Talk:Ethan Hawke/GA1

GA Review

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GA Review, Part 1

This article is in pretty good shape and I think we'll whip it up to GA status pretty easily. Here's the start of my review (will finish it tomorrow). Please address each line individually and I'll cross them out as we go. --Hunter Kahn (talk) 07:15, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

• First of all, look over my grammatical changes and tweaks to make sure you're OK with the wording and, more importantly, that everything is still accurate. (Keep doing this as I add more suggestions.)

• I think its fine to include the year of the film in parentheses in the intro (example Alive (1993)), especially as it helps keep the chronology clear. However, I don't think you have to do this in the body of the article at all. (Especially since you do it in some cases, but not in others, which creates a lack of consistency.) Could you go through the article and drop those, and instead just work the year into the prose of the sentence if it's needed?
  • Actually, the years are there to provide context for the reader. If you want a good example of the years, see Maggie Gyllenhaal, Angelina Jolie, Eric Bana, etc.
    • I'm not a fan. But I won't hold up the GAN for it. --Hunter Kahn (talk) 01:42, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Intro:

• Is the mention of "In November 2007, Hawke directed the two-act play Things We Want" really notable enough to include in the intro?
  • Yes, it was his first directed play.
    • Well if that's what makes this significant, you need to explain that. I changed the wording very slightly to do just that, take a look at it and let me know if you have a problem with it. --Hunter Kahn (talk) 01:42, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
• "...who moved around a couple of times..." The wording isn't very encyclopedic. Could you reword it?
  • I think I got it.

Early work:

• "He later appeared in the war film A Midnight Clear (1992) and Alive (1993), based upon Piers Paul Read's 1974 book, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (which itself was based upon interviews with survivors of the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 on October 13, 1972)." This is a run-on sentence that needs to be broken into two sentences or shortened.
  • Done.

1994-1998:

• "Hawke's next role was in the Generation X drama Reality Bites (1994), directed by Ben Stiller, playing Troy, a slacker who mocks the ambitions of his girlfriend, played by Winona Ryder." This sentence reads a bit awkwardly; it almost sounds like Ben Stiller is playing Troy. Can you reword?
  • I've removed Ben Stiller.
• "The studio placed television ads during programs chosen for their appeal to 12–34-year-olds and in interviews Stiller was careful not to mention the phrase "Generation X"." I'd drop this altogether; it is about the movie, and has nothing to do with Hawke himself.
  • Removed.

--Hunter Kahn (talk) 07:15, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

GA Review, Part 2

1999-2002:

• "In the movie, Hawke plays a reporter named Ishmael Chambers, a man living in the large shadow cast by his father, played by (Sam Shepard). Ishmael, wounded in the war, comes back to take over the paper after his father's death." A few things. 1) Some of this is exact wording lifted from the source, so we'll want to change it to avoid plagiarism accusations. 2) What war? It should be specified and wikilinked. 3) "Living in the large shadow cast by his father" seems a bit POV. I'd suggest revising this whole plot summary to "Hawke plays a reporter name Ishmael Chambers, a reporter wounded in World War II who comes home to take over his family newspaper after his father's death."
  • Done.
• "The Boston Glove criticized the way Hawke directed the film, writing, "Hawke's direction..."" When you have a quote or a quote fragment in the story, you have to say who specifically said it, not just the paper. Can you add Erin Meister's name in here?
  • Usually in these cases, there's no need to, unless they are particularly notable reviewers, (Ex: Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, A.O. Scott of New York Times, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, etc.), but I added the name in this case.
• "Hawke admitted that the novel was written in two different voices, "alternating between the soldier and his girlfriend."" This isn't an "admission" (suggesting he did something wrong and had to admit it), but a stylistic choice he made on purpose. Can you reword this?
  • Done.
• You should mention his brief scene in Waking Life and the fact that both he and Julie Delpy return to the screen together for it. There are sources for it out there on Google News, including this one here.
  • I did this one myself. --Hunter Kahn (talk) 01:42, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

2004-present:

• "It was written by Linklater, Hawke, and Julie Delpy." I'm not sure if this is at the source, but is there anything about why they decided to have Hawke and Delpy write the dialogue. Like, to give it a more genuine feeling or something? Maybe you could do a quick check around and see if that info is out there anywhere?
  • The only thing Hawke said for doing the sequel, was "It's not like anybody was begging us to make a second film. We obviously did it because we wanted to."[1] Not sure if that's helpful.
    • Ok, no biggie. --Hunter Kahn (talk) 01:42, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Stage career:

• "...artistic director of Malaparte, a Manhattan theater company that is now defunct." At the very least, you need to say when it became defunct; to just say "which is now" is irrelevant, as people who read this now or 50 years from now won't know when it closed. Also, can you say WHY it became defunct? (lack of funding, etc.)
  • It doesn't say why or when it was defunct.
• You should include that The Coast of Utpoia is nine hours long. That partially illustrates how much of a challenge the role must have been for Hawke.
  • It seems trivial, but I added the info.
• "In 2009, Hawke starred in another production of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, playing Trofimov." This reads like he had previously starred in "The Cherry Orchard" and was doing so again. Is this the case? If so, you should mention the first time he starred in it elsewhere in this section. Or are you saying he again starred in an Anton Chekhov production? If that's what you mean, reword this sentence to clarify.
  • Really? Cause, its not supposed to sound that way. It means he's starring in another Anton Chekhov's play. But, I removed some info.
    • It's not supposed to, but it did. But I didn't mean the solution was to remove the Chekhov reference altogether, just reword it to clarify. I added the Chekhov reference back in a slightly reworded way. --Hunter Kahn (talk) 01:42, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Personal life:

• Can you include in here reasons for the Uma/Hawke split? It can't be difficult to find sources for that.
  • Added a bit.

Good luck! --Hunter Kahn (talk) 15:58, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

A good article is:

1. Well-written: Prose is good, MOS is good.
2. Factually accurate and verifiable: Sources are good, no original research.
3. Broad in its coverage: Covers main aspects, no unneeded detail.
4. Neutral: Yes.
5. Stable: Yes.
6. Illustrated, if possible, by images: Yes.

Pass. --Hunter Kahn (talk) 01:42, 24 February 2009 (UTC)