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Ancient Rome and Greece seem to be the hot topics for major motion pictures once again. Troy, with Brad Pitt as Achilles, opens in theaters next weekend. Alexander, directed by Oliver Stone, opens this summer. Pat Dowell reports on why filmmakers find the ancient venues so appealing.

Actor Tony Randall, best known for his role as the fusspot Felix Unger in the 1970s TV sitcom The Odd Couple, died Monday night of complications from a long illness. He was 84. Randall began working in radio in the 1940s but spent most of his career in film and the theater. NPR's Steve Inskeep has a remembrance.

Jim Fusilli reviews Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava's latest CD Easy Living, which he says blends elements of traditional American jazz with a unique Italian touch.

Bassist Viktor Krauss has appeared on the CDs of many Grammy nominees and Grammy-winning artists: Bill Frisell, Elvis Costello, Graham Nash, Dolly Parton. He plays on Lyle Lovett's My Baby Don't Tolerate, nominated this year for Best Country Album. But now Viktor Krauss gets to shine on his own with his debut solo CD Far From Enough. Krauss speaks with NPR's Brian Naylor.

NPR's Michele Keleman talks to author Cormac O'Brien, whose book Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents details some great and some not-so-great background stories of America's presidents.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with David Evans, editor of Air Safety Week, about methods of investigating airline disasters, and NOVA's documentary Crash of Flight 111, which airs tonight on PBS. The program describes the events -- and investigation into -- the crash of an airliner off Nova Scotia that killed 229 people in 1998.

Movie makeup artist Ve Neill is up for her fourth Oscar for her work on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. For Intersections, a Morning Edition series on artists and their inspirations, Neill discusses how an early love of horror flicks helped fuel her career transforming Hollywood's faces.

NPR's coverage of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 2003 Oscar awards: Film music critic Andy Trudeau talks about the Oscar-nominated film scores, and dissects how music can make a good film great.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Stephen Webber, Berklee College of Music professor and author of Turntable Technique: The Art of the DJ. Webber teaches students to use the turntable as a musical instrument in a class he says is the first of its kind at a college of music. Webber demonstrates DJ techniques -- scratching, juggling beats and crabbing -- using turntables and a mixer.

Crimson Gold, a film by Jafar Panahi, won awards at the Cannes Film Festival this year. But its critical view of class divisions in contemporary Iranian society has left it banned in Iran. NPR's Bob Mondello offers a review.