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The documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown finally throws a spotlight on the Funk Brothers -- a house band Berry Gordy created in 1959 to back the parade of star singing groups that populated "Hitsville USA" through the 60s and beyond. Tom Vitale reports.

ABC news executive Roone Arledge, a television pioneer, dies at 71. Arledge was largely responsible for the development of instant replay, slow motion and many other techniques during his TV sports career, then took the same innovative approach to news coverage. NPR's Jason DeRose reports.

The Madrigal Singers of the National Cathedral School for girls and St. Alban's School for boys perform at NPR. They sing three Christmas carols, including "Silent Night" in Japanese. The 22 performers were picked from a 90-member choir directed by Ben Hutto. NPR's Robert Siegel listens in.

Paris, the City of Light, once was the city of pig manure. It's a story told in Alistair Horne's The Seven Ages of Paris, a history of the French capital that captures medieval filth as well as modern grandeur. Horne speaks to NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Director Martin Scorsese spent 25 years making the film Gangs of New York, a story of murder and revenge set against a lavish recreation of 1860s Manhattan. Daniel Day Lewis, Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio star. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan offers a review.

British writer Nick Smith's Milk Treading follows an investigative-reporter type named Julius as he ferrets out facts about the suicide of his best friend. By the way, Julius is a cat. The novel is a mystery, but it has some parallels to George Orwell's Animal Farm Smith speaks with NPR's Jacki Lyden.

Mexico's biggest box-office hit ever is The Crime of Father Amaro. The story of a corrupt priest might have been censored a few years back. But Mexico's film world is changing. NPR's Mandalit Del Barco reports.

NPR's Andy Bowers reports on Ulitsa Sezam, the Russian Courtyard that's home to Zeliboba and his friends - Vlas and Yenick, and Aunt Dashe. If this sounds familiar, it is. The Russian version of Sesame Street premiered today, brought to you by the letter Bukva. There was concern before the show made it to Russian airwaves that it might be just another unwanted import of American culture, although it's too soon to tell what public reaction is to the show.

In the new film About Schmidt, Kathy Bates plays Roberta Hertzel -- an aging hippie and free spirit. Jack Nicholson plays the repressed insurance salesman Warren Schmidt. In one scene Bates strips nude in front of Nicholson. It's the scene everyone is talking about. NPR's Michele Norris talks with Kathy Bates about the scene and about her career in film.

From comedy to adventure to romance, NPR film critic Bob Mondello delivers a primer on the holiday movie season. Many of the year's biggest blockbusters and Oscar nominees will hit the theaters between now and New Year's Day. (8:00)