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2021 Oscars Guide: Documentary Features

Garrett Bradley's documentary Time follows Fox Rich as she raises her six sons and fights for her husband's release from prison. Amazon Studios hide caption

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Amazon Studios

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

2021 Oscars Guide: Documentary Features

Corruption, loneliness, family, activism, and the adventures that take place in the ocean. The Oscar-nominated documentary features are about all these things, but not just these things. These films are shot in black and white and vivid underwater colors. Some trace long histories and some closely examine particular inflection points in time. And you can stream all the films on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon.

2021 Oscars Guide: Documentary Features

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2021 Oscars Guide: International Features

In Another Round, Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) is a bored and boring teacher who decides that life would be better with more alcohol. Henrik Ohsten/Courtesy of TIFF hide caption

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Henrik Ohsten/Courtesy of TIFF

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

2021 Oscars Guide: International Features

This year's Oscar nominees for best international feature film tackle a variety of issues, from school bullying to mass slaughter, from government corruption to alcohol abuse — one nominee even grapples with the nature and purpose of art itself. But even though these films reveal some darker truths about the human condition, they each manage to do so with a vivid sense of style and a deep sense of empathy that's as enlivening as it is enlightening.

2021 Oscars Guide: International Features

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'Legally Blonde' 20 Years Later

Reese Witherspoon stars as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Tracy Bennett/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Legally Blonde' 20 Years Later

Twenty years ago, Legally Blonde opened in theaters, and now it's available on Netflix. Reese Witherspoon plays a first-year law student named Elle Woods. She heads to Harvard Law School to win back Warner, who broke up with her for not being serious enough. But she learned that she was cut out for the courtroom, and she changed what it means to be a "serious" woman.

'Legally Blonde' 20 Years Later

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Does 'Made For Love' Earn Our Affection?

Cristin Milioti stars as Hazel in Made For Love. John P. Johnson/HBO Max hide caption

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John P. Johnson/HBO Max

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Does 'Made For Love' Earn Our Affection?

The HBO Max series Made For Love follows Hazel (played by Cristin Milioti), whose husband wants to get inside her head — literally. He's a tech genius who's already made both of them recluses, but he's now working on a chip that, once implanted in her brain, will allow him to know and see everything she does.

Does 'Made For Love' Earn Our Affection?

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Workin' 9 To 5

Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in a scene from the movie "9 to 5" Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Planet Money

Workin' 9 To 5

The movie "9 to 5" used humor to highlight the struggles of women in the workplace 40 years ago. Where are we now? | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.

Workin' 9 To 5

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Three Songs For Staring Out The Window

Some of us feel like we're in a waiting period of sorts, so we have three songs to keep you company while you wistfully look out a window. Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption

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Angela Hsieh/NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Three Songs For Staring Out The Window

NPR Music has song recommendations for every occasion, from major life events to moments when all you want to do is stare blankly into the middle distance. Right now, so many of us feel stuck in a holding pattern, as we wait for our lives to resume. Maybe we're passing time until our vaccinations kick in, or maybe we're daydreaming about the possibility of safe summer travel. Today, we're recommending three songs to help cope with pent-up, restless boredom.

Three Songs For Staring Out The Window

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Cinerama Dome Among ArcLight, Pacific Theaters To Close Due To Pandemic Losses

People wearing protective face masks walk by the closed Cinerama Dome theater during the coronavirus pandemic on April 18, 2020, in Los Angeles. David Livingston/Getty Images hide caption

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Movies

Cinerama Dome Among ArcLight, Pacific Theaters To Close Due To Pandemic Losses

With the closing of 300 screens, Hollywood laments the loss of the iconic Cinerama Dome; it opened in 1963 with the premiere of Stanley Kramer's wide-screen comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Bowen Yang's Rules of Culture

Bowen Yang often plays delightfully weird characters on SNL. But recently he appeared as himself on the show to address the uptick of Asian American violence in the U.S. Sam revisits his conversation from last fall with the comedian, who discusses becoming the first Chinese American cast member on Saturday Night Live, what it was like to do the show during a pandemic, and why Adele Dazeem is the number one moment in the history of culture.

Bowen Yang's Rules of Culture

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'Queen Sugar' Is Tender and Timely

Queen Sugar focuses on the Bordelon siblings - Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe), Nova (Rutina Wesley) and Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) - a black family in rural Louisiana. Skip Bolen/Courtesy of OWN hide caption

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Skip Bolen/Courtesy of OWN

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Queen Sugar' Is Tender and Timely

Queen Sugar is a sprawling melodrama following the Bordelons, a tight-knit, multi-generational black family in rural Louisiana. Created by Ava DuVernay, the series has been politically topical from the beginning, and its fifth season is timelier than ever, dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd.

'Queen Sugar' Is Tender and Timely

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Viola Davis' Essential Performances

Viola Davis wins best supporting actress at the 89th Annual Academy Awards in 2017. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images hide caption

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Viola Davis' Essential Performances

Viola Davis' name is rarely far from awards season chatter, and this year is no different — the highly decorated performer received her fourth Oscar nomination for her role in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and could become the first Black woman to nab two acting Oscars. As awards season kicks off, Pop Culture Happy Hour revisits great performers and a few of their essential performances. Today, we're spotlighting Viola Davis, from her first Oscar-nominated role in Doubt to her standing as a powerful force of nature in Hollywood.

Viola Davis' Essential Performances

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Is 'The Great Pottery Throw Down' The Most Relaxing Show On TV?

Judges Rich Miller and Keith Brymer Jones with contestant Jodie Neale in the fourth season of The Great Pottery Thrown Down. Love Productions/HBO Max hide caption

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Love Productions/HBO Max

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Is 'The Great Pottery Throw Down' The Most Relaxing Show On TV?

The Great Pottery Throw Down is one of the gentlest, kindest and warmest competitive reality shows you will ever see (even when things literally explode). The UK series is now streaming on HBO Max. The dishes, the bowls, the handles, the crying — it's all right there to help you relax at the end of even the longest day. Plus, we take a moment to remember rapper DMX, who died today at 50.

Is 'The Great Pottery Throw Down' The Most Relaxing Show On TV?

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'Bad Trip'? More Like Awesome Trip!

Eric Andre and Lil Rel Howery go on an outrageous adventure in the Netflix movie Bad Trip. NETFLIX hide caption

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NETFLIX

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Bad Trip'? More Like Awesome Trip!

In the Netflix movie Bad Trip, Eric Andre and Lil Rel Howery play best friends who take a road trip from Florida to New York City. The twist in Bad Trip is that each scene is also an elaborate prank, blending fiction and reality - with the mayhem taking place as real unsuspecting strangers look on.

'Bad Trip'? More Like Awesome Trip!

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Frances McDormand's Essential Performances

Frances McDormand smiles on the red carpet at Rome Film Fest 2019. Mondadori Portfolio/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images hide caption

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Mondadori Portfolio/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Frances McDormand's Essential Performances

Over the course of her long, varied and distinguished career, actor Frances McDormand has won two Oscars - and her performance in Nomadland this year could win her a third. Pop Culture Happy Hour explores some of the great work she's done.

Frances McDormand's Essential Performances

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Chadwick Boseman's Essential Performances

Chadwick Boseman attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards in 2018. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Chadwick Boseman's Essential Performances

Chadwick Boseman is nominated for an Oscar this year for his performance in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. It's his final onscreen role — he died of colon cancer in August. Before that, Boseman played historical figures including Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson and James Brown. And of course, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Black Panther. And today we're talking about some of those essential performances.

Chadwick Boseman's Essential Performances

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In 'The Father,' Anthony Hopkins' Mind Is A Prison

Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins star in The Father. Sean Gleason/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'The Father,' Anthony Hopkins' Mind Is A Prison

In The Father, Anthony Hopkins plays a character whose fierce independence is complicated by his worsening dementia. Olivia Colman plays his daughter Anne, who keeps trying to hire carers to help look after him. But the structure of the film is more complicated than that, as director Florian Zeller finds ways to keep viewers guessing. The Father is nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Picture.

In 'The Father,' Anthony Hopkins' Mind Is A Prison

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