Few things in cinema are more satisfying than a good "tipoff." Most often it happens in suspense films. Moviemakers use it when, let's say, the murderer of the piece hides in plain sight among the entire cast. It's the "a-ha" instant when a character -- through a fishy comment or a shift of the eyes -- reveals that he is not what he has seemed. It's the moment when we discover the unseen villain. For many of us groundlings, this mechanism also is the way that we come to judge the actors on the stage of public life. While prepared speeches and fussed-over appearances may form our basic impressions of such people, we in the main take such things for what they are. We know that these great, meticulously prepared packages compose a mask the public performer wears.But we desire more than this. What we crave is the small moment. Especially we want that tiny, unguarded flash. We await the instance that acts as a lie detector. We need the happenstance that speaks with...(Read Full Post)