Word: wit
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...cherubs to The Princess and the Frog or Disney's A Christmas Carol, worthy efforts that, together, took in only about a fifth of the Chipmunks' revenue in the same period. No, somebody - somebody young - must be enjoying this soul-sapping would-be comedy. Maybe I'm missing the wit in the Alvin 2 pileup of purloined plot points, toilet and fart jokes and tired references to old movies. (The "You talkin' to me" bit from Taxi Driver simply must be retired from overuse.) Or maybe kids aren't as cinematically precocious as I thought they were...
...else would they have nothing better to do than check Facebook?) My news feed is cluttered with updates about triple word scores in Scrabble, new Taco Bell menu items and people who won't stop talking about their pets. Sure, there is the occasional flash of excitement or wit - like in August, when I said that Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sounded like the name of a law firm, or November when my friend Marc went golfing in a canyon - but the moments were brief, hidden among anecdotes about breakfast burritos and daytime television programs...
...Mastroianni was such a natural charmer - so, we have to say, Italian - that he made indolence attractive; in that film, a perpetual sexual adolescence was not a flaw but a goal (especially because women kept throwing themselves at him, and what woman wouldn't?). Day-Lewis has wit, looks and a furious dedication to every role, but he's so tense and intense that he can't unleash the showman that has to be at the heart of any musical star. Smiling is an ordeal to him, singing an imposition, dancing a form of enforced calisthenics...
...intelligence expected of cast members: "Respect your audience. Keep the bar as high as you can. Don't talk down to your audience, and don't go for the obvious joke." The troupe - whose early members included Mike Nichols, Joan Rivers and Del Close - became known for its brainy wit as seen in sketches like "Football Comes to the University of Chicago." The routine shows a coach's unsuccessful attempt to teach four students the rules of the game. But they can't seem to operate outside of academia, referring to the football as a "demi-poly-tetrahedron...
Ardent fans of the novel claim that a lesser known actress should have been cast as the heroine, but many think that Portman will shine in a role that demands grace, wit, and sass. Horror story fanboys, eat your hearts out—before the zombies get there first. Then again, maybe Portman will come to your rescue...