Film

Maryam Keshavarz's new film is called The Persian Version. It’s a fiction film, inspired by Keshavarz’s life and her mother’s. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1969. Keshavarz grew up in New Jersey. Like the character in the film, Keshavarz identifies as bisexual, which her parents considered taboo and unacceptable. About half of the Persian Version is the story of Layla’s mother, growing up in an Iranian country village, and being forced to marry her husband at age 13.

"The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" is the final film by the Hollywood director, William Friedkin, who made "The Exorcist" and won the Oscar for "The French Connection." Premiering this weekend on Showtime and Paramount+, it's a present-day adaptation of Herman Wouk's story about a trial of a ship's officer accused of wrongly ousting his captain, played by Kiefer Sutherland. Our critic-at-large, John Powers, says that it uses an old-fashioned story to comment on culture today.

Set decades into the future, the movie begins with a prologue charting the rise of artificial intelligence.

In her new memoir, Leslie F*cking Jones, she reflects on growing up as a military brat, performing in comedy clubs in a male-dominated field and joining the cast of SNL in 2014, when she was 47 years old. When it comes to getting laughs, Jones is committed to physical comedy — even if it sometimes results in injury.

Red Carpet author Erich Schwartzel says that film studios increasingly need Chinese audiences to break even — which can result in self-censorship. Originally broadcast Feb. 21, 2022.

Jones has made a name for herself by casting actors who look like real people — and who are naturally funny.

Fifty years ago, the U.S. government backed a coup that ousted Chile's democratically elected socialist president. Rotting in the Sun and El Conde offer subversive glimpses into the coup's legacy.

Coaxing great ideas out of pop stars is familiar territory for Ronson, but his instrumental score for the film, co-composed with Andrew Wyatt, was his first such project — and he admits that making it work meant stifling some of his usual instincts.

Two queer best friends start a self-defense class for girls as a ruse to hook up with cheerleaders in a film that's both a disarmingly sweet love story and a merciless comic pummeling.

Friedkin, who died Aug. 7, won an Oscar 1972 for The French Connection. "Some of the most interesting, fascinating people that I've ever known are on the other side of the law," he said in 1988

In the new indie comedy "The Adults," Michael Cera plays a guy who returns home to see his two sisters after three years apart. It was written and directed by Dustin Guy Defa, who also cast Cera in his 2017 ensemble film "Person To Person." "The Adult" is in theaters this week.

Oppenheimer writer and director Christopher Nolan is no stranger to dark, brooding films. His list of credits includes the Batman trilogy, Dunkirk, Inception and Insomnia. But he says the story of Robert Oppenheimer, known as the father of the atomic bomb, stayed with him in a way his other films didn't.

Ira Sachs' new romantic drama "Passages" follows a male film director who leaves his husband after having an affair with a woman. Our film critic Justin Chang says it's a hot-blooded tale of desire and a terrific showcase for its lead actor, Franz Rogowski.

This week is the release of "Haunted Mansion," a new live-action comedy based on the popular Disneyland ride, and "Talk To Me," an Australian supernatural thriller about teenagers dabbling in the occult. Our film critic Justin Chang says that despite their differences, both movies are fundamentally about characters trying to ease their grief by communing with the dead.

The "Barbie" movie, directed by Greta Gerwig, is a big topic of conversation this summer. But to a special subset of audience members, girls who played with Barbies, the movie can evoke a lot of pink-tinged feelings. Here's one of those girls, our book critic Maureen Corrigan.

Justin Chang says that whether you watch them back to back or on different days, both Barbie and Oppenheimer are well worth a theater-going experience.

The entertainment industry is in upheaval. Writers and actors are on strike, and streamers are reckoning with not being profitable. Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shaw talks about what viewers can expect.

Tom Cruise returns as secret agent Ethan Hunt in "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1," the seventh movie in the long-running spy series and the first half of a two-parter that will conclude next year. In the movie, which Cruise also produced, Hunt and his fellow agents battle a mysterious new global threat. Our film critic Justin Chang has this review.

The new film "Joy Ride" is an R-rated road trip comedy about four Asian Americans traveling together in China. It's the first movie directed by Adele Lim, a co-writer on "Crazy Rich Asians," and the ensemble cast includes Stephanie Hsu, a recent supporting actress Oscar nominee for "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

Arkin, who died June 29, got his start creating characters with the comedy troupe Second City and later won an Oscar for his role in Little Miss Sunshine. Originally broadcast Sept. 29, 1989.