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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Michael Mann's new cybercrime thriller stars Chris Hemsworth. Mann's skill as a director holds the audience's attention as the team follows lines of electronic breadcrumbs in pursuit of the evil one.
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The new film A Most Violent Year is written and directed by J.C. Chandor. The crime drama starring Jessica Chastain takes place in New York City in 1981, one of the city's most violent years.
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The movie is based on the 2010 nonfiction book by Laura Hillenbrand about a U.S. Olympic track star who survives a plane crash during World War II only to be taken prisoner by the Japanese.
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Earlier generations of science fiction fretted about nuclear radiation or alien invasion. What powers Interstellar is an up-to-date concern about the viability of Earth as home for the human race.
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Kill the Messenger is based on the true story of a reporter at the San Jose Mercury-°µºÚ±¬ÁÏ who uncovers the CIA's role in arming the Nicaraguan Contras, then becomes the target of a smear campaign.
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When Denzel Washington and director Anton Fuqua collaborated on 2001's Training Day, the film won Washington an Oscar and changed the trajectory of his career. They're together again in The Equalizer. -
If I Stay is based on the best-selling novel by Gayle Forman. Chloë Grace Moretz plays a 17-year-old girl, in a coma after a car wreck, who has to choose between life or death.
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Begin Again is the latest effort by John Carney. This film and his previous Once have so much in common that you can't help asking yourself, "Can lightning strike twice?"
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Directed by Bennet Miller, Foxcatcher, starring Steve Carrell, is getting Oscar buzz. This is a straight dramatic role for Carrell. It tells the story of the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz.
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Lots of films are based on true stories, but film critic Kenneth Turan says Million Dollar Arm is especially endearing. The film stars Jon Hamm of Mad Men and is directed by Craig Gillespie.
