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A softly lit oil portrait of a young woman with a pearl earring is one of Johannes Vermeer's best-known paintings. The new film Girl with a Pearl Earring brings the story behind the famous image to the silver screen. Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

The seafaring adventure Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe, sails into theaters Friday. Like the Patrick O'Brian novels on which it is based, the film strives for historical authenticity on every last detail, including sound effects. NPR's Michele Norris talks with sound designer Richard King.

We remember actor, producer, author and comedian Alan King, who died Sunday. He was 76. King died in Manhattan's Sloan-Kettering Medical Center of lung cancer. He was known for his wry observations on suburbia and life at large.

In February 1860, Abraham Lincoln, an unknown lawyer from the West with no formal education, delivered a speech before a New York audience that transformed him into a serious presidential contender. A new book re-examines the Cooper Union speech credited with propelling Lincoln to the White House. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with scholar Harold Holzer about his new book, Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President.

Composer Stephen Schwartz has provided the music and lyrics for Broadway hits from Godspell to his latest, Wicked. He discusses the patchwork of artistic influences, from Beethoven to Sting, that have influenced his popular, emotionally powerful style. NPR's Neva Grant reports.

This week, a researcher revealed the ancestral homeland of Elvis Presley. Three hundred years ago, Andrew Presley worked as a blacksmith in the tiny village of Lonmay, Scotland, and the modern-day residents of Lonmay are bracing for the potential windfall of tourism. NPR's Liane Hansen speaks with Christina Gibbons, owner of the village's only hotel, the Bancar.

Violinists with the Beethoven Orchestra in Germany sue for a pay raise on the grounds that they play many more notes per concert than their musical colleagues. Orchestra officials, however, say the violinists knew this when they began taking violin lessons -- and if they wanted to play fewer notes, they should have chosen a different instrument. Kyle James reports.

In the ninth century, the Buddhist sage Lin Chi told a monk, "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." He meant that those who think they've found all the answers in any religion need to start questioning. The new book Killing the Buddha takes this advice to heart, examining American roadside distractions on the path to enlightenment. Chicago Public Radio's Jason DeRose reports.

On Thursday, Friends airs its last episode. The long-running Frasier is also winding to a close. Both shows have been keys to NBC's success and the network has been looking for replacements for years. But there hasn't been a breakout sitcom on any network hit since Will and Grace had its debut six seasons back. Some even say that sitcoms have lost their appeal. Two sitcom veterans -- Paul Reiser and Jim Burrows -- are trying to prove that the traditional sitcom lives. NPR's Kim Masters reports.

The band Modest Mouse has released their first album in four years. The group often referred to as the perfect indie-rock band suddenly finds itself enjoying pop success that had eluded it for 10 years. Mikel Jollett has a review of their new CD, Good News for People who Love Bad News.