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Page Six's item about "Good Morning America" film critic Joel Siegel walking out of a screening of "Clerks II" has got everyone talking. Apparently he stood up and said, "Time to go! First movie I've walked out of in in thirty ***ing years! Yes, Mr. GMA used the F-word.

On Opie and Anthony's radio show, Siegel was defiant. He adamantly refused to say that his action was unprofessional. He said he wished more critics would walk out of films. The closest thing to an apology he would make is that he would be quieter when he walked out of movies in the future.

I have known Joel a long time and have always found him to be a courteous man who loves movies, but I think he crossed a line here. Not only don't I think critics should raise a fuss at a screening, I think they have to watch the whole thing. Films often get better as they go along. One should never make a judgment until you see it all. At that point, critics can choose not to review the film (Siegel doesn't review everything) or pan the film as harshly as they want. Watching bad movies is very taxing, but that's the film critic's job. If they don't like it, they should take up something less stressful, like working 24/7 as a hospital surgeon.

It does bring back a few memories, though. Pauline Kael was famous among publicists for her sighing. If something happened in a film not up to her critical standards, you could hear that familiar "oooohh" of disgust from the last row.

Whenever we had a budget, we dealt with this by giving Pauline her own screening. This had the added benefit of getting all her courtiers, the second generation of Kael-worshipping critics commonly known as the "Paulettes." It didn't matter that they would probably all hate it if she did. Even if they weren't at the screening, they'd hate it anyway or risk her wrath. And if she liked the film, it was a grand slam!

One more memory:

In 1980, I was doing a screening of Diane Kurys' "Cocktail Molotov" in Preview 4 in1600 Broadway. In the middle of the screening, Archer Winsten of the NY Post got into a coughing jag. He left and went down the hall to the bathroom, where he stayed almost until the credits rolled. When he came out he approached me and said, "Good Picture!" We got a great review! In this case, I agree with Siegel: critics should walk out of movies more often!