I’d add… there USED TO BE… multiple movie review TV shows that reviewed movies BEFORE THEY CAME OUT(!) I know, shock, right?

Siskel and Ebert really invented the format with “Sneak Previews” / “At the Movies” and I remember watching it on Sunday nights to see what would be coming out the following Friday.

Then they left to have their own show, the old “Sneak Previews” show was taken over by Jeffrey Lyons and Michael Medved, and “At the Movies” was run by Rex Reed and Bill Harris.

So, at one point, we had THREE movie review shows running simultaneously with 6 different, competing opinions.

And, like I say, these were all reviews of UPCOMING movies.

We don’t have that anymore.

1. Studios aren’t allowing early reviews, they embargo the reviews until launch day.

2. There are tons, and tons of online review sites, but they don’t have any special access, and can’t see the films until everyone else does, which is too late to build any hype.