Word: humdrum
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Thankfully, the cinematography and set provide ample relief from the humdrum plot. A whirling and occasionally unfocused camera heightens the camp of the freak show, filled with the patchwork tents and car parts that form the wandering circus’ home. This cozy shantytown contrasts perfectly with the imposing black car of the evil Desmond “Mr.” Tiny (Michael Cerveris), whose license plate, “Des-Tiny,” is one of the film’s many ingratiating flourishes...
...bombing campaign in decades. The attack left an estimated 1,300 Palestinians dead and sent residents in nearby Sderot scrambling into underground shelters. But the subjects in Gaza-Sderot remain blissfully unaware of the looming disaster; there is little talk of politics at all. Instead, people go about their humdrum lives: a slender young man frets over his mediocre boxing skills in a Sderot sports club; friends in Gaza play music around a wood fire; a woman shops for dinner in the Sderot market; a group of Gazan girls chat after a volleyball game about power outages. Says one girl...
...gaze spans New York and the greater Boston area as he observes his characters with attentive and probing eyes. Holder recounts absurd moments in the miserably ordinary lives that constellate his world. He uses these stories as a sort of social critique of today’s humdrum realities, engaging a universal longing for something beyond the banal.But Holder’s material doesn’t spark much more interest than that. Title characters like “The Woman Who Sat on the Toilet for Two Years” fail to enthuse. What seems to be Holder?...
...which in turn raised home prices so steeply that the modest-income people whom Washington hoped to add to the homeowner rolls couldn't afford them - or eventually couldn't afford the monthly payments they had taken on. Meanwhile, affordable home construction became pass. What developer wanted to build humdrum houses for teachers and police officers when he could make a killing with waterfront condominiums that promised the glamorous lifestyle of murder suspects on CSI: Miami? (See pictures of the housing crisis in Cleveland...
Proponents laud Kramer's system for infusing humdrum regular-season matchups with drama and import. But critics say the BCS can discriminate against worthy underdogs and elevate the wrong teams to its ultimate showdown. Outrage over its capricious rankings spurred Senate hearings in 2003 and a congressional inquiry in 2005. A 2007 Gallup poll found that only 15% of fans would balk at scrapping the present format for a tidy year-end tournament. This year, that number is probably even lower in the Lone Star State...