Word: maudlinity
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...again sharpshooter), and an attention to history that is emotionally edifying and alive. Still, the connecting material by which Robert Rodat's script moves from the opening battle sequence to the last is less than wholly compelling, and the framing device of the ex-soldier in the cemetery is maudlin and cumbersome; Spielberg hasn't gotten an ending right in at least ten years. As I said, disputation seems insolent in the case of this film, but in this mediocre summer, even the best films bore compromises that were hard to ignore. Nicholas K. Davis...
...encouraging showcase of the CD is the A side "Sunny." In true Morrissey style the song takes its time cadencing, but once the beat begins the song is infectious. The trademark maudlin Morrissey irony is apparent from the start--the band strikes up in the most driving, happy manner possible, as Morrissey sings of heroine addiction and "the needle pressed on to tight skin" (The song is rumored to be about Jake Walters, Morrissey friend and former personal assistant). Consuming depression has never had such a foot-tapping beat. It's a guilty pleasure. "Sunny" is an excellent song, most...
...sort of homage to longtime Lethal Weapon fans, the film ends with a not-quite-maudlin finale that merges with a multi-picture photo album underlay of the credits, but the real end of the movie comes fifteen minutes earlier, when Murtaugh and Riggs clasp each other and pause for a moment after vanquishing the last villain. They have come a long way from their early days, and the scene captures that feeling even for those who don't know the duo's history. Like that scene, the movie as a whole takes both characters a step past their development...
...suspense and the brilliant writing of Purple America is sustained almost through the entire book; the last scene seems a bit maudlin, a bit too pat an ending to the complex situation Moody describes so movingly throughout the book. Everything else in the book, however, is as near perfection as you're likely to find in fiction these days...
Full of such grace notes, A Little Sweeter (Verve) is nevertheless a curious album, and not just because it opens with an ambitious but maudlin version of Eleanor Rigby (is there such a thing as a non-maudlin Eleanor Rigby? Could one even be possible given the known laws of art?). Recorded with the pianist Kenny Barron and his regular rhythm section (Ray Drummond on bass and Ben Riley on drums), this is such a simple, straight-ahead shot of vocal jazz that it could have been made 40 years ago, and yet it couldn't sound newer. This...