Cinemasparagus: November 2026

Little Lexicon of Anglophone Cliché: A Work in Progress c. 2007

"2 or 3 things"
"A Novel"
"At once _________ and _________, ..."
"For [so-and-so, in dedication]" (exception: the Histoire(s) du cinéma, which invented the practice in cinemaville)
"I found myself unprepared for the emotional wallop"
"Love it or hate it, ... "
"Unfortunately, compared with Rohmer's earlier work, in particular the series known as 'Six Moral Tales,' The Romance of Astrea and Celadon has little to say about eros that's still relevant. It's a film so embarrassingly quaint it's crying out for a parody called Not Another Medieval Movie."
"_________ is dead. Long live _________."
"_______istan"
"a meditation upon [artwork x]" (for Dan Sallitt)
"a worthy undertaking"
"achingly beautiful"
"an unflinching look"
"at the height of his/her artistic powers"
"bracing"
"canny" (also: "cannily," e.g., "cannily predicts")
"darkly comedic"
"deeply affecting"
"didn't really appreciate that..."
"disappointing"
"doe-eyed Tatsuya Nakadai"
"droll"
"erstwhile [anything]"
"fiercely emotional"
"film-buff"
"from the likes of Pauline Kael"
"fun"
"gaily caparisoned"
"goofy charm"
"heart-rending climax"
"heart-rending final scene"
"heart-rending final sequence"
"heterosexual love"
"homosexual love"
"in the history of the cinema"
"invigorating"
"is to be commended for"
"jansenist"
"lively"
"my star-clotted majesty"
"one of the most beloved"
"played by the incomparable [so-and-so]"
"playfully"
"political"
"powerfully affecting"
"reading of the film"
"rich array"
"staggering beauty"
"staggeringly beautiful"
"strikingly bereft"
"that would change cinema forever"
"that would change the movies forever"
"the greatest ____________ of his/her generation"
"there's nothing else like it" (also: "there's absolutely nothing else like it")
"tissue of lies"
"titular [anything]"
"two or three things"
"unforgettable"
"visually inventive"
"well-made"
"well-shot" / "shot well"
"willfully eccentric"
"winningly"
"would never be the same"

Tuesday, November 03, 2026

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Little Lexicon of Anglophone Cliché: A Work in Progress c. 2007