Although Danish director Carl Theodore Dreyer had mastered both silent and sound cinema, his failure to attract viewers and recoup investments inaugurated a fallow period during which he’d complete only three feature films over his final 36 years.

fallow (adj) 1: left unplowed and unseeded during a growing season; 2: undeveloped but potentially useful; (n) : cultivated land that is not seeded for one or more growing seasons – source: Slowpoke directors

It was an especially hinky offering, because it was backed by second mortgages rather than by traditional first mortgages.

hinky (a) : 1 slang : nervous, jittery; 2 slang : suspicious – source: Junk mortgages: It just gets worse

In Caldwell’s vision Europe’s welfare states have been succouring alien intruders: as the native population grows in age and declines in proportion to immigrants, so the value they add to the ”social market” economy by contributing to its welfare systems is eroded by their claims on benefits.

succour (n) : assistance in time of difficulty [syn: relief, succor, ministration] (v) : help in a difficult situation – source: The Big Muslim Problem!

In macroeconomic terms the wealth they generate is nugatory—approximately one three-hundredth of the advanced countries’ output.

nugatory (adj) : of no real value – source: The Big Muslim Problem!

Not primarily as a fiduciary or an institution builder or an administrator (though he has worn all those hats), but rather as an individual who relentlessly pursued new opportunities.

fiduciary (adj) : relating to or of the nature of a legal trust (i.e. the holding of something in trust for another); (n) : a person who holds assets in trust for a beneficiary; – source: Steve Jobs’s legacy

The unofficial, demotic history of cinema is built out of these impressions and out of the patterns that turn movies into a warped, unignorable mirror of the world they inhabit.

demotic (adj) 1: of or written in or belonging to the form of modern Greek based on colloquial use; 2: of or for the common people – source: Screen Memories

It’s a father-daughter relationship that is fueled with so much notoriety and bad behavior that it is sui generis, but it’s also limned by the same dynamics—of amorous engagement, maternal jealousy, and paternal protectiveness—as any other.

limned (v) 1 : to draw or paint on a surface; 2 : to outline in clear sharp detail : delineate; 3 : describe – source: The Passion of Alec Baldwin

Children have an obdurate desire to be central in the lives of their parents, and almost no amount of bad behavior on an adult’s part can change that.

obdurate (adj) 1: stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing [syn: cussed, obstinate, unrepentant]; 2: showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings [syn: flinty, stony] – source: The Passion of Alec Baldwin

Readers: if the runic Basinger ever decides to give an interview, you know who’s going to get it. Do it, Kim! Call Barbara!

runic (a) : 1: any of the characters of any of several alphabets used by the Germanic peoples from about the 3d to the 13th centuries; 2: mystery, magic – source: The Passion of Alec Baldwin

They value loyalty. respect, and professionalism and despise incompetence, equivocation, and ass-kissing.

equivocation (n) 1: a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth [syn: evasion]; 2: intentionally vague or ambiguous [syn: prevarication, evasiveness]; 3: falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language [syn: tergiversation] – source: Zen Pulp, Pt. 2