‘Priest’ screens for some U.K. critics (but not all); ‘Something Borrowed’ gets no screenings

I’m gonna be spending much of my day running around catching up with two new wide releases here that I was not able to see in advance. As far as I’m aware, the new Kate Hudson romantic comedy Something Borrowed -- which looks hideous, and also opens in the U.S. and Canada today -- was not screened for any critics in the U.K. So I don’t feel snubbed by that. But Priest -- which also looks pretty ridiculous, if in different ways -- did screen for some critics. (That one opens in North America next week.)

I am noticing this as a minor trend here in the U.K.: some films screen for print critics but not for online critics, even though, of course, print critics are also online critics. It does make you wonder about what that says about whom the studios think is reading which critics. Are they assuming that no one reads newspapers -- or newspaper Web sites -- anymore? Do the studios believe they have more control over the corporate mainstream media? Whatever the case, it can’t mean anything good.

Anyway, look for my reviews of these two flicks asap.