Word: formulaic
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Scare talk about oil prices will probably reach a peak this winter. Colder than usual temperatures are forecast for North America, and inventories of home heating oil and natural gas are at what the U.S. Energy Department calls "alarmingly low levels." That's the classic formula for a price spike that could quickly drive the cost of oil above $40 per bbl., a level that, if sustained for any significant length of time, could inflict considerable damage on the U.S. and global economies. O.K., that's the scare-your-pants-off scenario. At the moment, though, most experts are more...
...modern reader who possesses only the concentration required to endure short commercial breaks, The Powerbook should be an interesting read. There's even the required internet allusions throughout the book, including lines like, "There's no Netscape Navigator to help me find my way through life." But formula is not everything...
...obvious that great care was taken in constructing the songs on Holy Wood; guitars chugging over suggestive ambience often peel away to reveal acoustic strumming, fragile piano and yes, pulsing synths. Manson could be accused of borrowing a little too much from Trent Reznor, but at least the formula works...
...gruff, Salinger-like recluse author William Forrester (Sean Connery) and the 16-year-old Jamal Wallace (newcomer Rob Brown), already a fine writer himself with basketball skills to match. It takes some time, of course, for their relationship to progress through the steps of the student-mentor story formula: they spar at first, but gradually grow more comfortable with each other, talking, writing and dishing out pseudo-profound remarks that are far less interesting than the screenwriter must have thought. More than anything, their friendship appears to be based on simply spending time together, yammering about this and that without...
...becomes a terrifically varied album, full of differing vocal textures and provocative rhythmic and lyrical ideas. Guest-star-heavy albums sometimes burst apart like overstuffed grocery bags. RZA's solid guidance keeps everything together. The street-corner scientists of Wu-Tang have come up with another winning formula...