Wikipedia:Peer review/Austin Nichols/archive1

Austin Nichols

Ok, I've made the article comprehensive, well written. There is nothing on the Internet that could tell you more about Austin Nichols than this article does, I think! So, is there anything else I ought to do before I send it to FA? Dev920 (check out this proposal) 15:37, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

OTHER REVIEWS WOULD BE APPRECIATED Dev920 (Please vote here) 00:17, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Things I noticed:

• "Nichols was raised in Austin, Texas, where he was a good student" - good student? In what regards? Seems fairly vague, a specific detail (GPA?) would be useful as well as a source.
• "Nichols has been a competitive water skier," - tense is all over the place in that paragraph
• "Nichols then simultaneously co-starred in two box office successes." - considering the article goes on to explain this, it seems a bit of a wasted sentence
• There are quite a lot of short sentences which break up the flow a bit - perhaps they could be linked
• You may want to try to find a free use image (or you might have already)

Other than that, it's looking pretty good. The refs are pretty thorough, it seems complete (although is also fairly short for FA - dunno if anything can be expanded a little) - nice work. Trebor 21:30, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

I assure you, if there's more information out there on Austin Nichols, it's not for want of trying. I've gone through ten pages of Google hits, stripped AustinNicholsfan of everything it has, and sat on IMDB til my eyes hurt. I have contacted his agents for a photo, but have not received a reply. I've changed the tenses in the paragraph you mentioned. The superfluous sentence is there as a lead in to the next section and also so the guest spot on She spies can be mentioned. I felt it added to the flow rather than took away from it. I can't as yet find a ref for the good student quote, so I've removed it, and rearranged it a bit. Howsit now? Dev920 (check out this proposal) 22:34, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Lol, I'm glad to see you're working hard for the article ;) I'll take your point about the lead in - it's okay as it is. The sentence beginning, "Nichols' latest film is The House of Usher..." is a bit disjointed with all the clauses - perhaps split it into two. A few of the paragraphs are fairly short I suppose (it doesn't particularly bother me but people often bring it up on FAC it seems). Can't think of anything else, it seems generally fine. Trebor 23:14, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

I've played around with the sentence, it looks much better now, I think. Dev920 (check out this proposal) 21:07, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

• Please see automated peer review suggestions here. Thanks, AZ _t 01:31, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

• Comments
  • Instead, Nichols moved to LA to pursue a career in acting. "Instead" is an awkward transition there. Maybe, "Because of his injury,".

Well, that wasn't why he moved to L.A. as explained later in the article. I've changed it to "shortly afterwards".

• • but is most notable for his film appearances. Careful when stating things like "most notable" or "most famous" as that is often up for debate. There are probably readers out there who have only seen the TV shows he has been in. Try "but is also known for his film appearances".

Done.

• • Instead, Nichols has been a competitive water skier. "has been" makes it seem as if he still is. How about, "Instead, Nichols turned to competitive water skiing"?

The Instead is a reference to his being rubbish at basketball. I've changed "has been" into "was" - that OK?

OK, but an active verb may be better there than passive voice.

• • Nichols has wanted to be an actor for much of his life Weird tense to use there. "had wanted" might be better.

"Nichols has stated he wanted to be an actor for much of his life."

• • intended to attend...I don't know why, but for some reason this bugged me. Any synonyms that might make this not sound like a tongue twister? :)

Changed to "wished". :)

• • Although Nichols had guest starred in Sliders, Odd Man Out, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Family Law, Watching Ellie, and Wolflake By when? His graduation? Unclear there.

I don't know. IMDB dates seem to indicate before graduation, so I'll put that in.

• • Rachel Griffiths' sex addict's lover Two possessives in a row always make for awkwardness. Consider rewording or just deleting one of them if it's not essential (perhaps "sex addict's"?).

Changed to the chracter's name.

• • As Trebor alluded to above, the prose has a lot of short sentences that break up flow. Consider combining some of them.

The problem is, my sentences then become wildly convoluted. ;) But I can try.

• • The first successful film role Nichols played was playing a stereotypical basketball-playing fratboy in 2003's The Utopian Society "Successful" how? Critically? At the box office? Also, there three instances of "to play" in that sentence. "fratboy" is two words.

The film is described as having won several awards and some critical acclaim. I think that is slightly better than no reviews at all. I've changed and linked frat boy, and removed two plays.

Oh, I meant just clarify what type of success ("The first critically successful film...")

• • though it only did reasonably at the US box office I think this is missing an adjective...try either "did reasonable" or "reasonably well".

Added well.

• • Need to make those quotations by Pat Cash fit into the sentence the better.

I've tried.

• • Nichols himself was in awe of tennis players who have to go out on court for real Hmm...there are better ways to transition to quotations. Perhaps, "The role gave Nichols a respect for tennis professionals."

"Nichols himself discovered a new respect for professional tennis players"

• • After this success, Nichols co-starred in a pilot for 1/4 life, a TV series about 20 somethings living in New York, but which was developed by a network. Huh? "but which was developed by a network"?

Woops, missed out a not there...

• • Lenexa, 1 mile, a film that tells the story of five childhood friends during their last summer together in Lenexa before college, when disturbing secrets come to light. Seems like this was pulled from somewhere. Citation needed.

Damn, you're good. I've changed it.

• • "twisted, terminally ill, fucked-up guy" <-- pretty unnecessary quote, IMO.

Well, I can't claim Roderick Usher is disturbed without proof, can I?

• • Besides his acting career, Nichols maintains a strong interest in film Umm, since he's an actor, one would assume he has a strong interest in film, no? "Besides his acting career" is superfluous.

Not necessarily. One might not watch films in between roles. Few actors go to film festivals like Austin does. That's why I said besides his acting career. He is genuinely interested in every aspect of the filming process.

• • Last paragraph is full of disconnected sentences.

Yes, I was trying to avoid one-sentence paragraphs. I've moved it around a bit.

• • Hope this helps. In my opinion, while well-sourced, the prose is not yet FA quality. Lot of simple sentence constructions and problems with tenses. Unfortunately, like Trebor said, it's a little short for an FA, too. Perhaps try shooting for GA first. Good luck! Gzkn 01:42, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

It's not necessarily too short for an FA (see Hurricane Irene (2005)), I just wanted to make sure it was fully complete. If it is, then it can still become an FA . Trebor 07:30, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

I've tried to deal with all your points. What do you think now? Dev920 (check out this proposal) 21:07, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Additional responses added above. Gzkn 01:20, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Comment. Reference 13 isn't really a reference ("no individual reviews of Austin's role in the day after tomorrow exist"), and it would be effectively impossible to verify 100% that that's true. It seems a bit awkward to me, I'd advocate removing it and just linking to the collective reviews. Seraphimblade 17:24, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

I've added "however general reviews were quite positive for the entire cast". That better? Dev920 (check out this proposal) 21:07, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

I think the problem remains that you cannot be completely certain that individual reviews do not exist - you might just not have found them. I agree with Seraphimblade, you may as well remove it and just link to the collective reviews. Trebor 07:37, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Ok, I have removed it. Anything else? Dev920 (check out this proposal) 16:07, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Other reviews will be replied to immediately...

Go on, review it. You know you want to... Dev920 (Please vote here) 08:32, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

I suggest paying a visit to Wikipedia:WikiProject_Biography. You may find posting requests at Wikipedia:WikiProject_Biography/Peer_review and Wikipedia:WikiProject_Biography/Assessment to be helpful. Gzkn 09:25, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

I have added it. But I would appreciate more reviews from here: Bio peer review seems to be the sole domain of yannismarou. :) Dev920 (Please vote here) 11:47, 10 November 2006 (UTC)