“Don’t judge a book by its cover!” I dare say that is one of the best-known adages in the English language; yet I admit to doing this all the time — and what’s more, doing it proudly. After all, it’s not much fun reading ugly books. What I mean is: A handsome cover can substantially
It’s impressive how a blundering, bird-hating beast like Wile E. Coyote has somehow become a sort of cartoon underdog. What’s even more impressive is the similar dark-horse status of the terrific new movie featuring that unkillable canine and his road-running nemesis. Indeed, Warner Bros. was so skeptical about Coyote vs. Acme that they tried to
We’re back! Yes, Webb’s “Weird Words” is at last returning to … well, weird words! Since late July, we’ve been down a rabbit-hole on grammar, trying to lift the stigma against ain’t — as well as foolish rules about terminal prepositions and split infinitives; and then we worked to straighten out who-whom, along with those
When I first designed the Western movie course I’m currently teaching at Lycoming College, I wanted to call it Ride the High Country — subtitled “Films of the American West.” While this didn’t prove quite catchy enough, I thought it made a great paean to this lofty genre — on top of which, the 1962
When you think of great Western movies, you probably call to mind John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and maybe John Ford; if you’re a major fan, you might also recall Randolph Scott and Howard Hawks — maybe even Sam Peckinpah, or James Stewart. But sadly, few would mention Anthony Mann. While the Golden Age veteran directed
