Chris Klimek
NPR
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Chris:
What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend listening and viewing
Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Bono's memoir, the Philly Orchestra playing Dancing On My Own, and Tove Lo's Dirt Femme. → Read More
In 'The Banshees of Inisherin,' friendship is war
In The Banshees Of Inisherin, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play two longtime drinking buddies who face a crisis when one of them decides he really doesn't want to be friends anymore. Set on a fictional island off the coast of Ireland, the film was written and directed by Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and is in theaters now. → Read More
What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend reading, listening and viewing
Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Devil in a Blue Dress, Evil, and more. → Read More
'Bullet Train' a high-speed fail
In the new film Bullet Train, Brad Pitt plays an assassin hired to steal a briefcase from a pair of rival assassins played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry. Also in the mix are Andrew Koji, Joey King, Bad Bunny, and Hiroyuki Sanada. It's directed by David Leitch (Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw). → Read More
It's man vs. moustache on 'The Gray Man'
The Netflix movie The Gray Man stars Ryan Gosling as an inmate who becomes an assassin for the CIA in exchange for his freedom. When a mission goes awry, he has to contend with a sociopathic ex-agent played by Chris Evans. It's directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, who made the Captain America and Avengers movies for Marvel. → Read More
Does 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' attain warp speed?
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, USS Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethan Peck) and their diverse crew boldly go exploring the galaxy. The Paramount+ series takes place a few years before the original series from the '60s, and new show's tone and narrative certainly feel like a return to old-school Star Trek. → Read More
'Titanic' was king of the world 25 years ago, and for good reason
When Titanic pulled into theaters 25 years ago, it quickly became an inescapable cultural juggernaut. Everything about it was huge: Its budget, runtime, box office, and accolades. And it catapulted Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet into a whole new stratosphere of fame. Now that we've got some distance from Leo Mania and "king of the world" jokes, how does James Cameron's epic hold up all these… → Read More
In 'The Northman,' it takes a pillage
In The Northman, Alexander Skarsgård plays a Viking prince who flees his island kingdom when his uncle kills his father and marries his mother. It's based on a very old but familiar story that predates Shakespeare's Hamlet by a few centuries. Directed by Robert Eggers, The Northman is a tale of bloody revenge with painstakingly researched historical accuracy surrounding the gods and monsters of… → Read More
Work/life get unbalanced in 'Severance'
In the excellent new Apple TV+ series Severance, a group of office workers are experiencing work-life balance on a whole other level. Adam Scott, John Turturro, and others play employees that have undergone brain surgery that completely separates their memories of work from their memories of their regular lives. Severance is a workplace satire, a futuristic thought experiment about identity, and… → Read More
What's Making Us Happy: A Guide For Your Weekend Watching, Listening And Reading
Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: the show Love Life, the podcast The Shrink Next Door and more. → Read More
A Rock and a Reynolds meet a Gal in 'Red Notice'
What has a wisecracking Ryan Reynolds, a glamorous Gal Gadot, a muscled Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and a very convoluted story about priceless eggs? It's the new Netflix action comedy Red Notice, which combines cars, boats and secret safes with ballroom dancing and a jailbreak — all in the same frame as three big-budget action leads. → Read More
What's making us happy: A guide for your weekend watching, listening and reading
Each week, the guests and hosts on Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. Today it's a new French horror movie, Titane, Netflix's Midnight Mass, and the web series Dimension 20. → Read More
Daniel Craig is the bookend Bond, giving 007's story a beginning — and an end
The last James Bond movie to star Daniel Craig is out today; Chris Klimek argues that Craig is the "bookend Bond," showing us 007 at the beginning and end, but never the prime of his career. → Read More
What's Making Us Happy: A Guide For Your Weekend Watching, Listening And Reading
Each week, the guests and hosts on Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. Today it's Making the Cut, The Twilight Saga and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. → Read More
What’s Making Us Happy: A Guide For Your Weekend Watching, Listening And Reading
Each week, the guests and hosts on Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. Today it's Making the Cut, The Twilight Saga and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. → Read More
What's Making Us Happy: A Guide For Your Weekend Watching, Listening And Reading
A top-secret cache of sperm is stored under the Space Needle in Hot White Heist. Bob Odenkirk stars as a suburban dad with a secret identity in Nobody. And it's Criterion Collection's neonoir month. → Read More
Only You Can Prevent Very Dramatic Fires: 'Those Who Wish Me Dead'
The new movie Those Who Wish Me Dead is a lot of things at once. It's the story of a smokejumper, played by Angelina Jolie, who battles terrifying forest fires. It's the story of a young kid chased by killers. And it's the story of a pregnant woman forced to defend herself. The film is directed by Taylor Sheridan, who wrote 2016's Hell Or High Water, and is now streaming on HBO Max. → Read More
'Star Wars' And Other Merchandise
Today is May the 4th, also known as Star Wars Day. The first Star Wars film spawned many sequels, TV series, videogames and a multi-billion dollar merchandise industry. So we thought it would be a good time to revisit our conversation about movie merchandise. In this encore episode, we talk about everything from Jar Jar Binks lollipops and E.T. dolls to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cereal, and… → Read More
'Without Remorse': Michael B. Jordan, But Make It Clancy
Michael B. Jordan has played a range of characters, from sympathetic figures like Wallace on The Wire, to an underdog in Creed and a swaggering antagonist in Black Panther. But Without Remorse marks a new era for Jordan as an action star. Based on Tom Clancy's best-selling 1993 novel of the same name, Without Remorse serves as the origin story for John Clark, an ex-Navy SEAL turned CIA operative. → Read More
'Die Hard': Welcome To The Podcast, Pal
There's no wrong time to talk about an influential Hollywood classic. So that's why we are talking about Die Hard. We will never get tired of Hans Gruber versus John McClane — Alan Rickman versus Bruce Willis — the real clash of the titans. So that's why we are bringing you this encore episode. → Read More