wise-cracking

The husband-and-wife producers of the Oscar-nominated film "Precious" will be working with the author and a screenwriter to adapt the humorous heroine -- a wise-cracking third-grader -- for the big screen.

News Junkies 2010

It was a hot mid-August afternoon two weeks into the trip and one of my three NOLS instructors, Bean Bowers -- bad-ass, wise-cracking and always over-caffeinated -- chose me to belay him while he climbed.

Adrian Margaret Brune: Patagonia Climber Bean Bowers: 1973-2011, He Always Picked Himself -- And Others -- Up Again Adrian Margaret Brune 2011

I close my eyes and listen to his laugh — the mix of a rumbling clearing of his throat and a wise-cracking guffaw.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad Jack Canfield 2011

Women were written independent yet vulnerable, sassy with a good head on shoulders; men had bravado and strength, they were wise-cracking yet flawed, which gave them room to grow and become better men in order to win the dame's heart.

Emily Bracken: Romantic Comedies Are Dying Because Romance Is Dead Emily Bracken 2011

I close my eyes and listen to his laugh — the mix of a rumbling clearing of his throat and a wise-cracking guffaw.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad Jack Canfield 2011

The Australian author John Flanagan seems to have his finger on this pulsing anxiety; it certainly explains the enormous success of his recently concluded "Ranger's Apprentice" series, in which young warriors in an alternate Viking society grow to maturity under the hard-eyed and sometimes wise-cracking guidance of adult mentors.

In Brief: Children's Books 2011

Veteran mystery writer Ace Atkins is finishing a new novel expected to be published in spring 2012 about Spenser, the wise-cracking P.I. from Boston who inspired the 1980s TV show "Spenser: For Hire," starring Robert Urich.

'Spenser' and 'Jesse Stone' Survive Writer's Death Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg 2011

After sustaining "American Idol" in the wake of Simon Cowell 's departure, Fox Broadcasting is now bringing the wise-cracking talent judge back to its network in the fall to headline an ambitious slate of new shows, including several comedies and a drama with dinosaurs.

Fox Lineup Includes Simon Cowell, Dinosaurs, Mean Girls Lauren A. E. Schuker 2011

But Kadrey's Stark is hard-boiled -- not just self-conscious and wise-cracking, but bereft of hope, burning with anger, without any of that self-reflexive, cutesy stuff that writers put in when they're worried about sounding like a poseur.

Boing Boing 2009

But "The Free World" is a pale, wise-cracking creature in comparison with the angry and full-throated work of Henry Roth or Bernard Malamud—or of the Canadian-Jewish standard-bearer Mordecai Richler.

Lost in Transit Sam Sacks 2011