LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Summer blockbuster season is over. And that means fewer superheroes are in movie theaters, and awards contenders are replacing them. Paul Mescal is already in cinemas, carrying a tune in "The History Of Sound."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE HISTORY OF SOUND")
PAUL MESCAL: (As Lionel, singing) Don't sing love songs. You'll wake my mother.
FADEL: And later in the fall, we'll have a major sequel - "Wicked: For Good."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WICKED: FOR GOOD")
CYNTHIA ERIVO: (As Elphaba) I'm off to see the Wizard.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
FADEL: To talk about what she's excited about this fall, I'm joined by critic Aisha Harris. She hosts NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, and she's with me now. Hi, Aisha.
AISHA HARRIS, BYLINE: Hey, Leila.
FADEL: OK. So this week, we've got a big new movie from Paul Thomas Anderson, familiar to me for his movie "There Will Be Blood." Tell me about the new one.
HARRIS: His new one is "One Battle After Another." It's an action thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio, who's playing an ex-revolutionary whose past comes back to bite him when his teenage daughter is kidnapped by an old foe. And that is a corrupt military officer who's played deliciously by Sean Penn. The cast also features Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Regina Hall. And I have to warn you - it's nearly three hours long, but I promise it does not drag. It's also very timely. It's sort of an indictment of white supremacist structures and really, I think, is both a - and a fun thing to watch. It's very entertaining, but it also has some deep messaging in there as well.
FADEL: OK. We've also got a couple movies about show business coming up, and two of them are both from the director Richard Linklater.
HARRIS: Yeah. So I caught both of these films at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. Linklater's projects, to me, are always super intriguing and often great. You know, he's the director behind "Dazed And Confused," the "Before Sunrise" trilogy. The first movie that's coming up is "Blue Moon," which starts rolling out in mid-October. This stars Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart, who's the famed lyricist behind many songs that have become standards - you know, "My Funny Valentine," "The Lady Is A Tramp." This movie takes place mostly inside the famed New York restaurant Sardi's. And it's opening night of the musical "Oklahoma!", which was the show that marked the beginning of the end of Hart's partnership with Richard Rodgers. And he's played by Andrew Scott.
Then there's Linklater's other film, "Nouvelle Vague," which is out October 31. And this is a dramatization of the making of Jean-Luc Godard's groundbreaking French New Wave film, "Breathless," with Guillaume Marbeck playing the Influential director. And this one is shot in gorgeous black and white. Of the two, I think "Blue Moon" is the stronger film. Hawk's performance in "Blue Moon" is so rich, and it's really great at capturing the waning of a professional relationship. But "Nouvelle Vague" is fun, too. Like, it's enjoyable enough if you're into that period of filmmaking, so I highly recommend checking out both of those.
FADEL: So I hear there's another one you loved in Toronto. Tell us about that one.
HARRIS: Yeah. So "Hedda" is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic play "Hedda Gabler." This was written and directed by Nia DaCosta, who has only been a handful of features so far, but each one she's been playing in a different genre. And "Hedda," to me, suggests that period melodrama suits her best. This is set in the mid-20th century, England. It stars Tessa Thompson, who is so confident playing the titular role as the scheming social climber. And this is in theaters October 22, but then it'll go to Prime. I highly recommend you do yourself a favor, though, and see this one on the big screen because it is beautiful. It is gorgeously shot. And it's just the type of thing you want to experience on the big screen if possible.
FADEL: That's Aisha Harris, host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. Thank you.
HARRIS: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA'S "THE LADY IS A TRAMP") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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