Word: direness
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...movies as on holiday dinner. Some 40 films are on view, many as solemn as a Christmas sermon; we consider 10 here. Three are docudramas about challenges to the legal system. Three are tales of senior citizens in decay or defiance. Another three are comic studies of dire events: serial killing, an alien invasion, going home to mother. And it wouldn't be Christmas without a film of some masterwork by a 19th century novelist; this year it's Henry James. Below, a few reasons to visit your local plex--and a few more to stay home with the Yule...
...offers a typically stylish and subtle turn on the espionage game. Nothing is actually going on in Panama that demands being spied upon, but that doesn't stop a couple of itchy agents in British intelligence. In Panama City they blackmail a well-connected tailor who obediently weaves a dire plot against British interests out of whole cloth. As with any good fiction, imagined events lead to real repercussions...
...music news is dire. While Hootie and the Blowfish's current album, Fairweather Johnson, has not sold as well as the affable Southern band's debut, it has moved a hefty 2 million copies, which is more than one would expect a band with the word Hootie in its name would ever sell. And while homegrown talents struggle, two of the best-selling performers in the U.S. this year turned out to be Canadian--Alanis Morissette, a wishy-washy pop singer turned vengeful rocker, and Celine Dion, a wishy-washy pop singer who has become an internationally best-selling wishy...
...mohawk, tattoos and at least a dozen facial piercings give Miller the semblance of someone out of a biker movie. And the townspeople are apparently convinced that his mere presence puts their children in dire peril of turning into multiply-pierced punks. According to the Boston Phoenix, which reported the story, councillor Ayers believes Miller is a threat to local business, public health and the well being of the community--particularly children...
Could this be a two-step selling strategy in which the customer is tantalized by such warnings and then smitten by the puppies in the movie? It's a strategy I must resist. I'm not in dire need of a dog right now. There seems to be no way to escape the anti-Dalmatian media blitz, but I am going to skip the movie. Just in case...