Media term for a
film critic for a small
market media outlet who will
praise a new
film, getting their name in
advertisements for the
movie, in exchange for
preferential treatment at
press junkets.
According to Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle, some of these people will even phone in or e-mail their quote to movie publicists, even when that quote has never been published. Blurb whores have rushed in to fill the gap created by backlash against overzealous publicists misquoting reviewers in major media markets (Guthmann, who once reviewed a movie as suffering from an "overwhelming lack of imagination" once saw his name appear in a movie ad with the blurb "OVERWHELMING!"). Blurbs in movie advertising have become so entrenched that studios are desperate to get quotes. (Soon, the absence of them will garner a film more attention than having them).