MOVIES - June 18, 1992

Patriotic Response: The National Society of Film Critics is backing Joseph McBride, the Variety critic whose review of “Patriot Games” brought flak from Paramount, after which a Variety editor indicated that McBride’s Irish background may have interfered with his review. On Wednesday, the critics group released a statement saying it “strongly objects to the aspersions cast by Variety against its staff reviewer. . . . By implying that a critic’s ethnicity and political beliefs are antithetical to his professional duties, Variety disserves the cause of honest, opinionated criticism--a cause which can only exist in an atmosphere free from executive fiats and advertising pressure.”