Q: As evidenced by Erik
Childress' annual survey of blurbmeisters, there's nothing studios love more
than a good readymade phrase: your "laugh riot"s and "the best yet"s
and so on. So let's role-play. In 2014, you're allowed to remove one hollow,
overused turn of phrase from the critical lexicon: Which would you axe, and
why?
Admittedly,
I have probably used most clichés you can think of at some point in my reviews –
I do try and stay away from many, but admittedly it does not always work and
sometimes they slip in without my realizing it. The one I have tried to
eliminate completely is “Oscar worthy” or really any mention of the Oscars in
my reviews. This doesn’t go for my year in review pieces that will be posted
next week – because in that case, I do know what I think is Oscar worthy
because it’s the end of the year, and so I can be sure that I’m seeing nothing
else better than anything I rank as number 1 – and hence in my opinion, worthy
of an Oscar. That’s one reason I avoid it – the other is that I don’t like to
contribute too much to the annual horse race for Oscars until the end of the
year, when I have a complete picture of the movies in play. There is a time and
place for discussing the Oscars – but the summer isn’t one of them, even if you
think Cate Blanchatt is Oscar worthy in Blue Jasmine. It’s the same reason why
I don’t say anything is one of the best of the year unless I am 100% sure that
it will end up on my top 10 list at the end of the year.
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