other!” complains one official.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also funny but queasy-making, too, is the way Ron is described by his Bhutanese cohort in an effort to gain respect for his knowledge of guns: “Mr. Ron is an expert. In his country there are more guns than people! “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13951896']The casting of the film is fascinating in itself. Most of the cast (including Einhorn, an academic) are making acting debuts here. One, Tandin Wangchuk as Tashi, is a Bhutanese alt-rock star. The villagers in Ura are mostly actual villagers of Ura. The lama is indeed the actual (and only) village lama, Kelsang Choejay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it is he who keeps us all wondering: What the heck does he want with these guns? Dorji holds the suspense and finds a way to surprise us in a deeply satisfying way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The director has said he simply hopes his home country — population about 790,000, known for its beauty and its official imperative of Gross National Happiness — has something to teach the rest of the world. “It’s not who we are,” that elderly woman says about the rudeness. It’s clear Dorji is hoping we’ll be looking at her, then ourselves, and wondering just who we are and want to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Monk and the Gun’ was released nationwide on Feb. 9, 2024. It is currently playing at \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/the-monk-and-the-gun-75465\">San Jose’s AMC Saratoga 14\u003c/a> theater.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“Why are you teaching us to be so rude?” the elderly village woman asks a Bhutanese election official in \u003cem>The Monk and the Gun\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a question both poignant and biting, because the “teaching” this woman is resisting is something much of the outside world considers a basic human right: the right to vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For a piercing refresher lesson on democracy, one wouldn’t necessarily think of rural Bhutan as the first place to look. For one thing, democratic elections only came to the tiny, long-isolated Himalayan kingdom in April 2007, when the country held its first mock vote, leading to the real thing late that year and then the first constitution in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Writer-director Pawo Choyning Dorji, whose debut feature, \u003cem>Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom\u003c/em>, went all the way to an Oscar nomination, centers his delightful, moving and clever new satire on a moment in 2006 when officials first fan out into the countryside to introduce this concept called “election.” TV and internet access are less than a decade old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It does not go smoothly. “Is that a new pig disease?” asks one villager. Others arrive to register, only to discover they need to know their birthdate. Some do not. They’re told they need to leave and go find out. But really, many don’t see the point. They have a king. They like him. Why go to all this trouble?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003cem>The Monk and the Gun\u003c/em>, as you may have surmised, is not just about democracy. It’s also about guns, and their role in society, a particularly fertile theme for Dorji’s brand of wry satire and pointed comparisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We begin with a young monk, Tashi, attendant to a lama, or spiritual leader, traversing a peaceful field to a mountain village, Ura. He’s on his way to hear an unusual request: The lama needs a gun. Or two. Before the full moon comes in a few days. “Things need to be made right,” he says, cryptically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What could the lama mean? Guns are not a normal part of this society. If there’s a gun lying around, it’s a big deal. Which leads us to Ron Coleman, an American (Harry Einhorn), and his visit to Bhutan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tell people you’re here to see Buddhist temples,” Ron’s host and fixer Benji (Tandin Sonam) tells him when he arrives. But Ron is there to procure, for a collector, a prized 19th-century American gun that somehow resides with a Bhutanese farmer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Dorji toggles between these two storylines: politics and guns, with the clock ticking to both the full moon and the mock election. It’s a tumultuous time, with news reports suggesting the transition to democracy is unpopular. As one man says, “What’s the use? We already have His Majesty.” Another wonders why they’d want to be like countries where politicians throw chairs at each other. The chief organizer has to remind people — including a mother whose daughter is being bullied at school — that in some countries, people die fighting for the right to vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back to gun dealer Ron (his name is a little nod to cinema buffs who may recall the actor Ron Colman in 1937’s \u003cem>Lost Horizon\u003c/em>), who’s so eager to acquire the historic weapon, he offers the owner $75,000. That is not acceptable to the farmer — it’s too much! So a deal is struck for much less. But while Ron is off collecting the cash, the monk shows up, seeking a gun for his lama.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who’ll get the gun? The rest of the plot is best left unspoiled, but you can be sure Dorji finds a way to tie his threads together in a way both comic and biting, both entertaining and provocative.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/NF0JChMz8Uc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/NF0JChMz8Uc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>A perfect example is that scene where election organizers are trying to educate the masses. With villagers gathered, they explain that different colors stand for different parties. But when they try to generate some obligatory back-and-forth — maybe just a little yelling — the effort falls flat. “Show some passion! You’re supposed to despise each other!” complains one official.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also funny but queasy-making, too, is the way Ron is described by his Bhutanese cohort in an effort to gain respect for his knowledge of guns: “Mr. Ron is an expert. In his country there are more guns than people! “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The casting of the film is fascinating in itself. Most of the cast (including Einhorn, an academic) are making acting debuts here. One, Tandin Wangchuk as Tashi, is a Bhutanese alt-rock star. The villagers in Ura are mostly actual villagers of Ura. The lama is indeed the actual (and only) village lama, Kelsang Choejay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it is he who keeps us all wondering: What the heck does he want with these guns? Dorji holds the suspense and finds a way to surprise us in a deeply satisfying way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The director has said he simply hopes his home country — population about 790,000, known for its beauty and its official imperative of Gross National Happiness — has something to teach the rest of the world. “It’s not who we are,” that elderly woman says about the rudeness. It’s clear Dorji is hoping we’ll be looking at her, then ourselves, and wondering just who we are and want to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Monk and the Gun’ was released nationwide on Feb. 9, 2024. It is currently playing at \u003ca href=\"https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/the-monk-and-the-gun-75465\">San Jose’s AMC Saratoga 14\u003c/a> theater.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"source": "American Public Media"
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"masters-of-scale": {
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"morning-edition": {
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
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"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"on-the-media": {
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"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
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},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
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"order": 14
},
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"planet-money": {
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
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},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
},
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "PRI"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pri-the-world",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/",
"rss": "http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
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