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Title: the modest art of Capsule Reviewing
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Lance Tooks - August 26, 2006 11:40 PM (GMT)
That TV Guy

Capsule reviews of TV programs from the Marin Independent Journal's TV Guy:
Some examples:

8 p.m. Men in Black II

The same jokes are strung together different special effects. This is a good way to prepare yourself for the fall election campaigns. (2002) Fox.

8 p.m. Dateline NBC

An update on how a Gulf Coast medical center is recovering a year after Hurricane Katrina. It turns out the magazines in the waiting room are still old and out of date but now they're moldy. NBC.

10 p.m. Ice Cream Unwrapped

A look at the history of ice cream. Around our house, that history tends to be very short. Food Network.

From previous editions:

9 p.m. Willard

A social misfit raises an army of rats to take revenge on his perceived enemies. Its not the simplest way to get back at people but, as Donald Rumsfeld would say, you go to war with the rat army you have. (2003) Independent Film Channel.

10 p.m. American Chopper

The Orange County Choppers crew readies to build a bike on stage at a motorcycle show. It's like watching paint dry, except it actually is paint, drying. Discovery Channel

8 p.m. Lethal Weapon

Mel Gibson stars in an action film from early in his career, when the "Lethal Weapon" in question wasn't his mouth. (1987) Spike TV.

10 p.m. Law & Order

A murdered prostitute turns out to be a reporter. We're not sure if the reporter was working undercover or she was just upwardly mobile. NBC.

8 p.m. Doggone Design

A look at the elaborate dog houses owners build for their pets. Also: The elaborate rationalizations they devise to avoid thinking about the billion or so people who are not living as well as their dogs. Home & Garden TV.

Chris Barry - August 29, 2006 09:58 PM (GMT)
Capsule reviews seem simple but are very difficult to write. Its an artform I've struggled with and was taken to task when I interviewed for a job writing capsules for Deep Discount DVD.

I left the interview totally humiliated.

The interview process involved writing a half dozen capsules within a certain time frame. Even familiarity with the movies didn't help - I stumbled and tripped over way too many words. Each capsule couldn't exceed 25 words!

My major stumbling block? A capsule of GLADIATOR... :(

Dale Sherman - August 29, 2006 10:04 PM (GMT)
These are great! Reminds me of a television reviewer for the Dayton Journal Herald in Dayton, Ohio who would these types of parody write-ups for the Saturday newspaper back in the 1970s. I remember them fondly.




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