PANNED Fox

According to the Chicago Film Critics Association, 20th Century Fox has instituted a policy of favoritism in the Windy City, providing special treatment to select film reviewers. Others, it is charged, are not given adequate time to craft stories between seeing a movie and its release—or are shut out of screenings entirely.

According to CFCA president Dann Gire, Fox's excuse for granting limited screening invites is that the studio does not trust many critics to honor embargo requests and fears piracy. Specifically, Fox reps told Gire, Internet critics are its worst fear because of their tendency to leak information. "We have a reputation of walking around Chicago with eye patches and parrots on our shoulders," says Gire, who, as a critic for the Chicago Herald, is member of the reviewer A-list. Gire maintains that all critics, even those published in print, are Internet film critics.

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