Word: shrillings
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...other overblown attempts at humor such as an accidentally flooded living room ("It's my new swimming pool!" Wilder explains, floundering among the floating chairs), shrill and tasteless jibes at homosexuality, and scenes in which the mere sight of fat people is intended to be funny. Wilder can make such devices laughable for a while, but they are worth a chuckle at most, and not the guffaws he tries (and fails) to extract from them. Repeated as often as they are, they become downright boring...
Shortly before 3 a.m., the festive decorations caught fire, turning the 120 ft.-long hallway into a tunnel of flames. Aroused by a shrill fire alarm, residents on the lower floors rushed down three stairways to safety. Some students on the fourth floor prudently stayed in their rooms, which were separated from the corridor by fire-resistant doors; they were plucked to safety by fire fighters on ladders. But others panicked, threw open their doors and plunged into the inferno in a desperate sprint for the stairs. Two oeds leaped to their deaths on the frozen ground 40 ft. below...
...Ackerman's Land on the equally fictitious Borloff Straits. The species Tirillus vulgaris resembles bread sticks; but a variety, T. mimeticus, assumes the shape and color of its surroundings and thus is permanently invisible. Even more unusual is T. silvador, which grows in the high Andes and emits shrill whistles on clear January and February nights, possibly to warn away llamas that might otherwise tread...
...which stands as an appreciable flaw in the script--manage to keep up with Jero throughout. Deborah Adams portrays Amope, a classically shrewish woman who bitches her rather nerdy husband, Chume, to distraction and even manages to ruffle the seemingly unflappable Jero. Adams plays it just right: the piercing shrill of her voice could cause inner-ear disturbance and she cuts a very intimidating figure without descending to the level of parody. Even better is Marlon Riggs as Chume, who rants and raves hysterically with near-perfect comic timing...
...alarm clock never had a chance. Long before it could fulfill its routine function Tuesday morning, shrill telephone rings disturbed the peaceful slumber of John H. Van Vleck...