A literary
device used frequently in the fields of
criticism and
commentary, where X is a
comparator, and Y is the name of the artistic work being reviewed. Although this is the simplest example, the device can take many forms:
"If romantic comedies are your thing, Coyote Ugly is the film for you!"
"If you thought Schindler's List was fantastic, Robin Williams has a treat for you in the shape of Jakob the Liar!"
"NAMEOFMUSICIAN believes that her work can be judged on its own merits, although she has been compared with NAMEOFTRENDYBANDS."(1)
And so on. As the examples show, it tends to be used in cases where the reviewer is prevented by editorial policy from giving a bad review. This is particularly common with in-store brochures and 'Official' console magazines - it tends to dominate on-line magazines which are not large enough to have clout (such as Salon.com), but not small and / or culty enough to be independent (such as FuckedCompany).
The device itself says nothing at all about the thing being reviewed, and tends to suggest that the reviewer is either lazy, or damning with faint praise.
(1) If you work at a record label, you will read this phrase hundreds of times a day.