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In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Emma Stone in Kinds of Kindness. Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Kinds of Kindness is a weird, dark, and bleak film. It's directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and it re-teams him with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, along with Jesse Plemons. Each actor plays different characters in three different stories — which all involve someone going to extreme measures to regain something they've lost.

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

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Mother and daughter Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) share a slow New England summer in Janet Planet.

Mother and daughter Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) share a slow New England summer in Janet Planet. Courtesy of A24 hide caption

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Courtesy of A24

Review

Movie Reviews

Sharply funny 'Janet Planet' perfectly captures the feel of a long, hot summer

Writing and directing her first film, playwright Annie Baker exhibits uncanny powers of observation. Not much happens in this mother-daughter movie, but something momentous seems to have taken place.

Sharply funny 'Janet Planet' perfectly captures the feel of a long, hot summer

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Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

Lilly Gladstone in Fancy Dance. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

The new film Fancy Dance offers something all-too-rare on screen: contemporary Indigenous perspectives, front and center. Lily Gladstone plays a woman trying to keep it together under stressful circumstances. Her sister's gone missing, and she steps in to look after her young niece (Isabel Deroy-Olson). The pair take what turns out to be a rocky road trip and a unique bonding experience.

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

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Michelle Buteau arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, March 10, 2024.

Michelle Buteau arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 10. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP hide caption

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Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Movie Interviews

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Michelle Buteau decided: 'I better start living'

Buteau says covering the news of the 2001 terrorist attacks crystalized her desire to go into comedy. She stars in the film Babes and in the Netflix series Survival of the Thickest.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Michelle Buteau decided: 'I better start living'

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Striking Writers Guild members picket alongside SAG-AFTRA members outside Netflix studios in September of 2023.

Striking Writers Guild members picket alongside SAG-AFTRA members outside Netflix studios in September 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

Culture

This time last year, Hollywood writers were on strike. Now, many can’t find work

The entertainment industry was shifting dramatically even before the strikes that paused production last year. Now, many Hollywood writers are feeling the pinch.

WRITER'S STRIKE'S FIRST ANNIVERSARY

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This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black, in a scene from Inside Out 2.

This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black, in a scene from Inside Out 2. Pixar/AP/Disney/Pixar hide caption

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Pixar/AP/Disney/Pixar

'Inside Out 2' scores $100 million in its second weekend, setting records

In just a week and a half, Inside Out 2 has become 2024’s highest-grossing film to date, surpassing Dune: Part Two. Inside Out 2 will likely blow through the $1 billion mark in about a week.

Jesse Plemons plays three different characters in Kinds of Kindness — an effort that won him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Jesse Plemons plays three different characters in Kinds of Kindness — an effort that won him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures

Review

Movie Reviews

Yorgos Lanthimos exhausts his ideas, and his audience, in 'Kinds of Kindness'

Fresh off of Poor Things, director Lanthimos' three-part dark comedy about domination and free will feels like a lazy and self-admiring riff — punctuated by the occasional crude shock.

Yorgos Lanthimos exhausts his ideas, and his audience, in 'Kinds of Kindness'

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June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

June Squibb and Fred Hechinger in Thelma. Magnolia Pictures hide caption

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Magnolia Pictures

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

Financial scams are an unfortunate phenomenon, but what happens when a fraudster messes with the wrong grandma? The very fun action-comedy Thelma imagines exactly this scenario. The movie stars June Squibb as a woman scammed by someone pretending to be her grandson. She then enlists her old friend (the late Richard Roundtree) to help get her money back.

June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

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What 'Inside Out 2' got right about anxiety, per a psychologist

Pixar's new movie Inside Out 2 revisits the internal life of Riley, as she hits puberty and copes with a growing range of emotions. Pixar hide caption

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Pixar

Short Wave

What 'Inside Out 2' got right about anxiety, per a psychologist

Pixar's new movie, Inside Out 2 came out Friday. It's the sequel to the 2015 movie Inside Out, which follows the life of 11-year-old Riley and her family as they move to San Francisco. In Inside Out 2, Riley is 13 and thriving in her new city. She has friends and is a star on her hockey team. But when puberty hits one night, four new emotions come into play: Envy, Ennui, Embarrassment and most of all, Anxiety.

What 'Inside Out 2' got right about anxiety, per a psychologist

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One pair of Dorthy's slippers, worn by Judy Garland in 1939, are displayed at a viewing at the Plaza Athenee on December 5, 2011 in New York City. Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images hide caption

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Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

National

Judy Garland’s hometown hopes a good witch will help purchase Dorothy’s ruby slippers

MPR News

Minnesota lawmakers set aside $100,000 for the formerly stolen pair this year and the Judy Garland Museum hopes a benevolent figure can help win them at auction.

MINNESOTA AND THE RUBY SLIPPERS

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Above, Lily Tomlin, left, Wanda Sykes, Joel Kim Booster and Trixie Mattel.

Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution explores the history and current state of LGBTQ comedy — the pioneers, the breakthroughs and the setbacks. Above, Lily Tomlin, left, Wanda Sykes, Joel Kim Booster and Trixie Mattel. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

'Laughter is disarming': A new documentary traces generations of LGBTQ comedy

The new Netflix documentary Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution features interviews with dozens of gay and trans comics, archival footage and lots of jokes.

Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution

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We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

Is Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing the sweatiest movie of all time? Anthony Barboza/Getty hide caption

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Anthony Barboza/Getty

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

Whether they're lightly perspiring, gently glowing, or soaked through from sweltering, people in the movies sweat a lot. But what movie has had people sweat the very most? With summer underway, we are debating what is the sweatiest movie of all time — including Do the Right Thing, Dog Day Afternoon, Y tu mamá también, and Body Heat.

We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

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Joy and Anxiety (voiced by Amy Poehler and Maya Hawke) meet in Riley's head in Inside Out 2.

Joy and Anxiety (voiced by Amy Poehler and Maya Hawke) meet in Riley's head in Inside Out 2. Disney/Pixar hide caption

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Disney/Pixar

Review

Movie Reviews

New emotions emerge in 'Inside Out 2' — including nostalgia for the original film

Inside Out 2 catches up with protagonist Riley at age 13, just as Anxiety enters her emotional life. But despite its many pleasures, the film lacks the emotional wallop of the original.

New emotions emerge in 'Inside Out 2' — including nostalgia for the original film

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'Inside Out 2' is a Pixar sequel worth celebrating

Amy Poehler as Joy and Maya Hawke as Anxiety in a scene from Inside Out 2. Pixar hide caption

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Pixar

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Inside Out 2' is a Pixar sequel worth celebrating

Pixar's Inside Out introduced us to the core emotions inside an 11-year-old girl named Riley. We met Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), and Anger (Lewis Black). In Inside Out 2, Riley is experiencing puberty and a whole new crop of emotions have popped up. Most notably Anxiety (Maya Hawke) who has literally bottled up Riley's original core emotions and sent them hurtling into the back of her mind, where they plot to get back and set things right.

'Inside Out 2' is a Pixar sequel worth celebrating

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David Lynch says he 'died a death' over the way his 'Dune' film turned out

David Lynch on Wild Card Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty hide caption

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Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty

Wild Card with Rachel Martin

David Lynch says he 'died a death' over the way his 'Dune' film turned out

David Lynch doesn't do a lot of interviews. The Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive creator usually just lets his work speak for itself. But he was excited to talk to Rachel about his new album coming out this summer, Cellophane Memories. And he also was game to dive into his love for transcendental meditation, a fateful childhood psychosomatic illness and a memorable encounter with a Buddha statue.

David Lynch says he 'died a death' over the way his 'Dune' film turned out

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Left: The Inside Out character Sadness. Right: Clinical social worker Kristi Zybulewski dressed up as Sadness for Halloween with blue face and blue hair.

Clinical social worker Kristi Zybulewski has dressed up as Sadness for Halloween. She says most of the kids she works with have seen Inside Out. Disney/Pixar; Kristi Zybulewski hide caption

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Disney/Pixar; Kristi Zybulewski

The 'Inside Out' movies give kids an 'emotional vocabulary.' Therapists love that

Pixar's Inside Out was praised for helping kids understand how emotions affect their actions. Adults learned a few things too. The sequel's new characters include Anxiety, Embarrassment and Ennui.

6/14 Inside Out 2 (theaters)

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Tuesday, a film about a mother dealing with death and grief.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Tuesday, a film about a mother dealing with death and grief. A24 hide caption

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A24

Julia Louis-Dreyfus goes from 'Veep' to weep in new tearjerker film 'Tuesday'

The Seinfeld star plays the mother of a terminally ill girl being visited by Death, who has taken the physical form of a giant parrot, in new film.

TUESDAY Julia Louis-Dreyfus

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