Word: dourness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...refusal to take itself too seriously. Certainly, Amélie’s relationship with the Man of Glass (an elderly neighbor so named for his severe bone disease) adds an intellectual counterpoint to all the levity. But just when it seems that Jeunet is establishing another dour subplot, he kicks it to the curb with one of the film’s simplest and best jokes. It’s clear that Jeunet and his cast are having fun with this film, and the enthusiasm is contagious. After the recent release of The Closet, the new standard for French...
...welcomed, not chastised. Indeed, the final clubs often generously open up their parties to non-members, thereby subsidizing enjoyable evenings out for many students and not just members. But even leaving aside the fact that final clubs provide a rare beacon of light in Harvard’s dour social scene, the University must avoid the immoral and illegal temptation to interfere overbearingly in the private affairs of any organization, regardless of its supposedly oligarchic admissions policies...
...that front - indeed, the ringing endorsements of his second term and complete absence of hostility from any quarter speaks to his almost implausible popularity across all geopolitical boundaries. Of course his immediate predecessors - Boutros-Gali, Javier Perez de Cuellar and Kurt Waldheim - all performed the diplomatic role with dour sobriety, Annan has reinvented the role in keeping with the founding principles of the United Nations...
...hijacking gang. From Hamburg, Germany, to South Florida to Las Vegas, Atta crossed paths with at least seven other hijackers. While some of these terrorists were barely out of their teens, Atta turned 33 days before the attacks. He seems to have been the center of gravity, the dour and meticulous ringleader. This is the story of how his malevolence was unleashed...
...liven her discussion with even the slightest dip into the troughs of low culture. Sontag has long been mocked and feared for her imposing figure, and nowhere do we see the intensity of her sternness than in an essay collection like this. It’s not her excessively dour prose style, but rather the cumulative effect of dozens of articles with precious few pauses to point out why these artists manage to be special in some way that hits the author, Susan Sontag, personally...