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Archive for February, 2012

Models at the Movies

Indigo® Instruments isn’t only about supplying scientific kit to schools technicians, homeschoolers and students doing their science fair project. No! A fair few molecular models and countless other items have made their way to Hollywood, got themselves on the small screen and featured in some offbeat web experiments.

VP Stephan Logan explains how Rob Cohen’s 2005 movie “Stealth” is described on the Internet Movie Database as “Surprisingly enjoyable”. Why? Because a plot line based on three pilots deeply ensconced in a top-secret military program struggling to bring an artificial intelligence program under control before it initiates WWIII sounds just so unsurprising. The movie features intense action, violence and innuendo. But, far more excitingly it also features a 17-layer DNA model from Indigo. So, for what was it those pilots needed a model of DNA? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.

One of Indigo’s “anatomically correct” 12-layer DNA models also features in the current hit movie “Fantastic Four.” In this marvelous piece of cinema, a group of astronauts gain superpowers after being exposed to cosmic radiation (yeah, right!) and are destined to use them in fighting the world-dominating plans of the evil Doctor Victor Von Doom. They couldn’t have thought of a more corny name for the villain, but at least the DNA molecular model used in the movie is scientifically accurate, having been built to the highest specifications by Indigo’s Logan himself.

Once again, superheroes are the subject of another movie to feature molecular model kits supplied to Hollywood by Indigo Instruments. In “Return of Zoom”, a movie based on the graphic novel “Zoom’s Academy for the Super Gifted” by Jason Lethcoe, an unpopular high school girl sent to superhero school by her “mysterious” father and discovers her hidden talents (a la Harry Potter, methinks). The makers of this movie, also utilized a DNA model from Indigo to reveal the inner workings of human genetics at the molecular level. Unfortunately, for Indigo’s image, the director asked for the model to be specially made so that it would fall apart easily. Don’t ask why, you’ll have to go see the movie. Needless to say, any models you buy from Indigo Instruments will be made to far more exacting standards and are guaranteed not to fall apart!

Stepping back from the superheroes, Indigo® Instruments was proud also to provide a whole series of chemical models for the making of Eddie Murphy blockbuster, “The Nutty Professor”. Mineral models including a huge zeolite model and a model of the structure of diamond were used to great effect in the movie as Professor Sherman Klump, desperately trying to lose weight, takes a chemical cocktail that morphs him into the slimly obnoxious Buddy Love. The mineral models feature prominently as classic examples of Klump’s laboratory equipment.

Molecular models from Indigo Instruments have not only caught Hollywood’s eye, but arthouse directors have turned to Indigo Instruments to supply them with molecular models too. So, Indigo can now lay claim to having appeared at the Toronto Film Festival.

DNA and other molecular models from Indigo, have also hit the small screen in TV crime show “Law & Order”, in sci-fi classic “Stargate Atlantis”, and on CBS News during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA.
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Nominated for 5 Golden Globes and 7 Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Million Dollar Baby opened to widespread critical acclaim and excellent audience reviews. Director Clint Eastwood, whose career spans multiple decades in Hollywood, creates perhaps his greatest film to date, and co-stars Morgan Freeman (Shawshank Redemption) and Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry) light up the screen with their deft character portrayals and unique charisma. Combining all the inspiration of Rocky with all the drama of a Greek tragedy, Million Dollar Baby is well-deserved of its Best Picture victory (despite the many protests of competing directors who think Eastwood won based on nostalgia for his heralded career and his personal likeability)…

Million Dollar Baby focuses on tough-skinned boxing manager Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood), proprietor of a local training gym who has long been estranged from his lone daughter and seems to have only one friend of note – Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris (Morgan Freeman). Eddie lives in and helps manage the gym, and he was once one of Frankie’s fighters. With Big Willie Little (Mike Colter, who once appeared in ER) under Frankie’s management, the gym hosts the daily workouts of a legitimate heavyweight title contender. But Frankie’s reluctance to move Big Willie along prompts him to switch to a less conservative manager, and Frankie must watch his years of hard work pay off for someone else. Meanwhile, 30-something Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) has scraped together the pennies and nickels necessary to train at the gym on a daily basis. Despite Frankie’s advice to quit making a fool of herself, she borrows equipment from Eddie and works out until all hours of the night…

With Big Willie out of the picture, Frankie finally confronts Maggie and agrees to train her. Over time, the two develop a close relationship akin to father/daughter. Maggie rises in the ranks of the female circuit until she reaches the title fight where a cheap sucker punch leads to tragic consequences… With emotional depth and colorful characters, Million Dollar Baby brings one of the most controversial issues of modern society into the forefront for an up-close-and-personal glimpse of the conflict and struggle experienced by trauma victims and their loved ones. Hilary Swank’s Oscar winning performance is on full display, and Morgan Freeman is his usual mesmerizing presence…
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It began as a simple idea. An animated dog in a rumpled trench coat, uttering the words, “You don’t know me yet. But you will.”

Twenty-five years and three generations later, people still recognize McGruff the Crime Dog as an American icon that is “taking a bite out of crime.”

In the early 1970s, most people thought it was strictly up to law enforcement to prevent crime. However, a group of concerned private citizens and government leaders believed that working individually and collectively, in tandem with the police, could aid in crime prevention.

Fast-forward to 1980, when an ad campaign – created by advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi and distributed by The Advertising Council Inc. – introduced McGruff the Crime Dog to the American public.

Originally, the National Crime Prevention Council’s iconic brand targeted adults with common-sense messages about everything from home security to neighborhood safety.

Over the years, he extended his reach to teens and children, teaching them how to protect themselves against the dangers of drug abuse and gun violence, and more recently, how to handle bullies and surf the Internet safely.

Since his debut, McGruff has been instrumental in showing adults and youth alike how their involvement can reduce crime. Today more than three out of four Americans believe they can personally do something to prevent crimes from occurring. Read the rest of this entry »

Nominated for six Academy Awards, and winner of three, Memoirs Of A Geisha holds its own as one of the best films of 2005. Veteran Hollywood screenwriter Robin Swicord does a superb job of adapting Arthur Golden’s bestselling novel to the big screen. This film has all the elements of a classic drama – jealousy, politics, intrigue, forbidden love, and an abundance of internal and external conflicts of varying types. Viewers in search of a typical Hollywood blockbuster will be greatly disappointed, but those who appreciate a good character-driven film which takes the time to develop the motivations of its cast and build to a climax will discover a splendid gem which offers a welcome escape from reality.

Memoirs Of A Geisha is narrated from the viewpoint of a nine year-old Japanese girl named Chiyo (Ziyi Zhang). Born into a poor fishing family, Chiyo and her sister are sold into slavery by their father. Chiyo is soon separated from her sister and finds herself in a geisha house where her new master, Mother (Kaori Momoi), will determine her destiny. Although only nine years of age, Chiyo sparks the ire of the much older Hatsumomo (Li Gong), the most celebrated geisha of the house, who accurately perceives Chiyo as a fitting rival.

Li Gong is excellent in her role as the vindictive, yet human, adversary, and her character manages to have Chiyo removed from geisha school and condemned to the life of a common slave. However, Chiyo’s life takes a turn for the better following a chance encounter with The Chairman (Ken Watanabe). Flanked by two geisha, The Chairman extends his kindness to Chiyo, prompting her to develop a lifelong crush and to dream of one day becoming a geisha herself. Chiyo’s wish comes true when a geisha from another house, Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), offers to personally train her, setting up an inevitable conflict between the two and Hatsumomo and her understudy. Meanwhile, the horrors of war and her lifelong pursuit of The Chairman’s love burden Chiyo with additional hardships.
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