Film

The man behind Nemo and Wall-E has warmed hearts with his unlikely heroes — a clownfish? A sentient trash compactor? He tells Terry Gross about finding inspiration in unlikely places, and in everyday objects.

Artist Don Bachardy was a teenager when he met then middle-aged novelist Christopher Isherwood on a California beach. But the two had a romance that lasted until Isherwood's death in 1986. Their relationship is the subject of the documentary Chris and Don: A Love Story.

Taking a break from the family-friendly Shrek series, the comic actor stars in the bawdy summer comedy The Love Guru. It's an irreverent — some say too irreverent — romp about a self-help specialist from the subcontinent.

Acclaimed 2007 film — based on the life of post-punk musician Ian Curtis, who killed himself in 1980 at age 23 — won a trio of prizes at the Cannes Film Festival and took home a range of other international awards. It's out now on DVD.

Fresh Air critic-at-large John Powers spent some time at the Cannes Film Festival this month, and today he reports back on what he saw. He says this year's movies weren't half bad — but for Americans, at least, the festival had a gloomy, fatalistic vibe.

Actor-musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won an Oscar for Best Original Song, "Falling Slowly," in the film, Once. The movie, about two musicians who write songs together and fall in love, is out now on DVD.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a martial arts instructor in the new David Mamet film, Redbelt. Before starring in movies, Ejiofor was a prominent stage actor in England. Since then, he's appeared in Dirty Pretty Things, Children of Men and American Gangster.

Comic and actor Jerry Seinfeld's latest project is the animated film Bee Movie, which he wrote and starred in. Seinfeld is best known for his work on the self-titled NBC series, which ran for nine seasons, earning the actor a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.

Director Arthur Penn changed the face of cinema with his film, Bonnie and Clyde. The graphic realism of the last scenes have influenced television and movies since the film's release in 1967.

The actor won an Academy Award for his performance in Spike Jonze's Adaptation. His latest project is Married Life, about a 1940s philanderer who still loves his wife — enough, in fact, to kill her rather than divorce and disappoint her.