Word: witness
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...womanizing buddy, a suave and sarcastic anthropology professor who admittedly prefers T-and-A over IQ: "I gave my last girlfriend a copy of Farewell to Arms--she thought it was a diet book." Lauren Bacall is also superb as Rose's mother Hannah, an aging beauty whose wit is matched only by her savvy. Hannah is exceptionally good at her principal hobby--that is, making Rose feel not-that-pretty--and the time-honored Jewish tradition of guilt and sarcasm extends even to the most minor conversations. During Gregory's first evening with Hannah, Rose asks her mother...
...production's success begins, as one would expect, with Catherine Ingman's stage direction. A constant, careful and oftentimes outrageous choreography of cast members supplements the humor of the script. Sir William Schwenck Gilbert's wit is very much couched in wordplay and innuendo, and Ingman creates--in effeminate prancing, mock-stealthy stalking and slapstick combat--a physical counterpart to the clever turns of phrases. While such physical comedy can compromise itself with too much zeal or too little precision, this seldom happens. The actors seem to understand the appropriate bounds for their movements and the script is never upstaged...
...Wonderful Life, and everybody reads Ulysses on Bloomsday, Thanksgiving is a holiday in need of some tradition that the culture industry can market. Why not Arlo Guthrie? The war in Vietnam may well be long past, but we're all getting older. With the same wit he used so well in civic protest, Guthrie demonstrates how to fade into obscurity while inviting no pity. If you missed him this year--and if you want to get old without getting stupid--mark next year's calendar...
...charming new live-action remake of "101 Dalmatians" is more than a keen marketing ploy, although Disney is sure to accumulate plenty of doggie dollars. Director Stephen Herek has smartly chosen to remain faithful to the cartoon, maintaining the story's buoyant wit and inherent cuddliness. One hundred and one adorable Dalmatians are difficult to resist, and the film works well even without the luxury of canine dialogue. But the best reason to see "101 Dalmatians" is the wickedly entertaining performance of Glenn Close, who is perfectly cast at the dastardly Cruella...
...Stephen Herek) remains blessed with the wickedest of all Disney witches, Cruella De Vil. She's as determined as she was in 1961 to have a coat made of puppy-dog skins, still employs variously addled henchmen to work her will and is still thwarted by the combined wit of what appears to be most of the Britain's fauna. For us dog saps, it is especially nice to see cuddlesomely real pooches instead of drawn ones doing smart-pet tricks. Fans of the high-diva mode will doubtless feel the same about Glenn Close's Cruella. In (creepy) flesh...