Nanny Diaries: Reviewing the Review

From the New York Times :
But Ms. Johansson’s Annie, who narrates the movie in a glum, plodding voice, is a leaden screen presence, devoid of charm and humor. With her heavy-lidded eyes and plump lips, Ms. Johansson may smolder invitingly in certain roles, but “The Nanny Diaries” is the latest in a string of films that suggest that this somnolent actress confuses sullen attitudinizing with acting.


Oh my God!  Even former Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, whose mouth has spewed such venom that defendants had to wait in line to threaten her life, was never that harsh.  Who did Scarlett Johansson kill?

To be frank, I didn’t even know who Scarlett Johansson was until last summer, when I got a call to rent my Austin Healey for a shoot with her.  I asked if she was the actress in the Swedish version of “Gone with the Wind.”  I was met with incredulity.  “You don’t know Scarlett Johansson?”  I mean, I’m hip, but who can keep track of every starlet, right?

Sullen attitudinizing.  As opposed to happy attitudinizing?  Is “attitudinizing” a word?  It must be if it’s in the New York Times.  But is it a crime that demands such severe public punishment?

Being a New Yorker, I have some passing familiarity with both nannies and the people who employ them.  First, let us be absolutely clear.  No matter what agency you use, you are not going to get Scarlett Johansson to be your nanny.  Second, decent (not to mention English speaking) nannies are in such demand that one wrong glance and she’d be out of there in a flash.  What, you don’t think Scarlett couldn’t get another nanny gig?  And third, what’s with the gratuitous slur of the West Side? 

But who cares about the movie.  It’s the critique that’s a killer.  Writer Stephen Holden needs to take the F train downtown to Centre Street and start teaching Morgenthau’s minions how to do some serious damage in their indictments.  And if you want to see sullen attitudinizing, spend an hour in an arraignment part. 

One thought on “Nanny Diaries: Reviewing the Review

  1. Other Steve

    Usually, if you double-click a word in the online version of the NYTimes, a pop-up window will define the word for you. For example, in this article about Michael Vick’s NFL suspension (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/25/sports/football/25vick.html), try double-clicking the word “suspended” or “indefinitely” in the first paragraph, or “prison” or “plea bargain” in the second paragraph.

    So I double-clicked “attitudinizing,” in the movie review you cite, but no such pop-up window appeared. In fact, no such window appeared when I double-clicked ANY of the words in the movie review – or any words in OTHER movie reviews.

    Whether this is just a website glitch, an oversight by the website staff, or a nefarious plot by the Times to hide the fact that its movie reviewers use made-up words, is a question I leave for you to ponder.

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