I bet "anything at all" is an overgeneralisation. They just differ on what's important.

Well, sure, but having different definitions for "spoiler" is kind of the point -- the writer cannot know and cater to every reader individually. So if the reader has particularly broad definitions, it's on him to be cautious about reviews, or only read critics with a similar sensibility.

I don't think telling people that Bruce Willis is a ghost is comparable to describing the opening scene of a movie. "Bruce Willis gets shot in first few minutes" might be comparable. And that was mentioned in some reviews.

But "anything at all" certainly includes saying he's a ghost.

My main thing is--if it's a surprise, why take that away from a potential viewer? Is what you had to say that important?

I want to see this so very badly [link]

My main thing is--if it's a surprise, why take that away from a potential viewer? Is what you had to say that important?

Exactly. I try to be as non-spoilery as I can in my reviews, especially when I went into a movie or TV show or book knowing very little and appreciated the little surprises that could have been ruined by reading other reviews. Sometimes it's almost unavoidable. With my little mini-reviews of the Discworld Watch books, for instance, I went into pretty much every single one of those books not even knowing what the basic premise was, so discovering what the book was about was part of the reading experience. But as Jessica mentioned earlier, it's kind of hard to talk about something without mentioning the basic premise, especially if you're trying to recommend it to a potential audience. Although I think I've come close to managing it once or twice. Normally, I only try to "spoil" as much as the blurb would give away.

I read another review of this movie that doesn't discuss the opening scene in as much detail -- you can definitely describe the premise without it. Just for the record.

Sometimes I love not knowing anything, but can almost never pull that off. The best was seeing a screening of Far From Heaven -- all I knew was Julianne Moore, 50s pastiche.

The best was seeing a screening of Far From Heaven -- all I knew was Julianne Moore, 50s pastiche.

You should've heard the gasp from the audience at the kissing scene in My Beautiful Launderette.

I admit I was glad I saw The Crying Game before the buzz started and was glad I had no idea what was coming. But, the friend I went with was surprised that I was surprised. She was all, I knew from the get go, couldn't you tell?

She was all, I knew from the get go, couldn't you tell?

Some people are really attuned to wrist diameter, adam's apples and hip to waist ratios. I was not.

I knew there was a twist to be discovered, and early in the movie they focused on Jaye's fake nails. For some reason that tipped me off.

But "anything at all" certainly includes saying he's a ghost.

I'm not following. "I don't want to know anything at all about it" equals "I want to know nothing about it." That person should not read reviews.

That's a quite different standard from "I want to know more about this movie, so I am choosing to read this review. I expect to learn some things about the plot, but I still would be annoyed if a shocking 3rd-act twist was revealed here."