Word: last
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...anyone who enjoyed McAvoy in The Last King of Scotland, or Starter for 10 or even the absurd Wanted knows, he makes a charming tour guide of cinematic territories, whether it be the high court of Idi Amin, posh academics or sects of vengeful weavers. But enough is enough and Valentin ends up being the kind of guide who distracts more than he leads. He turns his metaphorical flashlight in our eyes, chatters on about himself and makes you long to slip away from the group, to steal some quiet time with the art - the Tolstoys - on your...
...movie, he wavers between Chertkov's will and Sofya's, but he never displays complete conviction toward either. As he waffles, our perspective shifts accordingly. Is this a writer who believes in power to the people and doesn't want to be nagged by his selfish wife in his last days? Or a confused old man, susceptible to flattery and not up to his own standards of mental agility...
...Plummer it's all of the above. Waffling is not a great source of dramatic tension, but watching a public man struggle to figure out his own best - and private - end is certainly affecting, and that's what Plummer gives us. By the time we get to the "Last Station" itself, the Astapovo railway station where Tolstoy died, Hoffman finally lets Valentin fade into the background and the focus rest on Leo and Sofya. What you carry away from the movie is the reminder that a deathbed is the place where the living stake their possession for the last time...
That's not to say there aren't real issues with how trial modifications are (or aren't) being converted into permanent ones. Housing counselors report that while loan servicers have made progress in certain areas - phone-wait times that used to run up to an hour now might last only 15 minutes - there are still major bottlenecks in getting the final sign-off for a permanent modification. And borrowers are not without fault. Some 375,000 homeowners should be eligible for permanent modifications by the end of the year, according to the Treasury Department, but some 20% of them...
Toyota's announcement last week that it will recall more than 3.8 million vehicles is unlikely to end the controversy over the car's sudden-acceleration problems. Following complaints about the problem - and a deadly accident in California last summer - the company acknowledged that floor mats, if not secured properly, could get stuck under the accelerator pedal, leaving a vehicle's throttle stuck open. Hence the recall, to replace the accelerator pedals and floor mats...