Science on Screen Series at the State Theatre: Robot and Frank on March 10

For my Modesto region readers, I would like to encourage you to consider an interesting movie-going experience, our Science on Screen Series. The State Theatre is a nicely renovated 1930s era movie house. Three more films remain in the series, over the next four months.  I'll be hosting the film Jurassic Park in May! Read on for information about next Sunday's movie:  

Science On Screen presents

Robot & Frank

Sun. March 10 at 3 p.m.

(PG-13) 1 Hr. 29 Min. In English

Science On Screen, a pioneering program pairing Hollywood films with presentations by notable experts from the world of science, technology, mathematics and medicine, was made possible through a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Robot and Frank, and the accompanying presentation by Doctor Kevin Gucwa, is the second in a four-program series being presented by The State from January through May, 2013.
 
Film: Robot & Frank starring Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon, Robot & Frank is an offbeat buddy movie about an elderly ex-jewel thief and his new caretaker robot.
 
Speaker: Kevin Gucwa, Ph.D. -- Turning Fictional Robotics Into Reality
Doctor Gucwa is Director Assistant at the UC Davis C-STEM Center, a program designed to improve computing, science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in K-14 education. He is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on robotics.
 
Community Partners: Program co-sponsor Doctors Medical Center will display and demonstrate its da Vinci surgical robot, and the Beyer High School Engineering and Robotics Pathway students will be on hand with their own student-designed, award-winning robots http://beyerrobotics.com. Attendees will have a chance to enter a raffle for mini bots, tiny robots made from the heads of toothbrushe

Doors at 2 p.m.; presentation and film 3 p.m.
(Q&A following the film)

For online ticket sales got to www.thestate.org. To purchase your tickets by phone, call the State Box Office at 209-527-4697 from noon to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. If still available tickets may also be purchased the night of the event up to the start of the presentation. The State Theatre is at 1307 J Street in downtown Modesto.

Science on Screen: Contact, January 27

For those of my readers in the Modesto vicinity, I would like to let you know of an interesting cinema series taking place over the next few months at the State Theatre. Science on Screen is an effort to increase science literacy in our region using popular movies and presentations by experts in some different scientific disciplines. The first movie in the series, on Sunday, January 27th, is Contact, based on the book by Carl Sagan regarding our first contact with extraterrestrial beings. Jodie Foster stars as a SETI researcher who finds radio signals from outside our Solar System, and the movie follows events that follow that discovery.

Our speaker will be Jill Tartar, PhD, on whom the Jodie Foster character is partly based. Dr. Tartar served as the director for SETI for a number of years. The event begins at 3 PM with the presentation, and a question and answer period will follow the movie.

The event itself will be interesting and fun, but if you have never seen a movie at the State Theatre, you are in for a special treat. The State dates back to the 1930s, and was recently renovated to provide an experience of watching a theatre movie when it was an event. The State Theatre is located at 1307 J Street in downtown Modesto. The movie series is made possible by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Three more movies will make up the remainder of the film series: Robot and Frank, Day After Tomorrow, and Jurassic Park. Geotripper himself will be speaking at the dinosaur movie, presumably about dinosaurs...and movies. Hope to see you at all the programs!