Search results for

Gritty streets, cops and human drama dominated many of the films of director Sidney Lumet. Network, 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and The Verdict are all instantly recognizable and socially relevant to their time. Lumet died Saturday at 86.

Director Joe Wright is best known for high-brow period pieces like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement. His new film, Hanna, tells a very different story: that of a teenaged super-assassin raised by her father in the Finnish wilderness.

A delegation from the African Union arrived Sunday in the Libyan capital Tripoli for talks with Libya officials. The union is calling for an immediate end to fighting, the delivery of humanitarian aid and dialogue between the government and the rebels. It's a message that so far seems to be getting a warmer reception from Gadhafi's supporters than from the rebels.

Since a contested presidential election in November, the West African nation of Ivory Coast has fallen into chaos. The country has long been in the decline, but at one point, it was considered the jewel of West Africa, its economy fortified by profits from cocoa exports. NPR's Linda Wertheimer talks with Yale professor Mike McGovern about the Ivory Coast's history and the events that led up to the current humanitarian crisis.

This past February, the artist known as Son Lux (a.k.a. Ryan Lott) wrote and recorded an entire album, from start to finish, in just four weeks. He documented the entire creative process on the All Songs Considered blog. Now, Lott is making the whole record available to hear.

Agadez contains some of the most sublime guitar licks you'll hear in 2011.

Unusual longevity often has a genetic basis, but geriatricians say that people who make it past 100 tend to exhibit a powerful trait called adaptive competence. When faced with adversity, they dust themselves off and move on, says commentator Dr. Mark Lachs, a geriatrics specialist. A bright attitude and sense of humor can go a long way.

Spring meetings of finance ministers on the global economy open in Washington, D.C., on Friday. The sessions will take place with a backdrop of continued disputes over world trade rules, and popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, where economies are stagnating.

The Japanese government says it may ask major businesses and institutions to reduce the amount of power they use by 25 percent this summer. The country is already suffering through rolling blackouts. Some businesses say the huge cuts may be difficult to endure.

Debra Dahlmer has never missed a mortgage payment. But her lender, Bank of America, still threatened to foreclose on her. After a saga that has lasted for more than a year and a half, there might finally be light at the end of the tunnel.