DON SURBER: That Day When “Rocky” Knocked Out The New York Times.

Over the years, Canby panned not only “Rocky,” but “Blazing Saddles”, “A Christmas Story”, “Rainman” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” After 20 years of this, the Times finally caught on that Canby was a kook, and switched him to covering Broadway shows.

But the damage was done. The New York Times lost whatever sway it had on the film front. And if you are wrong about “Rocky,” maybe you are wrong about Reagan. It snowballs from there.

Surber quotes Richard Feynman at the top of his blog: “It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.” It’s a good catchphrase.