Become a Psychologist

CHICO - About half an hour after the bus his son was riding in exploded into flames, Mt. Washington resident Gaylord Hill got a call about the crash from a bystander. Hill's son Miles had been put on oxygen, the bystander said, and the 18-year-old was going to be airlifted to a hospital. And that was the last piece of news Hill heard for hours. "I couldn't panic because I had to get the information. After I got off the phone ... sure, I panicked. I broke down, " he said. "I called my wife and let her know and then she broke down.

ENTERTAINMENT

Two psychologically damaged siblings doing battle with a mysterious home furnishing makes for nervy moviegoing in the housebound chiller "Oculus. " The object in question is the Lasser Glass, an ornate, antique black cedar mirror of historically malevolent intentions, or so believes Kaylie (Karen Gillan), whose parents met a bloody, psychotic end a decade ago. Her younger, more emotionally fragile brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites), fresh from a mental facility, is less sure of sis' theory and more intent on moving on from the tragedy.

Picture potato chips or chocolate - or any food you feel you can't resist. Chances are, your brain associates this food with a promise of happiness, says Kelly McGonigal, psychology instructor at Stanford University. But foods we have little control around act like the elusive carrot on a stick: The more we eat, the more we want. We never feel we have enough because the promise of reward is always in front of us - if only we eat one more, then another, and soon we're left with crumbs at the bottom of the bag. Yet the longing remains.

"Child's Pose" sounds like something simple and easy, but don't be fooled. This stunning film from Romania, exceptionally written, directed and acted and winner of the Berlin Film Festival's prestigious Golden Bear, is anything but uncomplicated. A ferocious psychological drama with the pace of a thriller, "Child's Pose" combines, as have the best of the Romanian new-wave films, a compelling personal story about mothers and sons with an examination of socio-political dynamics in a way that is both intense and piercingly real.