The pharmaceutical industry and especially Pfizer will hate Ed Zwick’s forthcoming movie–Love and Other Drugs–which portrays drug reps  as money-grubbing sex fiends.  

But while the  film, starring   Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway,  is loaded withsex scenes and Viagra jokes, don’t be fooled: it’s funny and enjoyable for the most part but deals with some very difficult and provocative themes.

In the film,  neer-do-well salesman  Jamie Randall (Gyllenhaal) takes up with the beautiful and insightful  Maggie Murdoch (Hathaway) who, at age 26, has been diagnosed with Stage 1 Parkinson’s Disease. Like Erich Segal’s 1970 Love Story, the film portrays the joys of love but also the anguish that comes with any incurable illness– here, in the context of seemingly uncaring pharmaceutical and medical industries.

Hathaway is convincing, even mesmorizing as the artist and activist who brings old people to Canada to buy drugs. Gyllenhaal is believable and fun as a manipulative salesman who seduces, in one way or another, every woman he meets. The two portray their characters’ evolving realization/questioning of what’s important in life.

I enjoyed the film, but I left feeling unsettled and a bit disturbed–a result of tension between the funny and sad parts, worry about the future of the characters—and wonder about how I myself might deal with a loved one’s serious health issues

My friend K commented that while he liked the film, he felt it was opportunistic –that Zwick and the actors will make a ton of money–while people with Parkinsons and other incurable, debilitating diseases will just go on struggling. 

But I thought Zwick did a great job of personalizing and making more manageble what can sometimes seem like overwhelming problems,  and that he has performed an important service by asking serious questions in a way that will be palatable to a  mass audience.

I recently met Zwick– who was having a publicity photo  taken at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge–and asked why he made the film. It wasn’t for money, he said. He’d been impressed with Jamie Reidy’s  non-fiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, on which the movie is based,  and had personal experience with a situation like the one the movie describes.

For the pharmaceutical industry…it’s not a pretty picture. But I guess they’ll have to–and have the resources to –fend for themselves.

The film is to be released in late November. In the meatime, here’s a link to the official site and a trailer:  http://www.loveandotherdrugsthemovie.com/

—Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.

The City of Cambridge has proclaimed tomorrow (September 22, 2010) as “CCTV Day.” Cambridge Community Television–one of the City’s best resources for anyone who wants to learn TV production and computer skills–has asked everyone to spread the word. I’ve taken a number of good courses, there.  CCTV’s announcement follows.
–Anita M. Harris  
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.

CCTV News, September 21, 2010                  Special Announcement! 9/22/10 is CCTV Day!     What is CCTV Day?  The City of Cambridge has declared 9/22/10 (for CCTV’s Channels 9, 10 & 22!) “CCTV Day,” recognizing CCTV as a forum for Cambridge residents since 1988. To commemorate this special declaration and day, CCTV is hosting special programming and events in the evening of Wednesday, September 22. Please spread the word about the following, and tune in for the special programming! 1) Go to Harvard Square, Porter Square or Lechmere and look for our camera crews from 6-7pm. Tell your friends and neighbors, then tune in to Channels 9, 10 & 22 at 8pm to see yourself on TV! 2) Take a tour of our studio from 7-8pm. The first nine Cambridge residents (who have not been members) to stop by will receive a FREE CCTV membership! (Must show proof of Cambridge residency) 3) Tune in at 8pm to Channels 9, 10 & 22 for a LIVE program featuring Cambridge residents who use their CCTV programs for positive contributions to the community. (followed by footage from the squares; see #1).  computerCENTRAL Internships Open   CCTV’s computer lab seeks interns for our fall schedule. Unique   opportunity with great benefits and experience.The following internships are available: Public Access Computer Lab Hours – Sunday 4-5:30pm Provide support for members of the public in a variety of computer uses. Web Media Help – Friday 3pm-6pm Provide CCTV producers basic to advanced web media production help. Details and benefits of interning:     * Work 2-3 hours per week for up to 4 months     * Receive free membership to CCTV     * Take free classes for the duration of the internship     * Production opportunities available     * College credit possible     * Network with the local video production community     * Get valuable teaching experience. If interested in applying, please email your resume, 2 references, and availability to nicole@cctvcambridge.org. See http://www.cctvcambridge.org/computerinterns for more   information.   In This Issue CCTV Day computerCENTRAL Interns Needed This Week in NeighborMedia What’s Next: Aging in Cambridge Panel Discussion Urban Ag-Fair Celebrates Local Products Cambridge Carnival International 2010 is a Big Hit! Free Adult Education and Family Literacy Classes Cambridge Eyesores: For Sale and Now Only $1 Million! ACT Artist Interview: Merline Sylvain-Williams What Will the New Signage Regulations Mean for Cambridge? Want to be a NeighborMedia Correspondent? Click here to learn more!   Register as a User on CCTV’s web site Connect with the community, contribute blog posts, and more! www.cctvcambridge.org   Join our list

Enjoyed last night’s opening at the Davis-Orton Gallery  114 Warren St. in  Hudson, NY  (legit for this blog: Karen Davis and Mark Orton recently moved from Cambridge, MA and Karen is still teaching a photography workshop at Lesley College). The show features the work of John Chervinsky of Somerville, MA and Ernie Button, of Phoenix, AZ.

Chervinsky uses a complex process to come up with photos combining  still life, landscape, abstraction, hyperrealism, outer space and laboratory chalkboard diagrams –showing objects in spatial perspectives  that simultaneously intrigue and perplex  the viewer, as in  “Abstract Implosionism, ” above, left).

 “I see these photographs as posing questions without easy answers. My intent is not to express a single, narrow perspective, but to, among other things, expose the fallacy of doing so,” Chervinsky writes. 

While looking at one photograph, curator Karen Davis remarked, “I really like this pitcher.” It was a picture of a pitcher…somehow suspended in space with string that appeared to come from nowhere.

Ernie Button’s “Cerealism” is a set of landscapes composed of breakfast cereal arrangements (tho there is one of French toast). On first (and second) viewing, they appear to be abstracts of fields, deserts, the pyramids…but on closer look (at the titles, especially) you see that they are bits of Cap’n Crunch, Cheerios, and other breakfast edibles, sometimes color treated to create what the gallery writeup calls ” a magical quality and an odd sense of ‘reality’”. 

Much of Ernie Button’s imagery focus on the individual nature of objects and the unique qualities that each possesses.  “My images often provide a voice to objects that are ignored and are frequently overlooked or taken for granted,” Button writes.

It’s an  unusual and fun show, great in combination, not to be missed if you’re in the area.

Through September 19, 2010,

–Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.

Went to see my cousin (James Franco) in Eat, Pray Love with my 89-year-old mom, last night. It was so boring she wanted to leave BEFORE her second? third? cousin Mitzi’s grandson from Cleveland even came on. And he was only the FIRST boyfriend.

I made her stay to see him, at least, and we agreed, James  is VERY cute. (The server in the restaurant next door told us she wanted to KISS him).  When James got dumped, my mom asked me if I wanted to leave. (I didn’t–I wanted to see how they handled the ashram scenes).

At one point, Mom handed me a kleenex because we were supposed to be feeling sorry for the Julia Roberts character, who was really wallowing. I apologized  for making Mom stay. She told me no problem, she was enjoying the scenery (not sure if she meant James Franco or Rome) but, really, how many spaghetti closeups can one 89-year-old enjoy?

Made it through the ashram (which I thought was the best part of both the book and the movie, tho it’s not clear how Julia managed to have a spiritual conversion, her guru being a rather annoying Texan. ), then on to Bali.  Not clear how, in book or movie, Julia managed to have a spiritual converversion, her guru being a toothless medicine man who didn’t have much interesting advice except to go for the Brazilian.

My mom could not understand why she would go for such an old guy if she wanted to have children.  Especially when I pointed out that Julia Roberts is 42–but Mom said the character was supposedly in her 30s. She was very surprised to learn that it was a true story and that Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote the book, ended up marrying the Brazilian. So he could stay in the US.

My mom, who is getting a bit forgetful, told me that if she forgot the title and went to see it again I have her permission to put her in a home.

The upshot: James Franco is hot. Eat first, love the person you see it with, and pray you don’t have to sit through  it again.

–Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.

Loved Mao’s Last Dancer, a new film based on the true story of ballet dancer Li Cunxin, who, as a child, was pulled from his poor family in the Chinese countryside to train in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution–and through his own quest for freedom  wound up an international star.  

Directed by Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies)  the movie was filmed in China, Houston and Australia–and stars  Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Chi Cao, Australian Ballet dancer Chengwu Guo  and Huang Wen Bin, who play Cunxin at different ages. 

Mao’s Last Dancer showcases many beautiful–even breathtaking–ballet sequences from acclaimed Australian choreographer Graeme Murphy and co stars  co-stars Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan and Joan Chen.

The story is so moving that I even teared up at times–despite a bit of clunky acting ( foregivable because the artists are dancers, first, of course).

Mao’s Last Dancer premiered on 13rd September 2009, at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be opening in theaters Oct. 1, 2010.  I’d give it 3 and 3/4 stars–and a great recommendation for anyone who likes dance and US patriotism.

^{–Anita Harris}

^{New Cambridge}

The Cambridge Innovation Center and quite a few companies will be holding open houses this Thursday in Kendall Square, Cambridge–as part of the nine-day Cambridge Science Festival.

Billed on its Web site as “the first of its kind in the nation,”  the annual Festival opened on Saturday, April 24, to showcase  Cambridge as an internationally recognized leader in science, technology, engineering and math.  A multifaceted, multicultural event held every spring, the Cambridge Science Festival makes science accessible, interactive and fun.

A myriad of events–ranging from talks and panel discussions to demonstrations, luncheons, museum exhibits, elementary school science fairs  and company open houses–are listed at the  Festival’s Schedule of Events.

I expect to be at the Cambridge Innovotion Center open house at 1 Broadway  on Thursday evening–as will my client, InVivo Therapeutics, and   Vitality, Seeding Labs, Acorn Product Development,   HubSpot and other companies.   The Venture Cafe, on the 11th floor,  will be open to the public  from 6-9 pm.