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Catuli 
"Loves Film and Fun"
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 Posted - 10/21/2006 : 14:09:35
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Rejection can be very disconcerting here. You wrack your brains and strive for a clever pun, inventive wordplay and then find your efforts tossed into the "declined review" bin. Sometimes the reason is "too generic" and you find that reason to be arbitraty (as many accepted reviews have quintessentially generic titles). Then sometimes the reasons is "don't understand". Ok as George Bernard Shaw observed, the U.S. and the U.K. are two countries divided by a language, so a succinct explanation might clarify matters. Of course when the reason is simply rejection and you think it's a great review, you really have no recourse. I'd venture to say that of my personal reviews, 10 of the top 15 have been declined. When you come across something, say for Romeo & Juliet, which reads "Two Lovers Die Tragically" (this is just a possible example), and you wonder why bother. Anyone share this lament?
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ChocolateLady 
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 14:57:10
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We have all had this lament many a time.
But fear not - if you really have a gem there that's been rejected, just keep adjusting it. It could be that it isn't really hitting its mark for anyone but you and it just needs some ironing out. If so, eventually it will get accepted.
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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 15:03:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Catuli
Rejection can be very disconcerting here. You wrack your brains and strive for a clever pun, inventive wordplay and then find your efforts tossed into the "declined review" bin. Sometimes the reason is "too generic" and you find that reason to be arbitraty (as many accepted reviews have quintessentially generic titles). Then sometimes the reasons is "don't understand". Ok as George Bernard Shaw observed, the U.S. and the U.K. are two countries divided by a language, so a succinct explanation might clarify matters. Of course when the reason is simply rejection and you think it's a great review, you really have no recourse. I'd venture to say that of my personal reviews, 10 of the top 15 have been declined. When you come across something, say for Romeo & Juliet, which reads "Two Lovers Die Tragically" (this is just a possible example), and you wonder why bother. Anyone share this lament?
Well - this is a topic that emerges from time to time [and oldies will fondly recall  I've raised it myself in the past]. Normally, for too generic the MERPs are spot on - no matter HOW obvious we think the review to be.
We'll all see examples like your R&J example, for example ... but perhaps it was approved back in the olden days when standards weren't so rigorous 
I do take your point about declines with no reason, though I'm learning to zen-like go for acceptance except when I'm REALLY baffled. This is particularly tough on newbies. But think on this, Cat ...
Neither Benj nor the MERPs get paid for what they do. It's a total labour of love and with hundreds of reviews pouring in every day and a limited number of MERPs ... well, as they say - you do the maths!
What we DO know and CAN celebrate is that without that dedicated band, who sacrifice their precious time ... none of us would be able to enjoy this brilliant, albeit addictive, site, and our lives would be all the poorer for that.
So, keep on truckin' ... and we're actually quite a lovely community here, so if there's something that's keeping you up at night -- share it with us. Somebody's bound to have something helpful to say.
Hoping this was one 
Cheers
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Edited by - BaftaBaby on 10/21/2006 15:06:14 |
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turrell 
"Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 19:27:27
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Being an active contributer for a few years I can say at this point I generally know if a review will be accepted or not. And when I do get a rare reject, (I don't just throw out a bunch of stuff, I am measured), I usually know that it was a stretch.
A couple of easy fixes for common rejections:
Too generic - try adding the name of a star or director to the review so instead of "Two Lovers Die Tragically" - try Leonardo, Clare die tragically.
Don't understand - put a comment in the explanation field - usually if this is esoteric but valid and clever, then it will go through upon a resubmit or the first time if you submit with an explanation. If it still gets rejected consider if it is the the equivalent of an inside joke - i.e. is it reasonable that 10% of the people would get it without explanation - if not it might be clever but only to you.
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Catuli
"Loves Film and Fun"
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 22:36:07
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Well, in stark contrast, there are times when I thought I wrote the perfect review only to have it declined. Then, upon reflection, I still think it was a great review. I'm not sure if my "newbie" status accounts for this opinion. Sure, I've learned to make a review more pointed to a specfic film, but the basic format of fwfr is really putting old wine in new bottles. The site is a delight, and truly appreciated, but everyone in here, long before the site was conceived, has indulged in wordplay and devised clever takes on film titles.
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 22:48:46
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Catuli [Gesundheit!], I feel your pain, and trust me, so does everybody else. We've all gone through that period of dumbfoundedness; if X was approved, why not my Y? I can only offer these thoughts:
1) The earliest reviews posted on the site, many scores of which still remain, did not pass through the same quality filter that's being used now. If you point out an obviously generic early review to benj, why then the lad will respond with extreme prejudice.
2) The MERPs are utter dumbasses who cannot contain my ineffable brilliance inside their feeble little brains! How do they pretend to earn their salaries???!?!?
3) This is all subjective, therefore it's a priori not fair.
My advice is to shrug it off [certainly resubmit a review if you have a legitimate beef -- I've gotten a handful through after I've explained, which is something I don't like to do the first time; other fwiffers will tell you a first-time explanation is the safest route, but that's just me] and rest easy knowing that over time, the karmic wheel will strike down worthies from other fwiffers too.
Bloody MERPs. |
Edited by - randall on 10/21/2006 23:02:03 |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 22:50:09
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Catuli, as a general rule reviews need to be:-
1) Reasonably specific to the film. So if someone saw it without knowing the associated movie they'd have a good chance of guessing the movie.
2) Correct. If the review says something that's simply incorrect but contains clever wordplay, then it's no good. This is a film reviews/summaries site, not a joke site.
3) Different to other reviews on that page. If it's too similar to another review and adds nothing, then it's no good.
4) Intelligible. If most who see it won't get it, then perhaps the site is better without it.
If you follow all those rules, I'd say the review should pass. Nobody said it was easy to follow all those rules AND include clever wordplay, that's the whole challenge of writing a fwfr in my view. Sure anyone can write a simple four-word summary if the objective is simply to have a review for a movie (for accolade completion purposes or whatever). But correctness, specificity, originality, intelligibility AND cleverness all in four words is no easy feat and is the holy grail of fwfr.
I worked hardest at fwfr in 2004, wrote 166 reviews for the year at an average of 17 votes per review, and would guess on average I spent an hour thinking/writing/contriving each review. I'll repeat, nobody said it was easy.
Like turrell, I very seldom get reviews declined these days as I've been here long enough that I know the rules. And when I get a decline it never comes as a suprise.
But, if you're having a bad time over your declines, feel free to post some here, sometimes that's the best approach. But be warned, I'll rip them to pieces and show you where you went wrong (or where the editors went wrong perhaps ).
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Rovark
"Luck-pushing, rule-bending, chance-taking reviewer"
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 23:43:03
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Bad news
I've been with this site for 4 years and my genius still regularly goes unrecognised and unappreciated.   
Good news
It's still sufficiently fun and a constant challenge to keep me coming back.  
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 10/22/2006 : 00:03:04
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quote:
Originally posted by Rovark
I've been with this site for 4 years and my genius still regularly goes unrecognised and unappreciated.
Perhaps that's because you're a luck-pushing, rule-bending, chance-taking reviewer! |
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Catuli
"Loves Film and Fun"
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Posted - 10/22/2006 : 01:16:22
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Fair enough gang. Thanks for your feedback, generally conveying the message that I am not alone in my anguish over being snubbed, despite thunderous verbal pyrotechnics that reverberate across galaxies. As Boxer said in "Animal Farm": I'll try to do better. 
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 10/22/2006 : 03:36:03
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It happens to everyone at the beginning (me included). Until they learn the rules.
But I'll repeat, post some here for our public dissection if you want. The occasional post mortem can't hurt (as long as it's occasional).  |
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Catuli
"Loves Film and Fun"
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Posted - 10/22/2006 : 05:11:38
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Hey, although I've vowed to get better, that doesn't sway me from my belief that some of my best reviews have been declined. My fervent hope is that the MERPs have their muse receptors attuned when they go over my copy.
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redPen
"Because I said so!"
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Posted - 10/22/2006 : 19:16:02
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When I have a particularly beloved (by ME, anyway!) review that gets rejected, I sometimes reword it (so it says the same thing, or the closest I can get to the same thing), and that gets accepted. On at least one occasion, I simply waited a few months, then resubmitted the exact same review, and it was accepted!
Food for thought. Good news is, no charge. Bad news is, no dessert!
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benj clews 
"...."
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Posted - 10/24/2006 : 10:46:37
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In an ideal world, the MERPs would have a lot more precise decline reasons to choose from, or write personal suggestions as to what was wrong with a review, but sadly there aren't enough hours in the day to do this.
Because of this, it's kind of fallen to the fourum to try and offer advice on why something has been declined in situations where it makes no sense to the declined reviewer. As a few have said here, though, there is always the option of resubmitting the review with an explanation if you feel the editor missed the point somehow. Just don't make the mistake of using the explanation box to vent your frustrations (this happens quite a lot, but never wins the editors over).
Finally, on a side note (and this may not even apply to you), and it's not even a reason for declining something, but still the example you listed in your initial post put it in my mind... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE folks, try to use case correctly. The number of reviews I see which are using a capital first letter for Each Word In The Review....
Aside from being incorrect formatting, capital letters are extra important in the four word format to emphasise naming words or, in some cases, puns. Each time this happens, some poor editor has to edit it down to lower case which then reduces the number of reviews they get time to work on.
I realise this won't apply to most here, but if it just hits home on one offender, it'll be a good start and everyone will benefit.
**This has been a public service announcement on behalf of the MERPs** |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 10/24/2006 : 11:46:27
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This Sounds Like Fun. I Think I Might Start Doing It In All My Reviews And All My Posts. That Should Teach Those Merps A Lesson For Declining My Reviews. And Annoy Everyone Who Is Stupid Enough To Read My Fourum Posts... 
oR hOW aBOUT lIKE tHIS? dOES tHIS aNNOY aNYONE? bENJ, cAN i wRITE mY rEVIEWS lIKE tHIS? tHAT sHOULD mAKE tHEM sTAND oUT oN eVERY mOVIE pAGE aND pICK uP mORE vOTES! |
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zulu 
"Resisting the Bay lobotomy"
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Posted - 10/24/2006 : 13:28:09
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Hi Catuli,
stick with the quality rather than quantity reviewing. Like you, I read many reviews and wonder why people bothered to submit them. I cannot see much merit in the banal or merely descriptive. But, each to their own. Consequently, I only have a pitiful number of reviews for the three years (on and off) since I discovered this gem of a site.
I have just visited Catuli and found that I have already voted on some of the goodies. I found plenty more worth a vote aswell.
Zulu |
Edited by - zulu on 10/24/2006 13:28:44 |
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Great Reviews Declined
