Episode 325. Sentiment and Manipulation

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“The Reduced Shakespeare Company PodcastThe season three finale of Downton Abbey and last night’s Academy Awards prompt this conversation with NPR film critic Bob Mondello, with whom we have long wanted to discuss S&M. We discuss whether “sentimental” is an appropriate critical term, and look at tropes that affect even jaded hard-boiled critics, things that break your heart without being sentimental, whether all art is manipulative, how sentiment played into the fortunes of this year’s Best Picture, and the relationship between Pixar and Amour. (Length 19:59)

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