The U.K. Daily Mirror's John Hiscock, a Los Angeles-based HFPA correspondent, is claiming to have seen The DaVinci Code and has run what is apparently the first-anywhere review. (Is there another reaction somewhere that went up earlier?) In fact, Hiscock saw 35 minutes' worth last Monday along with his fellow HFPA buffet-gobblers, and yet he has the chutzpah to file a "review" for his paper, claiming he's the first guy to see Opie's Dae. The Cannes website says The DaVinci Code runs two hours and 32 minutes. This means Hiscock has missed almost two hours of the film, and yet he's saying, "I've seen it...here's a review." What he saw was basically a glorified trailer or EPK. No wonder Sony and other studios are so eager now to lob stuff over the heads of North American critics. The HFPA-ers are only too willing to trade scruples for access.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 13, 2006 at 8:26 AM
comment #1
T. H. Ung says ...
And then he does it again a day later for Daily Telegraph. These reviews don't strike me as coming from someone who's taken in the movie. I didn't think the reputation of the HFPA could sink any lower, but it has. There should be outrage. Where are the reviews of the select other few? -- both articles mention it was shown to a select few. You gotta figure there's money to be made by them.
telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/12/ndavin112.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/05/12/ixuknews.html
Posted by T. H. Ung at May 13, 2006 10:54 PM
comment #2
T. H. Ung says ...
Correction, only The Telegraph indicates others saw it with him: The Daily Telegraph's John Hiscock is one of the exclusive few to have been invited to a special advance screening of The Da Vinci Code. Here is his verdict. The reviews are the same, Telegraph is edited down a bit and it opens a little differently. I know they're owned by a conglomerate.
Posted by T. H. Ung at May 13, 2006 11:24 PM