Word: genteel
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Doubtful Guest," for example, one of Gorey's more charming tales, is about a silent, penguin-like creature who rings the doorbell of a family's home and refuses to leave. The passivity with which the genteel family accepts the intruder--despite his repeated attempts to eat the gramophone--typifies Gorey's stylized and subdued world...
...ladies who lunch taking a movie aperitif. Inside, the audience laughs along with the gags about women's fear of aging ("If I give you one more face-lift," Dr. Rob Reiner warns Hawn, "you're gonna be able to blink your lips") that make the movie a more genteel version of the misogynistic She-Devil and Death Becomes Her. And the audience applauds when Midler, Hawn and Diane Keaton take comic revenge on their duplicitous mates. In movie theaters around the country, similar crowds registered similar approval for the movie--enough to set Hollywood to scratching its (male) head...
Elements of social satire outweigh any serious intent Begley might have to air the subject of genteel anti-Semitism. Schmidt, like most people, has an active Them-and-Us reflex, and his real biases are generational. He grouses dolefully about the slide in professional standards, the decline of civility and the thoughtlessness of youth. In what could be called a novel of bad manners, Begley again demonstrates that he can reveal the complexities of society and personality with a clear eye and graceful style. Schmidt may not live up to today's strict standards of political correctness, but he more...
...moment, Paltrow is filming the role of the sad waif Estella in Great Expectations, due out next year. But if you think she is doomed to play only transatlantic prisses in genteel screen dramas, think again. "Gwynnie is very American," says Kloves, "but the interesting part of American--dark, dangerous. Her appeal is her mystery and unpredictability. It's what people liked about Steve McQueen." Hmmm. Maybe Paltrow can be the one-stop movie star of the next millennium: Grace Kelly and James Dean, in one glorious package...
Like a lot of other American tourists, O.J. Simpson came to England hoping to sample a few things he says he can't get at home: civility and fair play, for starters. And perhaps a touch of class--a genteel reception at the Oxford Union would be a welcome contrast to Simpson's pariah status...