Cold, cold open

This is just getting silly. We've had more cold opens (movies not screened for critics) in 2006 so far than in all of 2005. This week there are two: "The Benchwarmers" and "Phat Girlz." Who do they think they're kidding. But this story is really the limit. When they decided not to show "Benchwarmers" for critics but went ahead with a screening for free ticket holders, the studio forgot to un-invite one critic who showed up, sat in the press row, and wrote a (bad) review. The studio then accused him of writing a bogus review without seeing the movie. Remember, Roger Moore (the critic, not the "James Bond" star) points out, this is the studio that made up imaginary quotes from imaginary critics. The movie, by the way? Another Rob Schneider vehicle, "The Animal."

Thanks to Willie Waffle for suggesting this post.