Maxim’s Pete Hammond embarrassed himself and all other film critics by playing along with the Weinstein Company’s finagling over a TV commercial quote blurb. According to a story in the Daily Variety, the studio planned on using Hammond’s quote “the most terrifying thriller of the new year.”

This blurb is awful and quote-whorish to begin with – just how many terrifying thrillers can be released in the first five weeks of the year anyway? But what happened next is even worse. Big boss Harvey Weinstein made the admen change the commercial, which ran during the Super Bowl, excising the word “terrifying” because it might offend audiences. (Huh?) So the Weinstein Co. asked Hammond to change his quote to “the year’s most eletrifying thriller,” not only taking out the offending “terrifying” adjective but also “the new year” reference. So now Hammond is playing psychic and pre-judging “Hannibal Rising” as the most “electrifying” thriller of the entire year. What I wonder is why did he stop there? Why not proclaim the film is the “most fantabulously phenomenal fright-fest of this or any other millenium?” And why not let the publicists write your entire reviews for you, not just the little blurbs?

I see why Maxim sticks with Hammond. Splashing the magazine’s name along with his on national ads gives them some cheap advertising. But now readers know they can’t take one word the guy says seriously. He’s nothing more than a puppet.