Travelling Salesman

Travelling Salesman is an intellectual thriller about four mathematicians hired by the U.S. government to solve the most elusive problem in computer science history — P vs. NP. The four have jointly created a “system” which could be the next major advancement for our civilization or destroy the fabric of humanity.

The solution’s immediate application would be for theoretical computer science. However, its application would soon extend to countless other disciplines. For example, by utilizing the solution to P vs. NP, a hacker could crack advanced encryption codes within seconds—a task that now takes weeks, months, or even years. He could break into La Guardia's air traffic control or China’s communication grid. But the mathematical algorithm would also serve as the basis for accelerated biological research, curing diseases such as AIDS and cancer.

The film begins with the four at a secret location waiting to meet with a high-ranking official of the United States Department of Defense. The group discusses the global implications of their solution, and they agree that they must be extremely careful with who they allow to control their discovery.

The silver-tongued DoD agent soon arrives and presents them each with an offer of 10 million dollars in exchange for their portion of the algorithmic solution. He attempts to deftly address their concerns and sway the opinions of the four.

In the end, only one mathematician speaks out against selling the solution. In pleading his case, he is forced to reveal the dark truth about his portion of the algorithm. As the mathematicians are about to sign documents that will give the U.S. government sole and private ownership of their solution, they wrestle with the moral dilemma of how this volatile discovery will be used. The math is real. The implications are real.

The math behind the film
The P vs. NP problem is the most notorious unsolved problem in computer science. First introduced in 1971, it asks whether one class of problems (NP) is more difficult than another class (P).

Mathematicians group problems into classes based on how long they take to be solved and verified. “NP” is the class of problems whose answer can be verified in a reasonable amount of time. Some NP problems can also be solved quickly. Those problems are said to be in “P”, which stands for polynomial time. However, there are other problems in NP which have never been solved in polynomial time.

The question is, is it possible to solve all NP problems as quickly as P problems? To date, no one knows for sure. Some NP questions seem harder than P questions, but they may not be.

Currently, many NP problems take a long time to solve. As such, certain problems like logistics scheduling and protein structure prediction are very difficult. Likewise, many cryptosystems, which are used to secure the world's data, rely on the assumption that they cannot be solved in polynomial time.

If someone were to show that NP problems were not difficult—that P and NP problems were the same—it would would have significant practical consequences. Advances in bioinformatics and theoretical chemistry could be made. Much of modern cryptography would be rendered inert. Financial systems would be exposed, leaving the entire Western economy vulnerable.

Proving that P = NP would have enormous ramifications that would be equally enlightening, devastating, and valuable...

Thanks, Akito.

Runner Runner

RoboCop

Omnicorp

Multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years – and it’s meant billions for OmniCorp’s bottom line.

Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it. RoboCop is a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders.

Do we dare control the pace of the future? Do we dare commit heart and soul to helping our fellow man? We are OmniCorp. And that is exactly what we do.

On The Job

On The Job—based on the true scandal (see below) that rocked the Philippines where prison inmates were contracted by high-level politicians to temporarily leave jail and conduct a series of assassinations before returning to incarceration—delves deep into the inner-workings of hitmen, honest cops, ambitious federal agents, and shady government officials.

Inquirer Global Nation

Inmates of provincial jails are being used as hitmen by certain local officials to get rid of their political rivals, Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Verzosa has disclosed.

Speaking at the assembly on Thursday of the Joint Security Control Center in Camp Bonny Serrano in this city, Verzosa said politicians were able to organize groups of prisoners as their own private armies with the connivance of jail officials. He said the matter was discussed by law enforcement agencies during the national summit on loose firearms last year.

According to the PNP chief, prisoners are not only used as hired goons by politicians to kill their rivals but are also utilized in kidnapping activities and other criminal acts.

While using prisoners as assassins is a cost-effective tactic for politicians, it also makes it more difficult for authorities to solve the crime, Verzosa said.

“After their hit job, the inmates can just go back to their prison cells and escape arrest,” he said.

To thwart crimes involving prisoners, Verzosa ordered an inventory of firearms issued to guards of all detention facilities under the supervision of provincial governments.

My Lucky Star

My Lucky Star is a Chinese-language comedy that follows the adventures a young woman who is caught up in an international diamond heist that draws her towards a sexy spy trying to save the world.

Directed by Dennie Gordon, the first American woman to direct a feature film for the domestic market in China.

Resurrection | Where Do You Go When the Guf is Full

Thanks peaceandPB

Closed Circuit

Following a mysterious explosion in a busy London market, the police swoop in, a suspect is detained, and the country prepares for one of the most high-profile trials in British history. Two exceptional lawyers with a romantic past step into a dangerous web of secrets and lies, and when evidence points to a possible British Secret Service cover up, it’s not just their reputations but their lives that are at stake.

Narco Cultura

Narco-traffickers have become iconic outlaws, glorified by musicians who praise their new models of fame and success. They represent a pathway out of the ghetto, nurturing a new American dream fueled by an addiction to money, drugs, and violence. Narco Cultura is an explosive look at the drug cartels’ pop culture influence on both sides of the border as experienced by an LA narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.

Mademoiselle C

Carine Roitfeld ran French Vogue for 10 years. Mademoiselle C chronicles Carine’s launch of her new magazine “CR Fashion Book.”

In A World

National Public Radio

Don LaFontaine had a voice anyone would recognize. As a voice-over artist, he recorded thousands of movie trailers and TV commercials, and became famous for his delivery of the phrase “In a world,” which kicked off countless trailers. He died in 2008, but the new comedy In a World ... — written and directed by actress Lake Bell — tells the story of voice-over artists competing to become the next LaFontaine.

download mp3

The Wrecking Crew

The New York Times

In the 1960s many of the hits coming out of Los Angeles under the names of the Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher, the Mamas and the Papas, the Monkees and other top pop acts were actually recorded by an elite but largely anonymous corps of studio musicians nicknamed the Wrecking Crew. To gain them some belated public recognition Denny Tedesco, a son of one of the most prolific of those session players, spent more than 15 years making a documentary about the ensemble.

The Wrecking Crew consisted of 20 or so musicians, the guitarist Tommy Tedesco among them, and played in one configuration or another on thousands of records, including Jan and Dean’s “Surf City” and Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night.” Their first major successes came in 1962, providing the “wall of sound” for Phil Spector singles like “He’s a Rebel.” As the ’60s progressed, they played on hits by the Byrds, the Fifth Dimension, Simon & Garfunkel, Johnny Rivers and the Carpenters.

“The Wrecking Crew were the best of the best, with the additional gift of being able to function as mini-arrangers within each song,” explained Kent Hartman, author of a recent book about the ensemble. “The producers depended on them to make the songs better, and that’s why they kept getting asked back time and time again: They knew how to turn a song into a hit.”

Some members of the ensemble, most notably the guitarist Glen Campbell and the pianist Leon Russell, later became stars in their own right. But as hired hands the musicians had no ownership stake in or legal claim to the songs they recorded, and record company executives who may have felt a debt of gratitude for their contributions at the time have long since departed. As a believer in copyright Mr. Tedesco is philosophical about his situation.

Her

Joaquin Phoenix is introduced to the world’s first artificially intelligent operating system and develops an close personal relationship with the Siri-like companion that’s designed to meet his every need.

Diana

After her divorce from Prince Charles, sparks fly between Diana and heart surgeon Hasnat Kahn and the late Dodi Fayed.

American Hustle

In American Hustle, a fictionalized account of the Abscam operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s, two con artists work with a wild FBI agent to uncover political corruption at the highest levels.

The Absam efforts resulted in the conviction of a U.S senator, five congressmen, and multiple members of the Philadelphia City Council. The movie is about finding the confidence to live the life you want regardless of the consequence.

Vlogumentary Trailer

Vlogumentary directed by Corey Vidal and produced by Shay Carl will hit YouTube later this year.

The Fifth Estate

Julian Assange has called Dreamwork’s The Fifth Estate a “mass propaganda attack against WikiLeaks the organization, and the character of my staff.” Assange describes the project as the result of a “war of corrupt media” driven by powerful influencers. The screenplay is based on books by Daniel Domscheit-Berg, onetime WikiLeaks activist turned Assange critic, and Guardian journalist Luke Harding.

Cutie And The Boxer

Once a rising star in the ‘70s New York art scene, 80-year-old “boxing” painter Ushio Shinohara hopes to reinvigorate his career as he preps for his latest show. His wife, and de facto assistant, Noriko, seeks her own recognition through her “Cutie” illustrations, which depict their chaotic, yet sustained, 40-year marriage.

Byzantium

Guo Jingming | Tiny Times

The Hollywood Reporter

Chinese Director Guo Jingming’s Tiny Times sells imaginings of lives yet to be lived. It’s a fantasy befitting a country careening in its turbo-charged way towards commodity-driven capitalism too.

“We are very different from people born in the 1960s or 70s…for people born in the 1980s, or even more so for those from the 1990s, it’s about trying to be different from everybody else. Whereas doing that in the past would see you branded as an anomaly, these days it’s all about looking after myself—saying, ‘I want to enjoy life the way I like it.’ ”

Pacific Rim | Featurette