Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Is There an Echo in Here?

I don't want to make any "waves," but here's an open letter to Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers:

Hey Pete,
I like you man, and I'm certainly no Pauline Kael, but you might want to think about keeping your archives handy when writing your next review. Did you not notice your word-for-word self plagiarism in your recent critique of Wall-E?

From
RollingStone.com:
"It's a landmark in modern moviemaking that lifts you up on waves of humor, heartbreak and ravishing romance."
- excerpt from your review of Wall-E (2008)

"Atonement sweeps you up on waves of humor, heartbreak and ravishing romance."
- excerpt from your review of
Atonement (2007)

Tsk, tsk Mr. Travers. Every writer struggles to stay fresh, but recycling quotes verbatim? A reviewer as established as yourself should know better. It's not like you were saying "two thumbs up." As a new voice in the business, I'm constantly trying to think up new phrases and avoid redundancy. What am I to think if a colleague I look up to can't form distinctive opinions? Is it not your job to weed out generic texts?

Sincerely,
Your Movie Buddy

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