IFC Films has released the trailer for Tesla. Directed by Michael Almereyda (Marjorie Prime), the deconstructed biopic stars Ethan Hawke as famous inventor Nikola Tesla in a story that knows it’s playing fast and loose with the details of Tesla’s life. The plot follows the uneasy interactions Tesla has with Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan) and George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan). I’m not really sure what to make of the film judging by the trailer. On the one hand, I’m fascinated by this period in history and Tesla is a captivating individual. On the other hand, it’s …

HBO's documentary The Inventor tells the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the woman whose Silicon Valley profile and star were rising along with her company, Theranos, which was supposed to alter health care forever. Her idea (and her product, which was called The Edison) was that you could get a blood test with only a drop of blood from the tip of your finger, which was so much better than the traditional way (i.e. with needles -- ugh). Her product was a machine that could run 200 tests at the same time.

I don’t know if we’re living in a golden age of grifters, but they certainly seem to have a lot more marks at their disposal. We like to think that these marks are simple rubes, greedy for easy money. Watching Alex Gibney’s new documentary The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley I was frequently reminded of David Mamet’s House of Games where the mark is wealthy and educated. Gibney’s portrait of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes doesn’t go so far as to call her a con artist, but rather to indict those that bought …