History Main / ReviewerStockPhrases

* Popular science books will often feature quotes comparing the book to the work of famous science writers in that field, whether or not the structure of the book's text and/or the author's style really resembles their famous colleague's--- books about space are "in the tradition of Creator/CarlSagan", for oceanography, Creator/JacquesCousteau, Jane Goodall for wildlife biology, and so forth.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''{{Freakonomics}}'' suggests that real estate agents do this; for example, describing a house as "fantastic" is strongly correlated with it being overpriced and/or a bit of a lemon, because they only have to resort to the generic adjectives when there's nothing particularly good about it.

* Much like its Western counterpart, 3D anime will usually either get complaints of trying to impose on "the last bastion of 2D", or compliments that "3D can coexist with 2D" if it mimics 2D style well.
* Directors of anime films with lavish backgrounds, high quality animation, and all-ages appeal will be labeled "the next [[Creator/HayaoMiyazaki Miyazaki]]" by reviews.

* "Riveting". When was the last time you saw that word used outside of a movie review context? Apart from [[StealthPun metalwork class]] that is?

* Film reviews of blockbusters often feature "This Year's X": "''Film/StarTrek2009'' is this year's ''Film/IronMan1''", for example. "The Next X" is similiar, also for people who can't comprehend that something can stand on its own without being compared to something else.

* Peter Travers, the film critic for ''Rolling Stone'', often peppers his reviews with cliche phrases like "crackerjack thrillride," "enjoy the air conditioning," or "check your brain in at the door" to describe action movies that require little attention.

* Any film attempting a relatively-realistic portrayal of space travel will be compared to ''Film/Apollo13'' or ''Film/TheRightStuff'' (this also often applies to nonfiction books about the early space program.)

* If it's fantasy, horror or science fiction, [[SciFiGhetto but the reviewer liked it]], then it "transcends the boundaries of its genre."

* "Pretentious", "self-indulgent" or "dinosaur", especially where 1970's rock not amounting to ThreeChordsAndTheTruth or TotallyRadical is concerned.

* Guitar solos are always "blisteringly fast," or played with "lightning speed," or "searing," or "blazing."
* When reading any review for a guitar, amp or effects pedal, expect any of these terms: Crunchy, gritty, bluesy, blistering, searing, fat, chunky, wide, smooth, biting, nasty, squeals, scooped, tinny, rich, warm, hollow, tubey and sings. And in a video review, no matter what they're reviewing, if they're playing a guitar they will make their O-face the whole time.

* Similarly, ''every'' Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} album will be called "their best album since ''Music/TattooYou''" or "their best album since ''Music/SomeGirls''". The next step on the ladder is "their best album since ''Music/ExileOnMainSt.''" but although the phrase has been uttered occasionally, consensus is that only ''Music/SomeGirls'' itself deserves it. The problem is that, your logical and mathematical mind might deduce that Rolling Stones' albums since the one after ''Music/TattooYou'' are better and better each time, but the review usually manages to imply that the album before the one under review was their worst ever. Which when given a careful thought ''makes absolutely no sense''.

* The world "shambolic" is used to describe Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, bands that sound like the Stones, and nothing else in the universe.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' mocks this when Dogbert starts a film reviewing business, providing the review the filmmaker wants for a price. One man asks what the price is for "Best movie so far this year" for a film coming out January first.

** Of course, thanks to GIFT, and the remarkable tendency of stupid people on the internet to express their opinions, on sites like Metacritic, EVERY single {{FPS}} will at some point get a ludicrously negative review for no other reason than being "like Call of Duty" simply by the virtue of it having one or more of the following elements: A: first person perspective. B: Shooting. C: Linearity.

* Before the whole push towards being obsessed with RetroGaming, it was common to see any post-1999 2D game being described as having "SNES graphics" in a bad way. Now people are starting to learn what SNES graphics ''really'' were. This stock phrase was replaced by the equally generic sounding "This game has graphics that look like if they were on the N64.

* During the VideoGame3DLeap, a popular graphics descriptor was "photo realistic." In theory, this meant that the graphics looked realistic enough for somebody to possibly mistake them for real life. In practice, it simply meant that the graphics... "somewhat" resembled real life (mostly just with the art style). By the time MediaNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames was in full swing and people realized that video game graphics still had a long way to go before they could accurately mimic real life, the term "photo realistic" was quickly phased out of video game vernacular.

* ''{{Freakonomics}}'' suggests that real estate agents do this; for example, describing as house as "fantastic" is strongly correlated with it being overpriced and/or a bit of a lemon, because they only have to resort to the generic adjectives when there's nothing particularly good about it.

* If a Japanese QuirkyWork isn't being called "aggressively Japanese", it's "too anime" (as if either an entire country or its animation are quirky by nature).

* "Innovative," which gets dragged out whenever a game or peripheral uses an unconventional gimmick. They beat this horse particularly hard when the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} and UsefulNotes/{{DS}} came out, but they learned their lesson when competing {{Waggle}}-devices were released.

* During the VideoGame3DLeap, a popular graphics descriptor was "photo realistic." In theory, this meant that the graphics looked realistic enough for somebody to possibly mistake them for real life. In practice, it simply meant that the graphics... "somewhat" resembled real life (mostly just with the art style). By the time UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames was in full swing and people realized that video game graphics still had a long way to go before they could accurately mimic real life, the term "photo realistic" was quickly phased out of video game vernacular.

Also known as "{{review}}er-speak", these are cliche phrases that movie critics use to describe films. Coming up with original ways to describe multiple works within one same month/week/issue can be hard. On top of that, reviews need to be ''interesting'' in addition to informative. That's why critics of all types tend to have an arsenal full of stock terms they can pull out to summarize how they feel about the subject. These could range from pretty basic descriptors to flat out sensationalism. Either way, you can expect to see these phrases uttered more than a few times if you read enough reviews or entertainment-related news reports.

* Few action film set-ups are as overworked and meaningless as the old one-two punch of invoking the "unstoppable chain of events" that will have you "on the edge of your seat."

** As a book aggregate site, plays this trope straight in its user reviews, except it adopts an entirely different and unique set of cliches due to its web-based format and Millennial-dominated userbase. These show up most often in the negative reviews, and/or reviews for YoungAdult (YA) books. The most [[JustForFun/{{egregious}} egre]][[HypocriticalHumor gious]]? ''"I wanted to like this book. '''[[BlatantLies I really did!]]'''"''

** "I don't normally read (Genre x) but I'm glad I did!"

* Starting with ''Recovery'', every Music/{{Eminem}} album that is well-received is often hailed by critics and fans alike as "his best since ''Music/TheEminemShow''," his last album before an AudienceAlienatingEra that spanned the next several years.

* During the VideoGame3DLeap, a popular graphics descriptor was "photo realistic." In theory, this meant that the graphics looked realistic enough for somebody to possibly mistake them for real life. In practice, it simply meant that the graphics... "somewhat" resembled real life (mostly just with the art style). By the time UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames was in full swing and people realized that video game graphics still had a long way to go before they could accurately mimic RealLife, the term "photo realistic" was quickly phased out of video game vernacular.

* Car magazines, British ones in particular, are fond of praising models with particularly good space utilization by comparing them to the [[Series/DoctorWho TARDIS]], which is quite ironic given that the Doctor’s TARDIS has been established as being an extremely outdated model.

** Ritz, glitz, chic, freak(y), geek, trashy, [[Creator/GeorgeCarlin and in.]] All entirely meaningless nowadays. Can also be applied to gossip rags [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment when applicable]].

* If a WidgetSeries isn't being called "aggressively Japanese", it's "too anime" (as if either an entire country or its animation were Widgets by nature).

Also known as "{{review}}er-speak."

Coming up with original ways to describe multiple works within one same month/week/issue can be hard. On top of that, reviews need to be ''interesting'' in addition to informative. That's why critics of all types tend to have an arsenal full of stock terms they can pull out to summarize how they feel about the subject. These could range from pretty basic descriptors to flat out sensationalism. Either way, you can expect to see these phrases uttered more than a few times if you read enough reviews or entertainment-related news reports.

Also known as "reviewer-speak."

* The word "noodling" tends to follow so-called "[[JamBand jam bands]]" known for lengthy soloing, like Music/{{Phish}} and Music/TheGratefulDead.

* Car magazines, British ones in particular, are fond of praising models with particularly good space utilization by comparing them to the [[Series/DoctorWho TARDIS]], which is quite ironic given that [[CriticalResearchFailure the Doctor’s TARDIS has been established as being an extremely outdated model]].