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.
-
Jackie Chan and Jet Li, two well-known martial arts film stars, just finished their first collaboration. Morning Edition and Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan says their new movie, The Forbidden Kingdom, was not worth the wait.
-
Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan reviews the film Young at Heart. It's a documentary about a choir made up of senior citizens who perform songs by rock, punk and soul music artists.
-
The story of a young soldier home from the war in Iraq is the subject of the movie Stop-Loss. Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan says the movie has a propulsive emotional intensity.
-
A new documentary tracks a 30-year battle over land use in Austin, Texas. The Unforseen focuses on a real-estate development project threatening a spring-fed swimming area. Robert Redford and Terrence Malick are the film's executive producers.
-
Writer-director Roland Emmerich, who is responsible for Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, has taken audiences to a lot of strange places. Not one of them was as strange as his 10,000 B.C.
-
Morning Edition's film critic reviews The Other Boleyn Girl. The movie is based on Philippa Gregory's best-selling novel, set in 16th-century England. At that time, Henry VIII was king — and Anne Boleyn was looking to replace his queen.
-
Morning Edition and Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan reviews the thriller Vantage Point. It's the story of an attempted assassination of the president told from the point of view of eight people. Turan says that it's trying to be like the classic Japanese film Rashomon, but it's more like the story of the blind men and the elephant.
-
Clever premise, winning cast compete with contrived situations and a script that doesn't trust it's warmer impulses. Ultimately, this romantic comedy is a mixed box of chocolates.
-
Sweet-natured and sharply pointed, The Band's Visit follows the adventures of an Egyptian musical group meant to be on a goodwill tour in Israel. Through a mishap, the band is stranded in a remote desert town.
-
The Cannes Film Festival is known for its highbrow fare, but every once in a while a crowd-pleaser sneaks into the mix. Caramel, a new film from Lebanon, was one such delight at the last festival.