"Room 237" evolves from an ode to movie love at its most delirious to a wry examination of the crackpot mind at work.
There's enough real evidence supporting the theory that Kubrick was a genius, and that's pretty entertaining all by itself.
It's about the human need for stuff to make sense - especially overpowering emotional experiences - and the tendency for some people to take that sense-making to extremes.
The results can range from enlightening - Kubrick did like to mess with things - to embarrassing. But it's never dull. "Room 237" shines.
It has the same entertainment value as listening to a late-night radio host indulge his listeners on Roswell, Area 51 and 9/11. Everything sounds completely crackers, until it all makes crazy sense.
What emerges from Room 237 is not a denigration of conspiracies, but a kind of celebration of our ability to create patterns where (perhaps) none exist.
"Room 237" could become an essential companion piece to "The Shining" from now on. For those who see both, it will be impossible to think about one without the other.
...all about the work of criticism - finding fresh avenues of delight.
Watching it makes you feel like you're attending a really entertaining film class where your classmates confidently let their freak flags fly.
It's an essay about the human need to reject the notion of a random universe and find order and meaning in existence. These people are developing their own creation myths, with Kubrick the mastermind responsible for the Intelligent Design.
Termitic film nerds could chow down for years on the wood chips.
You know when "Room 237? starts getting really scary? When the people in the film start making sense.
Kubrick fans and movie geeks will want to check this film out as soon as possible
Kubrick fans will take 'Shining' to 'Room 237.'
The credibility of these theories ranges from faintly plausible to frankly ridiculous, but Ascher isn't interested in judging them; his movie is more about the joys of deconstruction and the special kind of obsession that movies can inspire.
Some of the interpretations seem more of a stretch than others but all are entertainingly presented by director Rodney Ascher. (The movie) serves as a testament to Stanley Kubrick's cinematic mastery.
As fascinating as it is frustrating
It is nice to see a doc that makes you smile instead of making you angry. Anyone who is a fan of Stanley Kubrick will eat this up.
Powered by a deep and abiding affection for both The Shining and Kubrick in general, Room 237 is an amuse-bouche of remix culture.
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Study shows how young genes become essential for lifePublic release date: 7-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christine Buckley christine.buckley@uconn.edu 860-486-0680 University of Connecticut
Researchers from UConn and other institutions in the U.S. and abroad have shown how a relatively young gene can acquire a new function and become essential to an organism's life.
Using a combination of techniques, including phylogenetics, molecular biology, and video microscopy, the scientists show that a novel essential gene in fruit flies, born via the process of gene duplication, is only 15 million years old and yet has acquired, in a stepwise fashion, a new job so important that the flies can't live without it. The study is published in the June 6 edition of Science.
"The majority of these genes are not going to acquire essential functions" of genes that, like the one they studied, have been duplicated, says Barbara Mellone, assistant professor of molecular and cell biology in UConn's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "But the interaction network is completely rewired for this gene."
Mellone and her colleagues at the University of Washington, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and the University of Munich traced the evolutionary steps by which a gene from the well-known fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, known as Umbrea, acquired its essential role. The gene is vital to chromosome segregation, the process of splitting genetic material when cells divide to generate more cells, tissues, and organisms.
"The genus Drosophila offers an unprecedented system in which to study gene evolution because of the detailed evolutionary and genomic data available," says Mellone. "Learning about how new genes acquire new functions is crucial to understanding how whole genomes undergo functional innovation, which is what is needed for new traits to appear in populations that natural selection can act upon."
What puzzled the scientists is that Umbrea plays the role of strengthening the connections between chromosomes, making sure that chromosome segregation happens correctly. And although it is also present in other species of fruit fly, it's not essential in all of them. How then could a gene that has only been around for a fraction of this species' history have acquired such an essential role?
To understand this paradox, the researchers used gene sequencing to understand the gene's history and captured video of cells with Umbrea removed dividing under a microscope in Mellone's laboratory. Their methods showed that after its birth, Umbrea was lost in some of the species, but in one species, Drosophila melanogaster, cells without it failed to segregate chromosomes correctly, confirming its critical role.
But their results also showed that several stepwise changes led to Umbrea's current-day time in the limelight: it lost its previous, nonessential function; the network of proteins it interacts with was completely rewired, and it acquired new, "tail" domains on the ends of its sequence that allowed it to relocate to the centromere, a structure present on all chromosomes in all species, necessary for genome segregation during cell division.
"This gene emerged and wasn't going either way, toward or away from essential function," says Mellone. "Then something happened elsewhere to help make it essential."
The researchers argue that although most duplicated genes either become non-functional or are simply lost, keeping some of them around might benefit cells in the long run.
"Centromere proteins experience rapid evolution in many organisms, including humans, in a constant 'arms race' that exists to maintain the equal segregation of genetic traits," says Mellone.
So if the genes involved in genome partitioning are evolving so fast, then perhaps it's a good idea to keep other, nonfunctional genes around those that can acquire new essential functions when necessary.
The scientists suggest that this could change the way scientists think about other biological processes that may require recurrent genetic innovation to adapt to new challenges.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Study shows how young genes become essential for lifePublic release date: 7-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christine Buckley christine.buckley@uconn.edu 860-486-0680 University of Connecticut
Researchers from UConn and other institutions in the U.S. and abroad have shown how a relatively young gene can acquire a new function and become essential to an organism's life.
Using a combination of techniques, including phylogenetics, molecular biology, and video microscopy, the scientists show that a novel essential gene in fruit flies, born via the process of gene duplication, is only 15 million years old and yet has acquired, in a stepwise fashion, a new job so important that the flies can't live without it. The study is published in the June 6 edition of Science.
"The majority of these genes are not going to acquire essential functions" of genes that, like the one they studied, have been duplicated, says Barbara Mellone, assistant professor of molecular and cell biology in UConn's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "But the interaction network is completely rewired for this gene."
Mellone and her colleagues at the University of Washington, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and the University of Munich traced the evolutionary steps by which a gene from the well-known fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, known as Umbrea, acquired its essential role. The gene is vital to chromosome segregation, the process of splitting genetic material when cells divide to generate more cells, tissues, and organisms.
"The genus Drosophila offers an unprecedented system in which to study gene evolution because of the detailed evolutionary and genomic data available," says Mellone. "Learning about how new genes acquire new functions is crucial to understanding how whole genomes undergo functional innovation, which is what is needed for new traits to appear in populations that natural selection can act upon."
What puzzled the scientists is that Umbrea plays the role of strengthening the connections between chromosomes, making sure that chromosome segregation happens correctly. And although it is also present in other species of fruit fly, it's not essential in all of them. How then could a gene that has only been around for a fraction of this species' history have acquired such an essential role?
To understand this paradox, the researchers used gene sequencing to understand the gene's history and captured video of cells with Umbrea removed dividing under a microscope in Mellone's laboratory. Their methods showed that after its birth, Umbrea was lost in some of the species, but in one species, Drosophila melanogaster, cells without it failed to segregate chromosomes correctly, confirming its critical role.
But their results also showed that several stepwise changes led to Umbrea's current-day time in the limelight: it lost its previous, nonessential function; the network of proteins it interacts with was completely rewired, and it acquired new, "tail" domains on the ends of its sequence that allowed it to relocate to the centromere, a structure present on all chromosomes in all species, necessary for genome segregation during cell division.
"This gene emerged and wasn't going either way, toward or away from essential function," says Mellone. "Then something happened elsewhere to help make it essential."
The researchers argue that although most duplicated genes either become non-functional or are simply lost, keeping some of them around might benefit cells in the long run.
"Centromere proteins experience rapid evolution in many organisms, including humans, in a constant 'arms race' that exists to maintain the equal segregation of genetic traits," says Mellone.
So if the genes involved in genome partitioning are evolving so fast, then perhaps it's a good idea to keep other, nonfunctional genes around those that can acquire new essential functions when necessary.
The scientists suggest that this could change the way scientists think about other biological processes that may require recurrent genetic innovation to adapt to new challenges.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
This is the best thing you'll see all day. John Maguire is fighting Mitch Clarke at UFC 161, and he has plans and an outfit for a walkout to remember, with a catch. Maguire will wear Tobias F?nke-esque shorts to the cage while listening to "Maniac" if he gets 10,000 followers on Twitter. The video above is just a hint of what's to come if you follow Maguire. As of this writing, he's at 9,492 followers. Get him to 10K by following him here.
After unboxing last week's Galaxy S4 Mini, Samsung is keeping the pedal pressed to the metal by announcing another new launch variant of its current flagship smartphone -- this time aimed at users who want their device to be made of slightly tougher stuff. Iterating its portfolio in this way is how Samsung squeezes the competition by making it harder for them to differentiate.
Want a way to communicate with your team and are tired of doing so over email? Honey is a new communications platform that allows employees to have an internal message board for sharing interesting news stories or conversations and access them any time. Honey provides a SaaS-based tool for internal communications between employees within companies. The platform looks kind of like Reddit, in that users are shown a list of topics or links, which they can comment on or upvote to raise the profile of a discussion. But while Reddit is, of course, designed to allow anyone to communicate with other members of the Internet, Honey is positioned as an application for internal teams.
If you so much as touched a computer in the 1990s, we'd wager that the mere mention of You Don't Know Jack will bring back a flood of memories. Jellyvision's irreverent trivia game has seen a resurgence in popularity over the last few years, with its presence expanding to Facebook, iOS and Android, and the Jack Attack isn't stopping there: beginning June 11th, you can "Screw Your Neighbor" on the OUYA game console. You'll be able to get a trial 11-question episode for free or upgrade to get a full set of 20 games. Cleverly, this version includes a new feature called Party Play which lets up to three additional players compete against you by turning iOS and Android devices into external controllers. Not a bad addition for OUYA users eager to answer questions like the one you see above (and if you're curious, we're pretty sure the answer is "The Keebler Elves").
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's trip to Africa next month may result in a stark juxtaposition between the growing power of the gay rights movement in the U.S. and the criminalization of homosexuality throughout the African continent.
Obama is scheduled to be in Africa in late June and early July ? the same period in which the Supreme Court is likely to issue highly anticipated rulings on a pair of gay marriage cases. The court does not say in advance when its rulings will be issued, but the gay marriage cases are expected to be among the last decisions announced before the justices begin their summer break at the end of June.
Homosexuality is considered a criminal offense in many African nations, including Senegal and Tanzania, two of the countries Obama will visit. South Africa, the third country on the president's itinerary, has broad protections for homosexuals and is the only African country to legalize gay marriage.
Gay rights activist Richard Socarides said Obama could use the rulings as a "teachable moment" if the justices move to expand rights for same-sex couples.
"If the timing works out so that he's there, it may provide a perfect opportunity for him to speak out about the principles we value in our democracy and how we would hope that others follow it," said Socarides, who worked in the White House during the Clinton administration.
The White House wouldn't say what role gay rights would play in Obama's trip but noted that the administration "unequivocally advocates against violence and discrimination" against gays and lesbians, both in Africa and elsewhere around the world.
One of the cases before the Supreme Court is a challenge to California's voter-approved Proposition 8 that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The other seeks to strike down a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that denies to legally married same-sex couples a range of benefits that generally are available to married heterosexuals. Obama supports overturning both measures.
The president has frequently called on countries around the world to end discrimination against gays and lesbians. In 2011, he directed the State Department to "ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of" gays, lesbians and transgender people. That included having diplomats "combat the criminalization" of being gay by foreign governments.
According to the State Department's 2012 human rights report on Tanzania, consensual same-sex sexual conduct is illegal and carries a prison sentence of 30 years to life. The report also concluded that gays and lesbians face "societal discrimination that restricted their access to health care, housing and employment" and that there were no government efforts to combat such discrimination.
Conditions are similar in Senegal, according to the State Department. The agency's 2012 human rights report on the West African nation says consensual same-sex activity, referred to in the law as an "act against nature," is a criminal offense.
Underscoring the continent's tough penalties for gays and lesbians, Nigeria's House of Representatives voted Thursday to ban gay marriage and outlaw any groups actively supporting gay rights, endorsing a measure that also calls for 10-year prison sentences for any public show of affection by a same-sex couple. It's unclear whether Nigeria's president will sign the measure.
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Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.
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Public release date: 7-Jun-2013
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After unboxing last week's Galaxy S4 Mini, Samsung is keeping the pedal pressed to the metal by announcing another new launch variant of its current flagship smartphone -- this time aimed at users who want their device to be made of slightly tougher stuff. Iterating its portfolio in this way is how Samsung squeezes the competition by making it harder for them to differentiate.
Want a way to communicate with your team and are tired of doing so over email? 