David Denby, the film critic for The New Yorker, broke an agreed-upon embargo for reviews of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” and now he’s been banned from future screenings of movies by producer Scott Rudin.
Here’s the deal, according to The Guardian:
Emails from Rudin to Denby … describe Denby’s decision to review the film, which is released in the states on 26 December, as “a very, very damaging move”. “I could not in good conscience invite you to see another movie of mine again,” Rudin said. Among the forthcoming Rudin productions Denby will likely miss are Sacha Baron Cohen’s new comedy, “The Dictator,” the Coen brothers “Inside Llewyn Davis” and Martin Scorsese’s planned Sinatra biopic.
Those are some big movies, but here’s what Denby says in his defense (and keep in mind, his review of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was largely positive):
“The system is destructive,” he said. “Grownups are ignored for much of the year, cast out like downsized workers, and then given eight good movies all at once in the last five weeks of the year. A magazine like the New Yorker has to cope as best as it can with a nutty release schedule … Like many weeklies, we do a double issue at the end of the year, at this crucial time. This exacerbates the problem.”
Read the whole story here. And, if you’re curious, read Denby’s review of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” here.
