Hammond Maxed out

By Tom Tapp

Friend and former WireTap contributor Pete Hammond has been the subject of some nasty gossip at the hands of Radar. And we're glad to set the record straight.

After calling him a "blurb whore," Radar says film reviewer Hammond was fired from Maxim. But it's actually just a change in direction for the magazine. New editor James Kaminsky has decided to drop reviews from the magazine and its online component.

That's not reflection of Hammond's whorishness (an attribute one would think is valued at the lad mag.)

In point of fact, Hammond's views on film are highly valued by a number of Industry heavyweights. I once saw Harvey Weinstein call Pete out in the audience during a Cannes panel discussion to solicit his opinion.

"It's a new administration and new philosophy there," Hammond told us. "It was a nice run. I think I made them more visible in the industry and took them from zero to sixty as a credible place for reviews and they gave me a whole new audience I hadn't been exposed to before. It's all good."

Hammond continues as awards season columnist for the Los Angeles Times/The Envelope.com where his Notes On A Season column runs twice weekly. He is also host and producer of several screening series around town including the KCET Cinema Series and UCLA Sneak Preview as well as putting together Variety's annual bicoastal awards screening series.

As for reviews, he is also a contributing editor to Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide and is eyeing other opportunities in the critical community.

"I will continue to live and breathe movies," Hammond says.