Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello, who jokes that he was a jinx at the beginning of his critical career — hired to write for every small paper that ever folded in Washington, just as it was about to collapse — saw that jinx broken in 1984 when he came to NPR.
For more than three decades, Mondello has reviewed movies and covered the arts for NPR, seeing at least 300 films annually, then sharing critiques and commentaries about the most intriguing on NPR's award-winning newsmagazine All Things Considered. In 2005, he conceived and co-produced NPR's eight-part series "American Stages," exploring the history, reach, and accomplishments of the regional theater movement.
Mondello has also written about the arts for USA Today, The Washington Post, Preservation Magazine, and other publications, and has appeared as an arts commentator on commercial and public television stations. He spent 25 years reviewing live theater for Washington City Paper, DC's leading alternative weekly, and to this day, he remains enamored of the stage.
Before becoming a professional critic, Mondello learned the ins and outs of the film industry by heading the public relations department for a chain of movie theaters, and he reveled in film history as advertising director for an independent repertory theater.
Asked what NPR pieces he's proudest of, he points to an April Fool's prank in which he invented a remake of Citizen Kane, commentaries on silent films — a bit of a trick on radio — and cultural features he's produced from Argentina, where he and his husband have a second home.
An avid traveler, Mondello even spends his vacations watching movies and plays in other countries. "I see as many movies in a year," he says, "as most people see in a lifetime."
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Peter Dinklage stars in the new movie "Cyrano," Joe Wright's musical version of Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac."
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Two new books about a legendary silent film comic — Dana Stevens' Camera Man and James Curtis' Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life — give fans new reason to revisit Keaton's work.
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Actor Sidney Poitier died this week at 94. Critic Bob Mondello examines the crucial decade that made Poitier a box office star and changed the face of Hollywood.
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Known as a maverick filmmaker, Peter Bogdanovich made movies that ran the gamut from the bleak, coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show to zany comedies like What's Up Doc.
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Chloe Zhao, a director celebrated for intimate indie films, is in charge of the franchise blockbuster Eternals. Who wins in that situation: the franchise, the director or fans?
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Belmondo's breakout role was in the New Wave classic Breathless and it won him international fame. French President Macron mourned the passing of a man he called "a national treasure" on Twitter.
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The Pittsburgh-born actor was known for his awkward manner and sharp intelligence. In addition to performing, Grodin wrote and delivered commentaries, and was a regular guest on late-night television.
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After years of #OscarsSoWhite and #OscarsSoMale, industry observers are crowing over the 2021 nominations. This expanded diversity comes along with increased social consciousness in the year's films.
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Most awards seasons find film fans seeking out Best Picture nominees in the runup to the telecast, with the eventual winner reaping millions of additional dollars. But this year's bounce is a thud.
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With the closing of 300 screens, Hollywood laments the loss of the iconic Cinerama Dome; it opened in 1963 with the premiere of Stanley Kramer's wide-screen comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.