Word: cynic
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Being the cleverest fellow in movies had its perks: six Oscars (out of 21 nominations), for writing, producing and directing. It also earned Wilder, from the sterner critics, the label of cynic. They said his films were long on wit and short on compassion. Pick up a rock, and Wilder's view of the human condition would crawl out from under it. Nearly 40 years ago, critic Andrew Sarris wrote, "Billy Wilder is too cynical to believe even his own cynicism." Today we can see that Wilder was less a cynic than a premature realist. An Austrian Jew who left...
What makes Universe funny and not just wacky is that it uses the qualities that endeared viewers to Richter's Late Night persona--the affable, moon-faced cynic--making the character the kind of sweet but snarky dreamer you would want in the next cubicle. The supporting cast is top-notch, and after so many glamorous workplace sitcoms, it's nice to see one capture the tedium and absurdity of office life. And Universe mostly skips the physical jokes that Hollywood piles on comics who are, shall we say, not the leading-man stereotype (remember that flesh-colored underwear...
...cynic may suggest that the Academy Awards are just another publicity stunt orchestrated by that most commercial of institutions—Hollywood—in our most commercial of societies. Just look at two of the Best Picture winners over the last decade. Titanic and Gladiator are epic blockbusters that drew huge box-office revenues but are of questionable artistic merit. Even recent winners with significantly smaller budgets are hardly art-house flicks. Shakespeare In Love is little more than a sappy romance comedy in period costume, and American Beauty is a jarring but hardly-subtle expression of bourgeoisie suburban...
Amanpour, who described herself as an “anti-cynic,” spoke extensively on the news scene after Sept. 11. She said the events following the terrorist attacks have reaffirmed the essential role of the media in keeping Americans in touch with events throughout the world...
...that occurs in the last few minutes of the movie. Most of the story takes place aboard a bus making its slow way up from Miami toward New York City, with Gable acting as Colbert's chaste protector--honorable knight disguised as roadwise cynic--as she tries to elude her father's detectives. The bus is the real Frank Capra America, a gallant little vessel pushing through sparsely settled American countryside, the passengers, ensemble, singing The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, checking into roadside motor cabins when a bridge washes out and waiting in line next morning...