When scientists want to test new therapies for cancer or heart disease, they frequently turn to mice for help. For most mice, this isn't the best thing that could happen to them. Being a research subject has definite disadvantages, at least for mice.
But most people prefer a new therapy be tested in a rodent rather than making a human patient the guinea pig — if you'll forgive the twisted metaphor.
The Icelandic singer-songwriter Mugison performs in Los Angeles. Mugison had one of the most popular songs in his home country this year with "Stingum Af."
Robert Siegel speaks with Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico. He tells Robert why he decided to end his GOP presidential bid and instead seek the Libertarian nomination for president.
'Pina': German filmmaker Wim Wenders' 3-D dance documentary is a homage to influential German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, who died in 2009.
Credit The Weinstein Co.
'The Artist': Silent-screen idol George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and up-and-coming dancer Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) share a vivacious moment onstage.
Credit Merie Wallace / 20th Century Fox Film Corp.
'Tree of Life': Brad Pitt plays an archetypal 1950s patriarch who loves his family — but can't help imposing his expectations on them.
Credit Roger Arpajou / Sony Picture Classics
'Midnight In Paris': Owen Wilson, playing the time-traveling hero Gil, wants to write novels instead of movies, much to the horror of his fiancee Inez, played by Rachel McAdams.
Credit Sony Pictures Classics
'Incendies': After the death of the widowed Nawal (Lubna Azabal), her adult children slowly discover the bitterness of her childhood in a country plagued by endless cycles of violence.
Credit Phil Fisk / IFC Films
'The Trip': Steve Coogan (right) and his friend Rob Brydon tour Northern England and engage in a battle of competing impressions in the road trip comedy.
Wizards, transformers and vampires did their best, but they couldn't transform 2011 into a magical year for Hollywood: Despite all the 3-D and IMAX screenings and the premium prices that come with them, industry box office sagged by half a billion dollars compared with last year. But quality? That's another story.
