Would it be unkind to suggest that we wouldn't expect The Phoenixto recognise satire – however ham-fisted – if it bit them on the bum? Probably.

At any rate, the Irish magazine doesn’t seem to have understood that this writer’s recent review of The White Ribbon 3D was an April Fool.

In its latest issue, a quote from the review appears in The Hot Air Brigade column, a compilation of pretentious writing, which is

The Phoenix’s

take on

Private Eye’s

Pseuds’ Corner.

The lead piece contains the following wad of cod verbosity: “Yet the proto-earthly intensity of the sub-Monostrovian narrative remains visibly, uncomfortably stratified. Val Kilmer’s deranged turn as the austere Baptist preacher . . .” And so on.

It seems the good people at the magazine didn’t note the peculiar six stars – last awarded to

Sail Proof Lady

(an anagram, folks) – the suspicious inclusion of Val Kilmer in the cast list, the general absurdity of the project and, dare I say it, the deliberately ludicrous prolixity of the prose. “Monostrovian” isn’t even a bleeding word, for Pete’s sake.

Oh well. We are at least grateful that they flattered this correspondent by printing a byline photo taken in 1955 or so.