The plot of director Akira Kurosawa's 1954 classic, "Seven Samurai," can be summed up in one sentence: Mercenaries are hired to protect a farming village from marauding bandits. Yet within that simple framework is a rich tale involving self-sacrifice, honor, male bonding and sympathy for the underdog. And that's why Kurosawa's masterpiece continues to inspire filmmakers and other artists. "It's classic mythology, it's the hero's journey, and it's about the best of us coming together for one cause, to do the right thing," says Antoine Fuqua, director of the recently opened "The Magnificent Seven," the latest screen version of the "Samurai" tale. Fuqua's film stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt as gunmen leading a gang of mercenaries -- a multiracial group that includes a Mexican, Asian and Native American -- against a rapacious mine owner (Peter Sarsgaard) terrorizing a Western town.

For most Americans, the name Beverly Hills probably conjures images of celebrities, paparazzi, fancy cars and trendy nightclubs. But if all goes according to Mayor John Mirisch's plan, the City of Beverly Hills could become known for something entirely different: Mirisch wants to make his affluent Southern California city the first in America to have a fully autonomous fleet of shuttles, i.e. driverless cars that use sensing technology to ferry passengers all around town. "I loved'The Jetsons' when I was a kid, but I don't think I ever thought of a municipal autonomous shuttle system until fairly recently, in the past couple of years," Mirisch said in an interview. "We want to encourage people to walk more, to bike more, but this is also a great solution." Nationally, the conversation around self-driving cars is reaching a fever pitch.