Word: cherchez
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...with which it shuffles and deals its assorted plot elements. Eventually, corrupt FBI men, a guy who claims to be CIA (Mickey Rourke in a role small enough so he doesn't wear out his welcome), some crooked arms dealers and a sexy mystery woman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) all cherchez le loot. Director Roger Donaldson puts a curiously cheerful spin on paranoia, and Willem Dafoe, as a deputy sheriff, provides a knowing parody of Charlton Heston doing jut-jawed heroics...
Certain expressions can be rendered only in French. Esprit de corps. Joie de vivre. Cherchez la femme. Croissant. They don't really work in translation. And that is true of fin de siecle. "End of the century" sounds flat and clunky. It doesn't carry the suggestion conveyed by the original of hectic decay and a sort of perfumed dying fall...
Husky Alto. Drawing on pop's musical past, Savannah synthesizes the sounds of yesterday-Count Basic, Hoagy Carmichael, Carmen Miranda-with its own swank brand of soul. Strains of Whispering (1920) are grafted onto Cherchez la Femme, a disco number bumping along to Mickey Sevilla's sassy drumbeat. A lilting intro evoking Glenn Miller evolves into the hustle smash I'll Play the Fool...
Somehow it works, Savannah's zany blend of romance, dress-up and the late late show. The songs are mostly about love. But August Darnell's lyrics, shaped by Singer Cory Daye's sweet husky alto, extend beyond the "boogie down" formula. Cherchez la Femme tells the story of a man who takes two jobs to spring his girl from debt, only to have her seek solace elsewhere while he is gone...
...Cherchez La Femme. By 1970, when Bloustein left to become president of Rutgers, the need for reassessment had become apparent. An eleven-man committee (four trustees, three students, three faculty members and an independent chairman) began the search for a new president. By December 1971, a list of 250 prospects had been culled to a dozen, and by the following June, the search committee zeroed in on quiet, witty Gail Parker, a Harvard literature professor who specializes in the study of old-time feminists (her current research project: a critical biography of Charlotte Perkins Gilman). Why Mrs. Parker? Aside from...