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A 'War Story' With Big Ambitions And Mixed Results

Catherine Keener plays a traumatized journalist in War Story. IFC Films hide caption

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IFC Films

Review

A 'War Story' With Big Ambitions And Mixed Results

July 31, 2014 • The drama War Story is trying to wrap itself around both a personal story of a traumatized journalist and some larger social issues. Despite a strong central performance, it succeeds only partially.

Scott Haze stars in Child Of God, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy directed by James Franco. Well Go USA hide caption

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Well Go USA

Review

A 'Child Of God,' Or Maybe Not

July 31, 2014 • The very prolific James Franco directs a Cormac McCarthy adaptation that struggles to overcome a repulsive main character with whom it's almost impossible to empathize.

Maggie Gyllenhaal Is 'The Honorable Woman': A Series Both Ruthless And Rewarding

Maggie Gyllenhaal stars as Nessa Stein in the SundanceTV original series The Honorable Woman. Des Willie/Courtesy of Sundance hide caption

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Des Willie/Courtesy of Sundance

Maggie Gyllenhaal Is 'The Honorable Woman': A Series Both Ruthless And Rewarding

Fresh Air

July 31, 2014 • The eight-part drama that begins Thursday stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as a British baroness with an Israeli passport. She's a fearless actor in a show full of kidnappings, seductions and betrayals.

Maggie Gyllenhaal Is 'The Honorable Woman': A Series Both Ruthless And Rewarding

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Movie Math

July 31, 2014 • If Pythagoras were alive today, we think he'd be a movie buff. Multiply your film knowledge by your math skills in this quiz that asks you to perform computations with the numbers in movie titles.

Movie Math

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Can I Kick It? No, You Can't

July 31, 2014 • Listen, we're not your parents. We're not about to tell you what you can and can't do. Besides, the songs in this game, all of which contain the word "can't" in the title, take care of that for us.

Can I Kick It? No, You Can't

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Can't Place The Place Name

July 31, 2014 • Fame knows no geographic bounds in this game about celebrity-city name mashups. In what Florida city does the singer of "Nasty" hang out? That's "Janet Jacksonville."

Can't Place The Place Name

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John U. Bacon: Old MacDonald Went To College

Every Friday on Michigan Radio, John U. Bacon offers commentary on sports stories in the Mitten State. Courtesy of the guest hide caption

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Courtesy of the guest

John U. Bacon: Old MacDonald Went To College

July 31, 2014 • A sportswriter and a former Michigan Wolverines football player imagine the college days of a nursery rhyme farmer in this quiz about animal mascots and the noises they make.

John U. Bacon: Old MacDonald Went To College

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Sem-ANN-tics

July 31, 2014 • Don't get too annoyed with this final round. Like "annoyed," every answer contains the consecutive letters "A-N-N" somewhere within it. This game separates the canniest from the wannabes.

Sem-ANN-tics

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It's Eezy

July 31, 2014 • We're spotlighting both the most common and least common English letters in this game — E and Z. Every clue points to a word or phrase containing "E-E-Z" spelled consecutively. Easy!

It's Eezy

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Luke Song. Courtesy of Luke Song hide caption

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Courtesy of Luke Song

Luke Song: Hat's Entertainment!

July 31, 2014 • The milliner famous for designing Aretha Franklin's 2009 Inauguration chapeau plays a game about real people and fictional characters with iconic headgear.

Luke Song: Hat's Entertainment!

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Review

Where Love's Concerned, This 'Magic Barrel' Is No Magic Bullet

July 31, 2014 • Anya Ulinich's new graphic novel is inspired by Bernard Malamud's "The Barrel" — both star choosy loners looking for love. But Malamud's swoony violins and lit candles don't apply to Lena Finkle.

'Guardians Of The Galaxy': Let's Hear It For F.U.N.

Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) have some adventures together in the terrific new Guardians Of The Galaxy. Jay Maidment/Marvel hide caption

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Jay Maidment/Marvel

Review

'Guardians Of The Galaxy': Let's Hear It For F.U.N.

July 31, 2014 • The most surprising thing about the latest film in the Marvel Universe may be as simple as its genre: while it certainly has your space battles and big fights, it's a straight-up comedy.

Book News: George W. Bush Coming Out With Biography Of His Father

George H.W. Bush (left) congratulates his son George W. Bush as the two former presidents attend last year's dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. David J. Phillip/AP hide caption

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David J. Phillip/AP

The Two-Way

Book News: George W. Bush Coming Out With Biography Of His Father

July 31, 2014 • Also: a novel by Oscar Hijuelos will be published posthumously; Stephen Marche on the inevitability of literary failure.

This 'Suitcase' Is Packed With Sharp, Funny, Tragic Tales

Review

Book Reviews

This 'Suitcase' Is Packed With Sharp, Funny, Tragic Tales

July 31, 2014 • Yelena Akhtiorskaya's debut is a funny, sometimes heartbreaking, uniquely American chronicle of a family of Soviet immigrants who have transplanted a bit of their home to Brooklyn's Brighton Beach.

As 'Voluntourism' Explodes In Popularity, Who's It Helping Most?

Haley Nordeen, 19, is spending the entire summer at the Prodesenh center in San Mateo Milpas Altas, Guatemala. The American University student helped build the center's new library. Carrie Kahn/NPR hide caption

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Carrie Kahn/NPR

Goats and Soda

As 'Voluntourism' Explodes In Popularity, Who's It Helping Most?

July 31, 2014 • More young adults and teens are swapping suntanning and sightseeing for working in orphanages, building schools and teaching English abroad.

As 'Voluntourism' Explodes In Popularity, Who's It Helping Most?

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Thursday July 31, 2014

Review

Review

Fresh Air

Maggie Gyllenhaal Is 'The Honorable Woman': A Series Both Ruthless And Rewarding

Movie Math

Can I Kick It? No, You Can't

Can't Place The Place Name

John U. Bacon: Old MacDonald Went To College

Sem-ANN-tics

It's Eezy

Luke Song: Hat's Entertainment!

Review

Review

Review

As 'Voluntourism' Explodes In Popularity, Who's It Helping Most?