Word: bland
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Last week the Nobel panel opted for a middle ground between the bland and the flamboyant. It awarded the 1982 peace prize to two dedicated diplomats who are little known outside their circles of influence but who have campaigned long and hard for nuclear disarmament. The winners were Swedish Sociologist Alva Myrdal, 80, and Alfonso Garcia Robles, 71, a Mexican career diplomat who energetically sponsored the 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco, which is intended to make Latin America the world's largest nuclear-free inhabited zone. Myrdal belongs to an even more elite circle. She is married to another Nobel...
...seems to have given up on trying to inject any energy into here role. Of course, the script never gives her a chance: Patti's character is merely a contrivance of the plot--an extra ingredient thrown into the stew to provide an attractive diversion from the rather bland main course...
Last week, Fox could have done himself a favor by responding to the content of the chapter on Harvard rather than reiterating his skepticism about research techniques. The guide gives a fairly bland summary of life on the Charles, portraying the administration as removed but not unsympathetic to minorities in particular. "Some tensions" over race matters seems to be on target. For example, many Blacks' remain resentful over the decision not to form a separate third world center, and some Black varsity athletes have complained recently about tacit racism on the part of several coaches...
...benignity. The screwball comedies of the 30s could get away with that, but sheer niceness just isn't a cinematic virtue any longer. A recent example of this shift came last year in Victor/Victoria, in which Blake Edwards momentarily lost his customary sharpness and floundered around in a bland, sentimental limbo. Likewise, My Favorite Year contains too many lovable characters, too many cute situations, and in the end it becomes oppressively fluffy. Even the movie's villains corrupt teamster boss and his henchmen turns out as threatening as cigar-chomping teddy bears in pinstripes...
...requisite Nude Dancing at a Wild Party scene. This devious comic contraption is set in motion by a husband (Bartel) and wife (Mary Woronov) so decent and affectionate that they could star in their own sitcom. They have dreams no grander than to open a gourmet restaurant called Chez Bland-and the willingness to kill a gaggle of Los Angeles swingers in order to finance their scheme...