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 late author wrote close to 50 novels, and several of them, including Get Shorty and Out of Sight, were made into films. His 1978 book The Switch has been turned into a film called Life of Crime.
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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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Transcendence is an ambitious and provocative film about the perils and pleasures of artificial intelligence that is intriguingly balanced between being a warning and a celebration.
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The crisp and efficient thriller Non-Stop benefits from the intangibles that Liam Neeson brings to the role of a U.S. air marshal dealing with a nightmare scenario.
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Child's Pose sounds like something elementary and easy, but don't be fooled. This stunning film from Romania, a ferocious psychological drama with the pace of a thriller, is anything but simple.
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The works of Charles Dickens have been made into literally hundreds of films and TV episodes, but almost nothing has been done with the great author's life, until now. Our reviewer says The Invisible Woman is an exceptional film about love, longing and regret.
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It's the letter everyone's received. The one that says you've won $1 million but is actually about selling magazine subscriptions. But what if someone truly believed they'd won that million? And what if that individual was your cranky father and he insisted on going to prize headquarters to collect his money.
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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.