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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A new documentary tells the story of the first all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World sailing race in 1989. The crew was led by a 24-year-old and the boat was called Maiden.
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Hollywood studios tend to release their prestige films at the end of the years, and several movies are especially notable, according to film critic Kenneth Turan.
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A biopic about Jacqueline Kennedy opens on Friday, and centers on the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Our reviewer says Jackie is a transporting and transfixing biopic.
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There has already been a high-profile documentary about Edward Snowden. Now comes a drama from a filmmaker known for dramatizing the Vietnam war and the Kennedy assassination.
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In 1959, Charlton Heston starred in Oscar-winning movie Ben-Hur. The question is: Why take another turn at making a film that defined epic when it was released, and was itself a remake?
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In Jason Bourne, the latest in the secret agent series starring Matt Damon, director Paul Greengrass presents a thriller relevant to today's world, says Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times.
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Japanese dramas don't get the publicity of that country's animated films but our reviewer says there is a new drama that deserves our attention. He says Our Little Sister must be seen to be believed.
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Pixar's sequel to Finding Nemo opens 13 years later and it's called Finding Dory. In it, Nemo's friend Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, goes on a quest to find her parents.
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Captain America: Civil War is the latest offering from the Marvel universe and it's a thriller with strong political themes. It already opened overseas and has brought in more than $200 million.
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Jeff Nichols has made a few other films, but his latest, Midnight Special, is him moving up to another level — reminiscent of Steven Spielberg, says our film critic.