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."
-
Looking back at the life of President Carter, we tend to focus on his humanitarian work after his presidency. A documentary released in 2024 depicted his time in office as an era of problem-solving.
-
Not even six weeks into its record-breaking run in theaters, Wicked is available for home viewing starting Dec. 31. Film critic Bob Mondello explains how theatrical releases have changed over time.
-
The year's box office numbers were down, due to the residual effects of actors' and writers' strikes, but quality wasn't dimmed. Bob Mondello's list of the 10 best movies of the year overflows.
-
Brady Corbet's monumental drama, The Brutalist, chronicles the journey of a Jewish architect who comes to the U.S. in 1947 and creates a troubled and troubling masterpiece.
-
Filmmaker RaMell Ross employs a unique visual strategy to tell the story of two teens trying to survive a racist Jim Crow-era reform school. The film is adapted from Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-winning novel.
-
Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Bourbon Balls, Somebody Somewhere, The Amazing Race and Tim Curry's performance of A Christmas Carol.
-
For better or — mostly — worse, Hollywood has helped shape the public's image of the health insurance industry in films ranging from John Grisham's The Rainmaker to the Oscar-winning As Good as It Gets.
-
Our critics gather together their favorite films and TV shows of 2024. You can search by genre and where you can see it.
-
Hollywood set an all time record over the Thanksgiving holidays. But does that actually mean anything? Movie critic Bob Mondello says it's wise to take the numbers with a grain of salt.
-
We bring you a selective guide to the would be blockbusters, awards contenders, and entertainments Hollywood's bring out before year's end.