| 单词 | contrivance |
| 例句 | “And this,” said she, “is the end of all his friend’s anxious circumspection! of all his sister’s falsehood and contrivance! the happiest, wisest, most reasonable end!” Pride and Prejudice 1813-01-28T00:00:00Z Adams had spent most of his retirement years denouncing such contrivances as gross distortions of history. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation 2000-10-17T00:00:00Z He is average-sized and prematurely gray, but by some contrivance of carriage and posture, he makes the men who stand before him feel smaller. All the Light We Cannot See 2014-05-06T00:00:00Z The hasty moments together, the locked doors and base contrivances, the guilty manoeuvres which the husband’s presence forced on his lovers—these had the effect of soiling what had no excuse unless it was beautiful. The Once and Future King 1958-01-01T00:00:00Z Every earth-digger and mechanical contrivance in the country had been mobilized to dig the colossal hole in which the nine giants were to be permanently imprisoned. The BFG 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z But she never said anything about my contrivance. Hunger of Memory 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z ‘I wonder if this is a contrivance of the Enemy,’ said Boromir. The Fellowship of the Ring 1954-07-29T00:00:00Z To mount this argument he needs not just a complex contrivance but one which is in continuous movement. The Invention of Science 2015-09-17T00:00:00Z But character contrivance is deadly; too much makes a play’s engine start kicking and stalling. Review: In ‘The Perplexed,’ Moral Gridlock on Fifth Avenue 2020-03-03T05:00:00Z She is deliberate and detailed without contrivance, and deftly revisits the mix of bravado and introspection inside the head of a wounded young woman. 'Wild': blisters and redemption on the Pacific Crest Trail 2012-03-14T19:57:04Z Along the way, there was the usual array of leaden gags, shameless commercialism and genuinely poignant moments that transcended all the award-show contrivance. The Best and Worst Moments of the 2022 Emmys 2022-09-13T04:00:00Z Prins’s evocative writing style makes “The Latinist” more than just a diverting contrivance. Review | ‘The Latinist’ is the perfect suspense novel to kick off your reading year 2021-12-31T05:00:00Z Plot contrivance is the name of the game. Review: In ‘The Perplexed,’ Moral Gridlock on Fifth Avenue 2020-03-03T05:00:00Z For many, the contrivance of the is-he-or-isn’t-he plot device insulted fans and subverted the show’s life-or-death stakes. ‘The Walking Dead’: Reacting to the Big Reveal, and Looking Ahead to Next Week 2015-11-23T05:00:00Z Perhaps the most obvious manifestation of her insatiable reading, the emails in “Beautiful World” between Alice and Eileen — about Late Bronze Age civilization, babies, Édouard Manet and organized religion — are no contrivance. ‘It Was Like I’d Never Done It Before’: How Sally Rooney Wrote Again 2021-08-28T04:00:00Z Hamaguchi likes to stack the narrative decks, and he’s fearless about folding in contrivances, which he naturalizes by not overworking them. ‘Drive My Car’ Review: A Director Takes Your Heart for a Spin 2021-11-24T05:00:00Z There’s no villain, no phony contrivances, and the mandatory breakup is well-buttressed by the script. ‘Elemental’ Review: Sparks Fly 2023-06-15T04:00:00Z The narrator, a perfect Anthony Heald, springs up not as a dramatic contrivance or shortcut but as a completely reasonable addition to this fantasy jamboree. Story and score grab hands as they venture 'Into the Woods' 2014-08-01T04:00:00Z But the result is a ludicrous exercise in script contrivance, unlikable characters, silly acting and affected emotion. 'Twelve': Rich kids, drugs and a downer of a melodrama 2010-08-05T20:30:00Z And like that mess, “Bird Box” is defined by its derivative plot design and its contrivances. Why "Bird Box" is smashing Netflix records: We're so close to apocalypse ourselves 2019-01-01T05:00:00Z Both are always aware that their conversation, their relationship, is a contrivance, and yet that it might also yield something real. Will 'The End of the Tour' warp the way we think about David Foster Wallace? 2015-07-30T04:00:00Z There is a fundamental layer of falseness and contrivance to all public images: Celebrity culture relies upon that layer not being disrupted. Team Kardashian-West, With Release of Taylor Swift Clips, Is Primed for Battle 2016-07-18T04:00:00Z The cloning device is one way to keep characters around over the ages; there are more spoilery contrivances, too. Review: The Math of ‘Foundation’ Doesn’t Add Up 2021-09-23T04:00:00Z But they also reveal how heavily Ms. Diffenbaugh relies on plot contrivance. Books of The Times: ?The Language of Flowers? by Vanessa Diffenbaugh ? Review 2011-09-07T19:08:12Z The contrivance might fit the novel’s theme of courtly love, but it’s hard to buy the premise of Nell as a gauche and pining scientist. A Botanist’s Desire Turns Toxic in This Novel of Romantic Obsession 2020-03-31T04:00:00Z After all, as even the most diehard Gleek will admit, nearly every episode of Fox’s hit TV show is riddled with contrivances, abandoned plot points and incoherent characters. ArtsBeat Blog: New York Fringe Festival Report: 'Gleeam' 2011-08-18T19:49:44Z He lays bare cinematic contrivances by showing dolly tracks in a shot, only then to fake out the viewer with a lighting trick. ‘This Much I Know to Be True’ Review: Nick Cave Prepares for the Stage 2022-07-07T04:00:00Z If not very credible, the plot at least is engaging and unexpected, and as a sequel to Coward succeeds more than its contrivances might suggest. Review: Reliving ‘Private Lives,’ This Time Mostly Women’s 2020-07-21T04:00:00Z There's a moment where the romantic leads' grandmothers realize they have a deeper connection than the plot contrivance of their respective deli behemoths, and I was, in spite of my better judgment, touched. Hallmark's latest Jewish offering: An order of "Hanukkah on Rye" piled high with racial pandering 2022-12-19T05:00:00Z What is clear by this point is that, for Handler, character motivation is a distant second to plot contrivance. A Series of Unfortunate Events 2019-08-26T04:00:00Z More than Cohen and Fielder, Friedman is upfront about the contrivances of her production. In This Prank Show, the Joke’s on Misogynistic Men 2019-02-12T05:00:00Z It’s a plot contrivance that sends the characters through a heady maze of 1970s stereotypes as they pursue both a reel-to-reel tape player and privacy to listen. ‘18½’ Review: Watergate, Through a Fog 2022-06-02T04:00:00Z Quincy’s motive for dropping in on her old mentor is among the more clanking contrivances offered here. Review: Women’s Hard Choices, Cutting Deep at Williamstown Festival 2016-08-18T04:00:00Z Her plaits suddenly struck him as a contrivance. Fancy dress by Kate Horsley 2010-12-26T00:05:12Z When the ruse is revealed — at a terrible moment, when Johanna shows up at the motel with her luggage — the contrivance falls apart, and in lesser hands the movie would, too. ‘Hateship Loveship’: Kristen Wiig drama finds its way 2014-05-01T18:13:58Z There was widespread competence in fixing things — impossible with most modern contrivances, of course, but still reasonable for the basic tools of survival: pots and pans, bicycles, quilts, tents, storage boxes. Farmers? sand-frac nightmare 2012-05-21T16:31:00Z Ms. Trieschmann must resort to contrivance to keep the potential for dramatic developments from leaking away. | 'How the World Began': Catherine Trieschmann?s ?How the World Began? - Review 2012-01-09T03:01:00Z This work of stunning, shock-and-awe digital contrivance is so weighed down by reverence for the franchise and calculation of effect that it plays less like an experience than like a summary of itself. The Pre-Fab “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” 2015-12-16T05:00:00Z And some are “Surrender,” which has some solid character work, but also has some plot contrivances that stretch a little thin. ‘Outlander’ Season 3, Episode 2: The Prison I Live in Now 2017-09-17T04:00:00Z Often enough it is Mr. Morgan, but he gallantly allows himself to be upstaged from time to time by Seann William Scott, playing a jabbering narrative contrivance who steals a valuable baseball card from Jimmy. Movie Review | 'Cop Out': The Buddy-Police Recipe: Take Guns, Add Some Wisecracking, Stir 2010-02-25T23:21:00Z True, the narrative requires a fair amount of artificial contrivance, is a little a predictable, and lurches into melodrama in the final straight – but this kind of story probably demands that. The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling – full review 2012-09-28T10:30:01Z Notably, he also warms up Simenon’s characters, in particular Julien, who on the page tends to register as a plot contrivance. Mathieu Amalric Takes On ‘The Blue Room’ 2014-10-02T04:00:00Z And his novel is so readable and tidily constructed that, initially, you barely notice its increasingly improbable plot contrivances. Books of The Times: ‘Say Nice Things About Detroit,’ Scott Lasser’s New Novel 2012-08-28T21:15:58Z Advertisement Advertisement At first, such contrivance was unavoidable, since early photographs required long exposures. Review: ‘Grand Illusions’ Showcases Deceptive Photography 2015-08-27T04:00:00Z While the film starts out as a seemingly fresh take on the romantic comedy, it is saddled with numerous contrivances and the clichéd trappings of the genre: big weddings, wayward souls and quick-to-judge elders. Movie Review: ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’: Complications at a Wedding in India 2014-02-09T21:54:44Z Twists of fate lose their magic when they’re obvious as clumsy script contrivances. ‘Sam & Kate’ Review: It’s a Family Affair 2022-11-10T05:00:00Z And to call that plot a conventional Marvel-style contrivance is an understatement. Review: In ‘Venom,’ Tom Hardy as a Weirder-Than-Usual, Not-Quite Superhero 2018-10-04T04:00:00Z Turan hits the nail on the head when he describes the narrative as having been "fatally cobbled together, veering haphazardly from undertone moments to overdone melodramatic contrivance." Readers respond after 'Boyhood' fails to impress critic Kenneth Turan 2014-08-07T04:00:00Z The collision between the false and the real, between melodramatic contrivance and authentic tragedy, is another aspect of his systematic inconsistency. DVDs: Samuel Fuller?s ?Verboten!? Makes It to DVD 2010-07-09T07:35:00Z Love doesn’t exactly reinvent the genre – its female lead is the typical wild child, her counterpart an affable nerd – but it still contains threads of truth among its many contrivances. From Veep to House of Cards: what to expect from TV shows ending in 2018 2018-01-08T05:00:00Z The writer-director's affection for characters in late middle age is clear, but it's not enough to overcome the creaky contrivances of wannabe screwball "The Love Punch." 'The Love Punch' not a direct comedy hit 2014-05-23T04:00:00Z Those are the supposedly surefire selling points behind this entertaining, something-for-everyone contrivance, set in the near future and embellished with flagrant product placement for Dr. Pepper. | 'Real Steel': ?Real Steel,? a Tale of Robot Boxers - Review 2011-10-06T21:49:06Z The spare budget is evident, and the style and script contrivances are often inelegant. 'The Music Never Stopped': J.K. Simmons memorable as a distraught father 2011-03-31T20:36:06Z Ms. Marciano writes with such authority and storytelling virtuosity that incidents like these feel less like narrative contrivances than the sort of startling coincidences randomly tossed up by the wheel of life. Books of The Times: No Safe Harbor for Travelers in ‘The Other Language’ 2014-03-30T21:47:39Z The show does have some distracting reality TV contrivances. Discovery bets on 2 dope series about pot growers 2013-02-17T17:31:16Z Meanwhile, we all just have keep ignoring the clunky contrivances regarding how it is possible for hosts to kill fellow hosts, but not guests, and for guests to kill hosts, but not fellow guests. ‘Westworld’ Season 1, Episode 3: Don’t Make Arnold’s Mistake 2016-10-16T04:00:00Z The show is best when it is least cluttered, and the projected images are an unnecessary contrivance. A Midsummer Night's Dream – review 2013-07-21T17:30:00Z Woodley’s manner, in the midst of an elaborate and seemingly unending contrivance that’s solely meant to force her character into a tough spot, suggests that she knows from trouble and will deal with it. The Apocalypse Will Be Like High School 2015-03-21T04:00:00Z Lady Gaga thrives at the extremes of theatrical contrivance and stone-cold intimacy, and those are the modes in which this performance succeeded. Review: Lady Gaga, the Flashy Provocateur, Battles Lady Gaga, the Raw Voice 2017-08-06T04:00:00Z Other moments are jarring, with the clumsy insertion of black humor into fraught dialogue, or plot contrivances that are too neat to be believed. Theater Review: All Words, Yet at an Impasse of Sorts 2011-07-15T21:43:23Z Unfortunately George’s slightly inhuman quality sets the tone for Ms. Cho’s play, which contains some lovely writing but never dispels an air of contrivance that gathers early. | 'The Language Archive': A Linguist at a Loss for Words Regarding Love 2010-10-17T22:14:00Z It might seem a contrivance too far when Aidan is revealed to be the son of the Conservative minister responsible for the disability services cuts from which Jess and Poppy are reeling. At the National Theater, Love Redeems, in Various Ways 2022-09-01T04:00:00Z And though there’s a hint of contrivance in some of his excerpts, it only takes a brief survey of the O’Connell library to recognize that he means every word he writes. Too Sincere for the Internet? How the Web Journal Thought Catalog Sparked an Online Firestorm 2012-07-05T14:00:18Z Still, the movie never quite justifies the contrivance of its puzzle-box construction. ‘The Song of Names’ Review: A Prodigy, a War and a Mystery 2019-12-24T05:00:00Z It is this silly contrivance that guides Jeremy’s increasingly callous behavior. Review | ‘Be More Chill’ found an audience online. But in a Broadway theater, it lost me. 2019-03-10T05:00:00Z The use of the murder as a plot contrivance made it seem that there was really no story to be told, since every action of Richie's hinged on that one event. ‘Vinyl’ Season 1 Finale: As Confused as Ever 2016-04-17T04:00:00Z The fact that the play is set in 1958, when the British death penalty is still in force, makes his blunder a potentially deadly one -- until, of course, an unexpected contrivance lightens the tone. A blowhard lawyer? That's the joke in 'The Dock Brief' in Venice 2015-10-16T04:00:00Z However much you can tell yourself that it is a product of research and writerly contrivance, it is impossible for the moment not to believe it. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks 2012-06-22T21:55:12Z Even her matchmaking stems from her own contrivances: "There is such symmetry between us," she remarks about herself and potential suitor Frank, suggesting that her decisions are guided by aesthetics rather than feeling. Perfection comes at a price in latest adaptation of Jane Austen's classic "Emma" 2020-04-11T04:00:00Z The plot contrivances in this early Miller drama are obvious, the dialogue rather stiff. Review: A thoughtful, thought-provoking 'All My Sons' at Intiman 2011-03-28T16:52:06Z Yet despite being fictional contrivances, they exude poetic effects, as if a spiritual persona in the artist were striving to overcome his secularist prejudices. What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week 2016-07-07T04:00:00Z So it’s telling — almost a signal of surrender — that “Cinema Verite,” an HBO movie about the making of that legendary documentary, falls back on the scripted contrivances of premium cable. | 'Cinema Verite': The First Airing of Dirty Laundry 2011-04-21T22:02:46Z If the times really were a-changing, would we go on loving “Downton” as we do, through all its longueurs and contrivances and disquisitions on pig stewardship? 'Downton Abbey' Recap: Do We Really Want Anything to Change? 2015-01-04T05:00:00Z But it's sentimental and glutinous, and the ending is almost surreal in its contrivance and unbelievability. Trouble with the Curve – review 2012-11-29T21:30:04Z Besides, I’m willing to forgive that one contrivance in an episode as convincing as Maybe Tomorrow, the instalment of this second season in which things finally begin to click satisfyingly into place. True Detective season two, episode three recap – Maybe Tomorrow 2015-07-05T04:00:00Z This time, we could blame the visual contrivance on the pandemic, which seemed to excuse it a little bit. Perspective | As Trump slips out of town, Biden repurposes old symbols for new life 2021-01-20T05:00:00Z He then went on to add that oh, by the way, in fiction there’s all this contrivance of character, dialogue, and plot, but don’t worry: we can get past these devices. David Shields: Literature saved my life! 2013-02-09T00:30:00Z But it’s a shame to see her resort to the level of contrivance that this book requires. Review: In Liane Moriarty’s ‘Truly Madly Guilty,’ a Very Unfortunate Barbecue Indeed 2016-07-21T04:00:00Z And there’s often as much imagination and craft and contrivance to a great essay as there is to a work of fiction. Have personal essays gotten too personal? 2013-03-17T17:00:00Z He’s not above leaning on cloying music and groaner contrivances to milk empathy. ‘Mars One’ Review: Hope on the Horizon 2023-01-05T05:00:00Z The cantilevered balances the performers wrangle one another into are contrived for visual effect, but few of the visual effects are worth the contrivance. Dance Review: ?Last Touch First? at the Joyce Theater 2012-04-11T21:32:21Z I like action, but this contrivance bothered me. Coming to the L.A. Times Festival of Books: Atticus Lish 2015-04-16T04:00:00Z Whatever its contrivances, “Cornelia Street” is ultimately a work of naturalism, whereas the dreamy, gloomy musical interludes suggest something more abstract and symbolic. ‘Cornelia Street’ Review: A Musical With Local Ambitions 2023-02-14T05:00:00Z As for the aura of contrivance he has sensed in some immersive attractions, he says it comes from an excess of exposition. From Dante to ‘Walking Dead,’ He’s a Master of Immersive Theater 2016-07-07T04:00:00Z Imagine, if you will, spending an hour in an MRI machine designed by an advanced civilization not only examining your brain but also massaging it into a contrivance for higher thought. The resurrection of Julius Eastman: gay, black and brilliant 2017-01-24T05:00:00Z This is not a literary epic on a par with great British drama, for sure — “War Horse” has its share of neat contrivances and less-than-subtle moralizing about how horses can bring people together. Broadway review: Extraordinary puppets make heart of 'War Horse' beat 2011-04-15T00:43:39Z Given that, aside from the minor frills of who’s wrongfully accused or what’s the modern contrivance bothering everyone this week, there’s no reason whatsoever to watch season five of “Downton Abbey.” America’s long obsession with “Downton Abbey”: How the show became a satire of Britishness 2015-01-05T05:00:00Z Nay’s Stamm is barely fit for the job, and its only through many plot contrivances that he isn’t caught at once. TV Picks: 'Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell,' 'Deutschland 83,' 'Game of Thrones' 2015-06-11T04:00:00Z The show’s structure is the kind of schematic sci-fi contrivance that requires a glossary. Review: ‘Into the Badlands,’ Drama With Martial Arts on AMC 2015-11-12T05:00:00Z Anonymous The trouble with contrivances is that unless our friends are idiots, they see them for what they are. Social Q?s: Welcoming a Daughter?s Boyfriend - Social Q?s 2012-03-09T15:56:48Z The collision of these characters, plus a shy solicitor and the house's unscrupulous owner, depends on farcical contrivance. Taking Steps | Theatre review 2010-03-29T20:30:00Z Those who have been watching the series since the beginning know that declaration is a fiction, another layer of fabrication on a world that layers one contrivance atop another. In “Fargo,” the fight for truth and justice is a woman’s game 2017-06-03T04:00:00Z There’s a handful of clever comedic contrivances in the movie’s interstices, as when Maggie outfits Fred for a banquet in Stockholm, or when Charlotte, in Paris, has to defuse an international crisis while high. “Long Shot,” Reviewed: A Timid Political Rom-Com with the Politics Removed 2019-05-06T04:00:00Z It looks cheaply made and has a plot hinging on provocation and contrivance far more than good sense or good taste. The Boy Next Door Is the Bad Movie Hollywood Needs Right Now 2015-01-22T05:00:00Z Mask said that today’s audiences are more attuned to the contrivances of “Monster’s Ball” than they were 20 years ago, particularly the restaurant and prison scenes that are strikingly underpopulated, even for rural Georgia. Oscars Rewind: For Halle Berry, a Bittersweet Breakthrough 2022-03-24T04:00:00Z “Glee” without the contrivance, the tokenism or the choreographed karaoke: that’s one way of looking at “Mariachi High,” which leads off the PBS Arts summer documentary series on Friday night. Television Review: ‘Mariachi High,’ Part of PBS Arts Summer Festival 2012 2012-06-28T22:49:20Z The moral drive of fiction is faithfully to "get it right" through the contrivance of making it up. Vietnam road 2010-07-10T23:01:00Z Yet their transition from staunch supporters of Dr. Stockmann to angry opponents is abrupt to the point of dramatic contrivance. Theater Review: ‘An Enemy of the People’ at Samuel J. Friedman Theater 2012-09-28T02:00:19Z But it’s a small bit of psychological speculation and authorial contrivance in a book that is distinguished by clarity, narrative energy and evocative description. ‘Architecture’s Odd Couple’: Frank Lloyd Wright and Philip Johnson 2016-05-18T04:00:00Z Photos: Sarah Palin on the speech circuit For McGinniss, the contrivance of closure, or at least of a constrained timeline, is woven into the fiber of the text. Tales of of cocaine, infidelity in Palin book 2011-09-15T15:41:00Z It gambles, correctly, that the veteran cast can convince the audience to play along with outlandish contrivances — including an assurance that four seniors in loudly bedazzled jerseys can, when needed, sneak around like ninjas. ‘80 for Brady’ Review: Remember These Titans 2023-02-01T05:00:00Z Yet although "Ala Kachuu—Take and Run" explores this culture with both authenticity, the film's contrivances ultimately make it more important than good. Riz Ahmed rapping and a dark comedy about prison: A look at the Oscar-nominated live action shorts 2022-03-19T04:00:00Z At her worst, her excessive control tips into contrivance. Cannes 2013: Les Salauds – first look review 2013-05-21T17:05:19Z In the more problematic ones, he falls back on contrivance and O. Henry-esque plot twists to propel his story lines. Books of The Times: ‘A Permanent Member of the Family,’ by Russell Banks 2013-12-09T23:46:58Z A pretzel of contrivance, “Ode to Joy” belongs to the subgenre of romantic comedies — let’s call them sick-coms — in which one or both partners suffer from a life-threatening disease. ‘Ode to Joy’ Review: Reasons Not to Be Cheerful 2019-08-08T04:00:00Z “Vet U” is engrossing and educational, with only a few contrivances — there’s no way that group of people goes out for beers together, sorry — that luckily don’t ruin the rest of the show. What You Should Watch This Weekend: ‘Luke Cage’ and ‘Documentary Now!’ 2016-09-30T04:00:00Z There’s still a question of how this story can continue multiple seasons without relying on 24-style contrivances. Homeland Watch: One of Us 2012-11-26T13:00:52Z Despite a few contrivances like the impending romance between Nina and Tennessee, "The Frontier" remains for the most part refreshing and astute. 'Frontier' covers unexpected ground in a refreshing way 2014-09-18T04:00:00Z The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy, meanwhile, said the film was "never less than engrossing, and sometimes more than that" and reactions would range "from the mesmeric to outright rejection for arguably hokey contrivances". Nolan's Interstellar 'a flawed epic' 2014-10-28T04:00:00Z But, above all, there’s a sense of style that laboriously weighs down the film’s substance in an artifice that sinks into contrivance. The Superhero Movie as Secular Religion in “Aquaman,” “Bumblebee,” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” 2018-12-29T05:00:00Z Along the way, the script emits sentimental jolts with an obvious delight that, for Crowe, seems sincere but exudes contrivance. Cameron Crowe's Reactionary Nostalgia 2015-05-29T04:00:00Z He explained, Jay wrote, that it had been a contrivance to “frighten the family for amusement, and that it was never intended to be made public.” The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton, Just in Time for the Fourth 2016-06-30T04:00:00Z All of the action takes place in autumn’s full rush of color, adding to the sense of contrivance. The Odd Life of Timothy Green: A Fairy Tale for the Infertile 2012-08-14T12:00:02Z The movie as a whole is one of Bergman’s most audience-friendly contrivances. O.K., Who Put the Nazi Zombie Under the Tree? 2016-12-16T05:00:00Z So does Emily’s English teacher, who is the novel’s biggest contrivance but also its most useful one. Books of The Times: A Smart-Aleck Girl With a Gimlet-Eyed View 2011-02-23T15:27:12Z He said Lydon’s claim that he was not aware of the details or implications of the agreement that he had signed was “a convenient contrivance.” Rotten ruling: UK judge rules against Sex Pistols singer 2021-08-23T04:00:00Z Other than the fact that they were all made with a camera-obscura-like contrivance, they remain impenetrable. Frieze 2012: my big art inspiration 2012-10-10T17:20:01Z The plot is often predictable; it requires a large helping of artificial contrivance; and it lurches into melodrama in the final act. Muted enthusiasm for Rowling book 2012-09-27T10:23:32Z Instead, she takes things into her own hands, which leads to some contrivances. 'One Child' examines injustice at expense of personal pain 2014-12-05T05:00:00Z The rest of his stylistic flaunts, plot twists and contrivances are joyless. 'Poker Night' deals a poor hand with few high cards 2014-12-21T05:00:00Z And somehow, without artifice or contrivance, Ms. Bloom changes everything by putting him and Macy in a bar together, watching TV while sharing talk about their pasts. 2010-01-12T06:57:00Z Though this aspect of the novel suffers from the sort of contrivance that’s hobbled some of Mr. Chabon’s early work, the reader barely notices, so powerful is the gravitational pull of his central story. Books of The Times: ‘Telegraph Avenue’ by Michael Chabon 2012-09-03T20:11:50Z Sarah’s story grips you like a horror movie, complete with certain fictional contrivances. | Sarah?s Key': The Horror of Yesterday and the Everyday of Today 2011-07-21T21:37:34Z The movie reveals its age through the forced wisecracks and plot contrivances of Alan Jay Lerner's screenplay. Take note of these four musicals for a Tony, then vote for 'Fun Home' 2015-05-14T04:00:00Z In films such as A Matter of Life and Death, Heaven Can Wait, Field of Dreams, Truly Madly Deeply or The Lovely Bones, cinema has used the afterlife as a convenient narrative contrivance. Hereafter? Sorry, there isn't one 2011-01-31T11:01:37Z Its credibility-straining elements are not its academic theories, but its more conventional contrivances of plot. Review: A Species on the Brink in ‘Secret Life of Humans’ 2018-06-07T04:00:00Z The beauty of performance is the beauty of contrivance: tailored specifically to the looker, meant to elicit their words and feeling. Review: A Selfie’s in the Picture for This ‘Dorian Gray’ 2021-03-18T04:00:00Z But ultimately their story is weighed down by numerous contrivances and familiar clichés. Movie Listings for Feb. 14-20 2014-02-13T23:19:29Z The family comedy-drama “Almost Christmas” is an often disarmingly entertaining picture, in spite of its being a not particularly well-thought-out cinematic contrivance. Review: ‘Almost Christmas,’ a Home-for-the-Holidays Comedy 2016-11-10T05:00:00Z Context changes everything, and the expressive coincidences of “No Man of Her Own” come to seem mere contrivances played against the Paris locations of “Bedevilled.” DVD: Mitchell Leisen?s ?No Man of Her Own? and ?Bedevilled? on DVD 2012-04-08T03:13:01Z This premise may sound a little strained, but Mr. Brandt immerses us so fully in his characters’ lives that the larger contrivances almost completely fall away. Review: In ‘The Whites,’ Richard Price Tries on a Pseudonym in a World of Brooding Cops 2015-02-09T05:00:00Z A central contrivance of the narrative – that the adoption of their baby was arranged without the knowledge of the authorities – is necessary for the plot to work, and also provides a satisfyingly dark twist. You by Joanna Briscoe ? review 2011-08-19T21:55:05Z Vonnegut ultimately gave up on writing stories, put off by what he saw as their contrivance: “Short stories are artificial; they are very clever misrepresentations of life,” Vonnegut told me, in 1997. Roald Dahl’s Twisted, Overlooked Stories for Adults 2016-07-21T04:00:00Z Several equally flimsy contrivances later, he’s browbeating them into shape for a choral contest in which the competition includes the megachurch that wouldn’t bury his wife in its cemetery. Fall TV Reviewed: Choir Wars, Zany Immigrants and Demons of the Week 2019-09-25T04:00:00Z In the end, the contrivance doesn't matter because the material is so rewarding. Sisters | Theatre review 2010-03-16T21:30:00Z Fortunately, “The Identical” keeps its proselytizing to a minimum, instead trafficking in a familiar screenwriter’s brand of mystical contrivance. ‘The Identical,’ a Movie Musical About Separated Twins 2014-09-04T04:00:00Z Yet the tender bond between the titular pair gets short shrift in Nick Hamm’s bloated movie, stuffed as it is with subplots, characters and contrivances. ‘Gigi & Nate’ Review: A Tender Bond 2022-09-01T04:00:00Z So it's that kind of show in which exposition is treated as a necessary nuisance, dealt with mostly by contrivance. Some good work, even if 'Chasing Life' races to the ridiculous 2014-06-10T04:00:00Z That they’ve run off to Iceland is surely a narrative contrivance, but every road movie is also a reflection of its moment and that era’s concerns and tensions. ‘Land Ho!’ Sends Men of a Certain Age to Iceland 2014-07-10T04:00:00Z But “The Discoverers” counters its many contrivances with relaxed pacing and an evocative sense of the American woodlands by bonfire light. ‘The Discoverers,’ Directed by Justin Schwarz 2014-05-15T04:00:00Z The director is Romany himself, and there’s no narrator, so the story is told through song and subtitles with no contrivance at all. The 30 best films about music, chosen by musicians 2019-08-18T04:00:00Z As Jimmy navigates eerily silent barrels and skims over monster curls, the landlocked contrivances in his wake become just so much dead weight. Movie Review: ‘Drift,’ a Tale of Two Aspiring Brothers 2013-08-02T02:00:02Z The central movement of the all-male “Double” is where we’re least aware of contrivance on Mr. Morris’s part and when we most powerfully sense his gift for poetic fantasy. Review: Choreographers Should Stay Away From Mozart. Except Mark Morris. 2016-08-25T04:00:00Z He might also inspire sympathy, but the misguided scene registers as nothing more than a script contrivance. Jennifer Aniston has never looked worse or been better in 'Cake' 2014-12-30T05:00:00Z And yet, yet, yet ... even with its contrivances and excesses, "Paradise Lost" is a fascinating, pulsating slab of theatrical history in Intiman Theatre's gutsy, vigorously performed resurrection. Play review: 'Paradise Lost' examines ruined fortunes, ruined dreams 2010-03-29T21:08:00Z So the show has Frank collecting disability from an injury that healed a while ago -- an amusing contrivance that nonetheless lacks the necessary bite. "Shameless": American TV's problem with class 2011-01-08T02:01:00Z But Chekhov’s method, or rather his avoidance of method, seems the polar opposite of Boyd’s enthusiastic embrace of artifice and contrivance. William Boyd’s Madcap Burlesque Revisits the Summer of 1968 2021-01-19T05:00:00Z This movie’s George Jones is a labored contrivance. ‘Country Gold’ Review: A Rising Star’s Wild(ish) Night With a Legend 2023-04-04T04:00:00Z The extent of the contrivance will set off multilevel credulity alarms in viewers paying close attention. Review: ‘Nuts!’ Reveals Doctor’s Secret to Success: Goat Testicle Transplants 2016-06-21T04:00:00Z It’s a pop narrative with a payload of plot contrivance. Books of The Times: Marcel Theroux’s Eccentric ‘Strange Bodies’ 2014-02-13T20:41:07Z Or are the contrivances of the production enlivening the history? ‘Ridley Road’ Review: Undercover With the Neo-Nazis 2022-04-29T04:00:00Z Ludicrous contrivances of that sort spoil an otherwise deft sense of realism and place. Movie Listings for Aug. 5-11 2016-08-04T04:00:00Z There is a contrivance to both story and script which grates: one thing about the appeal of Murray is that a loose cannon. St. Vincent: I can't get no beatification – Toronto film festival review 2014-09-07T04:00:00Z A model of soft-spoken scheming, Siff has mastered the smile that doesn’t quite reach the eyes and her unshakable assurance smooths over a plot contrivance that should be beyond all boundaries of credibility. All hail Billions – the smartest stupid show on TV 2019-03-18T04:00:00Z Rockwell — who is rapidly becoming the David Cromer of the musical house — is not sidetracked by the excesses or contrivances of a show with origins in the ethos of Busby Berkeley. Marriott Theatre's '42nd Street' ★★★½ 2011-04-12T21:22:08Z Various silly contrivances push things past 90 minutes, for no particular reason. 'Peace, Love and Misunderstanding' is lazy and sloppy 2012-06-07T20:43:04Z As the “upstairs” drama ends, confusion sets in there too — about the real motives of Pandora, and the contrivances that bring her from the slums into a swanky Manhattan high-rise. This dramatic ‘Equation’ doesn’t quite add up 2014-01-30T21:01:10Z Written by Callie Kimball, “Things That Are Round” is a work of high whimsy that never registers as more than contrivance. Review | Actor’s performance only highlight of ‘Things That Are Round’ 2018-11-06T05:00:00Z Yet the novel depends on contrivance to let Cora’s story unfold so neatly. Books of The Times: ‘The Chaperone’ by Laura Moriarty 2012-06-14T21:43:56Z Sankowich’s measured naturalism and the cast's talent often counters this, but sometimes the textual contrivances are exposed and interrupt the intended savage tone. 'The House of Yes' accentuates the negative 2015-05-21T04:00:00Z But the contrivances that have enabled them to construct such a tight nuts-and-bolts thriller also allow them to dodge grappling with the characters’ ideology as ideology. ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ Review: A Different Kind of Oil Boom 2023-04-06T04:00:00Z Rarely was there a great answer, but terror-addicts will overlook a lot of contrivances if you can scare or gross them out enough. ‘V/H/S/99’ Review: Death on the Way to DVD 2022-10-20T04:00:00Z A warm vibe between the two men goes a long way toward sweetening the sap and contrivances. ‘The Upside’ Review: A Billionaire and His Buddy Find Reasons to Be Cheerful 2019-01-09T05:00:00Z It's a beautiful film that defies expectation, avoiding contrivance while explaining how it feels to be old and in the way. 'Gone Girl' a refreshingly adult tale of sex, violence and deceit 2015-01-10T05:00:00Z But there's an attractive openness to the album, with no sense of contrivance: he's singing about what he knows. Jake Bugg: Jake Bugg – review 2012-10-11T20:45:01Z There is some great work by the performers, their characters often seem painfully real, although nearly every bit of subtlety is countered by a plot contrivance or scene that's too on the nose. Your Sister's Sister – review 2012-06-28T21:26:01Z This is both an honest approach and a contrivance to give the impression of honesty. Shirley MacLaine: the new dame in Downton 2012-08-24T22:01:23Z Nay’s Stamm is barely fit for the job, and it's only through many plot contrivances that he isn’t caught at once. TV Picks: 'Mr. Robot,' 'The Brink,' 'Deutschland 83' 2015-06-18T04:00:00Z Her initial assessment of the movie, in an unsigned note for the New Yorker, admitted she was not immune to its contrivances and charms and praised Plummer’s “sinister, archly decadent performance”. How The Sound of Music led the way for the critic-proof hit musical 2018-05-16T04:00:00Z Elegant contrivance is necessary in the novel, and it has its own pleasures; yet I’ve always been a fan of the accretion phase. A Novel of 1918 New Orleans, With Murder and All That Jazz 2018-01-17T05:00:00Z And, while the play has one or two awkward contrivances, it confirms Bennett's peculiar gift for blending the satiric and the elegiac. People – review 2012-11-08T01:07:23Z Europe in Mr. Akin’s films, whose stories often hinge on unlikely coincidences and plot contrivances, is a teeming potpourri of oddballs and hustlers. | 'Soul Kitchen': In Fatih Akin?s ?Soul Kitchen,? Restaurant Slapstick 2010-08-19T23:12:00Z From a 21st-century perspective, 19th-century opera is a contrivance in any case; even some of the more successful ones seem stilted when seen through modern eyes. Review | ‘The Touchstone’ is a deservedly forgotten opera. Wolf Trap makes a case for remembering it. 2017-06-25T04:00:00Z No less than “Joker,” “Jojo Rabbit” is another contrivance on the theme of “hurt people hurt people.” Springtime for Nazis: How the Satire of “Jojo Rabbit” Backfires 2019-10-22T04:00:00Z I know you need some contrivances to move the story forward, but did you incorporate them? "Indemnity" director on his unique South African action film: "What if trauma can be weaponized?" 2022-02-11T05:00:00Z Zeder employs numerous contrivances, including something of a deus ex machina, to keep the plot popping. Fellowship in wartime, in SCT’s ‘The Edge of Peace’ 2013-03-11T19:08:49Z In setting the story so early in the previous century, Ms. Peelle can become too tightly tethered to traditional historical fiction’s demands for plot contrivances and period details. Schemes of Mules and Men Propel ‘The Midnight Cool’ 2017-01-01T05:00:00Z The Wiesel character in the earlier script was no passing contrivance. Deborah Margolin?s Madoff Play, Now Without Wiesel 2010-07-20T00:39:00Z The looming contrivance of brother fighting brother can almost be overlooked. Warrior: The Pugilists Are Restless 2011-09-09T14:30:00Z They sell romantic truth in an environment of contrivance. Critic?s Notebook: ?Ice Loves Coco? and ?Khlo? & Lamar? 2012-02-18T01:11:34Z Popkey presents us with a shrewd record of the act of unflinchingly circling these amorphous notions of pain, desire and control, all the while quietly noting their clichéd contrivances in snarky, dark humor. How Much Power Do Women Want? A Novel Circles the Question 2020-01-07T05:00:00Z Almost all the charm of the real story is lost through the contrivances and overacting. Starbuck – review 2012-11-22T19:59:01Z Some of its plot contrivances creak a bit, especially in the final collision of Charlotte’s segregated worlds. Review: A Sex Crime Disarranges a Tidy World in ‘Something Clean’ 2019-05-30T04:00:00Z Coincidence or contrivance, there’s no denying the timing was remarkable. Timing of Robert Durst’s arrest: A coincidence, or something more? 2015-03-16T04:00:00Z Directed by Noah Buschel 1 hour 21 minutes; not rated To describe the setup of “Sparrows Dance,” Noah Buschel’s disarmingly offbeat romance, is to risk alienating audiences fatigued by too-quirky characters and low-budget contrivance. Movie Review: ‘Sparrows Dance,’ Starring Marin Ireland and Paul Sparks 2013-08-22T22:00:18Z "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" is full of little contrivances that benefit its heroine and give her the opportunity to return the kindness tenfold. Lesley Manville is endearing in "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris," a feel-good couture fairy tale 2022-07-14T04:00:00Z That he didn’t might strike some viewers as a ridiculous narrative contrivance, which is understandable. ‘House of the Dragon,’ Season 1, Episode 2: A Happy Announcement 2022-08-28T04:00:00Z Like any effective comedy, the play takes its own contrivances seriously. Amy Brenneman as a damsel in distress? 'Rules of Seconds' has some surprises up its sleeve 2017-03-31T04:00:00Z The solution is ingenious, bordering on preposterous, and Higashino's skill clearly lies in contrivance rather than characterisation – but the process of deduction is fascinating. Laura Wilson's crime fiction roundup – reviews 2013-03-22T12:00:02Z The unhurried pace, the cleverly interlocking story lines and the general lack of pretense and contrivance remain in place. ‘Bosch: Legacy’ Review: More of the Same (Good) Thing 2022-05-05T04:00:00Z Much of “The King” is built upon similar contrivances. “The King,” Reviewed: A Documentary About Elvis That Wants to Be a Documentary About America 2018-06-25T04:00:00Z Linking these loopy conflicted characters entails some heightened narrative contrivances that situate the show in absurdist farce, but Gregg T. Daniel’s staging keeps it laugh-out-loud funny even when airing uncomfortable truths. The rhetoric of race gets a swift kick in Rogue Machine's 'Honky' 2016-05-13T04:00:00Z You may also find yourself newly conscious of plot contrivances and improbabilities. Theater Review: ‘Glengarry Glen Ross,’ by David Mamet, With Al Pacino 2012-12-09T03:00:00Z It's a crime story filled with shootouts and sudden death, and as such it relies heavily on coincidence and contrivance. In fast-paced 'Run All Night,' Liam Neeson and Ed Harris shine 2015-03-12T04:00:00Z But contrivances and stale humor hamper the show from developing believable characters who see America as a last best hope. Asylum-seekers' tales in 'Take Me America' 2011-09-28T21:18:04Z So much is done with a contrivance to attract young people. Jon Stewart: ‘I’m doing a movie about torture – I’m not being tortured’ 2014-09-11T04:00:00Z In this case, however, the connecting thread is flimsy and thin, eventually snapping under the strain of contrivance. 'Café de Flore': Well-acted film's connecting thread snaps 2012-11-21T22:34:06Z What makes the essay hum, for D’Agata, is its ability to go beyond mere reportage, to exist “between chance and contrivance, between the given and the made.” Dealing in uncertainty, the essay may be the perfect form for our time 2016-07-28T04:00:00Z A short video documentary reveals that he never actually built any of the preposterous contrivances associated with his name. Pootwaddles and Dunklewimps: Rube Goldberg’s glorious cartoons at MoPOP 2017-02-15T05:00:00Z Compared to the first three episodes, this one leaned much more on sitcom setups and contrivances: Hannah gets a bad makeover! Girls Watch: You Gonna Put Up With That? 2012-05-08T13:28:29Z Lit's connection to Luce and Lily is a contrivance but also suggests that the rural South is composed of some very small worlds. 'Nightwoods' evokes a sense of (a scary) place 2011-11-02T21:12:03Z In a narrative move that further obscures the interesting if clouded truth, Mr. Caranfil also frames his version with a needless contrivance. Review: ‘Closer to the Moon’ Recounts a Bizarre Bit of Romanian History 2015-04-16T04:00:00Z Such contrivances spoil the sense of realism and place that Mr. Caple, who wrote the script, often so deftly evokes. Review: In ‘The Land,’ Fast Money Brings Friends Deep Trouble 2016-07-28T04:00:00Z Standing backstage on Sunday, Mr. Albo conceded that he’d never expected his nutty contrivance to be going strong after more than a decade. The Gimlet Eye: For Dazzle Dancers, It?s Clothing Optional 2010-05-19T19:42:00Z Mr. Hirsch puts energy or at least twitching into his performance, but the character is such a one-dimensional contrivance, a means to a dramaturgical end, that it’s hard to see any actor making it work. Movie Review: ‘Killer Joe,’ Directed by William Friedkin 2012-07-26T17:03:26Z The character, a classic naïf who needs to be schooled and tested, is an obvious narrative contrivance that Mbedu fills in with grit and personality. ‘The Woman King’ Review: She Slays 2022-09-15T04:00:00Z Nevertheless, there's no sense of contrivance or cash-in: she's been writing songs since she was 12, apparently, and her ear for a sunny melody is undeniable. Eliza Doolittle | Pop review 2010-03-24T22:15:00Z Even in the eight photographic portraits in the new show, which are her most straightforward yet, she sometimes marshals visible contrivances. Influenced by Her Children, Laurie Simmons Exits Her Comfort Zone 2018-04-27T04:00:00Z “Robots that dance, these are haunted and haunting contrivances,” Skybetter said. ‘M3GAN’ Makes Us Ask (Again): Who’s Afraid of Dancing Robots? 2023-01-06T05:00:00Z Yet the high-tech animation is, in turn, decorated—and disguised—by another layer of contrivance. The Superhero Movie as Secular Religion in “Aquaman,” “Bumblebee,” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” 2018-12-29T05:00:00Z It may seem like a journalistic contrivance to read this group’s collective ascent as evidence of an aesthetic trend. Riff: ?Why Write Novels at All?? 2012-01-13T22:19:00Z The film counters its many contrivances with relaxed pacing and an evocative sense of the American woodlands by bonfire light. Movie Listings for May 23-29 2014-05-22T04:00:00Z What makes it good, paradoxically, are the absolutely assured, tightly controlled performances of Ms. Henson and Mr. Howard, who are the calm eyes in the storm of contrivance. ‘Empire’ Returns for Its Second Season, Still Juicy With Melodrama 2015-09-22T04:00:00Z The overstayed visa is a narrative contrivance, a way to cook up conflict for the lovers. | 'Like Crazy': ?Like Crazy? From Drake Doremus ? Review 2011-10-27T22:04:03Z If this duality is a necessary contrivance for the writer using the first person, it is very much a precondition of the grief memoir. Too much grief 2011-08-19T21:55:11Z But director Christopher Janson’s production too often wields cliches, plot contrivances and clunky dialogue while taking aim at the topic. Rainbow Theatre Project’s ‘Blue Camp’ is a well-intentioned misfire 2019-11-09T05:00:00Z The plot is a tissue of familiar contrivances, some of them gratingly unpersuasive, like the make-or-break deal that will secure the future of Amy’s father’s vaguely defined business. Movie Review: ‘Hello I Must Be Going,’ Starring Melanie Lynskey 2012-09-06T23:04:51Z But she’s a drag and a narcissistic bore, or maybe just a narrative contrivance. | 'Applause': Even on the Wagon, Not Ready for a Close-Up 2011-01-20T23:00:19Z His approach to the first movement of Mozart's D major Sonata K311 was straightforward enough, without affectation or contrivance. David Fray ? review 2011-07-21T14:31:23Z Conan Doyle's readers were delighted but the author confessed to a nagging guilt about the contrivance. Ian Rankin and a fear of page 65 2012-11-06T00:19:55Z Their cumulative effect is substantial, outweighing the self-indulgent philosophizing and narrative contrivances that can mar the individual movies. Watch List: Selections for Marathon Couch Time 2013-08-12T21:53:25Z Unfortunately, Merson clutters her sometimes soulful, sensitive story with too many formulaic contrivances to impede Catherine's personal and professional progress. 'Always Woodstock' has its rom-com hits and misses 2014-11-13T05:00:00Z The story has a "killer" premise, she says, "So why does director Rupert Goold shoehorn contrivances to amplify the drama? The powerful real-life story is provocative enough on its own." 'True Story': James Franco-Jonah Hill drama doesn't convince critics 2015-04-17T04:00:00Z Ms. Donzelli’s approach is distinguished by contrivances that play as tics: a labored framing device, a tendency to begin scenes with the actors remaining motionless to simulate a freeze frame, and more. Review: ‘Marguerite & Julien,’ a Tale of Siblings in Love 2016-02-25T05:00:00Z At times I wondered if the connection between them, which plays out as a sort of cat-and-mouse game throughout the novel, felt too much like a clever contrivance. Review | ‘American Dirt’ offers a thrilling adrenaline rush — and insights into the Latin American migrant experience 2020-01-13T05:00:00Z There is an element of contrivance about the whole enterprise. Dausgaard brings distinguished interpretation to Sibelius' Fifth with the Symphony 2010-03-26T18:22:00Z If there are occasional sitcom contrivances and broad-brush characterisation, our laughter is in no way lessened. One Monkey Don't Stop No Show – review 2013-01-18T13:41:53Z The seams of contrivance are visible when the academic, Alois Erhart, makes not one but two visits to a revered scholar’s grave, at a cemetery also frequented by the survivor and the cop. A Dark Comedy About Life at the Heart of the European Union 2019-06-18T04:00:00Z Some of the plot’s contrivances are more apparent, and a few clunker lines stand out. Critic?s Notebook: Reconsidering ?Lobby Hero? by Kenneth Lonergan 2011-11-06T22:45:44Z These magical contrivances emerge conveniently and just in the nick of time to serve nothing beyond plot utility. On Loony Island, a Malignant Priest Strips Mental Patients of Free Will 2019-12-03T05:00:00Z More of a problem is the series of not-quite-convincing contrivances that she uses to force the various plotlines finally to merge. Books of The Times: ‘The Golem and the Jinni,’ a Novel by Helene Wecker 2013-05-06T19:57:43Z Initially, I blew off the comment as the self-congratulatory promotion at which these reunion shows excel, but then I realized that, compared with the dull contrivance of other recent seasons, it's probably the truth. Sandra wins "Survivor," but can the show be saved? 2010-05-17T12:35:00Z Despite the contrivances and narrative sleights of hand, there’s a tragic logic at play in the films’ belated twists, one that dovetails with the real-life revelations of #MeToo. “Ma” and “The Perfection,” Reviewed: Two Horror Movies Crassly Exploit #MeToo 2019-05-31T04:00:00Z Why exactly he's wreaking havoc on these particular kids is just one of many narrative curiosities and contrivances. 'The Gallows' swings between scary and sketchy horror film 2015-07-09T04:00:00Z But every time the play began to engage me through character it disengaged me through plot contrivance. Review: In ‘Fireflies,’ the Preacher’s Wife Gets Her Say 2018-10-16T04:00:00Z Director DeMonaco fills the screen with arresting images - a flame-engulfed bus seen barreling down the street in the background is particularly haunting - and keeps the pacing brisk enough to prevent dwelling on the plot contrivances. Review: ‘Purge’ sequel provides requisite thrills 2014-07-17T04:00:00Z It isn't a film of any great depth, and the narrative deceptions inevitably involve a degree of contrivance. Side Effects – review 2013-03-10T00:06:26Z For real excitement and emotion you’d be better off watching “America’s Best Dance Crew” on MTV.com, where there’s less corny dialogue and hokey contrivance to get in the way of the moves. | 'Step Up 3D': Moose and Camille Return in Another Dance Story 2010-08-05T23:53:00Z That said, at its heart the piece is a sincere, well-intended contrivance that gets its laughs like clockwork but isn’t exactly unfamiliar. 'Washer/Dryer' needs less softener, more starch 2015-02-19T05:00:00Z The contrivances are there, mostly in the form of oddball American signifiers that dot each song with telling accents. Lana Del Rey's "Ultraviolence": Defiant seduction from pop instigator ★★★ 2014-06-13T04:00:00Z These aspects of “Sweet Tooth” keep the reader trucking on through the novel, but alas they’re insufficient compensation for the story’s self-conscious contrivance and foreseeable conclusion. Books of The Times: ‘Sweet Tooth’ by Ian McEwan 2012-11-05T19:17:19Z With climate change, humanity is both the villain and the hero, and thus the human contrivances of this conference — the panels, the politics, the pressers and protests and prepared remarks — are both inspiring and depressing. What was COP26? A slog, a spectacle — and, for one youthful delegation, an opportunity. 2021-11-14T05:00:00Z Logistically, they don't fit together as well, so Lopez's plot hinges on complex narrative contrivances. Novel take but predictable revelations in 'The Whipping Man' 2015-01-12T05:00:00Z This is, in the author's mind, a media contrivance of "fake love" that we've all bought into. The dangerous myth of "Friends With Benefits" 2011-07-15T18:01:00Z But even with the tongue-in-cheek tone, it’s impossible to overlook the exhausting series of contrivances, coincidences and sloppy filmmaking. Review: ‘For a Few Bullets,’ an Antic Race Through Plot Contrivance 2016-07-21T04:00:00Z But there’s less there than the show seems to realize, and the overreliance on coincidence makes everything feel like a contrivance, not a development. Review: ‘Top of the Lake: China Girl’ Soaks in Mood More Than Logic 2017-09-07T04:00:00Z The most common sound is the surprisingly loud complaining of the river when it drops over and around the various contrivances of the engineers. 2010-01-07T18:26:00Z "Fallout" also suffers from the fact that too much of its plot depends upon contrivance. “Mission: Impossible — Fallout”: Tom Cruise action spectacle delivers high-level summer fun 2018-07-27T04:00:00Z The movie treats illness as a series of contrivances, an engine that keeps the plot pistoning forward, and the result of this approach is a film that feels lifeless, or worse, reductive. ‘Broken Diamonds’ Review: Illness as a Narrative Convenience 2021-07-22T04:00:00Z The air of magical contrivance was sustained by encasing this friendship in the expositions of a narrator physicist – played by Bhattacharjee – and a Hardy disciple many years later. Paul Bhattacharjee obituary 2013-07-18T14:53:53Z There are still too many contrivances and conveniences, such as Rosen being able to predict the whiteout cycles from millions of miles away but not being able to ring ahead to warn folk. Outcasts: season one, episode three 2011-02-14T22:00:00Z Deadpool’s irreverence and disreputability were calculated, but those contrivances were something. Captain America: Civil War – how I was bludgeoned by a blockbuster 2016-05-19T04:00:00Z The contrivance gives Mr. Bateman an exhilarating license to play, as he puts it, “the wild and crazy guy.” Arts & Leisure: The Team Player Who Blends Into the Comedy 2011-06-30T15:23:03Z Jaakko can’t help referencing “Fargo” even as he’s being threatened, but rather than follow that cue and dial up the whimsy, the plot eventually thins out into dissatisfying contrivances. ‘The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic’ Review: Just Like the Movies 2023-02-02T05:00:00Z The fable, being a fable, is predictable, but it’s also rough with holes and contrivances. Dance Review: ‘The Legend of Yauna’ Puts Its Hero Through Trials 2014-02-23T23:04:25Z It's conceivable I just don't care enough about the A-listers or — separate category — the Kardashians and their ilk, with their frivolous lives and publicity mongering contrivances, to enjoy a straightforward satire of them. Satirical rant against Hollywood goes over the top in 'I Met Someone' 2016-02-26T05:00:00Z The film does offer "some moments," Phillips says, "most of them thanks to McAdams. She can make truth out of contrivance, often nonverbally, dramatizing contradictory impulses within a single moment." 'Aloha': Cameron Crowe rom-com gets cold greeting from critics 2015-05-29T04:00:00Z The painting was assembled from this grammar of representation, with a lot of contrivance along the way. From sketch to painting, there’s no single clear path 2016-11-03T04:00:00Z In both books Ms. Sittenfeld’s gifts for portraying the inner lives of her heroines manage to transcend the silliness and contrivance of her plots. Books of The Times: The Psychic Siblings of ‘Sisterland,’ by Curtis Sittenfeld 2013-06-16T21:11:48Z Some may find that Ms. Doran has stuffed her play with a few too many sexual convolutions, or that some developments have a whiff of contrivance. Review: ‘The Mystery of Love and Sex’ Looks at Identity and Secrets Too 2015-03-02T05:00:00Z Marvelously fresh and dancey, to irresistible music by Beirut, without pointwork, it spellbindingly conjured states of emotional vulnerability without polish or contrivance. At Damian Woetzel’s Vail International Dance Festival 2014-08-03T04:00:00Z Timberlake looks a little lost when it comes to the movie's dramatic contrivance of Dylan's dad's struggle with Alzheimer's, but he is an absolutely adroit comedian. Friends With Benefits: Soft Porn, Meet Snarky Charm 2011-07-21T20:45:00Z Relationships unfold with a bright, glossy and antiseptic sentimentality in Park Hyun-gene’s “Like for Likes,” which brings abundant social media usage to shopworn rom-com contrivances. Review: ‘Like for Likes,’ a Rom-Com Set in Seoul 2016-02-25T05:00:00Z There is a sense, A. O. Scott wrote in The New York Times in February, “that the whole movie has been a strained and pointless contrivance.” DVDs: On DVD, ?Bob Hope: Thanks for the Memories Collection? 2010-06-05T02:15:00Z Structurally, his best work owes a debt to the 19th-century ideal of the "well-made play" in that it relies on suspense, surprise, calculated contrivance. Henrik Ibsen: the demon inside A Doll's House 2012-07-16T15:08:37Z This time, though, he has also given his movie characters instead of disposable contrivances, a plot instead of self-reflexive ideas about storytelling and a rather diffuse overarching metaphor. Review: On Violence and the Pain of Others in ‘Three Billboards’ 2017-11-08T05:00:00Z It’s easy to forgive a few moments of contrivance in a tale that maintains an optimistic spirit while depicting the consequences of war and social disarray. Can a 10-year-old girl ever recover from years in captivity? 2016-09-27T04:00:00Z Her entire career has been a series of media contrivances: the manufactured girl band, the staged paparazzi shots. Kerry Katona: 'Sometimes I think I attract drama' 2013-07-06T08:00:00Z A more sober critic might mutter about the show's soap-opera narratives, the excessive length of the first half and the occasional plot contrivance. Sunshine on Leith 2010-09-16T21:31:00Z A nice sugar high.The use of the murder as a plot contrivance made it... ‘Vinyl’ Season 1 Finale: As Confused as Ever 2016-04-17T04:00:00Z You realize how much the sighted world’s understanding of blindness is based on Hollywood contrivances. Depicting blindness in 'All the Light We Cannot See' 'changed me,' director says 2023-11-03T04:00:00Z A necessary contrivance, in other words, a gesture of reintegration, in which “my people are with me now / the way the light is.” How Ben Lerner's writing shatters space, time and literary borders 2023-09-07T04:00:00Z In a series of posts on his social media site, Trump framed the indictment as an contrivance to derail his campaign, while his campaign issued a statement comparing the Biden administration to fascist regimes. Trump to appear in court on charges that he tried to overturn election 2023-08-03T04:00:00Z With its quick-sketch setups, artificial contrivances and punchline resolutions, “A Transparent Musical” may in fact have more in common with 1980s sitcoms. Review: A compassionate 'Transparent' musical is stymied by its chaotic production 2023-06-02T04:00:00Z But based on a screenplay by a trio of Western writers and directed by Polish filmmaker Tomasz Bagiński, it quickly stumbles into narrative contrivances as it incessantly overworks certain emotional beats. Review: 'Knights of the Zodiac' is a bad sign for adaptations of beloved animation 2023-05-12T04:00:00Z That she and others like her have been toiling in low-paying jobs, well past the standard retirement age, isn’t a script contrivance. Review: In the eerie dystopia of 'Plan 75,' a mass suicide program takes effect 2023-05-04T04:00:00Z No matter how she continues to rise to the challenge, the film’s cascading of contrivances drown her out. Review: It’s hard to find the good in ‘A Good Person’ (except Florence Pugh) 2023-03-22T04:00:00Z But if so, it’s hardly the only contrivance in a story that teems with hidden identities, secret allegiances, incriminating documents, unexpected weapons and innumerable sly reversals. Review: The laughs and the corpses pile up in the Chinese blockbuster 'Full River Red' 2023-03-16T04:00:00Z It isn’t much, and it’s hardly enough to keep this contrivance, whatever you want to call it, alive for an hour and half. Review | ‘Cocaine Bear’: Apex predator on drugs goes berserk 2023-02-23T05:00:00Z But the main reason “Party Down” transcends the creaky machinery typical of revivals is that it always simultaneously performed and skewered the thirsty pathos and weird contrivances that accompany engineered fun. Review | ‘Party Down’: Still unprofessional, still a good time 2023-02-23T05:00:00Z If the poetry is sometimes neglected, the comic contrivances are pulled off with aplomb. Review: A graceful 'Much Ado About Nothing' — in all its madcap zeal — shines at A Noise Within 2023-02-13T05:00:00Z I found the embellishments that the directors devised — among them classic magic tricks with playing cards and levitation — leaven the play’s more plodding contrivances. Perspective | In this ‘Tempest,’ a misshapen, two-headed monster steals the show 2023-01-26T05:00:00Z "He reassured the Royal Society that he had not obtained the sample by any 'sinful contrivance' but by 'the excess which Nature provided me in my conjugal relations,'" Cobb explained. The scientist who discovered sperm was so grossed out he hoped his findings would be repressed 2023-01-02T05:00:00Z And if the story falters in these moments, it’s due to not only the sliver of contrivance at play, but also the question of perspective. Review: In the wrenching 'Armageddon Time,' a filmmaker powerfully confronts his own privilege 2022-10-26T04:00:00Z He lunges for both the urgency of a news headline and the fatalism of a Greek tragedy, which essentially means he proffers gritty realism with one hand and embraces bald contrivances with the other. Review: 'Athena,' a fiery drama of civil unrest, is mostly blowing smoke 2022-09-21T04:00:00Z The effect is to remind us of the contrivance of fiction. Review: From sensitive dogs to flirty nurses, David Means' stories are playful and dead serious 2022-09-14T04:00:00Z Putin had characterized Russians and Ukrainians as one people separated by Soviet contrivance and Western interference, building a case for going to war to reset history. Battle for Kyiv: Ukrainian valor, Russian blunders combined to save the capital Raiff’s plot contrivances aren’t always totally convincing: As appealing as Leslie Mann is as Andrew’s mother, her character — a paragon of unconditional love who is managing a bipolar condition — feels flattened and oddly frictionless. Review | ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’: A coming-of-age movie with charm to burn 2022-06-15T04:00:00Z This bombshell precipitates a trip to the South of France by most of the Crawleys; it’s an utterly preposterous plot contrivance by series creator Julian Fellowes — necessary only as an excuse to vary the scenery. Review | ‘Downton Abbey’ sequel delivers fan service of the best kind 2022-05-18T04:00:00Z And of course there are questions about control, contrivance and avoidance that accompany any administration. We celebrated "free speech" this week — just as it's slipping away from us 2022-05-05T04:00:00Z Games are often spoken of as putting a player in control — moving, fighting, shooting — but in games that lack such contrivances, we are surrendering control and letting the interactivity take us by the hand. 'A Memoir Blue' is a lovely video game exploration of a mother-daughter relationship 2022-04-15T04:00:00Z If some of its dramatic contrivances raise questions, or feel a little ridiculous, it’s not hard to understand the thinking behind them. ‘The Girl From Plainville' changes the true crime it depicts. Mostly, it works 2022-03-29T04:00:00Z This contrivance surely served only to highlight the absence of Ferrante herself, thus keeping the audience’s attention fixed on the figure of the missing “writer-hero” she disdains. Review | Elena Ferrante has a new book! Be sure to get a notebook before reading it. 2022-03-16T04:00:00Z But Mort’s strained efforts to get to know Jo, combined with the performers’ utter lack of chemistry and the contrivances of Anaya’s role, make for an awkward and implausible series of scenes. Review: 'Rifkin's Festival,' Woody Allen's latest, may also be his worst 2022-01-27T05:00:00Z To critical onlookers, all of the failed contrivances stand together as one big comedy of terrors. Corporate America's top 10 blunders of 2021 2021-12-25T05:00:00Z He said Lydon’s claim that he was not aware of the details or implications of the agreement that he had signed was "a convenient contrivance." John Lydon says Sex Pistols fame ‘was mostly hell on earth,’ ex-bandmates ‘did the dirty on me’ 2021-09-29T04:00:00Z The museum also boasts a 1,000-seat state-of-the-art movie theater with loudspeakers ready to handle whatever contrivance Dolby can throw at them. Commentary: Music is essential to movies. Too bad the Academy Museum fails to treat it that way 2021-09-10T04:00:00Z After two matches, though, the United States has looked more like the older, predictable team from the previous cycle than a new contrivance. Perspective | USMNT hasn’t met expectations, and its World Cup qualifying quest is in some trouble 2021-09-06T04:00:00Z He added that Lydon’s claim that he was not aware of the details or implications of the agreement that he had signed was "a convenient contrivance." Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten loses UK judgment against bandmates over use of music in upcoming TV series 2021-08-23T04:00:00Z That’s as true of Danny as of any character in this dark and exhilarating collection, in which even the idea that we might ever come together is one more contrivance, its significance another fabricated illusion. Review: In 'American Estrangement,' dark stories about the dystopias inside us all 2021-08-12T04:00:00Z The contrivances let lawmakers claim they are being fiscally responsible while inflicting little pain on voters and contributors with tax increases or spending cuts. Beware of budget gimmicks in push for massive spending deals 2021-07-24T04:00:00Z He said: “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” Opinion | Beware the cartel of nations ravenous for a global corporate tax 2021-07-14T04:00:00Z But thankfully this movie simply speeds through any plot contrivances with pure silliness. Perspective | The Fast and Furious franchise ranked, from worst to best 2021-06-24T04:00:00Z Plot contrivances and scenic coups, musical bombast and sentimental treacle, desperate poses and flamboyant gestures — the genre’s hallmarks are deployed with an anachronistic difference in “An Octoroon.” Review: L.A. theater is back with a boundary-breaking 'Octoroon' outdoors at the Fountain 2021-06-21T04:00:00Z A devotee of classic Hollywood, Petzold delights in the conventions of old thrillers and melodramas, their pulpy pleasures and overripe contrivances. Review: ‘Undine’ is a strange, captivating mermaid-meets-man love story 2021-06-03T04:00:00Z But there are far more clichés, contrivances and threads left unnecessarily dangling. Review: An odd surrogate friendship in ‘Together Together’ 2021-04-19T04:00:00Z They must construct themselves through word and voice, through the indirection of figurative language and the contrivances of patterned rhythms and rhymes. The Artists Dismantling the Barriers Between Rap and Poetry 2021-03-04T05:00:00Z Perhaps they are going to be, unlike the Roman Empire and every other human contrivance, eternal. Opinion | Unprecedented, untargeted spending is not necessarily a stimulus 2021-02-25T05:00:00Z But the literary contrivance that brought Dr. Moon comfort in the last pages of the novel may not readily transfer to readers. ‘Memories of Korea, sharp like splinters’ flesh out Sumi Hahn’s debut novel, ‘The Mermaid from Jeju’ 2020-12-08T05:00:00Z At the same time, I appreciate the naturalistic, dark approach to the filmmaking — “Alex Rider” is more “Smiley’s People” than it is “Live and Let Die” — that balances the plot’s more outrageous contrivances. 3 adventuresome new TV shows to watch this weekend 2020-11-13T05:00:00Z It’s a contrivance, designed to get us thinking seriously about the return of long-repressed trauma, and also about sin, guilt and remorse. Review: 'The Lodge' is no 'Goodnight Mommy,' but Riley Keough makes it worth a stay 2020-02-06T05:00:00Z As Adam Smith once wrote, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” Opinion | If Elizabeth Warren really wants to unrig the system, she should focus on the Dream Hoarders 2020-01-21T05:00:00Z It’s lovely and sincere, joyful and sensual—and, in its way, richer and more honest about teen-agers than nihilistic contrivances like “Euphoria” or “Riverdale” are. Mixed Débuts on Apple TV+ in “The Morning Show” and “Dickinson” 2019-11-18T05:00:00Z When it is deployed on a big rectangular shape just inside the borders of the canvas, it becomes a painting within the painting, confounding nonfiction and contrivance. Review: Why the 'Color Walks' abstractions of Judy Ledgerwood captivate like few can 2019-11-12T05:00:00Z “Parents’ Morning Epiphany” takes a grade school “Narrative Techniques Worksheet” and uses it to raise pointed questions about the contrivances of storytelling. Zadie Smith serves up a provocative, deeply humanistic collection 2019-11-09T05:00:00Z Needless to say, all the aforementioned contrivances of plot end happily. Review | Smoke jumper farce ‘Playing With Fire’ is only half-baked — and wholly unfunny 2019-11-05T05:00:00Z They, in homage to McCarthy, used Vindman’s birthplace to question his patriotism — a contrivance as absurd as it was offensive. Opinion | The McCarthyism of Donald Trump 2019-11-01T04:00:00Z "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is like Pirates of the Caribbean; there's lots of convolution and contrivance, but has star power," said Courtney Howard, who reviews films for Variety and Awards Circuit. Jolie: Strong women 'learn from men around them' 2019-10-12T04:00:00Z He writes that “we might describe the contemporary media moment – and its characteristic attitude of sceptical savviness regarding the contrivance of representation – as one that implicitly embraces the ideal of framelessness”. Why can’t we agree on what’s true any more? 2019-09-19T04:00:00Z “Night Hunter” features some absolutely batty plot twists and crazy contrivances that would almost be fun if Raymond hadn’t pitched this film as something somber and revelatory — like “Seven” or “Silence of the Lambs.” Review: Danny Huston's 'The Last Photograph’; plus 'Boy Genius,' 'The Whistler' and more 2019-09-05T04:00:00Z Two centuries later, Jeremy Bentham advanced the concept of the panopticon: a prison where “by blinds and other contrivances” a single guard would be concealed, having “the most perfect view of every cell”. Who is watching you?: the best books about surveillance 2019-09-02T04:00:00Z The interactive “Bandersnatch” proved an interesting experiment that used its choose-your-own-adventure contrivance in the service of a thriller about technology and free will. Emmy predictions: 'When They See Us,' 'Chernobyl' offer voters hard choices 2019-08-20T04:00:00Z This is the sort of contrivance that defines “No. 6 Collaborations,” Sheeran’s new album. Ed Sheeran and Friends 2019-07-22T04:00:00Z “Surprise—or not,” she added, seeming embarrassed by the contrivance. Kamala Harris Makes Her Case 2019-07-15T04:00:00Z This experimental legislative contrivance was hardly a Senate oeuvre. Reporter's Notebook: Longest-ever roll call vote was Senate's 'Revolution Number 9' 2019-07-01T04:00:00Z That giant sphere is a contrivance for Luke Halls’ fanciful video images of Earth and the universe. Review: ‘Atlas’ needs no words to astonish as the L.A. Phil wraps its centennial season 2019-06-12T04:00:00Z Like those over-the-top melodramas, this movie’s contrivance level is off the charts. Review | ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’ is a charming and timely film about interracial teen romance 2019-05-14T04:00:00Z Sadly, notwithstanding the evident care that the filmmaker took, quality-wise it veers more toward the “Serendipity” side of things with a lot of contrivances presented like fate. Review: Shahidi shines in so-so ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’ 2019-05-15T04:00:00Z If this surprisingly barbed, disarmingly goofy and deftly played comedy were even more ambitious — if it jettisoned formula entirely, dispensing with a few awkward contrivances and raunchy sight gags — it might be more likable still. Review: Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen make for winning political romance in ‘Long Shot’ 2019-05-01T04:00:00Z Because inflation theory relies on ad hoc contrivances to accommodate almost any data, and because its proposed physical field is not based on anything with empirical justification. Cosmology Has Some Big Problems 2019-04-30T04:00:00Z A strong sense of mystery and two searing lead performances can only counteract so much of the contrivance here. Reviews: Late-breaking terror in ‘Body at Brighton Rock,’ ‘I Trapped the Devil’ and more movies 2019-04-24T04:00:00Z “It really shows the artifice and contrivance of defamation proceedings in this country.” Geoffrey Rush Wins Defamation Case Against Australian Newspaper Publisher 2019-04-11T04:00:00Z Substituting emotionalism for genuine emotion, and contrivance for complexity, “The Aftermath” is a nice-looking dud: dutiful, dull and only mildly diverting. Review | Even Keira Knightley and Alexander Skarsgard can’t spice up this dud of a postwar love triangle 2019-03-20T04:00:00Z All dating shows are contrived, but the contrivances on “Dating Around” are not preposterous, designed to shock or entertain — in fact, they’re depressingly familiar. A Dating Show Made for the Age of Apps 2019-03-14T04:00:00Z One of the consistent pleasures of his work is the poker-faced intelligence and political acuity he brings to stories unapologetically governed by the contrivances of melodrama. Review: Christian Petzold’s thriller ‘Transit’ is hauntingly suspended between past and present 2019-03-06T05:00:00Z Though there is a certain amount of contrivance and coincidence in the narrative, the action sequences are often surprising and always involving. Review: Ben Affleck-starring ‘Triple Frontier’ effectively explores familiar territory 2019-03-06T05:00:00Z In counting the many costs of the Trump era, we focus too rarely on the president’s success in pushing divisive trivialities and self-interested contrivances to the center of national concern. Opinion | The real national emergency is the triviality of our politics 2019-02-17T05:00:00Z The Democratic controlled state legislature has a chance to reverse a major mistake made in 2018 when Connecticut joined the contrivance called the National Popular Vote compact. Editorials from around New England 2019-02-01T05:00:00Z Then, there are the contrivances on which the movie turns. The Encrypted Truths of “Never Look Away” 2019-02-01T05:00:00Z The immediacy of the human suffering at the border, the delicacy of how to provide witness—these are good reasons to proceed with skepticism about narrative contrivances. Writing About Writing About the Border Crisis 2019-01-28T05:00:00Z It’s just one of numerous illogical plot contrivances introduced by the filmmaker that serve no purpose except to gin up suspense, as the hero, the villain and the mastermind converge toward their inevitable showdown. Review | Bad news for M. Night Shyamalan fans: ‘Glass’ is a mess. 2019-01-16T05:00:00Z Several paintings are split down the middle or outlined, reminding us yet again that what we're seeing is a contrivance. Leidy Churchman paintings: Split personalities and a shiver down the spine 2018-12-19T05:00:00Z The game does still have some modern contrivances. From Pac-Mania to Fortnite fever: are video games becoming more addictive? 2018-11-14T05:00:00Z But “A Bread Factory” doesn’t go out of its way to manufacture intrigue, and its most moving moments — as well as its frequently tart, tetchy humor — arise from a spirit of observation rather than contrivance. Review: Patrick Wang's 'A Bread Factory' is a richly absorbing portrait of a community theater at a crossroads - Los Angeles Times 2018-10-25T04:00:00Z It’s a train wreck of a movie, mixing and matching wildly dissonant tones, bizarre plot contrivances, and a truly unique lead performance. Venom is a bizarre and baffling mess 2018-10-02T04:00:00Z Orwell’s prose, as well as ignoring his own rules when it suits, is really a beautiful contrivance. How to write the perfect sentence 2018-09-21T04:00:00Z Depending on your personal preferences, that either makes it a tongue-in-cheek delight or a miserable contrivance. Lessons from TIFF on the next year in film 2018-09-19T04:00:00Z But the plot’s contrivances are less problematic than the movie’s insistence on maintaining its artifice even after it becomes a hindrance. Review | A father faces a nightmare in the screen-based thriller ‘Searching’ 2018-08-28T04:00:00Z AP: And yet your action sequences are notably coherent - no shaky cam, no contrivances. Q&A: McQuarrie talks action, Cruise, ‘Mission: Impossible’ 2018-07-27T04:00:00Z The shenanigans include a variety of mistaken identities, contrivances, duels and what not, ending in a Turkish masquerade. A little operatic help for newspapers: ‘La Gazzetta’ couldn't be better timed 2018-06-29T04:00:00Z The sonnet, an Italian contrivance adapted by the poets of the English Renaissance, was handed down to twentieth-century writers like Robert Lowell and Gwendolyn Brooks and self-consciously Americanized—its gait loosened, its politics sharpened. The Politics and Play of Terrance Hayes 2018-06-25T04:00:00Z Jordan’s movie is filled with plot contrivances and twists that are simultaneously impossible to believe and easy to spot coming. Lessons from TIFF on the next year in film 2018-09-19T04:00:00Z Is the ad just a contrivance or is it . . . is there something beyond that the way you say . . . he’s going to have to come-to-Jesus moment where he says, “I got to reform too.” Nobody gets out alive if the advertising model fails, not Facebook, not Google, not Amazon 2018-06-18T04:00:00Z Done badly it descends into jocularity and contrivance; done well it is, indeed, magic. Has fiction lost its sense of humour? 2018-06-09T04:00:00Z Further, the IRS has always taken a dim view of artificial contrivances taxpayers and their accountants pursue to evade their lawful tax liability. Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in Illinois 2018-05-30T04:00:00Z Claptrap was language actors employed to elicit applause, but also the name of “a mechanical contrivance for making a clapping noise to express applause.” What’s Another Word for Derp? 2018-05-29T04:00:00Z Elena unfortunately gets short shrift in the story because for all her screen time, she’s never really more than a plot contrivance. The science fiction film Jonathan plays like a lost Black Mirror episode 2018-04-22T04:00:00Z Image; Magnet Releasing Marrowbone does rely heavily on narrative contrivances. The horror film Marrowbone gets better with every viewing 2018-04-19T04:00:00Z “It is so relatable at every level … you feel what they’re feeling. Even the contrivance device of a deaf daughter and the need for the family to know sign language is another point of entry.” ‘A Quiet Place,’ PG-13 horror movie, shuns sex and gore, embraces family 2018-04-12T04:00:00Z “But that, to me, is the integrity of his art. There’s no contrivance, no unnecessary premeditation.” John Prine: 'Things were going so good, I was afraid to screw it up with a new record' 2018-04-04T04:00:00Z But the boy’s betrayal of his pals feels less like a character flaw than a writerly contrivance. Review | For having a ‘first’ for rom-coms, ‘Love, Simon’ is both groundbreaking and too safe 2018-03-14T04:00:00Z From “unfathomable parking structures” to “comic contrivances,” it was a reader’s E-ride, start to finish. Calendar Letters: Oscar coverage omissions, screeners and more 2018-03-09T05:00:00Z But the film's comic contrivances and extravagant banter can seem incongruous in a dramatic context that flips between grotesque parody and gritty realism. Why 'Three Billboards' and 'Call Me by Your Name' leave this theater critic cold 2018-03-01T05:00:00Z A few plot contrivances aside, "Padman" is a well-told and performed film that compellingly fills its lengthy running time with hope, resolve and exuberance. Unexpected entrepreneur and activist gets epic musical treatment in India's 'Padman' 2018-02-08T05:00:00Z Having established an emotional triangle that would seem to lend itself to all manner of angsty contrivance, "Lover for a Day" seems content simply to follow its characters as they navigate their own personal confusion. Philippe Garrel's 'Lover for a Day' plays out a delicate, wistful emotional triangle 2018-01-25T05:00:00Z WW1, the middle eastern borders were contrivances of France and Great Britain who many scholars think set the borders in place to encourage continuing strife in the region. Mixed Messages From U.S. as Turkey Attacks Syrian Kurds 2018-01-23T05:00:00Z Green plays out each of these stories to slow, steadily absorbing effect, avoiding every impulse toward either phony contrivance or pat resolution. Sundance 2018 diary: 'Private Life,' 'Monsters and Men' among the early festival highlights 2018-01-20T05:00:00Z Democrats will reject anything that endangers his prized international contrivance, and the Europeans are more interested in trade with Tehran than a stronger agreement. Beyond the Iran Nuclear Deal 2018-01-15T05:00:00Z Gass was also a great admirer of Gertrude Stein, who treated plot and grammar as contrivances rather than natural components of literature. Prize-winning experimental author William Gass dies at 93 2017-12-07T05:00:00Z Critics would surely complain that the caprine members of the cast of “Goats” were a mere contrivance, distracting from events and robbing a tragic drama of its gravitas. A surreal take on the war in Syria 2017-12-04T05:00:00Z Such extratextual contrivances are now mainly ways for teams and fans to imagine communities. With Statement Win Over Notre Dame, Miami Is Back 2017-11-12T05:00:00Z Having Cyborg’s armor categorize him as a threat and attack him to set off the fight is an inane bit of contrivance. Does Justice League do any of its heroes justice? 2017-11-20T05:00:00Z Mr. Miller’s journey to this point, outlined over dozens of interviews with friends, classmates and current and former colleagues, is a triumph of unbending convictions and at least occasional contrivance. Stephen Miller, the Powerful Survivor on the President’s Right Flank 2017-10-09T04:00:00Z Paradoxically, amid the endless coincidences and contrivances, these accomplished actors never lead the audience to doubt that their characters are for real, whether they’re arguing about tactics or creating sparks in other ways. Review | ‘The Mountain Between Us’: After a plane crash, a slow burn in the icy wilderness 2017-10-03T04:00:00Z The genuine heart and soul at the core of “So B. It” goes a long way toward making up for this family drama’s many coincidences, contrivances and just-go-with-it plot points. Performances help heartwarming drama 'So B. It' overcome contrivances 2017-10-05T04:00:00Z The latter earned him a slap on the wrist, a five-game suspension for the coming season, while the transgressions were written off as the contrivance and failings of an underling. Pitino, Who Demanded Total Control, Can’t Avoid Accountability Now 2017-09-28T04:00:00Z But there’s another loser in the chaotic contrivances of the left — the media and their complete loss of any objectivity and interest in actual news. Media continues to bash Donald Trump 2017-09-27T04:00:00Z The extended, lopsided debate and later plot contrivances eventually prove less interesting than other aspects of Einstein. Taproot’s formulaic “Relativity” questions genius over goodness 2017-09-26T04:00:00Z Tur is memorable on the contrivances and idiosyncrasies of television journalism. Review | Katy Tur’s insider memoir chronicles the Trump campaign — and the indignities of reporting while female 2017-09-12T04:00:00Z It’s the uncompromising moral vision and piercing emotional honesty at the heart of their work, their understanding that the most gripping stories are borne not of narrative contrivance but of human desperation. The Dardennes concoct a mostly compelling moral mystery with 'The Unknown Girl' 2017-09-14T04:00:00Z The movie relies a lot on flatly staged shootouts and narrative contrivances, coupled with trite tough-guy poses. 'True to the Game' is true to Teri Woods' novel but lacks the game to back it up 2017-09-07T04:00:00Z This was why there was a constant inflation of strategy and contrivance; for even those whose message was “Authenticity!” found themselves inventing stunts of their own in order for it to be heard. The first social media suicide 2017-08-29T04:00:00Z This wildly lucrative contrivance posing as a boxing match for the ages ended as expected. Fleece of the Century 2017-08-27T04:00:00Z Such a market is less a human contrivance, to be manipulated like any other, than a force to be studied and placated. Neoliberalism: the idea that changed the world 2017-08-18T04:00:00Z Hidden beneath a hatch passed by thousands of commuters and pedestrians each day, the chamber is filled with a Jules Verne contrivance of pits and pipes and analog valves. Where’s the water? In the nation’s capital, dry fountains mar the landscape. 2017-07-09T04:00:00Z But even its corniest contrivances are rooted in authentic feeling, its throwaway moments grounded by the presence and physicality of the actors. Edgar Wright's exuberant 'Baby Driver' is an automotive musical like no other 2017-06-27T04:00:00Z There’s an element of contrivance to the whole affair since we know that the Met asked the artists to engage in these dialogues — any spur of the moment, organic quality to the art is lost. The Met’s new art exhibit is told entirely through smartphone photos 2017-06-26T04:00:00Z Without narrative contrivances, I found myself identifying with the housemates in a powerful way. Letter of Recommendation: ‘Terrace House’ 2017-05-25T04:00:00Z He championed “organic architecture”, by which he meant buildings that grow naturally from their use and terrain, to describe works of high contrivance and awkward functionality. Frank Lloyd Wright: fantasist or genius? 2017-05-21T04:00:00Z It doesn’t seem like devil-may-care sloppiness or cool-girl contrivance, but a sign of someone who’s grown up with social media and understands how to manage an image. Maren Morris: ‘Country music shouldn’t always be about the guy’ 2017-04-09T04:00:00Z After all, these countries are inheritors of great civilizations, unlike some post-World War I contrivances such as Jordan, Syria or Iraq. Opinion | Five myths about Turkey 2017-03-17T04:00:00Z The idea of a “viral hit” long ago stopped being something that just happened to a song and became, through contrivance and orchestration, a core part of the marketing plot. Mannequin challenge, Rae Sremmurd and the meme-powered viral hit 2016-11-15T05:00:00Z This by turns engrossing and viscerally violent thriller has a lot going for it, even when its contrivances collapse in on themselves in an unconvincing heap. In ‘The Accountant,’ Ben Affleck is part ‘A Beautiful Mind,’ part Batman 2016-10-13T04:00:00Z It doesn’t help that the plot relies on more than a little contrivance. ‘The Department Q Trilogy’: Nordic noir series is a triple treat 2016-09-15T04:00:00Z Although he effectively establishes the downtrodden milieu, Lee’s script ultimately succumbs to mounting clichés and plot contrivances. Skid-row saga 'Cardboard Boxer' knocked down and out by clichés 2016-09-15T04:00:00Z He added, “While there’s a certain amount of contrivance in this situation, Weisz’s acting enables you to forget all about it.” Indie Focus: A new season begins with Fall Sneaks and the Telluride Film Festival 2016-09-04T04:00:00Z While there’s a certain amount of contrivance in this situation, Weisz’s acting enables you to forget all about it. A chameleonic Rachel Weisz invigorates the twisty 'Complete Unknown' 2016-09-01T04:00:00Z Such contrivances spoil the sense of realism and place that Caple, who wrote the script, often so deftly evokes. ‘The Land’ review: Skateboarders run up against unlikely drug kingpin 2016-08-25T04:00:00Z Barack and Michelle do eventually get to that community meeting, but that is almost a shame because the film’s contrivances and awkward elements are more apparent when other actors are involved. 'Southside With You' drops in on the cute beginning of a beautiful Obama partnership 2016-08-25T04:00:00Z In that film, matters of realty served as a weak plot contrivance bordering on contortion. Young New Yorkers seek connection in Ira Sachs' 'Little Men' 2016-08-10T04:00:00Z The Left isn’t warming to Clinton, and many Bernie voters view obligatory endorsements as a contrivance. Division and tension at the DNC: The Democrats’ night of unity is marred by dissent 2016-07-26T04:00:00Z Anti-teleprompterism, as the rise of Trump reveals, is not purely cynical; it reflects a widespread frustration with contrivance in politics. Five myths about political speechwriting 2016-07-22T04:00:00Z Because the clumsy way in which it’s executed not only doesn’t achieve the emotional depth it thinks it does, but is a glaring and borderline offensive contrivance rooted in some retrograde assumptions about women. Review: Cranston goes undercover in drug war drama 2016-07-11T04:00:00Z But this final and powerful decision was clear and absolute: The right to abortion exists, and government contrivances limiting that right will not be tolerated. Colorado Editorial Roundup 2016-07-06T04:00:00Z But this also highlights one of the film’s plot contrivances: It’s convenient — yet hard to believe — that all of these tiny cameras were able to capture such clear images. ‘Manhattan Night’ forecast: Overheated, dark and stormy 2016-05-19T04:00:00Z The members of her waitstaff, in contrast, are weepy and easily enraged, and despite the show’s contrivances the milieu is not unrealistic. Drinking and Drama on “Vanderpump Rules” 2016-05-23T04:00:00Z “They are bound to hear scattered complaints about badges being gimmicks or contrivances, but the empirical evidence presented in Kidwell et al.'s new paper should allay most serious concerns,” he says. Digital badges motivate scientists to share data 2016-05-11T04:00:00Z They are contrivances, he says, but useful contrivances in that they help us organize our world. Please, Just Tell Me Whether I’m a Millennial 2016-05-11T04:00:00Z She tried as the singing plot contrivance opposite Steve Martin in "The Pink Panther." With 'Lemonade,' Beyoncé shows she doesn't need Hollywood 2016-04-29T04:00:00Z But it’s just their imagination and more a contrivance of political correctness. DEBORAH SIMMONS: It’s the school boundaries, stupid 2016-03-31T04:00:00Z "And then there comes a threat" — Big Coal, enabling modern contrivances while befouling nature — "to their way of life. And they will have to defend it." 'Outsiders,' the new drama from WGN America, pits a tribe of hills-dwelling renegades against 'civilized' folk at the foot of the mountain who want to oust them to unearth a rich vein of coal 2016-01-22T05:00:00Z All religions are nothing more than man-made contrivances of domination and submission, exploited by humans for mundane ends, and accoutered with sundry superstitious rituals meant to ensure tribal loyalty and generate animosity toward outsiders. Religious delusions are destroying us: “Nothing more than man-made contrivances of domination and submission” 2016-01-03T05:00:00Z I was meeting a person who had very few contrivances, who had been as a child exposed to a lot of suffering, and had become a role model for women at a global level.” Clinic in the Clouds 2015-12-21T05:00:00Z There was enough intellectual heft in there to suggest that the senator from Texas is too smart to believe the ideological contrivances and strategic impostures by which he seeks to gain the GOP nomination. The Cruz Imposture 2015-12-15T05:00:00Z Alas, even our national feast day is a contrivance of mindless gorging, a mere appetizer to the galloping consumption to follow thanks to the greatest marketing scam on Earth. The nastier Trump gets, the more some people like him 2015-11-27T05:00:00Z Collette, who shaved her head for the part, commits so deeply to the role of Milly that it’s hard to hate the contrivance of the plot. ‘Miss You Already’ goes for the tears. What’s wrong with that? 2015-11-05T05:00:00Z Norris regards her Boston Irish identity as “something of a contrivance.” Mary McGrory, the revolutionary insider of Washington journalism 2015-10-08T04:00:00Z To them, the man’s grouchiness, his allergy to contrivance and spin, is exactly what recommends him. Jeremy Corbyn Takes the Stage 2015-09-30T04:00:00Z Today, the successful American politician is fashioned almost entirely by manipulation and contrivance. How Far We Have Fallen 2015-09-14T04:00:00Z “It leaves the government wondering whether or not the whole incident is not a politically calculated contrivance” by the opposition party, Charamba told reporters. A Zimbabwean dissident was either brave or reckless. Now he’s missing. 2015-09-01T04:00:00Z That provision prohibits use of any “manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance” in connection with the purchase or sale of a security. A New Way to Charge Insider Trading 2015-08-24T04:00:00Z People also suggested standard Hollywood plot contrivances, like having Minnie end up with a boy her own age at the end, which wholly contradicted the point of the story. Defying Hollywood conventions in ‘Diary of a Teenage Girl’ 2015-08-05T04:00:00Z Writers Christopher Borrelli and Michael C. Martin commit quite a handful of sins of contrivance that are difficult to absolve. Little absolution for 'The Vatican Tapes' 2015-07-24T04:00:00Z But a single touch of contrivance spoils it all. A Point of View: What's the secret of writing great song lyrics? - BBC News 2015-06-26T04:00:00Z He therefore gave the nod to Louisiana’s contrivance. The Norquist wriggle 2015-06-18T04:00:00Z Second, as with all physical theories, quantum field theory is a model—a human contrivance. Physicists Are Philosophers, Too 2015-05-08T04:00:00Z They refer to the compromise as beginning with “Phase Zero,” a semantic contrivance to accommodate all sides. “Madam Secretary” and the Real Iran Deal 2015-05-04T04:00:00Z He breathed normally into the box, in which a marvelous chemical contrivance converted the carbon dioxide of his breath into fuel to run a small motor which turned the rotors! How One of History's Best April Fools’ Day Pranks Was Debunked 2015-04-01T04:00:00Z The show addresses the proliferation of contrivance and manipulation in 21st-century society, asking gallerygoers to consider — and then reconsider — the 31 works on view. At the College of New Rochelle, a Show Meant to Provoke Double Takes 2015-02-21T05:00:00Z Yet ISIS’s projections of fierceness are not just a contrivance. What ISIS Hoped to Gain From Killing the Jordanian Pilot These flaws are particularly evident in a third act that depends more on contrivance, convenient elisions and left-field reversals than organic logic for its impact. Oscar Isaac delivers a breakout performance in the moody urban thriller “A Most Violent Year.” 2015-01-14T05:00:00Z You're a contrivance to deliver potential stories to your clients, but in the end you are at the will of the journalist, as you should be. A Conversation With the World's Most Self-Loathing PR Person There is, perhaps, an element of contrivance in any pilgrimage—the idea that arriving at a far-off destination will be personally transformative. Atoning for a Genocide | The New Yorker 2014-12-29T05:00:00Z Translation services are now dependable travel tools for many, instead of the sometimes-accurate, sometimes-not Web contrivances they were a decade ago. Technology Makes Language Fluency a Snap In contrast to these fiscal contrivances, the gas tax is a simple user fee system that provides an ongoing stream of revenue, charging people roughly according to how much they use the roads. Bipartisan buy-in could finally provide reliable transportation funding Thumbnail: It’s a well-acted and entertaining biopic that overcomes its contrivances thanks to an uncommon amount of empathy for its female co-star. Review: 'Theory Of Everything' Highlights Hawking Romance Over Hawking Science 2014-11-05T05:00:00Z However, some actorly weaknesses have slightly unbalanced the script, showing up a few of its contrivances and rendering Amir an even more contentious figure. Disgraced review: a stirring Greek tragedy that'll put you off dinner parties for life 2014-10-24T04:00:00Z Who said political spin doctors were a modern contrivance? ‘When the Greeks Ruled Egypt’ Highlights the Diversity of Cultures in Ptolemaic Egypt 2014-10-06T04:00:00Z This contrivance used to be dominated by yakuza criminal gangs, which extorted cash from the parlours’ owners. Balls in the air 2014-09-25T04:00:00Z I've quoted that at some length because I think he has a point: the contrivances and manipulations of modern politics are two of the explanations for why many voters have become alienated. Ed Miliband's lack of popularity is nothing to do with his photo-ops 2014-07-26T04:00:00Z He also indulges in eye-rolling contrivances, including some convenient and-then-they-woke-ups and a pivotal kid with, apparently, a keen eye for finding just the right fur coat to wear when all hell is breaking loose. ‘Snowpiercer’ movie review: All aboard a cold train to nowhere With a license to rebroadcast, it could ditch that contrivance and use one antenna. Myth-Busting The Aereo Decision: No The Supreme Court Didn't Kill It... Nor Did They Kill Dropbox 2014-06-26T04:00:00Z For Wood, all this is a deplorable contrivance, "not the disclosure of a meaningful reality but the management of continuous artifice, a proffered tray of delicious narrative revelations". Donna Tartt: Is this the year of The Goldfinch? 2014-05-30T04:00:00Z Cameras are insertion points for tactical tableaus, the contrivance being that you have to be able to see what you want to hack. Watch Dogs Review: City of Interest 2014-05-28T04:00:00Z A win in the highest court would vindicate Aereo, whose business has been called little more than a “Rube Goldberg-like contrivance,” and set it on a course of rapid expansion. If Aereo Loses In The Supreme Court, Can It Rise Again? 2014-05-07T16:01:00Z The property lives on in the many plot contrivances that The Other Woman borrowed from it. A Woman Scorned: The Top 12 Female Revenge Movies 2014-04-29T14:00:05Z Our idea was straight forward: in the era of social media, offer marketers the freedom to speak directly to consumers — authentically, without contrivances. Inside Forbes: Some Data and Tips About Native Advertising the FTC Might Find Interesting 2013-12-02T13:48:00Z On the kitchen counters there were all sorts of contrivances and appliances—coffeemaker, food processor, knife sharpener, and some things Grant didn’t know the names or uses of. Alice Munro: “The Bear Came over the Mountain.” 2013-10-14T04:00:00Z “It’s a sleight of hand, a contrivance to rid themselves of a headache,” says Robert Wayne, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. Grey wolves left out in the cold 2013-09-12T13:50:23.897Z “There was a wonderful contrivance due to Archimedes inside,” he wrote. Archimedes: Separating Myth From Science 2013-06-24T16:55:34Z So again the US with the contrivance of Israel are playing games in the Middle East. A thick 'Red Line' on Syria 2013-04-25T20:49:12Z They should also try to refocus the existing national security debate away from political contrivances and back to the real world. Obama national security team's inbox of problems 2013-01-17T22:24:37Z These groups, with their inherent propensity to jump the ant-shaped hurdle, are particularly illuminating if we want to get out how this lifestyle—with all its contrivances and idiosyncrasies—comes into existence. The Bizarre, Beetle-Biased World of Social Insect Exploitation 2012-12-10T14:45:00.213Z Fortunately for them, Roth couldn’t test his contrivance properly because the Scotch tape needed to secure it is contraband at Ashland. Why the Professor Went to Prison 2012-11-02T01:21:45Z I feel it's a deliberate contrivance to associate themselves with some perceived prestige in sounding British. 30 of your Britishisms used by Americans 2012-10-16T23:37:53Z This lovely illuminant contrivance is perhaps symbolic of that golden age.” Designer Unveils Wooden Light Bulb 2012-05-29T19:05:18Z “I wanted an image that would show something clean, beautiful, and free of contrivance.” What It's Like to Photograph Mark Zuckerberg's Wedding 2012-05-23T21:32:00Z It wanted nothing either of the requisites for northern comfort or of the contrivances demanded by the climate of Rome, though glaring luxury appeared scrupulously avoided. Franz Liszt 2012-05-22T15:16:50.923Z There were then no contrivances for extinguishing flames, and the thatched and wooden houses must have burned like stubble. Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 2012-04-27T02:00:38.817Z Paley pointed out how many beautiful contrivances there are in the human form, tending to our benefit. The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, November 1879 2012-04-25T02:01:12.830Z The monastery was one of those, not at all uncommon in those days, in which the vow of seclusion did not by any means exclude contrivances for enjoying at least some communion with the world. Agincourt The Works of G. P. R. James, Volume XX 2012-04-25T02:01:07.457Z Great improvements, however, have been effected in the design of open fireplaces, and many ingenious contrivances of this nature are now in the market which combine efficiency of heating with economy of fuel. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" 2012-04-25T02:00:53.567Z Let us look again at our piano, or what will do just as well, at some other contrivance of the same character. Popular scientific lectures 2012-04-24T02:00:17.273Z This admirable contrivance should be fitted above the mouthpiece of an ordinary snaffle or Pelham bridle. Ladies on Horseback Learning, Park-Riding, and Hunting, with Hints upon Costume, and Numerous Anecdotes 2012-04-23T02:00:28.843Z Spencer has pointed out that the Universe is one deep-laid framework for the production of such beneficent contrivances. The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, November 1879 2012-04-25T02:01:12.830Z Instead of falling into the sea and decorously sinking to the bottom, as von Sinzig had hoped, the contrivance had struck the only vessel within a radius of a hundred miles. The Airship "Golden Hind" 2012-04-21T02:00:26.983Z Perhaps he was rather doing one of those useless and splendid things that alone among man's contrivances do not crumble and fall. Mushroom Town 2012-04-21T02:00:25.923Z I have also attempted to produce and destroy suddenly great velocities of forward movement by means of various contrivances of which I shall mention only one here. Popular scientific lectures 2012-04-24T02:00:17.273Z This “korsi” is a contrivance for giving warmth at a minimum cost. Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia An account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence amongst the Women of the East 2012-04-18T02:00:15.997Z For lack of the bath which he had been prevented from ordering through Tom Bland, he splashed in an old-fashioned shallow zinc contrivance which reminded him of former days in Baluchistan. The House 'Round the Corner 2012-04-14T02:00:22.063Z Her life had been beautifully planned, and planned without effort or contrivance by anybody. A Gamble with Life 2012-04-11T02:00:33.587Z If we are to reach His ends we must adopt His means and abjure all crafty contrivances of our own. The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Genesis 2012-04-08T02:00:21.793Z These are very ingenious contrivances set in the midst of a swift place in the stream and made to revolve by the current. The Columbia River Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce 2012-04-07T02:00:31.747Z This needless and inhuman contrivance wore the flesh from his hands and wrists, and kept them constantly bleeding. Recollections of Windsor Prison; Containing Sketches of its History and Discipline with Appropriate Strictures and Moral and Religious Reflection 2012-04-06T02:00:31.240Z He was told the results desired, and not only achieved them, but achieved much more, adding new contrivances, which afterward proved of the greatest value. The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine 2012-04-05T02:00:40.207Z She disliked so many evidences of management and contrivance. A Gamble with Life 2012-04-11T02:00:33.587Z A wooden contrivance, forming a kind of bridge, with a handrail, was pushed out by the crew; and one of the longshoremen pressed eagerly forward to make it firm. The Tree of Knowledge A Novel 2012-04-05T02:00:35.603Z For it should be remembered that astronomers were not as yet provided with those valuable automatic contrivances which at present materially abridge the labour and increase the accuracy of their determinations. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology" 2012-04-04T02:00:56.447Z At another time the hospital was broken, and an escape effected by four individuals, in a way which evinced the greatest wisdom of contrivance, and strength of limbs. Recollections of Windsor Prison; Containing Sketches of its History and Discipline with Appropriate Strictures and Moral and Religious Reflection 2012-04-06T02:00:31.240Z After much labor and patience, and little by little, the perforating-machines became improved and perfected, as is always the case in any perfectly new mechanical contrivance having any great assemblage of parts. The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine 2012-04-05T02:00:40.207Z “Among the many conveniences of such a contrivance, it may be of very great advantage against a navy of enemies, who, by this means, may be undermined in the water and blown up.” The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 2 2012-04-03T02:00:36.237Z A substantial and picturesque lodge of logs, furnished with modern contrivances is now regarded as quite desirable, for summer occupation at least. Blazing The Way True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget Sound 2012-04-03T02:00:30.677Z This contrivance is placed over a petroleum, gas, or spirit lamp, which gives the required heat. Practical Bookbinding 2012-04-02T02:00:23.047Z This gentleman had discovered in one of the Neapolitan prisons a number of instruments of torture—rusty, hideous old iron chairs, and racks, and screws, and "cages of silence," and such other contrivances. Modern Leaders: Being a Series of Biographical Sketches 2012-04-01T02:00:10.050Z How odd all these contrivances to modern eyes! Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature 2012-03-29T02:00:13.900Z But the little Smeaton seemed to have a more than ordinary love of contrivance, and that mainly for its own sake. The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 2 2012-04-03T02:00:36.237Z A bit of the wire of proper length is first doubled and then by a special contrivance the two ends are bent around a mandrel so as to form an insertion point or loop. Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects 2012-03-28T02:00:31.483Z In some districts where brown coal is found, it is heated on a specially made contrivance with the brown coal waste. Practical Bookbinding 2012-04-02T02:00:23.047Z That movements of heavy bodies take place without mechanical contrivance of any kind or adequate exertion of muscular force by the persons present, and frequently without contact or connection with any person. Mysterious Psychic Forces An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants 2012-03-28T02:00:29.747Z In the theater let it be known that every modern contrivance has been employed to secure safety. Chicago's Awful Theater Horror 2012-03-28T02:00:25.877Z Innumerable mechanical contrivances have given a decisive preponderance to that industrial element which has coloured all the developments of our civilisation. History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 1 of 2) 2012-03-28T02:00:20.770Z After trying many different contrivances I finally prepared a block, with Mr. Hawley's assistance, which answers every purpose of simplicity, neatness, security, and convenience. Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects 2012-03-28T02:00:31.483Z Before passing on to the next chapter we have still to mention the mechanical contrivances for sewing. Practical Bookbinding 2012-04-02T02:00:23.047Z I am, therefore, enabled to state positively, that no machinery, apparatus, or contrivance of any sort was secreted about his person. Mysterious Psychic Forces An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants 2012-03-28T02:00:29.747Z Among these ingenious contrivances were two golden handmaidens gifted with motion, who attended the god wherever he went, and supported his halting footsteps. Myths of Greece and Rome Narrated with Special Reference to Literature and Art 2012-03-27T02:00:24.357Z A mechanical contrivance for awaking persons from sleep, or rousing their attention; an alarum. ~ bell, a bell that gives notice on danger. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary 2012-03-24T02:00:23.513Z Any structure or contrivance, as a mole, or a wall at the mouth of a harbor, to break the force of waves, and afford protection from their violence. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) 2012-03-24T02:00:19.387Z Rubber rollers—one or two—together with the automatic colouring rollers bearing aniline dyes mixed with glycerine, are made up into a handy contrivance by means of which smooth coloured edges can be rolled over. Practical Bookbinding 2012-04-02T02:00:23.047Z In connection with such tool posts various contrivances are employed to enable the height of the cutting edge of the tool to be readily adjusted. Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II 2012-03-23T02:00:33.140Z This contrivance saved chafing, and gave a better pull. The Ice Queen 2012-03-22T02:00:40.843Z Her cabinet was composed of two curtains only, made of some white material, and hung on uprights at one angle, in a corner of the room, the most transparent contrivance possible. There is no Death 2012-03-22T02:00:39.257Z He was an ingenious mathematician who often startled the people of this time with his mechanical contrivances. Piano Playing: With Piano Questions Answered 2012-03-22T02:00:35.350Z The sight of the frail contrivance in which I was to travel nearly two hundred miles, rather startled me, but the man assured me he had several other passengers, and two ladies among them. Pencillings by the Way Written During Some Years of Residence and Travel in Europe 2012-03-19T02:00:26.650Z In about a week's time, the village blacksmiths and carpenters managed to turn out a contrivance they termed a rudder; but of all the rudders I ever saw it beat them hollow. Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution (Volume I) 2012-03-19T02:00:25.027Z |
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