Ham on a Bar

I strongly suspect that they didn't allow the critics in to review "Snakes on a Plane" because it doesn't deliver. People say that the genius of the title is that you immediately know whether or not you want to go and see it. Only the thing is, they weren't planning on making a movie with that title. They made "Pacific Flight 118" and then tried to turn it into "Snakes on a Plane" at the last minute. Unless some unknown hand of comic genius is on the tiller - and that's not impossible, of course - the chances are they won't have succeeded in turning a lame thriller into the comedy blockbuster the title promises. The studios are afraid that the critics will warn people: the title, and the hype, is better than the movie.

I mention this because two people today have independently proposed a different theory: that they did not allow the critics in because it's not for critics.

Note also the top 20 movies on IMDb if they had been named in the same absurdist manner as Snakes on a Plane:

1. Honor in the Mafia
2. Escape from a Jail
3. Revenge in the Mafia
4. Destruction of a Ring
5. Warriors in a Village
6. Jews on a Train
7. ...

(note that the order of movies may have changed since this list was compiled)