Word: brilliante
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...forces come about? How did the West decline from its triumphal march to its present sickness? Have there been fatal turns and losses of direction in its development? It does not seem so. The West kept advancing socially in accordance with its proclaimed intentions, with the help of brilliant technological progress. And all of a sudden it found itself in its present state of weakness...
...even more brilliant mathematical tour de force, Hawking has gone on to point out that black holes apparently violate the cherished no-escape doctrine. Contrary to expectations, Hawking's mini-black holes are gradually "evaporating," leaking subatomic particles and high-energy gamma rays back into the universe and rising in temperature. After billions of years, according to Hawking's calculations, the minuscule hole, unlike its large brother, can no longer sustain the buildup of heat and expires in a Gotterdammerung-like blast comparable to the explosion of millions of H-bombs...
Just as his welcome was wearing out in Los Angeles, Mankiewicz was saved by the arrival of another brilliant talker, Orson Welles. The young director suggested a collaboration. The result, a thinly disguised biography of Press Lord William Randolph Hearst, was Citizen Kane. Even before the classic flickered onscreen, Welles and Mank were disputing the writing credits; who contributed what remains a matter of acrimonious debate. After exhaustive research, Meryman convincingly concludes that though the script was a cooperative venture, the controlling interest belongs to Mankiewicz...
...obviously, is Peter Sellers' bumbling Inspector Clouseau. Sellers, the most brilliant impersonator in movies, scores highest in constricted caracatures where much is made of a given character's lack of awareness (particularly personal awareness--a lack of self-consciousness). In other words, Sellers is at this best when he is smallest, and Clouseau's oblivious, unfazed determination is the perfect vehicle for him. But whenever these little men become remantic, as in Edwards' The party or Strikes Again, Sellers begins to take himself more seriously (his narcissism, unfortunately, bleeds through even when these characters fumble their love-making attempts...
...Study of Film in the University," with stanley Cavell, Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value (great title, eh?). A movie will be shown and analyzed, which sounds like it'll be about as much fun as an evening with Henny Youngman. Cavell is a brilliant guy, but his lecturing style tends towards the dull and the obscure. Another harbinger--this one of all the dull lectures you will attend. We recommend a pass on this one. You'd be better off doing what we've told you to do every other night so far, that...