Sentences with phrase «as svengali»

In both parallel stories, it is the Cecil family of royal advisors — first William (David Thewlis) and then his son Robert (Edward Hogg)-- who act as Svengali to Elizabeth, manipulating her and twisting events to suit their purposes.

The appeal of Lovelace to the emotions, in its simplistic characterisation of Chuck Traynor as Svengali, becomes pornographic, in this sense, when Anthony Romano oversees Chuck's beating, at which stage viewers will probably take delight in seeing this exploitative man getting what he deserves.

Not exact matches

Steve Hilton, the Svengali figure credited with rebranding the Tories, used to attend, but recently his appearances have been limited, as he prepares to move to California.»

Michael Shannon's performance as Sunset Strip Svengali Kim Fowley is the standout in the middling 2010 movie «The Runaways»; Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning didn't particularly stand out as Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, respectively.

As the titular Svengali, Philip Seymour Hoffman is a terrific blend of patriarchal back - patting and hot air, but this is Phoenix's movie; the moment he realizes his master has nothing left to offer him is as heartbreaking as anything this yeaAs the titular Svengali, Philip Seymour Hoffman is a terrific blend of patriarchal back - patting and hot air, but this is Phoenix's movie; the moment he realizes his master has nothing left to offer him is as heartbreaking as anything this yeaas heartbreaking as anything this yeaas anything this year.

In a scenario that borrows from a century of show - business clichés, the gorgeously lifeless Beyoncé Knowles stars as a Diana Ross - like singer who rockets to the top with the help of her Berry Gordy - like lover / Svengali (Jamie Foxx).

Douglas has to hold her own, not so much with Stoltz as with John Turturro, who plays Joel Millner, the Brill Building Svengali who signs Edna up when no one else will - but changes her name to Denise Waverly without consulting her.

Here he's an evil Svengali, who teaches rock»n' roll as an assault on the audience; the girls must batter their fans into submission or admit they're losers.

Beginning with Eisenberg (here enjoying the role of his young career, at least until someone inevitably casts him as the lead in a Woody Allen biopic), the entire cast — including Justin Timberlake, who plays Napster co-founder Sean Parker as a kind of sleazy Svengali — deliver their lines with deft aplomb.

This was a heroic action, yet in the movie there's something unnerving about this man, and the main thing is that he's played by Michael Shannon, a character actor who specializes in wild - eyed zeal, whether he's saving cops in World Trade Center, attempting to work as a punk - rock Svengali in The Runaways, hunting down Superman in Man Of Steel, or warning his community about the coming apocalypse in Take Shelter.

But the scenes of Traynor threatening and battering his wife feel just as phony and unconvincing as the sunnier stuff that preceded them, partly because Sarsgaard — usually a fine and subtle actor — flies so over the top in his depiction of a creepy Svengali.