Celebrate the Women Who Inspire You: International Women’s Day
Posted on March 8, 2017 at 12:20 pm
Smile of the Week: Giving Unique Voices to Those Who Need Help Speaking
Posted on March 8, 2017 at 8:00 am
What could be more personal than a voice, and what can be more important in expressing our emotions? Famously, British scientist Stephen Hawking complained that the automated voice he was given had an American accent. This NBC news story shows how individualized voices are being created to help people express themselves.
If you want to participate, you can add your voice to the Voice Bank.
Trailer: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks with Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne
Posted on March 7, 2017 at 8:00 am
Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne star in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” based on the best-selling book by Rebecca Skloot. Lacks was a poor black woman who died at age 31 of cancer. Some cells taken without her knowledge in 1951 became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. For reasons no one understands, her cancer cells were remarkably vibrant, reproducing robustly and staying alive basically indefinitely. Some of the most significant advances of medical science in the next fifty years began with her cells. Her family knew nothing about it, and of course they were never paid for the use of the cells or the products developed with them.
There is now a school named after her: Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School
Tribute: TCM’s Robert Osborne
Posted on March 6, 2017 at 3:49 pm
We bid a sad farewell to Robert Osborne, the most gracious of gentlemen and the most devoted and erudite of movie fans.
Osborne’s love of old movies and the people who made them brought a new generation to movies made before their parents were born. His interviews were always fascinating and thoughtful and his books, including a history of the Oscars and a tribute to some of his most cherished favorites, are filled with illuminating insights and insider details.
Adam Bernstein’s touching tribute in the Washington Post noted:
As the suave, soothing public face of TCM, Mr. Osborne delivered revelatory tidbits before and after each screening, and he gently coaxed stars well past their prime (Patricia Neal, Tony Curtis, Betty Hutton) to speak tantalizingly of their career highs and lows.
Erudite without being snobbish, Mr. Osborne conveyed a seemingly limitless ardor for the job. He could enthuse about the 1940 Ann Sothern vehicle “Congo Maisie” as much as the Oscar-winning epic “Gone With the Wind” (1939).
The TCM host worked hard to intrigue first-time viewers, garnishing his segments with stories about backstage affairs and egos run amok amid filmmaking, and he tried to find new approaches to entice more-experienced viewers such as himself.
Like the movies he loved, he brought so much joy. May his memory be a blessing.
New Podcasts: Guilty Pleasure Movies, Why a Joke is Funny, and More
Posted on March 6, 2017 at 3:34 pm
I love podcasts so much I sometimes wish I had more places to drive to. Some I am especially enjoying right now:
Jesse David Fox hosts “Good One,” with each episode a discussion of one joke with the comic who wrote it. Guests include Jim Gaffigan, Kristen Schaal, and Neil Brennan.
Homecoming is an immersive audio mystery drama with sound effects, like in the old days of radio, starring Oscar Isaac, Catherine Keener, David Schwimmer, and David Cross.
Defend Your Movie allows its guest to argue in favor of a movie they think is unappreciated. Movies covered so far include “Speed,” “Cocktail,” and “Gotcha!”