Word: vil
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...represented by vicious, condescending lawyer Meredith (Lisa Banes), a.k.a. "the Praying Mantis." "What chance does feminism have in this sweat hole when the strong women become like [the men]?" Lynne asks, referring to her older, Type A colleague. Meredith is a harpy who spits her lines like Cruella De Vil, though she hints that she's more complicated. There's the kernel of an interesting story here, about young women who are just starting out and have some growing up to do. Too bad Kelley can't make the same excuse. --By James Poniewozik
KATHERINE HARRIS Cruella De Vil or Catherine the Great? In two weeks, no one's gonna care...
...releases on video, a "Disney Masterpiece" - doesn't that dilute the force of the term? Why is The Fox and the Hound a Disney Masterpiece? Whatever.) So, looking at those, you'll realize a common feature - the best Disney movies all have _female_ villains. Everyone remembers Cruela de Vil, the Wicked Queen in Snow White, Ursula the Sea Witch, Maleficent, Madame Medusa - but who remembers the fat guy in Pocohontas, the evil dude in The Aristocats, or any of the various gun-toting hunters? The truth is, the femme fatales are the nastiest, most memorable characters - kids have nightmares about...
...Favorite Martian and The Parent Trap.) Moreover, Disney's live-action films all seem to be reduced to slapstick violence between a paper-cut villain and a cheesy hero. And yet, even in last year's dreadful remake of 101 Dalmations, Glenn Close found room to make Cruella De Vil somewhat entertaining...
...this last element--the villain of the story's formula--that falls hopelessly flat. The most outstanding animated features are those with the strongest villains; think of Cruella de Vil, Ursula and Jafar in Disney's best. Rasputin, however, is a bumbling idiot. He shrieks and whines and has the further distasteful attribute of losing his bodily limbs every so often (apparently, the animators want to make it very clear that villains must be repulsively ugly). Moreover, he seems to have absolutely no motivation for his curses. He constantly howls "The Romanovs must be destroyed!" but there seems...