Brent Lang, reporting on Variety's site:
The New York Times has changed its film review policies, and the paper is now telling film publicists that it can no longer guarantee its critics will weigh in on every film that screens in the city.
“Because of the increasing volume of new films released each year, the Times is no longer able to guarantee reviews of all New York theatrical releases,” A.O. Scott, the Times’ chief film critic, wrote in an email obtained by Variety.
. . .
“I think it will mostly concern the vanity releases and films that are being released solely to fulfill contractual commitments, and frankly, the vast majority of those films are not going to be helped much by a New York Times review,” said Magnolia Pictures president Eamonn Bowles.
Wondering why this is a big deal? Distributors of indie films would often agree to pay for the bare minimum theatrical release of a movie in New York because it came with the promise of ink in the Times. Now that that is no longer the case, you can expect that to be offered in far fewer cases.
Or, as producer Brian Udovich remarked on Twitter:
Hear that? It's every distributor deleting "WITH A LIMITED THEATRICAL RELEASE" out of every small film deal memo.
Hear that? It's every distributor deleting "WITH A LIMITED THEATRICAL RELEASE" out of every small film deal memo http://t.co/h4o7eJA1vj
— Brian Udovich (@BrianUdovich) May 22, 2015
