Hollywood ‘Quote Whore’ Watchdog Calls Out Warner Bros.

God love Erik Childress. The Chicago based film critic continues to keep a close eye on one of FishbowlLA’s favorite topics, the use by Hollywood film studios of so-called entertainment journalist “quote whores” to promote a new offering.

Childress got into some constructive dialogue on Twitter today with a Warner Bros. publicist (@annairblynn), bemoaning the studio’s use of five such individuals to sing the praises of this weekend’s upcoming comedy Horrible Bosses. The culprits, according to Childress, amount to a quintet of critical quackery (try saying that fast, five times):

The notion of a studio coordinating early on the PR front with eager, overly effusive reviewers seems so thoroughly antiquated. Especially since the whole construct of these quotes flies directly in the face of today’s nanosecond social media age.

Update – 07/08/11: Childress revisits the Horrible Bosses fiasco detailed above in more detail, via his weeky “Criticwatch” dispatch, ending with a pair of solid suggestions for Warner Bros.