Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan is the film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Morning Edition, as well as the director of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. He has been a staff writer for the Washington Post and TV Guide, and served as the Times' book review editor.
A graduate of Swarthmore College and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, he is the co-author of Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke. He teaches film reviewing and non-fiction writing at USC and is on the board of directors of the National Yiddish Book Center. His most recent books are the University of California Press' Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made and Never Coming To A Theater Near You, published by Public Affairs Press.
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The new movie The Counselor was written by acclaimed novelist Cormac McCarthy. Critic Kenneth Turan says he's better off sticking to writing books.
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Wadjda tells the story of a 10-year-old Saudi girl determined to have a bicycle in a culture that frowns on female riding. Writer-director Haifaa al-Mansour says she wanted to put a human face on the situation of women in Saudi Arabia, where driving is not permitted.
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The big movie opening this week is Pacific Rim. Morning Edition's critic says that it has plenty of explosions and special effects — but there's more to it than most blockbusters this summer.
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In World War Z, Bradd Pitt saves the world from a zombie apocalypse. When Pitt's character gets stuck in a Philadelphia traffic jam with his family, that's when the apocalypse begins.
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In 1947, April 15 was the first day Jackie Robinson played baseball as a Brooklyn Dodger. The new movie 42 tells the story of how he integrated Major League Baseball.
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Director Danny Boyle is best known for the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. His latest film is called Trance. Critic Kenneth Turan says the film's overall coldness means there isn't anybody you care to identify with or any outcome you want to see.
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Gimme The Loot is a new independent film that's had a charmed life, including winning the best narrative prize at South by Southwest and an appearance at Cannes. The comedy is written and director by Adam Leon.
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The story of Jack and his beanstalk has been filmed innumerable times by people as diverse as Gene Kelly, Chuck Jones and the Three Stooges. While he's been through the Hollywood shuffle before, there's never been a Jack tale that's delivered so little pleasure for so many dollars.
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Rudolpho Anaya's 1972 novel Bless Me, Ultima is a classic of Chicano literature. The story begins for Antonio, 6, when Ultima comes to live with his New Mexico family in 1944. Ultima is called a witch, but she considers herself a woman with healing knowledge of medicinal herbs and remedies.
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Sound City is a documentary that came out of the Sundance Film Festival about a legendary recording studio in Van Nuys, California. It's a mash note to the Neve soundboard in the Sound City studios.