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<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">SeanPavonePhoto / Shutterstock.com </p></div><keyword id="194302" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Thomas-Pynchon">Thomas Pynchon</keyword>, the writer famous for "Gravity's Rainbow" and "V," is working on a new novel about a New York-based startup following the dotcom bubble of 2001.</p>
<p>Pynchon's new novel will be called "Bleeding Edge" and will launch Sept. 17, <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/pynchon-takes-on-silicon-alley/?src=twr">according to the New York Times</a>.</p>
<p>According to Penguin's minimal description of the book, the story will cover "<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">the lull between the collapse of the dot-com boom and the terrible events of September 11."</span></p>

Thomas Pynchon Is Writing A Novel About A New York Startup In The Dot-Com Bubble Era

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jon Rainwater instructs safety drivers for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/waymo">Waymo</a> Via, the self-driving company's freight and deliveries unit.</li><li>He enjoyed a lively career before joining <keyword id="3953498" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="waymo">Waymo</keyword> in 2019 — early on as an Army intelligence analyst, and later transporting hazardous waste and driving trucks for many years.</li><li>His exposure to the dangerous side of trucking convinced him that there had to a better way, so he was ready to become a Waymonaut when the job became available.</li></ul><p><em>Editor's note: For an ongoing series, Business Insider has been talking with Waymo employees from different parts of the company to learn more about their work. What we discovered were some of the coolest jobs at <keyword id="6357623" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="alphabet">Alphabet</keyword>, Waymo's parent company. This is the latest profile in the series. To read the others, click <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/working-at-waymo">here</a>. For a brief history of Waymo, click <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-car-project-history-2018-8">here</a>.</em></p><p>The most remarkable thing about Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous <keyword id="34991" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="transportation">transportation</keyword> spinoff once known as the <keyword id="6355629" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword> Car project, isn't that it has developed vehicles that can drive themselves. Rather, it's the vast range of people, from all walks of life, who are tackling the challenge.</p><p>Take Jon Rainwater, for example. In the late 1970s, as he put it in an interview with Business Insider, the former Army intelligence analyst was "watching the Russians."</p><p>After Rainwater left the service, he attended Lewis &amp; Clark College in Oregon, but later gravitated toward staffing armored cars, with the Federal Reserve as a client. That was decades ago, but his life already had the makings of a Thomas Pynchon novel. He was, at the very least, keeping things interesting.</p><p>It got even more interesting when he decided to get a Class A truck-driver's license. Rainwater borrowed a truck, practiced on his own, and passed his tests as a self-taught student. But work didn't come easy, so he wound up doing hazardous-waste jobs — "lead concentrations, radioactive material, massive cleanups," he said — eventually getting experience behind the wheel.</p><p>Local work in Los Angeles and San Francisco led to more substantial over-the-road work in the ensuing years, but Rainwater also saw firsthand how drivers were overworked, leading him to begin thinking that there might be a better way to move stuff around without endangering the public.</p><h2>A diversity of experience at Waymo</h2><p><div type="image" title="Jon Rainwater Waymo" height="1200" width="1600" msid="76716592" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Rainwater didn't necessarily expect to end up working with Alphabet.</p><p>But Waymo isn't just about transporting people, like it's been doing since late 2018 with its Waymo One service in limited markets. According to CEO John Krafcik, the Waymo "driver" — an integrated suite of hardware and software systems — should be able to handle freight and deliveries as well. So Waymo has a trucking unit, and in 2019, Rainwater joined it through a contractor called Transdev.</p><p>"Waymo doesn't want to limit itself," he said. "It needs diversity of experience and figured this out a long time ago. They needed to have contributions from all sectors. That's what separates them."</p><p>By the time the opportunity came around, Rainwater was aware of what Waymo was up to.</p><p>"When I heard about it two or three years ago, I told myself I wish I could take my experience and contribute," Rainwater said.</p><p>Rainwater started out training safety drivers for Waymo's minivans — the company uses Chrysler Pacificas for its Waymo One — but he's now based in Arizona and works as a commercial driver's license instructor.</p><p>That move came after Rainwater effectively volunteered to create a trucking educational program for Waymo U, the organization's training arm. His responsibilities include instructing safety drivers for Waymo Via, under which the trucking effort operates.</p><p>"It's really exciting." Rainwater said of Waymo's progress, adding that the company is "testing the next generation of equipment." That equipment can now scan the entire area around an autonomous truck to a greater distance, Rainwater explained, with more detail and accuracy and at a lower cost. </p><p>Understandably, for his job, Rainwater gets around — prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and Waymo's idling all real-world testing, he could spend 30 hours a week in a truck, rather than tied to a desk. </p><p>"Sometimes, I'd make a run to Tucson and back, about 220 miles around trip," he said of the journey from metro Phoenix in one of Waymo's Class 8 tractor trailers. "The truck can do that trip as a cruise. I'm making sure nothing goes wrong." </p><p>Rainwater also gives Waymo's corporate partners a taste of the technology in action. But he also knows how to pace himself.</p><p>"When I was younger, I'd hit the shower, hit the door, and hit the road," he said. But now he wakes up a few hours ahead of getting into his workday, exercises, and makes breakfast.</p><p>"I've really got to have my head together," Rainwater said. "I start my day slowly and evolve into it."</p><p>His first order of business, like many "Waymonauts" — Waymo's term for its employees — is to simply catch up on how the rapidly moving technology has developed since he went to sleep.</p><p>"I review notes and logs and apps that the engineers are sending forward, to see the new advancements," he said. "This whole field changes almost daily."</p><h2>Safety comes first</h2><p><div type="image" title="waymo" height="1019" width="1359" msid="76716595" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The training that Rainwater conducts has both an online aspect and an on-the-road element. The former entails some classroom instruction, assorted smartphone apps, and online testing. It also involves protocols for radars and "laser radar," or lidar units, including how to keep these critical sensors clean.</p><p>On the road, Rainwater starts new drivers out in a parking lot to accustom them with hooking up a tractor and a trailer, then moves on to familiarizing them with modified controls in the cab.</p><p>"There are so many that it can be distracting," he said. That applies even to some of the seasoned truck drivers who already had Class A licenses.</p><p>Eventually, these drivers will report their on-road learnings, good and bad, back to the Waymo engineers who are perfecting the hardware, improving the software, and running what the company reported currently adds up to 10 billion simulated test miles, to go along with over 20 million real-world miles. (Waymo has been testing Class 8 trucks since 2017, in states including Georgia, California, Texas, and Arizona.)</p><p>Rainwater's ultimate goal is to have the drivers he trains understand Waymo's history and match his own high standards, particularly when it comes to safety.</p><p>"I've never worked in an environment where safety has played such a big role," he said. "It's the complete opposite of my early trucking experience."</p><p>A life in trucking can be a lonely one, especially for long-haul drivers. Rainwater's background has helped him to understand that, and to appreciate what Waymo wants to do: among other things, help alleviate a potential shortfall of over 100,000 truckers in the coming decade.</p><p>"The team is amazing," he said. "I'm not a one-man band."</p>

How a former soldier went from self-taught truck driver to helping Alphabet's Waymo usher in the era of self-driving semis

<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Inherent Vice" is sure to be labeled Paul Thomas Anderson's "<span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Lebowski-Jeff-Bridges/dp/B00181JGI2">The Big Lebowski</a>,</span>" another sprawling and goofy crime comedy. W</span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">hile that comparison is certainly apt, his take on the comedic film noir stands entirely on its own. Based on Thomas Pynchon's novel, it's part throwback to '70s neo-noir, part stoner comedy, and its inspired madness is effectively brought to life thanks to Anderson's assured direction.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The film follows hippie detective Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix)</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> as he investigates the mysterious </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">disappearance of a former girlfriend. The film takes place in 1970, when the hippie movement was slowing to a standstill as Richard Nixon and his "silent majority" took hold of the country. </span></p>
<p><span>Anderson is the first director to ever tackle a novel by Pynchon, a notoriously complex and heady writer. T</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">he resulting film is anything but traditional and is sure to leave plenty of viewers scrat</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">ching their heads over what the hell they just watched. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="color: #000000;">Seemingly justifying the occasionally incoherent narrative, </span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">a</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">t a panel following the film's premiere in New York, Anderson stated: "I never remember plots of movies. I remember how they make me feel." </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>"Inherent Vice" is steeped in Charles Manson-era hippie paranoia. In this world, according to the powers that be, everyone with shoulder-length hair and a vague patchouli stench is a lunatic cult-member ready to attack Americans at a moment's notice. The film's protagonist falls into this category, which make his attempts at solving this confusing affair even more difficult, no matter how professional he tries to be. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>I can't recall one scene in the entire movie that doesn't feature Phoenix; it's essentially a one-man show<span style="background-color: #ffffff;"> starring a pot-smoking hippie who obliviously stumbles from one major clue to the next.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span style="background-color: #ffff00;"><span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">The real comedy in the film stems from the fact that Sportello is caught up in a conspiracy that he can barely understand, let alone solve. It's pure joy to watch Phoenix trip his way through solving the elaborate mystery, and all of his exchanges with Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro are hilarious. Every supporting role appears to have been filled with a perfectly capable A-lister, so even the more insignificant characters are intriguing in their own way. Plenty </span></span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">of laughs stem from Phoenix's physicality, and it's astounding what he can accomplish with simply a look (a scene with a frozen banana scene had me and the audience howling). </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span style="background-color: #ffff00;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span>The dialogue is full of hippie slang (try and count the number of times you catch someone utter "far out" or "right on") that helps establish the setting and mood, and Sportello's sheer indifference to his surroundings really drives the whole "stoner hippie" angle home. Sportello is constantly referred to as a "doper," and it truly fits - the man smokes more joints in the film's two and a half hours than most people do throughout four years in college. </span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em; background-color: #ffffff;">There are a few sequences that bend reality and feel hallucinatory, ensuring we're never quite sure what Sportello is really seeing. Pynchon's words are brought to the screen through narration by the quirky folk singer </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em; background-color: #ffffff;">Joanna Newsom whose musings only add to all the uncertainty. The narrative is purposefully muddled and disorienting, as the audience sees things from Sportello's unreliable point of view. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The film is often weird for the sake of being weird and only gets more bizarre as it moves along; by the time Martin Short shows up in a hilarious cameo, the film has already gone off the deep end. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p>"Inherent Vice" looks nothing like Anderson's other recent works - the beautifully composed and breathtaking cinematography that fills "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/There-Will-Blood-Paul-Dano/dp/B001A4LYN2/ref=sr_1_1?s=instant-video&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1412522889&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=there+will+be+blood">There Will Be Blood</a>" and "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Master-Philip-Seymour-Hoffman/dp/B00BLGXL3U/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=instant-video&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1412647622&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+master">The Master</a>" is replaced by a tighter, grainy look that focuses more on close-ups than lush establishing shots. This helps keep the audience confined to Sportello, as we see the world just as he does through the smoke-filled haze. As if the film's noir aesthetic weren't enough, there's even a shadowy scene in a dark, sketchy alley to really drive it home. </p>
<p><span>What makes the film so unique is how all these different elements combine to form something that's greater than the sum of its parts. It has many functions; it's an homage to old-school film noir/neo-noir, a goofy stoner comedy, and a compelling mediation on America in the late '60s/early '70s. On paper, it sounds like a total trainwreck, but in the hands of one of the greatest living filmmakers, it's actually one of the best movies of the year. </span></p>

'Inherent Vice' Is Unlike Anything You've Ever Seen

<p>In their magna opera, famous authors have written some of the most beautiful and well-known lines in literature. </p>
<p>Elements like word order, vocabulary, and grammatical construction give these sentences their power. </p>
<p>To demonstrate this, <a href="http://popchartlab.com/">Pop Chat Lab</a> diagrammed some <a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">famous novels' first lines</a>. If a staunch logophile taught your seventh grade English class, you likely saw similar images.</p>
<p>Depending on the part of speech and function within the sentence, each word sits on a different line in a different color. </p>
<p><strong>Consider <a href="http://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934">George Orwell's "1984</a>," for example.</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>"It," a noun, as shown by the color grey, is the subject of the first clause. The first slot on a line always represents the subject. </p>
<p>Next comes the verb "was," shown in olive green. Because "was" is a linking verb that doesn't require an object, the diagram uses a slanted line. A straight line - like the one between "were striking" and "thirteen" in the second clause (the lower line) - shows a direct object. </p>
<p>Adjectives (and articles) are shown on slanted vertical lines below the word they modify. The same applies to prepositional phrases like "in April." </p>
<p>In sentences with more than one clause, like Orwell's above, dotted lines connect them.</p>
<p>Feast your eyes on more examples of opening sentences from famous books below.</p>
<p><strong>From <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beloved-Toni-Morrison/dp/1400033411/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393433307&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Beloved">Toni Morrison's "Beloved</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div> </p>
<p><strong>From Ernest Hemingway's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Sea-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/0684801221/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393434105&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=hemingway+old+man+and+the+sea">"The Old Man and the Sea</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From David Foster Wallace's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Jest-David-Foster-Wallace/dp/0316066524/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393434192&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Infite+Jest">"Infinite Jest</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Gabriel Marcia Marquez' <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Solitude-Gabriel-Garcia-Marquez/dp/006112009X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393434218&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=one+hundred+years+of+solitude">"One Hundred Years of Solitude</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Herman Melville's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Moby-Dick-Herman-Melville/dp/1495266990/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393434293&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Moby+Dick">"Moby Dick</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From David Markson's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wittgensteins-Mistress-David-Markson/dp/1564782115/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393434316&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=wittgenstein%27s+mistress">"Wittgenstein's Mistress</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Ray Bradbury's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fahrenheit-451-Novel-Ray-Bradbury/dp/1451673310/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393434348&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=fahrenheit+451">"Fahrenheit 451</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From F. Scott Fitzgerald's <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/03/why-is-it-so-hard-for-women-to-write-about-sex/357574/">"The Great Gatsby</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Thomas Pynchon's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gravitys-Rainbow-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0143039946/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393434767&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=gravity%27s+rainbow">"Gravity's Rainbow</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From John Steinbeck's, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Grapes-Wrath-John-Steinbeck/dp/0143039431/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393434802&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=grapes+of+wrath">"The Grapes of Wrath</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Vladimir Nabokov's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lolita-Vladimir-Nabokov/dp/0679723161/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435240&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=lolits">"Lolita</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Lab Chart</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Hunter S. Thompson's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Loathing-Las-Vegas-American/dp/0679785892/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435295&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=fear+and+loathing+in+las+vegas">"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Jane Austen's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Jane-Austen/dp/149440477X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435321&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=pride+and+prejudice">"Pride and Prejudice</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Raymond Chandler's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Vintage-Crime-Black-Lizard/dp/0394758285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435403&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+big+sleep">"The Big Sleep</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Sylvia Plath's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Jar-Sylvia-Plath/dp/0061148512/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435438&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+bell+jar">"The Bell Jar</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Miguel de Cervantes' <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Don-Quixote-Miguel-Cervantes/dp/0060934344/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435459&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=don+quixote">"Don Quixote</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Franz Kafka's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Metamorphosis-Franz-Kafka/dp/1578987857/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435509&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=metamorphosis">"Metamorphosis</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From H.G. Wells' <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Time-Machine-H-G-Wells/dp/1453767525/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435533&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+time+machine">"The Time Machine</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Kurt Vonnegut's, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Five-Novel-Modern-Library-Novels/dp/0385333846/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435560&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=slaughterhouse+five">"Slaughterhouse Five</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From Cormac McCarthy's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435589&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+road">"The Road</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>From J.M. Barrie's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Puffin-Chalk-J-M-Barrie/dp/0147508657/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393440338&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=peter+pan">"Peter Pan</a>."</strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Pop Chart Lab</span></p></div><p></p></div></div><br /></strong></p>
<p><strong>From Leo Tolstoy's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anna-Karenina-Leo-Tolstoy/dp/0143035002/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1393435614&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=anna+karenina">"Anna Karenina</a>."</strong></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>Here's the full poster from Pop Chart Lab, <a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">available in a 24" by 18" print for $29</a>. </p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://popchartlab.com/products/a-diagrammatical-dissertation-on-opening-lines-of-notable-novels">Pop Chart Lab</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></p>

23 Diagrams That Show The Genius Of Famous Novels' Opening Lines

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><p class="source">Evan Agostini / Getty Image</p><p class="caption">Jhumpa Lahiri is among those authors nominated for the National Book Award.</p></div><p></p></div>Each year, a panel of 20 writers, literary critics, librarians, and booksellers chooses the winner of the National Book Award, generally considered to be the highest prize in the literary community.</p>
<p>The National Book Foundation has announced <a href="http://nationalbook.org/index.html">finalists in five categories</a>. Excerpts from each of the contenders can be downloaded as a free e-book at <a href="http://nationalbook.org/nba2013_thecontenders.html#.UmBBY5Tk9ed">nationalbook.org</a>.</p>
<p>The winner in each category will be revealed at the <span>Nov. 20 </span>award ceremony in New York City. </p>
<p>Here are the finalists:</p>
<h2><strong>Fiction:</strong></h2>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flamethrowers-Novel-Rachel-Kushner/dp/1439142009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382034997&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+flamethrowers" target="_blank">"The Flamethrowers"</a> by Rachel Kushner: This is a riveting, intense love story set against the grit of mid-seventies New York City and Rome. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lowland-Jhumpa-Lahiri/dp/0307265749/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382033676&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+lowland" target="_blank">"The Lowland"</a> by Jhumpa Lahiri: The latest from the Pulitzer-prize winning author is a complex family drama about two brothers torn apart by revolution in 1960s India.</span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Lord-Bird-Novel/dp/1594486344/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382033999&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+good+lord+bird+by+james+mcbride" target="_blank">"The Good Lord Bird"</a> by James McBride: This historical novel is an imaginative retelling of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bleeding-Edge-Thomas-Pynchon/dp/1594204233/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382034242&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=bleeding+edge" target="_blank">"Bleeding Edge"</a> by Thomas Pynchon: The notoriously secretive author brings us a complicated, romantic portrait of New York City just before 9/11. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tenth-December-Stories-George-Saunders/dp/0812993802/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382034695&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=tenth+of+december" target="_blank">"Tenth of December"</a> by George Saunders: In this collection, Saunders writes short stories about love, work, and war that raise big questions about humanity and morality. </p>
<h2><strong>Nonfiction:</strong></h2>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Book-Ages-Life-Opinions-Franklin/dp/0307958345/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382036335&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=book+of+ages+the+life+and+opinions+of+jane+franklin" target="_blank">"Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin"</a> by Jill Lepore:<em> </em>Letters, documents, and portraits tell the fascinating story of Jane Franklin, sister of Benjamin and mother of twelve. </p>
<p><em></em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Furies-German-Killing-Fields/dp/0547863381/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382035396&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=hitler%27s+furies+german+women+in+the+nazi+killing+fields" target="_blank">"Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields"</a> by Wendy Lower: This is the shocking untold story of the thousands of women who participated in German brutality during the Holocaust. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unwinding-Inner-History-New-America/dp/0374102414/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382035661&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+unwinding+an+inner+history+of+the+new+america" target="_blank">"The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America"</a> by George Packer: Packer weaves together true stories of individual Americans to create a modern portrait of a country falling apart at the seams. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Internal-Enemy-Slavery-Virginia-1772-1832/dp/0393073718/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382035923&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+internal+enemy+slavery+and+war+in+virginia+1772-1832" target="_blank">"The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832"</a> by Alan Taylor: This book examines the role the British empire had in bringing America to the Civil War. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Going-Clear-Scientology-Hollywood-Prison/dp/0307700666/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382036213&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=going+clear+scientology+hollywood+and+the+prison+of+belief" target="_blank">"Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, &amp; the Prison of Belief"</a><em> </em>by Lawrence Wright: This is an in-depth look into the world of Scientology, based on interviews with members both famous and less well-known. </p>
<h2><strong>Poetry:</strong></h2>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Metaphysical-Dog-Poems-Frank-Bidart/dp/0374173613/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382036500&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=metaphysical+dog" target="_blank">"Metaphysical Dog"</a> by Frank Bidart: This collection is a shocking, psychological reflection on the meaning of poetry itself. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stay-Illusion-Poems-Lucie-Brock-Broido/dp/0307962024/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382036718&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=stay+illusion" target="_blank">"Stay, Illusion"</a> by Lucie Brock-Broido: The poems in Brock-Broido's collection have an air of magic and mourning. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Big-Smoke-Poets-Penguin/dp/0143123726/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382036917&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+big+smoke+by+adrian+matejka" target="_blank">"The Big Smoke"</a> by Adrian Matejka: These poems center on the complicated history of Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Black-Aperture-Poems-Whitman-Award/dp/080715086X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382037114&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=black+aperture" target="_blank">"Black Aperture"</a> by Matt Rasmussen: Rasmussen blurs the lines between grief and humor in this collection centered on his brother's suicide. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Incarnadine-Poems-Mary-Szybist/dp/1555976352/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382037226&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=incarnadine+szybist" target="_blank">"Incarnadine: Poems"</a> by Mary Szybist: The poems in this collection use formal innovations - diagrammed sentences, poems arranged like a sunburst - to address issues of love and faith. </p>
<h2><strong> Young people's literature:</strong></h2>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Blue-Scouts-Sugar-Swamp/dp/1442421053/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382037805&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+true+blue+scouts+of+sugarman+swamp" target="_blank">"The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp"</a> by Kathi Appelt: Two raccoons try to save their swamp home from destruction. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Thing-About-Luck-Cynthia-Kadohata/dp/1416918825/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382038001&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+thing+about+luck" target="_blank">"The Thing About Luck"</a> by Cynthia Kadohata: 12-year-old Summer must take over the work on her family's farm when her parents leave for Japan. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Far-Away-Tom-McNeal/dp/0375849726/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382038241&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=far+far+away" target="_blank">"Far Far Away"</a> by Tom McNeal: The Brothers Grimm make an appearance in this modern fairy tale. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Me-Gone-Meg-Rosoff/dp/0399257659/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382038350&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=picture+me+gone" target="_blank">"Picture Me Gone"</a> by Meg Rosoff: A 12-year-old "mentalist" solves the mystery behind the disappearance of her father's friend. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Boxers-Saints-Boxed-Gene-Luen/dp/1596439246/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382038484&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=boxers+and+saints" target="_blank">"Boxers &amp; Saints"</a> by Gene Luen Yang: This two-volume graphic novel tells stories from opposing sides of the Boxer Rebellion. <br /><br /></p>

The 20 Titles In The Running For The National Book Awards

<p>The <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2014">New York Film Festival</a> is fast approaching, and there's plenty to be excited about.</p>
<p>The festival boasts high-profile world premieres, much-anticipated US debuts as well as a slew of lesser-known works from the world's best filmmakers.</p>
<p><span>The festival runs September 26th through October 12th and tickets are <a href="http://nyffvwr.easytixs.com/">currently on sale</a>.</span></p>
<p><span>For New York City-dwellers looking to attend the festival, here are the films worth your time.</span></p>
<h3><strong>1. "Gone Girl"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Official release date: </strong><span>Oct. 4</span></p>
<p><strong>Who's in it: </strong><span>Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike, Missi Pyle, Patrick Fugit</span></p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Everybody's talking about the new David Fincher flick, and for good reason. The film's world premiere takes place on the festival's opening night and is already the subject of much <a href="http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2014/07/the-oscar-race-is-on-gone-girl-to-open-ny-film-festival/374592/">Oscar buzz</a>. The thriller, based on the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Girl-Gillian-Flynn/dp/030758836X">New York Times bestseller </a>by Gillian Flynn, centers around a man (Ben Affleck) and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of his wife on their fifth wedding anniversary.<a href="http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2014/07/the-oscar-race-is-on-gone-girl-to-open-ny-film-festival/374592/"></a> Fincher opened the New York Film Festival <a href="http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2010/27/new-york-film-festival-2010-the-social-network">in 2010</a> with "The Social Network" and went on to win three Oscars.<strong><span><br /></span></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://youtu.be/2-_-1nJf8Vg">Watch the trailer</a>.</p>
<h3><strong>2. "Inherent Vice" </strong></h3>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Official release date:</strong> Jan. 9, 2015</p>
<p><strong>Who's in it: </strong>Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Josh Brolin, Jena Malone, Benicio Del Toro, Owen Wilson, Michael K. Williams, Eric Roberts</p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>A new work from auteur Paul Thomas Anderson is a rare event and certainly something to celebrate. PTA's follow-up to 2012's "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1560747/?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Master</a>" comes sooner than expected, as "The Master" was released five long years after "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469494/?ref_=nv_sr_1">There Will Be Blood</a>," which itself came five years after "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272338/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4">Punch Drunk Love</a>."  This adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inherent-Vice-Novel-Thomas-Pynchon/dp/0143117564">novel of the same name</a> follows a drug-fueled detective through 1970s Los Angeles as he investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend. "Inherent Vice" marks the first time Anderson has adapted someone else's work. </p>
<h3><strong>3. "Whiplash"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Official release date: </strong>Oct. 10</p>
<p><strong>Who's in it: </strong>Miles Teller, JK Simmons</p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>The film follows a young musician (Miles Teller) as he trains under his teacher (J.K. Simmons) to do whatever it takes to become a top jazz drummer. Everybody that has seen "Whiplash" <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/whiplash_2014/">loves it</a>, and early reviews from Sundance indicate that Simmons steals the show in what is being hailed as the "<a href="http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/sundance-film-review-whiplash-1201061948/">role of his career</a>."  Miles Teller, who blew audiences away in "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1714206/?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Spectacular Now</a>," has received <a href="http://chasewhale.com/post/73882028490/sundance-2014-capsule-review-whiplash-or-the-most">equal praise</a> for his work in the film. </p>
<p><a href="http://youtu.be/Df1xkYYbYrY">Watch the trailer</a>.</p>
<h3><strong>4. "Birdman" </strong></h3>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Official release date: </strong>Oct. 17</p>
<p><strong>Who's in it: </strong>Michael Keaton, Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, and Zach Galifianakis</p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong> Alejandro González Iñárritu ("<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449467/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Babel</a>," "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315733/?ref_=nv_sr_1">21 Grams</a>") long-awaited returns to the director's chair stars Michael Keaton as a once-relevant actor known for playing a superhero who must overcome his personal troubles as he prepares to stage a Broadway play to reclaim his glory. Praise surrounding the film exploded after its debut at <a href="http://variety.com/2014/film/awards/birdman-confirms-its-awards-buzz-at-telluride-1201294789/">Telluride</a> in late August, with many pointing out that the film <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/birdman-and-foxcatcher-leave-telluride-audiences-blissed-out-and-bowled-over/">brilliantly pays homage to</a> (and skewers) filmmaking itself. </p>
<p><span><a href="http://youtu.be/uJfLoE6hanc">Watch the trailer</a>.</span></p>
<h3><strong>5. "Foxcatcher"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Official release date: </strong>Nov. 14</p>
<p><strong>Who's in it: </strong>Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Sienna Miller, Vanessa Redgrave</p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Bennett Miller <span>("</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt">Moneyball,</a><span>" "</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379725/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt">Capote</a><span>")</span> is no stranger to Oscar buzz as every single one of his films has been nominated for multiple Oscars.  "Foxcatcher" is <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/birdman-and-foxcatcher-leave-telluride-audiences-blissed-out-and-bowled-over/">poised to continue</a> this impressive streak as it <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-steve-carell-foxcatcher-postponed-release-date-20130926-story.html">finally</a> reaches theaters this fall after debuting at <a href="http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/cannes-film-review-foxcatcher-1201185646/">Cannes</a> to much acclaim. Based on the true life story of Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), the movie follows the athlete as he teams up with the eccentric millionaire John du Pont (Steve Carell) to train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics.<strong><br /></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://youtu.be/36GVwy9BEZk">Watch the trailer.</a></p>
<h3><strong>6. "Maps To The Stars"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Official release date:</strong> TBA</p>
<p><strong>Who's in it: </strong>Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson, John Cusack, Mia Wasikowsa, Carrie Fisher</p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>While David Cronenberg's later films have veered significantly from his earlier (and completely brilliant) horror films, his uniquely artistic approach ensures that no matter how traditional the plot may seem, things are going to get real weird. His latest film is a satricial look at Hollywood and the idea of celebrity and promsies to be a surreal, bizarre, and definitievly Cronenbergian take on the concept.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwxmnyoofPs">Watch the trailer.</a></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 1.17em; color: #000000;">7. "Listen Up, Phillip"</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Official release date: </strong>Oct. 17</p>
<p><strong>Who's in it: </strong>Jason Schwartzman, Elizabeth Moss, Krysten Ritter</p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>"<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1255913/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Bored to Death</a>" fans yearning for more of Jason Schwartzman in leading roles should find plenty to enjoy here. Schwartzman stars as Phillip, a young writer who escapes a dwindling relationship and seeks refuge in the summer home of his literary idol where he finally finds time to work on himself. The dark comedy premiered at Sundance earlier this year and has received tons of <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/listen_up_philip/">rave reviews</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzIeZwUdbVA">Watch the trailer.</a></p>
<h3><strong>8. "Pasolini"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Official release date: </strong>TBA</p>
<p><strong>Who's in it: </strong>Willem Dafoe</p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Legendary<strong> </strong>New York filmmaking icon Abel Ferrara's second feature of the year ("<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2758890/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Welcome To New York</a>" is yet to be released in the US) is not a typical biopic. Willem Dafoe stars as the titular Pier Paolo Pasolini, and rather than showcase the notorious filmmaker's entire backstory, Ferrara chooses to focus only on the last day of his life. The film provides a rare glimpse of an interesting figure in such a way and at such an angle that only Abel Ferrara could pull off. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOVDmHmisQw">Watch the trailer.</a></p>
<h3><strong>9. "Time Out Of Mind"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Official release date: </strong>TBA</p>
<p><strong>Who's in it: </strong>Richard Gere, Jena Malone</p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Oren Moverman's third feature ("<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790712/">The Messenger</a>," "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1640548/?ref_=nm_knf_i3">Rampart</a>") stars Richard Gere as a homeless man trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. While that may sound manipulatively sappy on the surface, Moverman has proven that he can handle heavily emotional material, as "The Messenger" had a similarly depressing sounding premise and wound up being incredibly moving. Gere is certainly ripe for an award-worthy performance, and "Time Out Of Mind" seems to be the perfect vehicle for one. </p>

9 Movies We Can't Wait To See At The New York Film Festival

<p>Christmas is one of the biggest movie days of the year.</p>
<p>This year, eight movies will come out on Dec. 25.</p>
<p>If you're heading to theaters, and aren't sure what to see, we've compiled which films are worth checking out and which you should wait for on DVD.&#xa0;</p>
<h3><strong>1. Pass: "Unbroken"</strong></h3>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">What it's about:&#xa0;</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Based on a true life story, the World War II movie follows former track star Louis Zamperini (Jack O'Connell)&#xa0;as he spends over two years in Japanese prisoner of war camps after surviving a plane crash.</span></p>
<p><strong>Why to see it:</strong>&#xa0;The survival story is Angelina Jolie's third time behind the director's chair&#xa0;with a script from the Oscar-winning team of Joel and Ethan Coen ("Fargo").</p>
<p><strong>Why to pass:</strong>&#xa0;While the film covers a lot of ground, reviews suggest the movie <a href="http://www.timeout.com/london/film/unbroken">doesn't completely capture the essence</a> of Zamperini while <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/unbroken/review/752885">shortchanging on a few significant scenes</a> from Laura Hillenbrand's book of the same name.</p>
<p>The film failed to gain any big nods at the Golden Globes which doesn't bode well for the film at the Oscars.</p>
<h3><strong>2. Must See: "The Imitation Game"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">What it's about:&#xa0;</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The World War II film follows mathematician Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he leads a secret team on a mission to crack a code that will allow the British to decipher secret German codes and help win the war. The film is getting its wide release on Christmas.</span></p>
<p><strong>Why it's a must-see:</strong> See the film for Cumberbatch and co-star Keira Knightley alone. Both are masterful on screen. Cumberbatch has a knack for playing awkwardly humorous geniuses on screen.</p>
<p>The story of Turing and how he helped win the war was a long held government secret that took a tragic turn due to the mathematician's homosexuality which was illegal at the time. This part of the film feels slightly rushed through.</p>
<p>Both Cumberbatch and Knightley received Golden Globe nominations for their roles. Cumberbatch is almost certainly a lock for an Oscar nomination.</p>
<h3><strong>3. See: "Selma"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">What it's about:</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> The film follows&#xa0;Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) as he attempts to lead a voting march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.</span></p>
<p><strong>Why to see it:</strong> Powerful and emotional, it's&#xa0;<span>impossible to watch this film without thinking of the parallels between the protests today in light of the Eric Garner and Ferguson cases.&#xa0;<span>David Oyelowo is the perfect embodiment of Dr. King.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>One scene that sticks out in particular is a hard-to-watch<span>&#xa0;portrayal of Bloody Sunday in which 600 marchers were brutally attacked.</span></span></span></p>
<p>As our reporter Brett Arnold <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/selma-speaks-to-contemporary-race-issues-2014-12">points out in his review</a>, it's an important film not only to see where we came from but to help show how much farther we need to go as a nation.&#xa0;</p>
<h3><strong>4. For the family/musical lover: "Into the Woods"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">What it's about:&#xa0;</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The adaptation of the book and musical of the same name follows a group of fairy-tale characters&#xa0;from "Cinderella," "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Rapunzel," and "Little Red Riding Hood" after a curse is placed upon a baker and his wife by an evil witch (Meryl Streep).</span></p>
<p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, and more singing. Need we say more?</p>
<p>Disney not only has an all-star cast, but composer Stephen Sondheim,&#xa0;the lyricist behind plays including "West Side Story," "Sweeney Todd," and "Into the Woods."</p>
<h3><strong>The four other movies coming out Christmas Day:</strong></h3>
<p><strong>5. "Big Eyes": </strong>Tim Burton's comedic drama based on the true-life story of artist Margaret Keane&#xa0;(Amy Adams)&#xa0;whose husband Walter (Christoph Waltz) started taking credit for her successful paintings of characters with big eyes.<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</strong>Both actors were nominated for Golden Globes.<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"> See it.</strong></p>
<p><strong>6. "The Gambler":</strong>&#xa0;Mark Wahlberg stars as a professor who has a double life as a gambler and gets involved with a student.<strong>&#xa0;Skip.</strong></p>
<p><strong>7. "American Sniper":&#xa0;</strong>Clint Eastwood's second film this year ("Jersey Boys")&#xa0;is based on the New York Times' best-seller of the same name starring Bradley Cooper as United States Navy SEAL Chris Kyle who&#xa0;was known as the deadliest sniper in US history. <strong>See it.</strong></p>
<p>8. <strong>"Leviathan":&#xa0;</strong>The Russian drama is about a<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;man fighting against a corrupt mayor to retain ownership of his property. The film is currently sitting at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with&#xa0;<a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/leviafan/?search=leviathan">over 30 positive reviews</a>.&#xa0;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;The film won <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802154/awards?ref_=tt_awd">best screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival</a> this year.</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"> A good alternative from the ordinary.</strong></p>
<h3><strong>Other films to check out:</strong></h3>
<p>If you don't want to see any of those movies, here are a few recent releases you should consider seeing over the holidays.</p>
<h3><strong>"Top Five"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Release date:</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> Dec. 12</span></p>
<p>Chris Rock's return to theaters is both funny and&#xa0;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">and an introspective look at fame. Rock plays Andre Allen, a washed-up actor known for a franchise in which he plays a cop in a bear suit called "Hammy the Bear." Years later, Allen tries to rejuvenate his career with a more serious role; however, most reporters just want to talk about his old franchise. In many ways, the film echoes this year's earlier film "Birdman," starring Michael Keaton but without the feeling of a dramatic one-shot.&#xa0;</span></p>
<p>Fans hoping to see Kevin Hart, who has been a regular in promos for the film, will be disappointed by a short cameo from the comedian. However, there are a few other big cameos in the film to make up for it.</p>
<h3><strong>"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Release date:</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> Dec. 17</span></p>
<p>The best of "The Hobbit" trilogy, director Peter Jackson's final installment takes us back to Middle Earth one last time to battle a dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) and a handful of armies who descend upon a mountain filled with treasure.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hobbit-battle-of-the-five-armies-review-2014-12">While not perfect</a>, this is the movie with the majority of the action that fans have been waiting for through two other installments. The film is already performing very well overseas and should end up with one of the largest hauls at the box office this year by the end of its run.</p>
<h3><strong>"The Theory of Everything"</strong></h3>
<p><strong><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Release date:&#xa0;</strong>Nov. 7</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Eddie Redmayne's magnificent portrayal of Stephen Hawking not only earned him a Golden Globes nomination, but also wowed Hawking himself. As a result, he</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;allowed filmmakers to </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-hawking-voice-in-the-theory-of-everything-2014-10">swap out a synthetic voice they created for Hawking's character with his own trademarked version</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p>
<p>Redmayne trained for four months to play the cosmologist, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-eddie-redmayne-prepared-to-play-stephen-hawking-2014-10">reading everything and watching every video he could find on the theoretical physicist</a>. He also regularly worked with a choreographer and visited a neurology clinic where he spoke to patients.&#xa0;</p>
<p>Not only does the film narrates Hawking's life, but also the hardships it brought upon his relationship with wife Jane, beautifully played by Felicity Jones.</p>
<h3><strong>"Inherent Vice"</strong></h3>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Release date:</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> Dec. 12 (limited). Wide release is Jan. 9</span></p>
<p>Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon reunite in a wacky detective tale where Larry "Doc" Sportello (Phoenix) investigates the disappearance of an ex girlfriend.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon, o</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">ur own Brett Arnold </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">says the film is worth a watch for Phoenix's performance alone as a "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inherent-vice-review-2014-10">pot-smoking hippie who obliviously stumbles from one major clue to the next.</a>"</span></p>
<p>Phoenix received a Golden Globe nod for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical.</p>

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