Pat Dowell

NPR's Pat Dowell reports on Whale Rider, the latest movie from the Maori people of New Zealand.

Gregory Peck, one of the enduring stars of Hollywood's golden age, dies at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87. More often than not, Peck played the hero. He won an Oscar for his 1963 role as the quietly courageous defense lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Pat Dowell offers a remembrance. (Please note this correction: "Listeners to the first feed of our program last Thursday may have heard an error in our obituary for Gregory Peck. Pat Dowell placed the story of To Kill a Mockingbird in Mississippi. That led Chuck Bearman, chief of staff in the office of Mississippi's secretary of state, to write. As he pointed out -- It was not set in Mississippi, but in Alabama.")

Pat Dowell profiles Canadian Director Guy Maddin, whose new movie, Pages from a Virgin's Diary, is a screen adaptation of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's production of Dracula. Maddin describes his movie making technique as "primitive," because he strives to give his story telling a dream-like effect. He was motivated to make this movie by curiosity about elements of female sexuality and male jealousy in the Dracula story.

Nominations for the 75th Academy Awards are announced. Chicago receives 13 nominations, including nods for best picture, director and actress Renee Zellweger. Gangs of New York gets 10 nominations, including director Martin Scorsese, while The Hours receives nine, including lead actress Nicole Kidman and supporting actress Julianne Moore. Hear film reporter Pat Dowell.

Pat Dowell reports on the new movie, City of God. It was filmed in the poorest slums of Brazil -- the favelas -- and used street children as its actors. The movie is giving the kids new visibility among Brazil's upper classes, and its makers began acting and filmmaking lessons in the favelas that are continuing past the film's completion.

Pat Dowell reports it's the 50th birthday of the French cinema magazine that helped Americans take their own movies more seriously. 'Positif' is being celebrated at the Museum of Modern Art in New York with a film festival and a retrospective.

The creators of the offbeat comedy Being John Malkovich have a new film out: Adaptation. Nicolas Cage stars as a screenwriter who struggles to adapt a non-fiction book into a screenplay. Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper also play key roles. Pat Dowell reports.

Mike Leigh's latest film, All or Nothing, is about three families living in a decrepit housing project. But the British writer and director says despite the depressing scenery, the movie has a hopeful outlook. Pat Dowell reports.

The indie effort Real Women Have Curves, a mother-daughter story, was made for cable TV -- then diverted to movie theaters after a successful debut at the Sundance Film Festival. Pat Dowell reports.