charlyne yi

charlyne yi

Charlyne Yi, Asian American performance artist, musician, writer, painter and actress, Charlyne Yi’s new movie “Paper Heart” will open in theaters on August 7. Moviegoers may remember Yi from her brief but memorable appearance in director Judd Apatow’s hit comedy “Knocked Up.” In “Paper Heart,” Yi stars along with Michael Cera and Jake Johnson. It was directed by Nick Jasenovec and produced by Sandra Murillo. Yi executive produced in addition to co-writing the screenplay and stars as a fictionalized version of herself. The “hybrid-documentary” follows her as she embarks on a quest across America to find “love.”

According to the filmmakers, as Yi and her good friend (and director) Nick search for answers and advice about love, she talks with friends and strangers, scientists, bikers, romance novelists, and children. They each offer diverse views on modern romance, as well as various answers to the age-old question: does true love really exist? But shortly after filming begins, Yi meets a boy after her own heart: Michael Cera. As their relationship develops on camera, her pursuit to discover the nature of love takes on a fresh new urgency. Yi risks losing the person she finds closest to her heart. The movie combines elements of documentary and traditional storytelling, reality and fantasy into a whimsical story that won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

whip it movie

whip it movie

“Whip It” Movie Review -- Bliss Cavendar is going nowhere, slowly. She has a job at a barbecue joint that requires her to wear an apron with a giant pig’s face on it. She has a mother who insists she compete in local beauty pageants. She has a boyfriend who … well actually, no. She doesn’t have a boyfriend. So Bliss decides she has to do something, fast. After all, she’s 17. Life is passing her by. So she catches a bus out of her small Texas town to Austin where she tries out for — and amazingly earns — a spot on the Hurl Scouts roller-derby team.

Yes, “Whip It” is actually a modern movie about roller derby. Even more improbably, it stars Ellen Page, the petite, smart-mouthed star of “Juno,” which is a little like a movie about Michael Cera going for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Ol’ Juno MacGuff as a derby queen? Those jocks spit bigger than she is. The gulf between the dream and the reality could be a large part of the humor in “Whip It.” Unfortunately, there isn’t much comedy in the movie at all. Instead, it just recycles ideas from quirkier indie comedies (the beauty pageants, the schlocky minimum-wage jobs) and more mainstream young romances (the “sensitive” new boyfriend, the follow-your-dream bromides). It’s as if Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine strapped on skates and sailed right into some pat Hollywood comedy.

That’s too bad, because Barrymore — who’s starred in a few pat Hollywood comedies herself — is making her directing debut here (as well as taking on a small part as one of the derby queens). And you’d think, after 30 years of being in front of a camera, she’d have a few novel ideas about what to do behind it. But “Whip It” just moves blandly along, right up to the inevitable “gag” reel under the final credits. The derby scenes are filmed in such tight closeups that we miss out on the plays the women are working so hard to execute; Bliss’ conflicts with her best friend, her new boyfriend and her parents are so obvious they could write themselves.

colorado department of transportation

colorado department of transportation

The Colorado Department of Transportation's plan for this winter includes the typical snow removal equipment and products that CDOT has used over the years, with some minor improvements. "We will operate with the same number of employees and snowplows as we did last year so we can continue to provide the same level of service to the citizens of Colorado," said CDOT Executive Director Russ George. "Safety remains our No. 1 priority and that means our crews will be working days, nights, weekends and holidays during inclement weather to help ensure motorists reach their destinations safely."

This winter, CDOT will have 245 employees working in the Denver metro area. They work in 12-hour shifts and are responsible for 3,850 lane miles of highway. In all, 131 pieces of equipment will be used, including 112 snowplows that apply liquid and/or solid deicers, three 6,000-gallon tankers that apply liquid deicers and 16 brooms to sweep up or pick up material after a storm. Eleven of the trucks are new this year, replacing ones that have been used well past their original usefulness.

In five of the snowplows, technology will help drivers determine the appropriate treatments for a roadway. The Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) combines advanced weather prediction, advanced road condition prediction and rules of practice for anti-icing and de-icing to generate road treatment recommendations on a route-by-route basis. The goal of MDSS is to provide more effective use of maintenance resources and increase safety, reliability and mobility on roadways. "The use of our equipment, products and technology truly help us keep the roadways clear of snow and ice, but we still need the traveling public to do their part during a snowstorm," said Roy Smith, CDOT's acting maintenance superintendent for the Denver metro area.