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Malcolm Gladwell
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Wednesday, January 07, 2009
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Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most popular and intelligent authors in the world. His two number one national bestsellers The Tipping Point and Blink, were on the New York Times bestseller list for years and people still talk about both books. In his new book, Gladwell takes the public on an journey through the world of outliers --the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. (more...)
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Naomi Wolf
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Thursday, January 15, 2009
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Naomi Wolf made a sensation with her landmark international bestseller The Beauty Myth, which helped to launch a new wave of feminism and was named one of the most significant books of the twentieth century by The New York Times. In Wolf's long awaited upcoming book, Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries, she illustrates the breathtaking changes that can take place when ordinary citizens engage in the democratic system the way the founding fathers intended, and tells how to use that system, right now, to change peoples' lives, communities, and ultimately, the nation. This will be a fascinating evening with the legendary Naomi Wolf. (more...)
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Joe Pantoliano
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Monday, February 02, 2009
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This prolific, stage-trained character player transcended a youth of urban poverty and crime to establish a successful entertainment career, often playing denizens and products of the kind of environment he escaped. Slender, bright-eyed and balding. Pantoliano has been revered for his compelling and entertaining performances that run the gamut of colorful film roles. A favorite of directors Steven Spielberg and Andy and Larry Wachowski, he is a dependable scene stealer with more than his share of memorable roles in films like Risky Business, The Goonies, La Bamba, Midnight Run, Empire of the Sun, The Fugitive,The Matrix, Memento, and Daredevil. Pantoliano's portrayal of the eccentric mobster Ralph Cifaretto in HBO landmark series The Sopranos won him an Emmy for best-supporting actor in 2003. (more...)
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William Friedkin
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
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William Friedkin may be best known for his film The Exorcist, one of the most terrifying films of all time. It received ten Academy Award nominations including Best Director and Best Picture. One of the most powerful film directors of the 1970s, Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin was representative of Hollywood's first wave of hip, hot, young super-directors. Famed for his boisterous talent, Friedkin earned a reputation for drawing out brilliant performances from his actors. Just five years after making his feature film debut, Friedkin snagged the Best Director Oscar for The French Connection. Friedkin opted to cast The French Connection, with relative unknowns, Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider. The rest is movie history. Friedkin's plan to shoot The French Connection as documentary-style as possible was mostly decided as a cost-saving measure, but ended up yielding a number of innovative techniques in cinematography. For instance, Friedkin instructed his (more...)
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Emily Mortimer
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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Emily Mortimer is a striking dark-haired, fair-skinned actress who possesses equal parts elegance and spunk. In the last three episodes of 30 Rock's first season, she played Phoebe, a love interest of Alec Baldwin's character Jack Donaghy. In 2009, she will play one of the title characters in Martin Scorsese's next film, Ashecliffe. Mortimer most recently starred in the widely acclaimed comedy Lars and the Real Girl, opposite Ryan Gosling, Woody Allen's Match Point, joining a critically acclaimed ensemble cast which included Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys Meyers,and the hit comedy The Pink Panther, playing Inspector Clouseau's secretary Nicole, opposite Steve Martin. Mortimer has also impressed with roles in films as diverse as Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett, Wes Craven's horror sequel Scream 3 , Notting Hill with Hugh Grant, and The Saint with Val Kilmer. (more...)
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Joel Fan - Famed Concert Pianist
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
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Live performance at the Society. Acclaimed as a superb (The Boston Globe), extraordinary (The Village Voice), and a versatile and sensitive pianist (The Washington Post), Joel Fan combines virtuosity with a gift for lyricism. He began his performing career with the New York Philharmonic at age 11, as a winner of the Philharmonic's Young People's Concert Auditions, and he has since appeared in recital and in concert with orchestras throughout the world. Fan's eclectic repertoire includes traditional piano classics, his own transcriptions and cadenzas, and newly commissioned music. He is a versatile musician--not only as a sought-after solo performer, but also as a member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble. He is also an outstanding recitalist - his recent recital album World Keys, reached #3 on Billboard's Classical Chart - and his New York solo debut was critically acclaimed by the New York Times. As a concerto soloist, Fan has emerged as one of the most dynamic performers in the c (more...)
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