It's a laboured and unoriginal satire, directed by David Gordon Green, which finds a cynical theme-variation in this unlikeliest of Romeo and Juliet unions, and makes a meal of Carville's real-life adventure in 2002, when he masterminded a Bolivian presidential campaign.
Unsworth's retelling of the story, familiar from Euripides, of the sacrifice of Iphigeneia to appease the gods so that the boats can sail is a bold, modern tale with cynical riffs on the themes of duty and power, truth and fiction.
In "George Condo: Mental States," at the New Museum, the painter assimilates the styles of masters from Velázquez to Picasso, but his work is no cynical art-historical critique — his themes are violence and sex, tragedy and farce.
Hopefully not everyone is as cynical as I am and can find enjoyable themes in this film.
The latest comic mystery from the king of gonzo Florida noir involves a beautiful scam artist, the star of a Cajun-themed reality show and a lovelorn, cynical ex-detective.
Shakespeare's treatment of the theme of Troilus' love is much more cynical than Chaucer's, and the character of Pandarus is now grotesque.
The research revealed that thematic negative ads, those that touch on recurring political themes and launch personal attacks, make voters more cynical about the political process and government in general.
But this week, images of regional officials cavorting at a toga party with a "return of Ulysses" theme have tested the patience of even Europe's most cynical voters.
Fear for the future, particularly among the young, has become a theme of an election in which voters are arguably more cynical and more divided than at any time for over half a century.
This strikes some as a particularly cynical bit of appropriation: a grass-roots food scene turned into a theme-park facsimile, just a few subway stops away.
"That's the theme of my movies: the victory of the battered idealist in a cynical world," Mr. Crowe says.
