A perfectly splendid little war (4/14/03)

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This week’s misguided cinematic inspiration [with apologies to Busby Berkeley]: in the middle of an expanse of black and otherwise featureless empty space, the camera circles a gigantic arrangement of showgirls seated at white grand pianos arrayed like the nucleotides of the double helix, with the main strands joined below and separated above for reproduction as new pianos are hauled in out of nowhere to pair off with the loose ends. — I’m not sure of the musical accompaniment, and, typically, my imaginative satisfaction with this preposterous spectacle is tempered somewhat by the nagging realization that on one of the spirals the showgirls and pianos should be rightside-up and on the other they should be upside down. — But, really: Gold Diggers of 2003; how could it miss? with Dick Powell in the role of Venter, and Ruby Keeler as the Proteomic Muse.

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Rocket science (1/15/03)