Word: curios
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...fantasy that trumpets its artifice with storybook colors and extravagant decor -- all to illustrate the parable of a malformed artist-messiah rejected by his flock -- is asking for trouble. Perhaps only Tim Burton, fresh from his Batman bonanza, could have the clout to make such a defiantly vulnerable curio as Edward Scissorhands. And perhaps only this former animator could make it work so beautifully. A witty comedy of manners that arcs into poignance, this is a Christmas movie only a Grinch could hate...
Southern California is full of Asian immigrants who are doing just that. Across the intersection of Crenshaw and Olympic boulevards in Los Angeles is Koreatown, with its thousands of Korean businesses: mom-and-pop curio stores, multinational banks, tiny storefronts, gleaming glass buildings. Upwards of 300,000 Korean Americans live in or near Koreatown...
Judith Hearne took up permanent residence in the literary world's case load in 1955 when Novelist Brian Moore anatomized her "lonely passion." In Peter Nelson's screenplay, however, she is more a curio than a figure of powerful emotional relevance. This classic spinster (to whose portrayal Maggie Smith brings all the right moves but nothing very individual) is a Dublin piano teacher. Naturally she drinks a bit. Sometimes she drinks a lot. Her timorous gentility suggests to her landlady's brother (Bob Hoskins, with some of his spark plugs missing) the possibilities of untapped wealth -- enough of it, anyway...
...past woe. Viola (Elizabeth McGovern) has lost her twin brother in a tempest at sea, and assuming him dead, disguises herself in his clothing to pay tribute to his memory. This causes her considerable discomfort, however, since she is forced to hide her love for her "fellow" friend Curio (James Bodge). Add to this Curio's lover Olivia (Margaret Reed) falling unwittingly head over heels for McGovern, and you have the makings of a maze that keeps both actors and audience in a perpetual state of dizzy motion...
...certainly no lack of African and Oceanic tribal art on public view. There was also plenty to be bought-though much of it, including some of the masks and figures that influenced Derain, Matisse and Picasso, was poor stuff made, even then, in Africa for the souvenir-and-curio market...