In entertainment journalism, few names cull more recognition (and violent
reaction) than that of
Pete Hammond. The ebullient pundit, omnipresent in the
online community, at Hollywood events, and of course on movie advertisements,
talked with RT to clear the air about his recent departure from Maxim.
Much was made of Hammond’s split with the men’s magazine earlier this month,
which was covered with no small amount of glee in the media. But contrary to
speculation surrounding the break, Hammond says it was strictly a business
decision, not a personal matter.
"The magazine was sold; there’s a whole new group that owns it now," Hammond
said. "So when it was sold, new people came in and they fired the editor and
replaced him with James Kaminsky. James Kaminsky is the same person who went to
Playboy and got rid of film reviews there."
As for the insinuation that he was canned from Maxim for any reason other
than regime change, Hammond points out that he wasn’t a staff writer to begin
with.
"I couldn’t possibly have been fired," he said. "I’ve always been a freelancer
on a monthly retainer. I was never on staff, never worked for them, never set
foot in their offices. They let me do my thing, and they wouldn’t edit the hell
out of [my reviews]."
Hammond, a contributor to such respected industry publications as Variety,
the LA Times, and Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide, is cognizant of
both the advantages and disadvantages of writing for such a demographic-specific
outlet as Maxim.
"The combination of attaching my name to Maxim and Maxim letting
me have a whole difference audience as well was good," he said. "[But] the
problem at Maxim was that the kind of movies that they wanted to do
weren’t the kind of movies being shown three months out."
While Hammond’s Maxim magazine contributions were limited to 30-word,
positive-only reviews at his editors’ request, he had free reign to review any
movie he chose, and at length, in the magazine’s online counterpart.
"The magazine had a three month lead time, 24-year-old guys demographic,"
Hammond explained. "They want movies like
I Am Legend that won’t open
’til weeks before. They would put things in the magazine that would look like a
review. All my stuff was really online [maximonline.com] — all my reviews, and
any quotes that came from me, were always from the online section."
As for his own taste as a critic, Hammond has this to offer: "I am a different
kind of critic. I will always walk in going in, ‘I want to like this movie and
it’s gonna have to work overtime to make me hate it.’ I could not do this job if
I didn’t like movies, and I see so many critics who don’t. They seem miserable;
they don’t want to be there. I judge a movie against itself, not against
history. Not every movie has to be
Citizen Kane."
For more insight into the mind of
Pete Hammond,
look for an extended, in-depth interview with the pundit in Meet a Critic, our regular article series about notable contemporary writers, running later today.
