# Movie Screenings for Critics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192 "2004-12-16T19:12:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/1 "2004-12-16T19:12:59Z")
The [State Journal-Register](http://www.sj-r.com) has in today’s edition a review of the _Series of Unfortunate Events_ movie, by Nick Rogers, Arts & Entertainment editor. Today is Thursday, and the movie doesn’t open to the public until Friday, so I’m going to assume Mr. Rogers saw it at a critics’ screening last night. However, an on-line movie review website that I frequent NEVER has reviews until a few hours after the movie has opened to the general public. I should point out that the site is run by a media organization and not “Joe’s Movie [Reviews.com](http://Reviews.com).” Why the difference? Do local movieplexes have the authority to decide who is a “legitimate” critic and who is not? Or is this a studio decision? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/2 "2004-12-16T19:21:20Z")
The movie studios decide who is a real critic and who isn’t for the most part. If you pass muster, you get invited. And if you get invited, you are expected to hold off on publishing your review until the appropriate time. If you publish it too early, you aren’t breaking the law, but you probably won’t get invited to another. Unless it’s a good review. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/3 "2004-12-16T19:24:47Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > The movie studios decide who is a real critic and who isn’t for the most part. Thanks, **BobT**. Do they decide strictly on journalistic merit, or what? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/4 "2004-12-16T19:35:19Z")
Probably journalistic merit mixed with capriciousness. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/5 "2004-12-16T19:38:55Z")
There was a sneak preview screening on Saturday that was open to the public that my boss took her kids to. My guess is it was a nationwide thing. He probably saw it then and decided to get the review out there for people to read early. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/6 "2004-12-16T20:13:54Z")
Press screenings are by invitation of the studio publicity department. Then the studio will dictate dates for when reviews my be published and there may be different dates for different media. (Print, web, TV, ect) There was no nation wide sneak last week but there were probably some publicity screenings that public is invited to or they win tickets on the radio. If a reviewer breaks the rules they could get the cold shoulder and not get invited to screenings or premiers or get interviews with the celebs but that is very rare. I know the guy from Time magazine published a review of Titanic early but there was little fall out from that. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/7 "2004-12-16T20:33:19Z")
A critic from a major news outlet probably wouldn’t get much backlash for an early review because the studios need to keep those critics satisfied so they can get the publicity they need. But if you run the Hooterville Herald and you start writing negative reviews of movies a month before they come out or spoil endings, for example, “Next month, in the film “The Crying Game”, the big secret is that one of the main characters has a penis…”, you might find yourself standing in line outside the theater on Friday nights waiting to buy a ticket with everybody else. And of course, some studios won’t have any previews for critics for some films because they fear that they will get bad reviews and kill off any chance of anyone wanting to go see it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/8 "2004-12-16T20:46:06Z")
When I wrote for _Movieline_, I went to critics’ screenings, usually in a smallish screening room in the studio’s NY office, not in a regular therater. The lights weren’t dimmed completely, so we could all take notes. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/9 "2004-12-17T00:55:15Z")
Heck, I got to got to advance screenings when I wrote movie reviews for our college newspaper as an undergrad. That was in Boston, so they just threw me in with everyone else, in a regular theater. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-screenings-for-critics/280192/10 "2004-12-18T00:56:16Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Heck, I got to got to advance screenings when I wrote movie reviews for our college newspaper as an undergrad. That was in Boston, so they just threw me in with everyone else, in a regular theater. I did that too, but sometimes it would be an advance screening with a public audience (I got a nice seat in the roped-off press row) and sometimes it was a press-only screening.