Reviewing a banner year
Variety evaluates pix, music, TV, books
In the past year, Variety and Daily Variety published 2,507 reviews, a record number. That's a jump of 580, or 30%, over last year.
It also means an average of 8.3 reviews per issue.
Film easily led, with 1,471 reviews; music and TV were almost neck and neck, with 286 and 283, respectively. The newly revived book-review section in weekly Variety accounted for 65.
This year's tally is an all-time high. There were 1,619 reviews in 1997; 1,808 the following year; and 1,927 in 1999.
Despite the huge numbers, the entertainment market is not saturated -- rather, it's expanding -- and if you're picturing our reviewers strapped into chairs, eyes propped open like Malcolm McDowell's in "Clockwork Orange," you're on the right track.
