Serial disappointer

Great when referring to a stock, person, politician, etc. that repeatedly disappoints

quiet eloquence of his hard work

"He never graduated from high school, but he taught me more by the quiet eloquence of his hard work, his simple decency, his intense loyalty, he taught me the true lessons of life," Tim Russert later said of his father.

navigates the city with consummate skill

navigates the city with consummate skill
From NYTs movie review of "Quid Pro Quo"

cultural dislocation as a metaphor for people who have gotten lost in their own lives

From LOST IN TRANSLATION film review about by Kirk Honeycutt, Sept 2, 2003, www.hollywoodreporter.com

Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" is a funny, bittersweet movie that uses cultural dislocation as a metaphor for people who have gotten lost in their own lives.
...
Coppola sees in Tokyo's crowded, neon-lit urban landscape a society estranged from its own culture. The night is filled with pleasure-seekers obsessed by games, toys and American pop culture.
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The movie flirts with a sexual relationship between these two, but Coppola holds back, aware not only of the characters' age differences but a realization that what ails the couple cannot be resolved with sexual healing.

Radioactive performance, her character, in which she uncovers many conflicting emotional layers, has a glow-in-the-dark phosphorescence that is sexy

"Ms. Farmiga’s performance might be described as radioactive — her character, in which she uncovers many conflicting emotional layers, has a glow-in-the-dark phosphorescence that is sexy, but also scary" -- from a NYT's film review of the movie “Quid Pro Quo” By STEPHEN HOLDEN, June 13, 2008