* * * * *
                                        
                          “Scare quotes” gone “wild!”
                                        
I received a rather odd “gift” from my “bank”—a “movie guide.” I'm not sure
“how” or “why” I “rated” this “gift” but I have it. And as “movie guides” go
it's not that bad—the films are all “critically acclaimed” or “blockbusters”
so it's a fairly decent guide to films. But the “listings” are “rather
annoying” in that “scare quote” style. For instance, for Duck Soup [1]:

> **Duck Soup** [Black/White]
>  1933. Directed by Leo McCarey. With the Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont. 70
> minutes. Not Rated.
> 
> “Hail, hail Freedonia” cry fans of the “anarchic” Marx foursome, whose
> trademark “lunancy” is at its “peak” in this “political sature” about a
> “mythical dictatorship”; “absurdly funny”—it includes the “legendary mirror
> scene with Groucho and Harpo”–it's the brothers' “finest hour” and voted
> top of the Marxes in this Survey.
> 

See?

Or how about The Princess Bride [2]:

> **PRINCESS BRIDE, THE**
>  1987. Directed by Rob Reiner. With Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin
> Wright. 98 minutes. Rated PG.
> 
> Despite the “chick-flick title”, this “lighthearted” but “fractured fairy
> tale” defies “categorization” and is admired by “even the most macho” guys
> for its “swordfights” and “verbal jousting”; thanks to an “intelligent”
> William Goldman script, “masterful” direction by Reiner and an “incredibly
> talented” cast, “finding a better movie is inconceivable”—“plus it's got
> André the Giant.”
> 

I'm surprised the “printers” didn't run “out of quotes” when printing this
“movie guide.”

Most “amusing.”

[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023969/
[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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