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_______________OUTING "IN & OUT" BY STEPHANIE ZACHAREK (09/19/97)
Couldn't you post a warning when one of your reviewers decides to reveal critical parts of a movie? I just read the review of "In & Out," a movie that is on my must-see list. Your reviewer revealed what must be one of the key scenes in the movie. This will greatly diminish my pleasure in viewing this, now that I know how part of it ends.

Personally, I find this kind of review insensitive and disdainful of the reader. A bare minimum of courtesy would suggest that a warning be posted that the reviewer is about to reveal too much of the movie for those who like to watch them unfold with little forewarning.

I do enjoy your magazine, but if this is going to be a regular practice I will have to avoid the movie reviews like the plague.

-- Deborah McNevin


Please don't give away the best plot twists of a movie. Most critics tend to do this with movies that they don't like very well, as if to say, "I wouldn't bother with this movie; let me tell you how it ends."

I was looking forward to "In & Out," but your review has ruined it for me. Believe it or not, the part where Kline's character ... (Editor's note: We won't give it away again.) ... is not something that should be revealed before seeing the movie. Just because you didn't think the movie was all it should be doesn't mean others won't like what they see.

Please, talk about how effective a movie is, not how it ends.

-- Kevin Stevens


As a movie goer reluctant to part with my money, I look to film critics to help me decide which movies are worth seeing. What I want to know is: Is the movie any good? Is it going to make me laugh? Am I going to need Kleenex? Are the performances noteworthy? Should I wait for the video? While I expect the critic to furnish some details of the plot, I don't expect to be told everything that happens.

By revealing too much of the movie's plot in her review of "In & Out," Stephanie Zacharek has spoiled it for her readers. In the future, would it be possible to give your readers fair warning when certain major details of a film are to be revealed in one of your published reviews? Thanks.

-- MeishB



R E C E N T L Y+| Wishful thinking: The myth of Jewish rescue by Jonathan Broder


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