Pedant

pedant







Y

D



–noun 

1. a person who makes an excessive 

or 

inappropriate display of learning. 



2. a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details.

3. a person who adheres rigidly 

to 

book knowledge without regard to common sense.

4. Obsolete. a schoolmaster. 





　

Everything is calculated. Self-consciously manipulating conventions more or less invented by D.W. Griffith in the days of the nickelodeon, Funny Games is what a German might call a "devilish trick," or schelmenstreich. But, unlike other prankster showmen—the names Lars von Trier and Carlos Reygadas cavort to mind—Haneke is pretty much a humorless pedant. 



I did admire his adaptation of The Piano Teacher, thanks largely to Isabelle Huppert's bravura performance, although, reading Elfriede Jelinek's novel, I was surprised to discover that it was actually comic. Thus, Das Funnygame is a very severe schelmenstreich. The movie's early emphasis on the family's innocent, time-killing competitions is preparation for the joyless sport Haneke will have with the spectator.



nickelodeon

五分錢電影院

自動點唱機





idiot savant

erudite

polymath

Force of July: An idiosyncratic [polymath] turns delicate whimsy into a heartfelt story of us.

The inclusive title of [polymath] Miranda July's first feature film is [apt] for a multimedia artist who has often sought to forge virtual communities through her work.

dunce

decathlon

symposium

A symposium in the "men are pigs" school of gender relations

polemic 

controversial argument

elevates "Descent" beyond case study and into the realm of [bomb]-throwing polemic.

moot

Criticisms of this as disgusting or depraved are [moot]

the critics' need to attack Cavani as historically [inaccurate] become moot



egghead

except, that is, for a [cadre] of eggheads who [hail] the work as a visionary achievement. 

Crypto