Word: clever
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Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 52. Widely regarded as the second most powerful man in Iran, after Khomeini, Rafsanjani is a sharp-witted and clever politician. His power base is his position as Speaker of the mullah- dominated Majlis, or parliament, but he also has close ties to Khomeini and to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards. Though his title of hojatoleslam is just one rank below ayatullah, Rafsanjani is no Islamic zealot. On most national issues he is said to have recently become a pragmatist, willing, for instance, to open doors to the West and to compromise in order...
...taking most of the pratfalls himself, James seems to play along with the Aussie baiting that "for the English chattering classes . . . had begun to serve as a mild form of licensed antiSemitism." But like many a clever provincial before him, he knows that writing well is the best revenge. In his pages, it is the English who emerge as outlandish, not least in their accents. One office colleague offered James a cake that proved to be a soft drink. "No, not cake," she explained. "Cake. Cake-Akela...
...marriages show that money isn't everything and, as Joanne makes quite clear, marriage isn't sacred. Tornell's portrayal is sharp and consistent throughout; she perfectly fills out the stereotype of the callous NYC socialite. Filling out the duo, Lyne makes the most of a sketchy character with clever, impromptu gestures...
...laughs, American Werewolf displays a classic Landis weakness. Almost every one of the film's creative elements, from characters to special effects, shows a degree of thought and attention to detail most youth comedies do without. Yet all the effort--clever dialogue, gruesome special effects, expertly choreographed car crashes--exists to propel an idea that is, well, dumb. Landis made a werewolf movie that is nothing more than a werewolf movie; a pity, because it could have conveyed more profound sentiments than "Yikes!" Landis said he got the idea in 1969, when while traveling through Yugoslavia, he saw a ritual...
...REVIEWER of books knows, criticism comes easy. When highlighting a book's "major flaws," he need only be witty, clever, slightly sarcastic, and he has done his job. Moreover, he knows that he will have pleased his audience. Almost anyone enjoys reading a well-worded negative review; the piece entertains for awhile, but makes no further claims. The busy and relieved reader feels no obligation to waste time with the book...