Talk:Charles Matthau

Latest comment: 1 year ago by Alca Impenne in topic Movie synopses and general style

Movie synopses and general style

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I found a few serious issues with this page, some general and some specific.

In general, the chronology in "life and career" is all over the place, jumping from 1986 to 2012, then 2005, then 1991, then 1995. And so on. Also in general, the style often sounds like a PR job, hyping the intentions and the connections, rather than talking about the works' critical reception.

More specifically, the synopses use very strange language (for Wikipedia), a language very much sounding like lifted off a press kit or a (very) friendly review.

I'm referring to things like this (about Freaky Deaky): "The heist-laden plot with heightened reality chronicles the exploits of two bomb-loving, eco-terrorist, radical antagonists, with a trailblazing cop, reviving the indie film idealistic with isolated eccentric characters surpassing the threshold for liberating presentation." (my quotation marks: the passage is without references)

The grammar seems a tad wonky, too, especially towards the end. And most synopses are like this, here: over-elaborate, over-hyped, and promotional in nature, rather than fitting a fact-based encyclopedic house style.

I'm opening a discussion rather than editing the article because I've never encountered a case like this, and wanted to know other opinions and get some guidelines. Alca Impenne (talk) 21:18, 15 February 2023 (UTC)Reply