Word: charms
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...18th century in order to strengthen it?" But not everyone--certainly not government officials and analysts who specialize in Soviet affairs--echoed any such attitude. Said West Germany's Heinz Brahm, a director at the Federal Institute for Eastern and International Studies: "We can expect a new charm offensive toward Western Europe. We may find ourselves longing for the days of the old men who didn't talk very much...
...award was once worth caring about. Since 1947, when the Italian film Shoeshine was the first foreign-language film to receive an Oscar, the category has honored both landmark art (The Bicycle Thief, Rashomon, Through a Glass Darkly, 8 1/2) and sophisticated diversion (Seven Samurai, Z, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Day for Night). The Academy might err on the side of aesthetic conservatism; trailblazers such as Godard, Antonioni and Fassbinder were never so much as finalists for the prize, and directors like Bergman and Truffaut were cited years after their films had won critical acceptance. But in general...
...against a good deal of medium-rate work and potboiling. Enjoyment of the lesser Rousseaus is usually tinged with condescension, though at least they are not cute or kitschy, like the truckloads of pseudonaive painting that would sprout from Montmartre to Haiti after his death. They have their period charm; you have to love his dirigibles and Wright biplanes creakily copied from postcards. But most of his city and country scenes are as platitudinous as Utrillo...
...fierce competitor or gut fighter, and a meddler who cannot leave his subordinates alone is a hands-on executive. When strung together properly, apparently innocent modifiers can acquire megaton force. For instance, a journalist may write, "A private, deliberate man, Frobisher dislikes small talk, but can be charming when he wants to." In translation this means, "An antisocial, sullen plodder, Frobisher is obnoxious and about as articulate as a cantaloupe." The familiar phrase "can be charming" is as central to good journalese as "affordable" is to automobile ads and "excellence" is to education reports. It indicates that Frobisher's charm...
...film's unlikely premise that this bundle of lissome lubriciousness (Nicollette Sheridan), whom Gib has never met, is his for the asking; he need only go west to strike gold. He will do so in the reluctant company of Alison, a haughty classmate so indifferent to Gib's ragged charm that they will inevitably prove a match made in movie heaven...