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Changing the lives of people with Alzheimer’s, one iPod and one playlist at a time

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Alive Inside, a documentary film being shown in selected theaters across the U.S., tells the story of a social worker using iPods and personalized playlists to bring new life to nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s.

Dan Cohen puts together playlists of music from when the patients were young, transfers them to an iPod and then plays them to patients who had been unresponsive to conversation, generating dramatic transformations, reports Re/code.

Audiences first encounter Henry hunched over in his wheelchair, head down, hands clasped firmly together, unresponsive to the world around him.

As soon as a pair of headphones are placed on his head, the 94-year-old dementia patient opens his eyes, sits up straight and begins swaying and humming along with the music. Henry speaks animatedly about his favorite band leader, Cab Calloway, and even begins to emulate the jazz artist’s style of scat singing — at one point launching into a rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

Cohen discovered that music tapped into parts of the brain that could not be reached in other ways, and could revitalize people even in late-stage dementia, “demonstrating music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from it.”

Described as “a joyous cinematic exploration of music’s capacity to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity,” Alive Inside won the Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Apple is reportedly helping to promote the film, and a list of theaters where the film can be seen is available here.

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Ashton Kutcher on passing up the opportunity to meet Steve Jobs [video]

http://youtu.be/ZvqIwUperU0

Ashton Kutcher, who plays Steve Jobs in the biopic due for U.S. release on August 16th, told Jay Leno that he passed up the opportunity to meet Jobs.

Kutcher described Jobs as “the Leonardo da Vinci of our generation,” and says that he will never forget the day that he died …

The movie, JOBS, got mixed reviews at its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival but should find fans in its wider release.

‘jOBS’ opens to mixed reviews, Kutcher talks of fear and hospitalization

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Ashton Kutcher called the starring role scary and seemed to have an appropriate amount of reverence for the subject matter. However, reviewers seemed to have mixed feelings at best about the movie.

TNW’s Matthew Panzarino liked the movie and called it entertaining but inaccurate:

But, overall, jOBS works. The lead actors are likable and appear to have put serious effort into getting the spirit of the characters right. The film looks (mostly) good aside from some of what could likely be ascribed to budgetary constraints. And though the director is a tad indulgent here and there, it doesn’t take away from the overall feeling of ‘decent’ that I came away with.

This isn’t going to be the canonical Steve Jobs biography movie. Honestly, Jobs was such a complex individual that I can’t see one ever being made. But, as an impressionist portrait of a specific period in his life, it’s successful. Don’t go into it looking for complete verisimilitude or whip-crack dialog and you should like it just fine.

CNET’s Casey Newton, who was allowed to review this movie, didn’t like it:

My primary disappointment was in how shallow the film felt, given the extensive historical record. In the early days Jobs’ co-workers had to wrestle with a man who smelled bad, who cried often, who yelled constantly, who missed deadlines, who overspent his budget by millions. He did it in service of products we love and use daily, and yet his obsessions took a toll on those around him. It also inspired others to do the best work of their lives, pushing themselves further than they ever imagined they can go. There is great drama to be found in all that, but it is not to be found in the saccharine “jOBS.”

USA Today relayed some weirdness before the shooting:

Kutcher says that he started a fruit-only diet to prepare to play the Apple co-founder for the biopic Jobs, which premiered Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival.

The diet, which the film claims Jobs adhered to, ended up sending Kutcher to the hospital with pancreas problems.

“First of all, the fruitarian diet can lead to like severe issues,” Kutcher said after the film’s screening. “I went to the hospital like two days before we started shooting the movie. I was like doubled over in pain.

“My pancreas levels were completely out of whack,” Kutcher added. “It was really terrifying … considering everything.[Jobs died as the result of Pancreatic Cancer]”

More review snippets follow:


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Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad hit Macworld stage to talk jOBS on Jan. 31

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Lately we have been bringing you coverage on the upcoming “jOBS” biopic starring Ashton Kutcher set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this month. Most recently we posted two new shots of Kutcher and co-star Josh Gad (Steve Wozniak) from the set of the film. Today, we get word that Kutcher and Gad are confirmed to take the Macworld/iWorld main stage at the end of the month to talk about the process of playing Jobs and making the movie. There’s no word on exactly what to expect, but we’ll be on hand to cover anything interesting that might pop up.

We’ll attend Macworld to bring you the latest on the newest products and announcements that happen during the show. Kutcher and Gad will hit the stage and possibly take questions on Jan. 31 at 9 a.m.

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Two new shots of Ashton Kutcher’s jOBS character with guy who doesn’t look like Woz

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USAToday recently published a few stills from the upcoming “jOBS” movie set to premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival later this month. Actor Ashton Kutcher certainly looks the part, but we’re not so sure about Josh Gad as Woz. An image of the real Steve Wozniak from the same time period (pictured next to David Lee Roth) is in the gallery below for comparison.

 

Is there a resemblance?

 

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