Word: comically
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...based on ideas and themes that have been around for two to three thousand years when you get down to it." Storytelling does not, apparently, come easy to Lucas; he says it has been more of a learned, or willed, talent (critics might say that shows in Star Wars' comic-book derivativeness). After an initial burst of inspiration, writing the screenplay for Star Wars became an almost "academic" exercise in refashioning ancient myths for modern audiences (at the time--no surprise--he was reading a lot of Joseph Campbell). In this vein, Lucas' most memorable invention was his notion...
...Capp's long-gone hillbilly comic strip, Li'l Abner, wasn't elevated humor, but it was funny, and that's pretty much the case with Zeke and Ned (Simon & Schuster; 478 pages; $25), by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Advocates for Native American rights will be flummoxed to learn that, as the authors tell it, Cherokees endured the Trail of Tears to the Indian Territory only to end up in Capp's Dogpatch...
This juxtaposition--what should be done set against the difficulty of actually doing it--underscores the comic principle that animates Hecht's first collection of fiction. Her narrator ought to be happy, or at least fulfilled. She and her architect husband have an apartment in Manhattan, a house in East Hampton and a summer rental on Nantucket. She can afford a small army of expensive people--psychiatrists, opticians, periodontists, endodontists, exercise trainers, floor renovators--to minister to her and her possessions' needs. Yet in spite of all this--or perhaps because of it--she is a psychological wreck...
...hackneyed dialogue and other familiar staples in "Star Wars" will impress itself on the moviegoer from the very beginning. Much of the national media has played up the Flash Gordon comic book angle in the last two weeks, at the expense of toning down some of the other classic themes and frameworks that Lucas weaves into the film's texture. In many ways, "Star Wars" can be approached as a competent Western set sometime in the quite distant future. Go down the checklist of a classic Western's ingredients, and few items will be missing in the Lucas recipe: bounty...
...BOOKS . . . DO THE WINDOWS OPEN? The juxtaposition of what should be done set against the difficulty of actually doing it underscores the comic principle that animates Julie Hecht's first collection of fiction (Random House; 212 pages; $21). Her narrator ought to be happy, or at least fulfilled. She and her architect husband have an apartment in Manhattan, a house in East Hampton and a summer rental on Nantucket. She can afford a small army of expensive people -- psychiatrists, opticians, periodontists, endodontists, exercise trainers, floor renovators -- to minister to her and her possessions? needs. Yet in spite of all this...