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From: lwall@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Larry Wall)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Three Summer Movies
Message-ID: <2210@sdcrdcf.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 30-Jul-85 20:53:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcrdcf.2210
Posted: Tue Jul 30 20:53:48 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Aug-85 03:27:58 EDT
References: <1488@bbncca.ARPA> <344@ucdavis.UUCP> <365@uvaee.UUCP> <11671@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Reply-To: lwall@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Larry Wall)
Organization: System Development Corp. R+D, Santa Monica
Lines: 28
Summary: 

In article <11671@brl-tgr.ARPA> Stephan Cooper writes nothing more than:
>Ditto...

Unditto.  While there is certainly a place for short, oversimplified reviews
of the vitamin pill persuasion ("This is a neat movie, I really enjoyed it,
Go see it, 4 stars."), there is an occasional need for something with a little
more meat on it.  I don't very much want to know if *you* liked the movie;
I want to know if *I* am going to like the movie.  That takes more than
cheers and boos and dittos.  (Now, mind you, some people are capable of
serving up a 237 line vitamin pill, but by and large the in-depth reviewers
in net.movies do a good job, for what they're getting paid.)

A movie that takes two hours to make its point may or may not be amenable
to digestification down to one or two succinct paragraphs.  Nobody can
force you to read 80+ line articles.  Nobody can force you to think, for
that matter.  If you want to go to shallow movies, by all means read the
shallow reviews.  There are enough of them.  Or better yet, just compare
the number of favorable articles with the number of unfavorable ones.  If
more than 50% of the people like a movie, it must be a good one.  If less
than 50% like it, it must be a bad one.  Life is so simple in a democracy...

Use your 'n' key.  Take a speed-reading course.  UNSUBSCRIBE if you like.
But stop trying to deprive the rest of us of thoughtful, in-depth reviews.

Thank You.

Larry Wall
{allegra,burdvax,cbosgd,hplabs,ihnp4,sdcsvax}!sdcrdcf!lwall