Word: wizarding
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...WIZARD...
...reviews have criticized Wanted for being derivative of The Matrix. (For what it's worth, Millar says he dreamed up the story when he was a kid.) But the notion of an ordinary, frustrated young person who discovers special powers in strange surroundings is as old as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and, before that, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - not to mention every fable about a commoner revealed as having royal blood and reserves of derring-do. It's the essential wish-fulfillment template: start in drab, constricting reality; hyper-drive into heroism...
...comic-book movies," says Millar. Joel Schumacher's joyless Batman & Robin, in which Clooney legendarily donned a bat suit complete with rubber nipples, left fans feeling abused. Studios turned their attention to fantasy literature like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. But when Spider-Man bested two wizard movies and a Star Wars prequel in 2002 and X-2: X-Men United broke $200 million at the box office in 2003, hand-drawn heroes swung back into favor. The joke in Hollywood now is that in a risk-averse era, comic-book adaptations have a distinct advantage...
...explorers who found this country while looking for someplace else. You learned about the American Revolution, whose leaders surprised even themselves with what they were prepared to risk for their freedom. You devoured Harry Potter, which was written by a woman who wanted to write serious novels until a wizard entered her train compartment and made her write wonderful ones instead. You owe the existence of the Post-it notes in your binder to the 3M researcher who tried to find a stronger glue and changed the world by failing: he found a weaker one instead...
...Cattrall, who's managed to retain her erotic shine from her first film, the 1975 Rosebud, undiminished. The camera examines her face, tracks up her tanned legs, nuzzles or nestles in her cleavage, and can find no flaw, as if she were the prize creation of a CGI wizard. One scene - where Samantha, as a treat for Smith, lies nude on their dining room table, her body garnished with sushi - could be a chic photo essay in either Maxim or Gourmet. I don't know the particulars of Cattrall's maintenance regimen, but, as a friend of mine said about...